Education & Career

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

Word and Quote of the Week

*** Drive ***

*** You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things— to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.  – Sir Edmund Hillary

Trivia Question of the Week

Q. What Spanish and English writers died on the same day – April 23, 1616?

(Answer at the end of this newsletter.)

Employee Morale 

Ice Breaker

Submitted by a loyal subscriber.

One of my favorite openings for a seminar of 20 to 60 people is to arrange the room so that participants can form 2 concentric circles, with the inside circle facing the outside circle. 

This creates a situation in which two people can partner for a brief conversation. Then I direct one circle to take a step or two to their left or right creating new partners. 

Then using a whistle to stop and start the 45-second conversations, I throw out a sentence stem related to the topic we’ll be exploring and let them go. 

For example, on a workshop about spirituality/meaning of work, they might start with: “A job I had that included some fun and play was…” 

Later, the conversation might be “Looking back, I realize that attitudes about work that stuck with me were modeled by my… (Mother, Father, big brother, Grandpa).” 

I try to make the first 2 or 3 conversations non-threatening or humorous, then encourage a little more sharing after they have the hang of it.

This activity always gets participants awake and ready to go.

——-

Employees who are allowed to have fun at work are more productive. That’s because they feel valued by their employer.

Finding ways to encourage your employees to share is an excellent way to show your employees that you appreciate them. It’s a simple and no-cost idea and yet it does so much. 

You will find many such ideas that will increase your employees “psychological paycheck” in

- Fire Up Your Staff on a Shoestring Budget - 

It is packed full of unique low-cost ideas and activities, as well as certificates, coupons, and forms that work to raise employee morale FAST without spending a lot of money.

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

Learn what the other books are and see all the details at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/prod23.htm

Answer to This Weeks Trivia Question

Q. What Spanish and English writers died on the same day – April 23, 1616?

A. Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare

Joke of the Week

More Tater People

Some people are very bossy and like to tell others what to do, but don’t want to soil their own hands. They are call “Dic Taters”.

Some people are always looking to cause problems by asking others to agree with them. It is too hot or too cold, too sour or too sweet. That are called “Agie Taters”.

Twitter to your friends about our Employee Morale Boosters

Simply tweet this message:

I boost morale at my workplace with creative ideas from -Employee Morale Tips Newsletter- Get yours free at: http://www.ConfidenceCenter.com

Forward this newsletter to a friend or associate…

———————————————————–

Subscriptions are complimentary at 

http://www.ConfidenceCenter.com

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

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

Hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky is quoted as saying,



 “I miss every shot I don’t take.”



How many shots have you missed by not taking action?



Watch the video and jump start your New Year’s Resolutions.

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



Word and Quote of the Week

*** Persist ***



*** Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.  - Vincent Van Gogh

Trivia Question of the Week

Q. Who was the first U.S. president born in a hospital?



(Answer at the end of this newsletter.)

Employee Morale

At Work Bingo



Contributed by Cathy McCoil



I created a bingo game at my work. Instead of using numbers 1 – 75, I made my list of 75 words related to our business. On the day we play, I cut out the words from the list, drop them in an

envelope, and draw them at random.



So that I don’t have to actually send an email every half hour, I set up emails with 5 words each

to automatically go out.

 

We have offices in Florida, California and North Carolina and all employees are invited to

participate. There is no charge to play and the first one to contact me with a black out bingo

wins. The winner receives a stuffed “On the Spot” dog and a certificate.

 

I have gotten a lot of positive feedback from all our offices. The first time we played, I was in

the hall and the half hour rolled around. Two employees saw what time it was and rushed back to

their desks to get the next set of words.



I suggest that if someone doesn’t want to play, to let the sender know so they are not constantly

receiving unwanted emails. Also, to avoid “clogging” up the email server, I ask everyone

to delete the email from their inbox and trash folders after they check their card.



—————- 

The above idea is a great way to reinforce new concepts, or enhance employee training. If you

want to start your own at work bingo game, you can create your own bingo cards free at:

http://print-bingo.com



In today’s economy, it is more important than ever to find ways to keep your quality employees

and save money at the same time.



Most supervisors or HR Managers are constantly looking for new and creative ways to boost

morale. If you are like them your biggest challenge is lack of a budget for Employee Morale.



The book, - 101 Low Cost Morale Boosters that Energize Employees - is unique because it contains low-cost morale boosting activities which were contributed by supervisors and managers.



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



Learn what the other books are and see all the details at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/prod23.htm



Answer to This Week’s Trivia Question

Q. Who was the first U.S. president born in a hospital?



A. Jimmy Carter

Joke of the Week

 

A police recruit was asked during the exam, “What would you do if you had to arrest your own mother?”



He answered, “Call for backup.”





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

Did you know that… there are simple employee training design strategies that will keep your employees energized, focused, and performing at their very best?



You see, employees need much more than fringe benefits and monetary incentives. If you really want employees to give you their very best, then you need to give them effective training and development that helps them succeed in their jobs.



Employees become loyal and enthusiastic when:



(1) They are given meaningful work in which they can excel.



(2) Their self-esteem is enhanced through making a worthwhile contribution.



(3) They are provided with opportunities to learn and become more valuable to their company.



For these reasons – among others – implementing an effective employee training program in your place of business is critical to the success of your company.



Training Tip



You can’t determine the success of your training without evaluation and measurement. To see what results you are getting from your training, you can use the model developed by Donald Kirkpatrick. There are four levels of evaluation, and each level is important.



* Level 1: Did participants react favorably to the learning event? A simple survey after the training can accomplish this.



* Level 2: Did participants acquire the intended knowledge, skills, and attitudes based on their     participation in the learning event? This can be accomplished through pre and post testing and observation.



* Level 3: Did participants apply what they learned during the training when they are back on the job? This can be accomplished through observation and interviews.



* Level 4: Did your targeted outcomes occur as a result of the learning event and subsequent reinforcement? This can be accomplished through assessing if there is increased quality ratings, productivity, sales, improved attitudes, etc. 

 

Because learning how to do these evaluations is so important, Evaluation and Measurement of Training is Lesson 3 in the - Designing Training for Fun and Results Self-Study Course -.



See what the other lessons are at:

http://bit.ly/DesignEmployeeTraining



Are you…



  * Frustrated with employee training that doesn’t produce results?



  * Overwhelmed with the responsibility to create an employee training program?



  * Unsure of where to begin – let alone how to make employee training effective and long lasting?



In the -Designing Training for Fun and Results Self-Study Course- you will learn the steps and strategies necessary to design highly effective employee training… And what’s even better… you can learn them at your own pace in the comfort of your home or office.



See what the eight lessons are at:

http://bit.ly/DesignEmployeeTraining



If you want employees who will…

  * Look forward to coming to your training sessions

  * Have a positive attitude throughout your session

  * Stay focused on what you are teaching

  * Enthusiastically apply what they have learned



Then… don’t waste your time and effort doing another training before you learn these strategies. Find out what they are at:

http://bit.ly/DesignEmployeeTraining

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…

-
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

–

This Quick tip is compliments of Harriet Meyerson, the Confidence Center http://www.ConfidenceCenter.com and

http://www.BecomeABetterLeader.com

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…

-
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

–

This Quick tip is compliments of Harriet Meyerson, the Confidence Center http://www.ConfidenceCenter.com and

http://www.BecomeABetterLeader.com

Hi %firstname% -

Many companies today are working with fewer employees who are “busting their butts” trying to do the same amount of work… or, in many cases, even more work, than before.

Productivity is crucial and the only way to get more productivity from your employees is by training them to work more effectively and efficiently, which:

* Creates positive attitudes.



* Increases energy.



* Amplifies enthusiasm.

Employee Training Tip: Motivation

Unfortunately, the last thing your overworked employees want to do is sit through yet another training. And, even with compulsory training, nothing hinders learning like low motivation.

So, how do you get your employees fired up to come to training with a positive attitude?

We are all internally motivated. In other words, we only do things for our own reasons and that usually involves asking ourselves – “What’s in it for me?”

Help your employees answer that question by learning what makes them tick. What are their needs and desires?

If you can think about what needs to be done from their perspective, then you’re on your way to figuring out how best to motivate them.

Motivation is so important that Motivation and Pre-Training is Lesson 2 in the -Designing Training for Fun and Results Self-Study Course-. Find out what the other lessons teach at:

http://bit.ly/DesignEmployeeTraining

Are you…

  * Frustrated with employee training that doesn’t produce results?



  * Overwhelmed with the responsibility to create an employee training program?



  * Unsure of where to begin – let alone how to make employee training effective and long lasting?

 

  * Using off-the-shelf employee training courses that don’t give you the results you want?



Here’s the solution that has taken us months to develop, and it’s finally ready.



(Drum roll please…)



Introducing the… 

-Designing Training for Fun and Results Self-Study Course-



In it you will learn a multitude of simple employee training design strategies that will keep your employees energized, focused, and performing at their very best.



And what’s even better… you can learn them at your own pace in the comfort of your home or office.

The eight lessons in this self-study course teach you the steps and strategies necessary to design highly effective employee training. And that’s not all.

You will learn how to give your employees a fun experience that will not only help them to learn, but also to retain and apply the material.

See what the eight lessons are at:

http://bit.ly/DesignEmployeeTraining

If you want employees who will…

  * Look forward to coming to your training sessions

  * Have a positive attitude throughout your session

  * Stay focused on what you are teaching

  * Enthusiastically apply what they have learned



Then…don’t waste your time and effort doing another training before you learn these strategies. Find out what these strategies are and get an introductory discount at:

http://bit.ly/DesignEmployeeTraining

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

Our New Years Gift for you…

The New Year is in full swing, and there is no better time than right now to plan your morale boosting strategies.

Our new 2010 Employee Morale Calendar Planners makes planning a piece of cake. What’s even better…It’s our New Years Gift to you for being a loyal subscriber.

Download them today at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/calendars/calendars-signup.htm



Word and Quote of the Week

*** Industrious ***

*** Hoping and dreaming of a better world are not enough if we are unwilling to work; but when we work towards our dreams, wonderful things can happen. – Lloyd Newell

Trivia Question of the Week

Q. What three South American countries does the equator cross?

(Answer at the end of this newsletter.)

Employee Morale

-Do You Know?- 



Contributed by Diane Owens.

I am the monthly employee newsletter editor for a large agency with about 1,000 employees.

I take articles and items of interest to our employees, and upcoming events, and compile them into four pages. Each week, we put these pages in acrylic stands we purchased at the dollar-store, and place them, as signs, on the tabletops in the cafe.

The signs are clear acrylic, with a stand at the bottom, so that you can insert a different 5″ x 7″ article on both sides. Half the tables get the first two pages and the other half get the other two pages.

One of the pages always includes a section titled -Do You Know?-, which contains a photo of one of the employees along with information about that person.

I discovered the best way to get new “volunteers” for the signs is to go into the cafe and hang around there with my camera. People on a break are more relaxed and more willing to have their picture taken.

Just in case someone missed it on the tables, the -Do You Know?- sections get posted all along the bottom of a large bulletin board directly across from the cafe (heavy traffic area). They are rotated in and out randomly – every couple of weeks – a few at a time.

You’d be amazed how much interest the signs have drawn. Both long-time employees and new ones are fascinated to learn about their coworkers.

I’ve done this every week for over two years — and the program is stronger than ever. I think it’s because it gives people a chance to feel a connection in some small way with people they see around the building. It makes the workplace a friendlier place, and makes it seem more personal.

——————————-

Thank you, Diane, for sharing that outstanding morale booster.

If you need more morale boosters…

There are hundreds of employee morale boosters in our book, “Fire Up Your Staff on a Shoestring Budget” It’s part of the Employee Morale Secrets – Power Pack of books, and it is one of several books that contain everything you need to keep employees happy, energized, and productive every day all year long.



See details of all the other books at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/prod23.htm





Free eBook -The Secrets of Creating Personal Confidence-

We need more successful employee morale boosters from you, our subscribers, to post in our newsletter. As our thank you – you will receive our eBook -”The Secrets of Creating Personal Confidence.”

Simply post a detailed description of your successful, low-cost, employee morale booster in the comment section of this blog.



Best regards,

Harriet Meyerson



PS. We need short, clean, funny jokes for our newsletter, too.

Answer to This Week’s Trivia Question

Q. What three South American countries does the equator cross?



A. Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador

Joke of the Week

After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair.  

As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin.  Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings.  



As she left the room, she heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice, ‘Who was that?’

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

According to the American Society for Training and Development, U.S. organizations spend billions on employee learning and development.

With that much at stake, you want to be certain that your training budget gets the most bang for its buck.

If you have any part in either creating or presenting employee training, this quick tip is for you.

Employee Training Tip: Start with a Grab

It’s important that at the very start of your class, you “grab” your participants’ attention. Try to avoid the usual introductions and welcome…at least until later.

A few startling statistics can have a huge impact, and get participants wanting to know more. Other grabs you can use to capture your participants’ attention are a compelling quote, a story or anecdote, or a question.

Are you…

  * Frustrated with employee training that doesn’t produce results?



  * Overwhelmed with the responsibility to create an employee training program?



  * Unsure of where to begin – let alone how to make employee training effective and long lasting?

 

  * Using off-the-shelf employee training courses that don’t give you the results you want?



Here’s the solution that has taken us months to develop, and it’s finally ready.

(Drum roll please…)



Introducing the… 

-Designing Training for Fun and Results Self-Study Course-

In it you will learn a multitude of simple employee training design strategies that will keep your employees energized, focused, and performing at their very best.



And what’s even better… you can learn them at your own pace in the comfort of your home or office.

The eight lessons in this self-study course teach you the steps and strategies necessary to design highly effective employee training. And that’s not all.

You will learn how to give your employees a fun experience that will not only help them to learn, but also to retain and apply the material.

See what the eight lessons are at:

http://bit.ly/DesignEmployeeTraining

If you want employees who will…

  * Look forward to coming to your training sessions

  * Have a positive attitude throughout your session

  * Stay focused on what you are teaching

  * Enthusiastically apply what they have learned

Then…don’t waste your time and effort doing another training before you learn these strategies. Find out what these strategies are at:

http://bit.ly/DesignEmployeeTraining

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

Do you do training at your workplace?

Watch for special Quick Tip emails about creating training programs that produce results.

Word and Quote of the Week

*** Conviction ***



*** Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstances. – Bruce Barton

Trivia Question of the Week

Q. What was the Oscar winning theme song of Breakfast at Tiffany’s?

(Answer at the end of this newsletter.)

Employee Morale

Create a Gallery of Heroes in your Workplace

A hero doesn’t have to wear a cape and be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Nor does he or she have to be somebody who rushes into a burning house to save somebody.

Heroes can be people who did something out of the ordinary to make another person’s life better.

Perhaps they visit sick people at the hospital, or take care of an elderly parent, or are a -big brother- or -big sister- to a troubled young person. Maybe they pick up the slack at work without being asked or consistently go that extra mile with customers.

There are people in your workplace who are or have been heroes to somebody. Ask your staff to write their stories about how they (or a co-worker) have been heroes. (You may have to dig, because heroes usually like to keep their identities secret.) Then, post their stories together with their photos, on your -Gallery of Heroes-.



Doing this will show your employees how much you appreciate them as people. It will also help your employees see the best qualities in each other, and help them connect in a special way. It may also encourage heroic behavior in others.



——-



How much more can you show your employees that you value them? How about a personal letter of appreciation from their supervisor?



Some people find writing a daunting task, so we have made it easy for you to be a -champion of morale- by writing the letters for you.  



No more racking your brains for just the right words. Over 30 sample thank you letters, that are both heartfelt and professional, are in our eBook,  -Supervisor’s Appreciation Stationery-.

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

Learn what the other books are and see all the details at:

http://www.confidencecenter.com/prod23.htm





Answer to This Weeks Trivia Question

Q. What was the Oscar winning theme song of Breakfast at Tiffany’s?

A. Moon River

Joke of the Week



A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.



“That laundry is not very clean”, she said. “She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.”

 

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

 

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

 

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:

 

“Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this.”



The husband said, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows!”



 

Twitter to your friends about our Employee Morale Boosters

Simply tweet this message:



I boost morale at my workplace with creative ideas from -Employee Morale Tips Newsletter- Get yours free at: http://www.ConfidenceCenter.com

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

The New Year always brings about annual New Year’s resolutions. Often, these are kept for only a short period of time as enthusiasm wanes.

However… New Year’s resolutions do not have to be brushed aside or forgotten about if you follow these 5 key steps.

1. Make your goals specific and achievable.



If you say, “I am going to lose weight for the summer.”, then chances are you will have lackluster results.



However, a goal that says, “I will lose 20 lbs. by June 1, 2010.”, puts you on a much clearer path for positive results.



2. Write your resolutions down. The power of a written goal will make it seem more achievable.



3. Read your goal every day. This will encourage you to take action.



4. Take action. Do one small task each day towards achieving your goal.



5. At the end of each day, write down what you did. This will keep you motivated.

It is possible that the issues you are dealing with are a little more complex than what can be

covered with a resolution.



Maybe, instead of making a resolution that deals with only one aspect of your life, you could develop a plan that could change your entire life.



Ask yourself…

Is your life confusing and frustrating?



Are you so overwhelmed that you don’t know where to begin to find happiness and success?



Are you “spinning your wheels” and seem to be getting nowhere?

Do you want to know how to turn a boring, stressful life into an exciting adventure?

There’s never been a better time than now for you to discover the solutions to these questions.

That’s what the eBook, -Build Your World-, is all about.

Learn the 5 key areas of your life that you can change to create a life full of happiness and success.

But that’s not all…

To help you build a life that’s extraordinary, we have added eight bonus ebooks to help you become inspired, set your goals, and jump start your new life.

Learn more at:

http://tinyurl.com/buildyourworld

Remember…

When you make your New Year’s resolutions specific and achievable, and take some action related to them everyday, you will achieve success.

To help you reach your goals, -How to Set and Achieve a Goal-, is the first of the eight bonus ebooks. See what the other 7 bonus ebooks are at:

http://tinyurl.com/buildyourworld