Are you familiar with the line "You Are What You Eat!” well what
happens when you are the grower! Are you what you grow? And with
that being said, the question for today is: "How do you grow your
workforce?"
During my professional career I have had the opportunity to work for some really great places. One thing I've realized from working for over 30 years is the companies with the best employee morale are the ones whose employees are empowered with the knowledge, skills, and ability to do their job well.
How can employers help to build up their employee morale in this regards? Well, I have a few suggestions.
1. Offer on-site training on an ongoing basis:
Employees like to collaborate in a group setting. It gives them an opportunity to break away from the norm of sitting inside a cubicle all day, share experiences, share ideas, share what's happening in their area of responsibility or authority. One hour a day to break into focus groups to improve technical skills for a few months out of the year would be a major investment with a huge return. A workforce built on staying competitive with the latest knowledge, training, coaching, and conditioning to be competitive at all times. Some employees were tested and hired when the first Microsoft Office Suite of products was launched. Now here we are many versions later and some employees have not even had an opportunity to take any updated training to be able to realize how they can do their job better.
2. Stop judging a book by its cover:
We often hear the old cliché "You Can't Teach Old Dog New Tricks!” Well, I beg to differ (no pun intended). I just thought the graphic was absolutely adorable. We had a few full blooded Cocker Spaniels during my childhood. The world is evolving. We have a more diverse work force in regards to all demographics. If diversity training needs to be one of your main focuses do that as well. Business policies, practices, and procedures that may have worked yesterday are not the best practices for today. Allow employees the latitude to make a difference in other ways. Some employees thrive on helping others. Businesses in the forefront are not only helping their business they are helping non-profits, schools, community organizations, the unsung hero in today's society seems to be the companies who give back. What better way to attract and hire new employees who start believing in your company based on your public image? For a person, beauty is only skin deep and for a company future success is knee deep in what you give back. Investing in the local community is an investment in the betterment of the whole area. Get on board and see how your organization can not only make a difference in its business offerings but its public service offerings as well. Contacts and networking have become valuable tools. Time has is a very precious commodity. You want to handle it like the jewel it is and make the best use of it for the best business purposes. Be a power player in the connections Social Media provides. Social media has shown us people from all walks of life can come together on the same platform and make a huge success out of it.
3. Keep the dialogue open for future and further improvement:
Businesses cannot afford to operate in a shell nowadays. There is so much happening in and around the world that to remain competitive a company or organization really has to be competitive. Don't just talk about it be about it type philosophy. Ideas are the cornerstone of innovation, fresh new ideas, sharing and relating what works and what does not work and what will be happening going forward. The openness with keeping everyone informed and making everyone feel empowered with a strong since of security knowing they indeed make a difference and are an integral part of the company's success. If they are the sandwich maker their efforts will be nourishment to someone. If they are a street sweeper they may just sweep away the nail that may have punctured the tire of someone who wouldn't have been able to afford to replace it. How does what we do add value should be an integral part of any training communication.
4. Keep Your Eye on the Prize!
A better trained workforce is priceless. You can spend all the money you want on IT budgets, new software, new hardware, but if no one knows how to use it or apply it to your business processes what good is it anyways? Having taught computer and business classes I would opt to have everyone one attend training for at least three months on-site for one hour a day. The focus would be on improving employee knowledge and skill set. It would not even have to be directly related to their position. They would probably end up being more well-rounded having to think outside the box as to how what they are learning can be applied to what they do every day. Even if someone learns how to create a flyer for a recipe, are they not learning a skill set they can apply to other things? For instance, how to make better presentations or ideas for dishes to bring to a company potluck.
I feel one reason why I have learned so much about the technology I do know
about is because I am not afraid to explore. I remember when my children
used to tease me that I had a computer in every room including the kitchen when
they were growing up. It was because I never wanted knowledge to be out
of reach for them. You have to willing to get down in the trenches and
get dirty to clean things up some time.
Time is a precious commodity you want to use wisely. Some people may scuff at an hour a day over a three or four week period for all employees (not everyone in the same hour session small groups of up to ten people) covering everything there is to know about let’s say for instance Excel, Microsoft Outlook, or Microsoft Word. They learn all the features available from the beginning to the advanced level. Rather than having all the latest and greatest bells and whistles that no one knows how to blow turning the tables and making it so everyone is at least familiar how to blow them if they so desire. They are at least familiar that managing documents properties from Backstage View is one of the latest features in the later versions of the Microsoft Office Suite of Products. They know what a Ribbon is. At bare minimum since it has been around for so many years they can actually identify what a menu bar is and how it is used globally across so many platforms to make software apps more user-friendly.
How does this benefit the organization? Well I think it benefits the organization in more ways than one. First off, the employees will have a better understanding of what is sitting right in front of them on their desktop. It would send through a more powerful message to other organizations that the employees with company ABC are well trained and the employees of choice. The strength in the employees will resonate as strength within the company.
It is no doubt some of my most intrinsically rewarding experiences has been when I have been able to share my knowledge with others and those opportunities when I have been able to increase my own knowledge. In my lifetime, if I am ever fortunate enough to lead a large organization I would make one of the greatest contributions to my legacy the fact that I had a work force empowered and trained to be bigger than the position they held. Under my regime we took stock in the people so investors, shareholders, and our community partners would take stock in us.
"How do you grow your workforce?" Just curious, how many ways did you count?
---------------------------------------------------
I'm Lynne Ruffin and I pen my own blogs. If you enjoy reading my blogs please feel free to subscribe and comment at your leisure. I am an entrepreneur in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia consulting with small to medium sized businesses to assist in their efforts to showcase their style to the World Wide Web. You can reach me at (757) 542-5108 or via email to Lynne@LynneRuffin.com.
During my professional career I have had the opportunity to work for some really great places. One thing I've realized from working for over 30 years is the companies with the best employee morale are the ones whose employees are empowered with the knowledge, skills, and ability to do their job well.
How can employers help to build up their employee morale in this regards? Well, I have a few suggestions.
1. Offer on-site training on an ongoing basis:
Employees like to collaborate in a group setting. It gives them an opportunity to break away from the norm of sitting inside a cubicle all day, share experiences, share ideas, share what's happening in their area of responsibility or authority. One hour a day to break into focus groups to improve technical skills for a few months out of the year would be a major investment with a huge return. A workforce built on staying competitive with the latest knowledge, training, coaching, and conditioning to be competitive at all times. Some employees were tested and hired when the first Microsoft Office Suite of products was launched. Now here we are many versions later and some employees have not even had an opportunity to take any updated training to be able to realize how they can do their job better.
2. Stop judging a book by its cover:
We often hear the old cliché "You Can't Teach Old Dog New Tricks!” Well, I beg to differ (no pun intended). I just thought the graphic was absolutely adorable. We had a few full blooded Cocker Spaniels during my childhood. The world is evolving. We have a more diverse work force in regards to all demographics. If diversity training needs to be one of your main focuses do that as well. Business policies, practices, and procedures that may have worked yesterday are not the best practices for today. Allow employees the latitude to make a difference in other ways. Some employees thrive on helping others. Businesses in the forefront are not only helping their business they are helping non-profits, schools, community organizations, the unsung hero in today's society seems to be the companies who give back. What better way to attract and hire new employees who start believing in your company based on your public image? For a person, beauty is only skin deep and for a company future success is knee deep in what you give back. Investing in the local community is an investment in the betterment of the whole area. Get on board and see how your organization can not only make a difference in its business offerings but its public service offerings as well. Contacts and networking have become valuable tools. Time has is a very precious commodity. You want to handle it like the jewel it is and make the best use of it for the best business purposes. Be a power player in the connections Social Media provides. Social media has shown us people from all walks of life can come together on the same platform and make a huge success out of it.
3. Keep the dialogue open for future and further improvement:
Businesses cannot afford to operate in a shell nowadays. There is so much happening in and around the world that to remain competitive a company or organization really has to be competitive. Don't just talk about it be about it type philosophy. Ideas are the cornerstone of innovation, fresh new ideas, sharing and relating what works and what does not work and what will be happening going forward. The openness with keeping everyone informed and making everyone feel empowered with a strong since of security knowing they indeed make a difference and are an integral part of the company's success. If they are the sandwich maker their efforts will be nourishment to someone. If they are a street sweeper they may just sweep away the nail that may have punctured the tire of someone who wouldn't have been able to afford to replace it. How does what we do add value should be an integral part of any training communication.
4. Keep Your Eye on the Prize!
A better trained workforce is priceless. You can spend all the money you want on IT budgets, new software, new hardware, but if no one knows how to use it or apply it to your business processes what good is it anyways? Having taught computer and business classes I would opt to have everyone one attend training for at least three months on-site for one hour a day. The focus would be on improving employee knowledge and skill set. It would not even have to be directly related to their position. They would probably end up being more well-rounded having to think outside the box as to how what they are learning can be applied to what they do every day. Even if someone learns how to create a flyer for a recipe, are they not learning a skill set they can apply to other things? For instance, how to make better presentations or ideas for dishes to bring to a company potluck.
Time is a precious commodity you want to use wisely. Some people may scuff at an hour a day over a three or four week period for all employees (not everyone in the same hour session small groups of up to ten people) covering everything there is to know about let’s say for instance Excel, Microsoft Outlook, or Microsoft Word. They learn all the features available from the beginning to the advanced level. Rather than having all the latest and greatest bells and whistles that no one knows how to blow turning the tables and making it so everyone is at least familiar how to blow them if they so desire. They are at least familiar that managing documents properties from Backstage View is one of the latest features in the later versions of the Microsoft Office Suite of Products. They know what a Ribbon is. At bare minimum since it has been around for so many years they can actually identify what a menu bar is and how it is used globally across so many platforms to make software apps more user-friendly.
How does this benefit the organization? Well I think it benefits the organization in more ways than one. First off, the employees will have a better understanding of what is sitting right in front of them on their desktop. It would send through a more powerful message to other organizations that the employees with company ABC are well trained and the employees of choice. The strength in the employees will resonate as strength within the company.
It is no doubt some of my most intrinsically rewarding experiences has been when I have been able to share my knowledge with others and those opportunities when I have been able to increase my own knowledge. In my lifetime, if I am ever fortunate enough to lead a large organization I would make one of the greatest contributions to my legacy the fact that I had a work force empowered and trained to be bigger than the position they held. Under my regime we took stock in the people so investors, shareholders, and our community partners would take stock in us.
"How do you grow your workforce?" Just curious, how many ways did you count?
---------------------------------------------------
I'm Lynne Ruffin and I pen my own blogs. If you enjoy reading my blogs please feel free to subscribe and comment at your leisure. I am an entrepreneur in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia consulting with small to medium sized businesses to assist in their efforts to showcase their style to the World Wide Web. You can reach me at (757) 542-5108 or via email to Lynne@LynneRuffin.com.
