Education & Career

Written by Harriet
Meyerson and published every
Tuesday compliments of www.ConfidenceCenter.com



It’s almost June and Father’s Day, Flag Day, and the first day of Summer
are right around the corner. June is also Pay-It-Forward month, National
Safety Month, and Vision Research Month, just to name a few. These
“holidays” and special observances are perfect opportunities to plan
activities that will fire up your staff.



To help you, just
follow the link to find some great ideas for Pay-It-Forward Month that
you can incorporate in your June morale boosters:



http://confidencecenter.com/calendar_june10.htm



Word
and Quote of the Week

*** Materialize ***



*** “All mankind’s inner feelings eventually
manifest themselves as an outer reality.” — Stuart Wilde

Trivia
Question of the Week

Q. Who wrote a total of 54 western romances?



(Answer at the end
of this newsletter.)

Employee Morale

Holographic Stars

Contributed by Kim Dickinson



We recently had an inspection, in
which my team did really well. To recognize their efforts, I gave
members a holographic star. On the back of the stars, I wrote a personal
message, which included their name, and a “Well Done” and “Thank You”,
for all their hard work.



Several members of the team told me how
much they appreciated the token. I was pleased to see several members
wearing theirs over the course of the week.



I also gave little
pens, which have a fluffy feather and a light up cartoon character on
them, to the team leaders. These were given to help them complete the
paperwork for the next inspection. These pens were received with gales
of laughter.

–

It does not take much to show appreciation and recognition. Having said
that, it seems that many do not have the time, or the energy, to think
of something that is effective, yet low-cost.



Our eBook,
Supervisor’s Appreciation Stationary, is just the thing for the busy
manager. We’ve written over 30 sample thank you letters, that are both
heartfelt and professional, for you to choose from or to get you
started.



This ebook is part of the Employee Morale Secrets –
Power Pack of employee morale books.



—————–




See all the details, and learn about
the 8 Employee Morale ebooks included in it at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/prod23story.htm

We need
your help. Email us your -Employee Morale Ideas-



Tried
and true morale boosters are the best kind.



Therefore, we need
your successful low-cost employee morale activities or ideas to
post in our newsletter.



Please
be detailed in describing your
idea. If your idea is chosen for our newsletter, you will receive
our eBook, -The Secrets of Creating
Personal Confidence-.

Answer to
This Week’s Trivia Question

Q. Who wrote a total of 54 western romances?



A. Zane Grey

Joke of the
Week

See the daily workplace cartoon on our home page at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/

(c) Copyright 2010 Harriet Meyerson.
All rights reserved.

Think about this:

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer

Ponder that for a second. That means that everything that causes you stress or fear only does so only because of the way you see it.

What does that mean?

The trick, of course, is the “how”. How do you start suddenly looking at things differently after all this time?

One word. Acceptance.

Wait, you might say…”I thought you said I could change it. Now you are asking me to accept it. What gives?”

Because of one of life’s little paradoxes – You can’t change something until you accept it.

Accept the fact that life and work are full of people and situations that could cause you stress.

Accept the fact that the only thing you can change is your attitude, your behavior and your perception.

Stress is a thief of employee morale.

That is why  – How to Thrive in a Stressful Workplace - is one of the 13 essential tools in the Employee Success Toolkit.

The Employee Success Toolkit is a professional development course for employees in 13

easy-to-follow lessons. It is a system guaranteed to improve attitude, skills, and productivity.

See all the details and learn what the other 12 lessons are at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/url/toolkit.htm

——————————————————————————————————————

The ultimate goal of any supervisor is to turn ordinary workers into extraordinary employees.

——————————————————————————————————————

If you want…

- Employees taking responsibility for their actions and their job duties.

- People coming to work with a positive attitude.

- Employees being able to handle stressful situations

You can do it -and much more- with the Employee Success Toolkit.

See all the details and learn what the other 12 lessons are at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/url/toolkit.htm

Have a great day,

Harriet

–

Harriet Meyerson

The Confidence Center

Dallas, TX

http://www.ConfidenceCenter.com

Visit our blog for Leadership Articles, Tips, and

Strategies:

http://www.BecomeABetterLeader.com

USA and International 1+214-736-4141

Written by Harriet
Meyerson and published every
Tuesday compliments of www.ConfidenceCenter.com



Do you do any training in your workplace? If so, you owe it to yourself and your employees to make that training dynamic. Take a look at “Designing Training for Fun and Results” at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/designingtraining-aa.htm



Word and Quote of the Week

*** Choices ***



*** “You are the way you are because that’s the way you want to be. If you really wanted to be any different, you would be in the process of changing right now.” — Fred Smith

Trivia
Question of the Week

Q. What 1963 movie comedy had more than 50 stars in it?



(Answer at the end of this newsletter.)

Employee Morale

Colorful Quotes Project

Contributed by Chris Branton



I use the quotes from you ebook, 101 Captivating Motivational Quotes, as a project for my staff and we have truly enjoyed it.



First, I searched for the quotes that I thought best suited the employee that I was giving it to,

and in turn, each employee chose a quote for another employee.



I printed the full page size quotes, and the staff decorated, framed, and then hung them in their workspaces.



It has been a great tool and a tool to start an “open forum” discussion.



My staff has strengthened the bond that we have thanks to your 101 Captivating Motivational

Quotes, and some crayons.

–

The 101 Captivating Motivational Quotes ebook is part of the Employee Morale Secrets
– Power Pack of employee morale books.



—————–




See all the details, and learn about
the 8 Employee Morale ebooks included in it at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/prod23story.htm

We need
your help. Email us your -Employee Morale Ideas-



Tried
and true morale boosters are the best kind.



Therefore, we need
your successful low-cost employee morale activities or ideas to
post in our newsletter.



Please be detailed in describing your
idea. If your idea is chosen for our newsletter, you will receive
our eBook, -The Secrets of Creating Personal Confidence-.

Answer to This Week’s Trivia Question

Q. What 1963 movie comedy had more than 50 stars in it?



A. It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Joke of the
Week

One night, a wife found her husband standing over their baby’s crib. Silently, she watched him. As

he stood looking down at the sleeping infant, she saw on his face a mixture of emotions: disbelief, delight, amazement, enchantment, and skepticism.



Touched by this unusual display and the deep emotions it aroused, with eyes glistening, she slipped her arm around her husband.



“A penny for your thoughts,” she said.



“It’s amazing.” he replied. “I just can’t see how anybody can make a crib like that for only $46.50.”

(c) Copyright 2010 Harriet Meyerson. All rights reserved.

Imagine
this:

During a meeting with his supervisor, Mr. Smith
suddenly stood up and starting running in place. Astonished, his
supervisor asked, “Smith! What are you doing?”

Mr. Smith
breathlessly replied, “I’m being active while I listen!”

Most of us would agree that that is ridiculous. But,
why do we call it “active” listening? Because listening…really
listening to someone…is not a passive exercise. It’s something that
you must actively do. (But, getting up and running in place is not what
it means.)

Then What Does It Mean?

- Active Listening -
is one of the 13 essential tools in the Employee Success Toolkit.

______________________________________________________________________________________

The ultimate goal
of any supervisor is to turn ordinary workers into extraordinary
employees.

________________________________________________________________________________

If you want…

- Happy, positive employees who work as a team,
deal with problems and get along with each other instead of constantly
complaining.

- Shared excitement and
enthusiasm for work even though it’s very difficult at times.

- Better flow of communication between management
and staff

You
can do it -and much more- with the Employee Success Toolkit.

See all the details
and learn what the other 12 lessons are at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/url/toolkit.htm

Have a great day,

Harriet

–

Harriet
Meyerson

The Confidence Center

Dallas, TX

http://www.ConfidenceCenter.com

Written by Harriet
Meyerson and published every
Tuesday compliments of www.ConfidenceCenter.com



It’s already May, and summer is around the corner. Your company or youth
group can help make summertime productive for teenagers in your
community by teaching them leadership skills. It’s easy to transform
Today’s Teens into Tomorrow’s Leaders because we have written the
lessons for you. Visit our web to see what they are:



http://www.ConfidenceCenter.com/serv10.htm



Word and Quote of the Week

*** Brave ***



*** “There’s no reward in life without risk.”

—
Barry J. Farber:

Trivia
Question of the Week

Q. What baseball team became the Minnesota Twins?

(Answer at the
end of this newsletter.)

Employee Morale

A Candy Dandy

Contributed by Monette Corralez



One thing I did with my team
recently was take several types of candy and associate each with a
question. 



For example, we ate Starbursts and the question was,
“What is your shining moment in life so far?”



We ate Smarties and
the question was, “Where did you go to High School/College?” 



Each
person took a piece of candy out of the bowl and answered the question
associated with that candy. We kept going until everyone had answered
all the different questions. 



The team loved getting to know
each other, and loved the sweets as well. It lightened the mood and got
everyone excited to participate in a “getting to know you” session.



Here
is a list of the candies and the questions:

 

• Laffy Taffy - What
  is your favorite fruit?

• Reese’s – Name one personal goal you have in
  life.

• 3 Musketeers – What branch of the military were you in? (I work
  with all veterans)

• Kisses – Are you married or have a significant
  other (children)?

• Airheads- What is your biggest airhead moment?

• Pay
  Day- What are your career goals?

• Almond Joy- What brings you joy?

• Starburst-
  What is the greatest accomplishment of your career? Your personal life?

• Snickers-
  What makes you laugh? 

———–

The above idea is a
wonderful way to get to know your employees…especially if you have a
sweet tooth. If you do, chances are you’ve had to see a dentist a time
or two.

Well, low morale is like tooth decay – if you don’t fix it, it
only gets worse.

But, unlike having a cavity filled, repairing low
morale is easy. Also, while one is caused by sugar, the other can be
repaired by it…and, there’s nothing sweeter to an employee than words
of appreciation.

With our -Appreciation Stationary for
Supervisors- we’ve made it easy for you to provide your employees with
candy for the soul.

This ebook is part of the Employee Morale Secrets
– Power Pack of employee morale books.



—————–




See all the details, and learn about
the 8 Employee Morale ebooks included in it at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/prod23story.htm

We need
your help. Email us your -Employee Morale Ideas-



Tried
and true morale boosters are the best kind.



Therefore, we need
your successful low-cost employee morale activities or ideas to
post in our newsletter.



Please be detailed in describing your
idea. If your idea is chosen for our newsletter, you will receive
our eBook, -The Secrets of Creating Personal Confidence-.

Answer to This Week’s Trivia Question

Q. What baseball team became the Minnesota Twins?



A. The
Washington Senators

Joke of the
Week

I urgently needed a few days off work, but I knew the Boss would not
allow me to take a leave. I thought that maybe if I acted “strangely”
then he would tell me to take a few days off.

So, I hung upside down on
the ceiling and made funny noises. My co-worker asked me what I was
doing.

I told her that I was pretending to be a light bulb so that
the Boss would think I was “over stressed” and give me a few days off.

A
few minutes later the Boss came into the office and asked, “What are
you doing?”

I told him I was a light bulb.

He said, “You are clearly
stressed out. Go home and recuperate for a couple of days.”

I jumped
down and walked out of the office.



When my co-worker followed me, the
Boss asked her, “And where do you think you’re going?”

(You’re gonna
love this…..)

She said, “I’m going home too, I can’t work in the
dark.”

(c) Copyright 2010 Harriet Meyerson. All rights reserved

Contributed by: Karen Wright, is a professional speaker, personal/professional coach, author of The Sequoia Seed: www.wrightminded.com;

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karenlwright. 



Sometimes it’s the small details that — although perhaps not perceived by the conscious mind — add a degree of appreciated quality to your work.

Because much of my work is in workshop settings, I often have handouts. I spare no effort in making the most beautiful and functional handouts I canon good-quality paper. If you do this, too, your employees will feel they received something valuable, not round-file fodder.

One small improvement on my handouts happened by accident.



I had drawn in a block of lines so the participant could take notes. I didn’t notice before printing that the text color was set on medium gray, not black. But, the less noticeable lines made the notes written more visible. The page looked much less busy with the softened lines.

———————————

Obviously, there is a whole lot more to designing a training program than just what’s listed above and that is why we have developed our -Designing Training for Fun and Results Self Study Course- for you.



You can learn simple employee training design strategies that can help you keep your employees energized, focused, and performing at their very best… and the results – increased employee productivity and greater profits.



Introducing the……..



Designing Training for Fun and Results Self-Study Course



The eight lessons teach the steps and strategies necessary to design highly effective, profit-producing employee training.

See all the details at:

http://bit.ly/DesignEmployeeTraining

As an added bonus, the Design Training for Fun and Results Self-Study Course has been approved for 4.5 credit hours through the HR Certification Institute.

Learn
how you can create dynamic training that your participants can’t wait to attend at:

http://bit.ly/DesignEmployeeTraining

It’s new……..

Designing Training for Fun and Results
Self-Study Course



The
eight lessons teach you how to design training that energizes your participants and inspires
them to use what they have learned
when they return to work.

Go
to: http://bit.ly/DesignEmployeeTraining

Written by Harriet
Meyerson and published every
Tuesday compliments of www.ConfidenceCenter.com







Word and Quote of the Week

***Choice***



*** “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill

Trivia Question of the Week

Q. How many grooves are there on each side of the old style 45 r.p.m. records?



(Answer at the end of this newsletter.)

Employee Morale

A Simple and Effective Morale Idea

Contributed by Norma Scott

We have a dry erase board, where tips, along with your trivia, are written everyday. 

It been a great booster to our area.

Thanks again!



—————–

The above is an amazingly effective way to boost morale in your workplace at little to no cost. Each day, you can write an inspirational quote, a word of the day, or just a cheery “Hello!” on your dry-erase board. Or, invite employees to write their own inspirational messages on the board.



Helping others is a great way to boost one’s own morale. In our -101 Low Cost Morale Boosters that Energize Employees- eBook, we provide you with 101 ways to help you do just that. It’s unique because the ideas in it were contributed by supervisors and managers, just like you.




See all the details, and learn about
the 8 Employee Morale ebooks included in it at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/prod23story.htm

Answer to This Weeks Trivia Question

Q. How many grooves are there on each side of the old style 45 r.p.m. record?



A. One

Joke of the
Week

The farmer’s son was returning from the market with the crate of chickens his father had entrusted to him, when all of a sudden the box fell and broke open.

Chickens scurried off in different directions, but the determined boy walked all over the neighborhood scooping up the wayward birds and returning them to the repaired crate.

Hoping he had found them all, the boy reluctantly returned home, expecting the worst.

“Pa, the chickens got loose,” the boy confessed sadly, “but I managed to find all twelve of them.”

“Well, you did real good, son,” the farmer beamed. “You left with seven.”

(c) Copyright 2010 Harriet Meyerson. All rights reserved

Written by Harriet
Meyerson and published every
Tuesday compliments of www.ConfidenceCenter.com







We’re working hard on creating our new  -Employee Morale Center- membership site, and it


should be ready by the beginning of June. We’ll tell you what’s in it as we get closer to launching it.




Word and Quote of the Week

*** Now ***





*** “The secret of health for both mind and body is…


not to mourn for the past,


not to worry about the future,


or not to anticipate troubles,


but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”


Buddha

Trivia Question of the Week

Q. What’s the pure spirit distilled from wine?





(Answer at the end of this newsletter.)

 Employee Morale

Creative Cookies

This idea was created by a team of managers and


contributed by Rachel Apke of Patterson Companies, Inc.





To celebrate the release of Version 9 of our software, we had cookies made in the shape of a


“9″. We ordered the cookies from a local vendor. They were inexpensive, approximately 40 cents


each. We have about 300 employees, so it was just over $120.




Although we didn’t have a celebration, each manager walked around
the department handing out the cookies and we got a chance to visit
with everyone. Just a nice change of pace to let our people know that
we appreciate them.





–

Need more tasty morale ideas that you can sink your  teeth into? Try our


- 101 Low Cost Morale Boosters that Energize Employees – .





The book is unique because it contains low-cost morale boosting activities which were contributed by supervisors and managers.

See all the details, and learn about the 8 Employee Morale ebooks included in it at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/prod23story.htm

Answer to This Weeks Trivia Question

Q. What’s the pure spirit distilled from wine?

A. Brandy

Joke of the Week

Kids views on Science





Some oxygen molecules help fires burn while others help make water, so sometimes it’s brother against brother.





We say perfume disappears because of evaporation. Evaporation gets blamed for a lot of things people forget to put the top on.





Vacuums are nothings. We only mention them to let them know we know they are there.







(c) Copyright 2010 Harriet Meyerson. All rights reserved

A supervisor observes her employee looking around nervously and then ducking behind the copy machine.

“What are you doing?”, she asks.

She hears a timid answer, “Avoiding snipers.”

Snipers are highly trained marksmen (or women) who shoot targets from concealed positions.

I’m not talking about military sharpshooters, I’m talking about the real snipers – the ones in the workplace.

They have had specialized training and have an arsenal of high-precision weapons, i.e, sarcasm, humorous put downs, disapproving looks and the ever favorite – innuendos.

Ok. So, your employees may not have to play “Duck and Cover” at your workplace but they may feel like it sometimes, and that’s the worst thing they can do. Because, avoiding confrontation allows the sniper to get away with his or her covert hostility.

——————————————

What can you do?

——————————————

Train your employees to respond to their personal sniper with a question.

•     “That sounds like you’re making fun of me. Are you?”

•     “What are you trying to tell me with that look?”

•     “Did you really mean what you said?”

Snipers usually refute their pot shots as either denial, “I’m only joking”, or volleying the

responsibility back onto their victim, “Can’t you take a joke?”

Since snipers rely on their camouflage by necessity, once their cover is blown, the chance for future attacks is lessened.

Being comfortable in the workplace is essential for continued job satisfaction. That is why

- Dealing With Difficult People at Work - is one of the 13 essential tools in the Employee Success Toolkit.

Written by Harriet
Meyerson and published every
Tuesday compliments of www.ConfidenceCenter.com





Remember, Administrative Professionals Day is Wednesday.



By the way, are you checking out our daily workplace cartoon?  Print a new one every day, and post it on your bulletin board. It’s at the bottom of our home page at: 

http://www.ConfidenceCenter.com



Word and Quote of the Week

***Acceptance***

*** “To observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence.”

— Jiddu Krishnamurti

Trivia Question of the Week

Q. What are the colors of the five Olympic rings?

(Answer at the end of this newsletter.)

 Employee Morale

Prize Patrol Basket

Contributed by Cathy Egan



A successful morale booster for our staff is to stock a  -Prize Patrol Basket-.



Whenever a staff member goes above and beyond, or contributes important ideas, that person is recognized by being able to choose an item from our special basket. 



The basket is usually filled with various vendor samples or low-cost items purchased by the manager. 



Employee response has been terrific!!!



–

Need more creative Employee Morale Boosters?



We have extended our discount price on the -Employee Morale Secrets Power Pack- until the

end of April. See all the details, and learn about the 8 Employee Morale ebooks included in it at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/prod23story.htm

Answer to This Weeks Trivia Question

Q. What are the colors of the five Olympic rings?

A. Black, blue, red, green, yellow

Joke of the Week

Grandma’s Age

A little boy asked his grandmother how old she was.



“39 and holding,” she replied.



“Well, then, how old would you be if you let go?”

(c) Copyright 2010 Harriet Meyerson. All rights reserved