Many researchers have identified a correlation between an employee’s personal and professional development, and an organization’s growth as a whole.

Increased job satisfaction, higher employee engagement, improved retention, enhanced productivity, and a more skilled and adaptable workforce are some of the benefits of employee development.

Companies that invest in their employees’ development demonstrate a commitment to their growth, which can lead to a positive organizational culture and a competitive edge in the market.

If you want to keep your people and grow your business, you must provide opportunities for your team to learn and grow. The best way to do that is by creating and implementing effective employee development programs.

Here’s How.

Ensure roles and responsibilities are well-defined.
Roles often morph over time as responsibilities expand or business needs change. This can be frustrating to the individual in the role – and detrimental to the team/organization – if training around new skill requirements and responsibilities isn’t included with the change. It’s also difficult to hire for, train for or promote someone into that role if you haven’t updated the current skills and responsibilities for the role.

Create career path outlines.
Employees want to know what growth opportunities are available in the organization. Create career path outlines for each job family to help employees build personal development plans.

Make performance management an ongoing process.
The annual performance review – dreaded by managers and hated by employees – typically focuses on weaknesses and rarely includes a development component. How inspiring is that? Effective performance management is a continuous process (not an event) and consists of a development component that builds on strengths and develops areas that are not strengths.

Develop for future needs.
Development plans should consider organizational goals and the skills and behaviors employees will need to contribute to achieving those goals. They should also take into account the skills and behaviors employees will need in the future to succeed (yes, even if it’s not in your organization). Make a list of top skills required and design training programs to help them acquire those skills.

Consider employee goals and interests.
It’s also essential that individual employee career goals and personal interests be considered. All too often, employees have skills and talents that are under-utilized. Take the time to identify, develop, and leverage those hidden talents and unspoken interests. Employees want to use their strengths and feel that they’re contributing to the organization in a meaningful way.

Implementing and supporting leadership development and training programs for your employees will help them grow and develop their style and prepare them to lead their teams in the future.

Till the next time, keep it real.

Karen

The post Employee Development: Building a CULTURE of Learning! appeared first on PeopleThink.

We all know that a little stress is OK. It keeps our fight-or-flight juices working, and often helps us get the job done. And, we all know someone who lives by the motto: “I do my best work under pressure.”

However, too much stress can contribute to a laundry list of health issues, including headaches, nausea, high blood pressure, chest pain, and insomnia. Not to mention how being over-stressed (and no doubt cranky!) can impair relationships, decrease productivity, and increase the risk of accidents.

Having too much stress, or as we call it at Lumina Learning, being “overextended,” can even turn your positive qualities into negative ones. For example, someone who is detail-focused and analytical may exhibit “analysis paralysis” when overextended.  Someone who is typically creative and social, may become impulsive and over-emotional under extreme stress. And the “people person” who brings harmony to every meeting may suddenly become stubborn and resistant. When Mr. Nice Guy turns into Attila the Hun, it’s time to get a handle on stress.

So…how do you do it? Start by taking some time to sit down and review your day, your week, your life. Where and when do you notice your body crying “uncle” via a headache, mood swing, or other physical signal? Can you identify particular responsibilities, activities, people that are stress triggers for you? Is it the unexpected that gets to you, the volume of work, the work itself, or the fact that you never seem to get a break?

Write your personal/professional stressors down and then select and prioritize three that you will work on to reduce. Do you need to have a “difficult conversation” with someone to resolve a lingering issue? Do you need to request more resources to meet a looming deadline you are worried about? Ask for what you need.

And, to get started on reducing your stress level in general, here are some stress busters for you.

Set boundaries. Establish a time after which you do not take work phone calls or respond to work emails, texts, smoke signals, whatever. Manage expectations about your “work hours.”

Be willing to say “no.” When asked to do something with a clearly unreasonable deadline, or without appropriate resources, explain the impact it will have on your current work. Offer alternative dates or suggest alternative resources.

Stop and pause. Do a personal check-in. Adjust priorities, if necessary. Take a break.

Breathe. Deeply and often. Consider meditation. Take a walk in the park or along the beach.

Laugh. I can’t recommend this enough. Find something to laugh about every day. It’s good medicine!

“Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, and let go of what you can’t change…Life’s too short to be anything but happy.” – Unknown

Till next time,
Karen

The post Overextended? Try These Stress Busters! appeared first on PeopleThink.

In fact, in 2016, more than half of American workers – 54% – left vacation days unused, according to a recent survey by Project: Time Off, who studies American vacation habits. This means that 662 million vacation days were left on the table, and since some of those days had to be forfeited (since they couldn’t be rolled over, banked or paid out) American workers gave up $66.4 billion in benefits in 2016. Seriously?

Here are some more startling facts from the Project: Time Off report.

-Unused vacation days cost the U.S. economy $236 billion in 2016, due to lost spending

-That spending would have supported 1.8 million American jobs, and generated $70 billion in additional income for American workers

-If the 54% of workers who left time unused took just one more day off, it would drive $33 billion in economic impact

So why are Americans so reluctant to take vacations? Some often-cited reasons (ahem, excuses) are: heavy workload, lack of money to “go anywhere” and the perception that people who take time off are less dedicated.

It may also stem from the fact that the United States is the only advanced economy that does not require its employers to offer their workers paid vacation time. In their report, No-Vacation Nation researchers at the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that:

-Nearly one-fourth of U.S. companies offer no paid time off

-Those companies that do offer an average of only 10 days vacation per year

Compare this to European countries where employers are required by law to offer at least 20 days per year. And they expect their employees to take it! In Austria, the typical employee gets 25 days annual leave plus 13 paid holidays. Now that’s a vacation!

It amazes me that so many people in the U.S. who DO have the opportunity to take time off don’t take it. Even those working for companies that have unlimited or more generous than average time off policies.

Back to that 54%. If you’re in that category, you are missing out on myriad benefits from getting away from the office. And I mean REALLY getting away. Not just moving your electronics to the beach! Research shows that time away from work:

-Improves overall health

-Increases creativity (New experiences! Different scenery!)

-Provides for quality time with family

-Ignites neural connections (increasing your brain power, and that’s got to be good!)

-Increases productivity upon return

So what are you waiting for? You still have plenty of time before the winter weather sets in, and popular vacation spots are less crowded in the fall. Even if you take a “staycation” (note: without electronics), you’ll feel better for it. Your family will feel better for it. And, yes, the company will survive while you’re gone.

Till next time,

Karen

The post Are You Leaving Vacation Days on the Table? Don’t! appeared first on PeopleThink.

Be self-aware. Knowing your boundaries starts with understanding your values and what’s important to you. If having personal downtime in the evening or family time on the weekend is important to you, then you would want to make it clear that you’re offline in the evenings and not working on weekends. Difficult, I know, in this always-connected work environment.  And, this environment was created by all of us who said “yes” to being always connected and working a ridiculous number of hours in the week (including weekends!)  It’s up to us to change it.

Set your boundaries. Decide what your boundaries are. Prioritize them. Write them down. Internalize them. Practice saying them in front of the mirror. Give yourself permission to have boundaries and acknowledge the benefits – more respect from others; more respect for yourself; less stress and anxiety and/or feelings of resentment; more free time; more time to focus on the projects you want to do, etc.

Communicate them. Be direct. If you don’t want your boss and co-workers contacting you at all hours, be specific about the times you’re available. On projects, manage others’ expectations up front with regard to what you’re capable of and the timeframe in which you can achieve it. Be very clear about scope, and the cost – in time, dollars or other work – when scope expands beyond that.

Learn to say no. Saying “no” is hard, especially when it’s to your leader, or to someone whose relationship you value. Yet as workplace communication consultant Diane Amundson says, “Good bosses appreciate employees who have the confidence to say no.” It’s all in how you frame it.

Challenge the stories that hold you back. Think about times in the past when you’ve said “yes” and later regretted it. Or allowed yourself to be taken advantage of. What held you back from being more direct? Fear of losing your job? Fear of disappointing the other person? Most people are unaware of how their actions impact us unless we tell them, and will appreciate being told what our limits are.

Be consistent. Once you’ve established and communicated your boundaries, work to maintain them. This will help educate others how to treat you, and will contribute to your well-being and peace of mind.

“I encourage people to remember that “No” is a complete sentence.” – Gavin de Becker

Till next time, Karen

The post Setting Boundaries: Saying “Yes” to Saying “No” appeared first on PeopleThink.

Let’s talk about FOMO and the sheer volume of content some are trying to keep up with. A daunting task indeed. According to statistics from Micro Focus, Internet activity in 2016 included:

-More than 350,000 Tweets per minute

-400 hours of new video on YouTube per minute

-3 million Facebook posts per minute

-4 million Google searches conducted worldwide each minute of every day

-In the US, 4 million text messages sent per minute

Even the most adept multitasker could never keep up with it all, so why do we keep trying? Maybe it’s time to take a step back, breathe deeply, and learn to focus. Besides, multitasking is detrimental to your health, and research shows it does not make you more productive.

In a BeBrainFit.com article, The Cognitive Costs of Multitasking, the author points out that while most of us are capable of doing two things at once, such as carrying on a conversation while walking or drinking coffee while driving, “what we can’t do is learn or concentrate on two things at once.” When the brain receives more information than it can process, she says, it queues up the first two pieces and ignores the rest.

Some other startling gems from the research in her article:

-Multitasking costs the US economy an estimated $650 billion annually in wasted productivity

-After an interruption, such as a phone call or checking email, it can take 5 minutes to get back into your workflow

-Studies show that multitasking stunts emotional intelligence and makes us less creative

-Chronic multitaskers have more trouble organizing their thoughts and filtering out irrelevant information, making them slower at switching gears

-According to brain scans, chronic multitaskers have less gray matter in their brains, which is linked to depression, anxiety and poor impulse control

-Excessive multitasking meets the criteria of an addiction – you can’t easily quit, you suffer withdrawal symptoms when you try, and you’re aware of the negative consequences but you do it anyway

Yikes! And it’s not just your brain and productivity that are affected. Multitasking can be a safety hazard as well. Texting drivers are 6 times more likely to cause an accident than drunk drivers.

So what are we to do? Start with a self-awareness check. What’s your workflow like during the day? Are you constantly checking your phone, stopping tasks to check email, or taking a peek at Twitter to make sure the world hasn’t ended? If so, time to get a handle on that habit.

Consider chunking your tasks into 25-30 minute segments, focusing on one task only during that time period. Schedule your email checks, phone calls, and confirmation that the earth is still turning at specific times during the day. Say, every two to three hours. Believe me, if something major happens in the meantime, someone else will let you know!

And practice mindfulness. Allow yourself some time every day to unplug, sit outside or some other place that’s quiet, and just be. Whatever you’re missing out on is not as important as your personal health and well-being.

Till next time,

Karen

The post Stop Multitasking! It’s Bad for Your Health appeared first on PeopleThink.

I find this amazing. We need our R&R, people!

Why are US workers so reluctant to use their vacation time? A survey by GfK, who studies American workers and time off, found the following:

26% worry they’ll be seen as less dedicated

23% worry that they’ll be replaced

21% worry that they’ll hurt their chances for a raise or promotion

But here’s the thing. In a comparison of vacation takers and vacation forfeiters, GfK found that:

“Employees who forfeit their vacation days do not perform as well as those who use all their time. While they may believe sacrificing vacation time will get them ahead, these employees are less likely than non-forfeiters to have been promoted within the last year (23% to 27%) and to have received a raise or bonus in the last three years (78% to 84%). This is on top of the $66.4 billion in benefits they lost by forfeiting time last year.”

So vacation forfeiters, let me ask: How’s that working for you?

If you don’t already have something on the calendar, I encourage you to take a few minutes right now and pencil in a week or two weeks or whatever your schedule allows.  You need a break. It’s good for you, and it’s good for your employer.

Taking vacation has been shown to:

-Reduce stress

-Contribute to better mental and physical health

-Improve relationships

When companies encourage their employees to take vacation, they benefit through:

-Higher employee productivity

-Stronger workplace morale

-Greater retention

-Healthier employees

Whether you take an exotic vacation or a low-key “staycation,” get something on the calendar before the summer gets away from you!

Just like you need to give your body a break from your workouts, you need to give your brain a break from your work. Thinking, managing your emotions, making decisions, creating new ideas, interacting with others, all require mental effort that can wear your brain out.  You need to give it a rest.

“Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” -Seneca

Till next time,

Karen

The post Take a Hike, Take a Cruise, Take a Vacation! appeared first on PeopleThink.

I’m sharing this because in this hectic and often harsh world of ours we often forget the importance of doing things that contribute to personal well-being. Things like connecting with yourself by knowing and doing the things that feed your soul. Connecting with friends who care about you and accept you just as you are. And connecting with others by volunteering your time or expertise.

I was at a point where I needed some downtime. And having allowed myself to take it, I now feel smarter, more energized, and much more prepared to face whatever I need to.  I highly recommend you do the same.

Here’s how to “connect” your way to wellness:

Take care of yourself first.  You can’t pour from an empty cup. Just like you need to put your oxygen mask on first if you’re flying with a child, you need to take care of your health, your rest, and your basic needs in order to be able to do what you need to do for your family, your job, whatever. Know what soothes you and do it!

Connect with friends. And make it in-person connections versus posting on their timeline. Facebook and email give us the illusion that we’re keeping in touch, but nothing beats the in-person, eyeball to eyeball, love-the-sound-of-your-laughter kind of connection. Trust me. This one’s a priority for me.

Schedule a 3-hour window with no meetings.  Do your days turn into meeting mania?  Schedule a block of time where you are unavailable and can focus uninterrupted on work you need to get done, or just spend some alone time to reconnect with yourself.

No meetings after 4 pm on Friday. This should be a no-brainer, and yet there are those who still schedule, or call impromptu, meetings at 4 pm on a Friday. Change that by just saying no. Obviously there are times when it’s an emergency need. But for the most part, it’s just poor planning!

Be “present” with your family…and friends. When you’re with your family and friends put the phone away. Email, text, and the newsfeed can wait. Your loved ones want to see your smiling face and not just the top of your head. Put the phone away and allow for a real connection.

Give back – to your team, to your community, to your favorite charity, to others. Doing good for others helps you feel better about yourself and may improve your health. In a Canadian study, 85% of volunteers ranked their health as “good” compared to only 79% of non-volunteers.

Now start connecting!  You’ll be glad you did.

Till next time,

Karen

The post “Connecting” Your Way to Wellness appeared first on PeopleThink.

If you don’t already have something on the calendar, I encourage you to take a few minutes right now (well, after you finish reading this) and pencil in a week or two weeks or whatever your schedule allows. You need a break. It’s good for you, and it’s good for your employer.

Taking vacation has been shown to:
• Reduce stress
• Contribute to better physical and mental health
• Improve relationships

When companies encourage their employees to take vacation, they benefit through:
• Higher employee productivity
• Stronger workplace morale
• Greater retention
• Healthier employees

Whether you take an exotic vacation or a low-key “staycation,” get something on the calendar before the summer gets away from you!

Once you’ve scheduled your vacation, don’t stop there. I highly recommend that you pick a day this summer, and in fact, maybe once a month or once a quarter, that is just…for…you. One day that is your day to do whatever you want, except work! Go to a spa, take a hike, play a round of golf, or just sit by the ocean…whatever feeds your soul.

Just like you need to give your body a break from your workouts, you need to give your brain a break from your work. Thinking, managing your emotions, making decisions, creating new ideas, interacting with others, all require mental effort that can wear your brain out. You need to give it a rest.

In the words of Maya Angelou: “Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence. Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.”

Till next time,
Karen

The post What Are You Doing This Summer? appeared first on PeopleThink.

We all know that a little stress is OK. It keeps our fight-or-flight juices working, and often helps us get the job done. How many times have you heard someone say, “I do my best work under stress.”

However, too much stress can contribute to a laundry list of health issues, including headaches, nausea, high blood pressure, chest pain, and insomnia. Not to mention how being over-stressed (and no doubt cranky!) can impair relationships, decrease productivity, and increase the risk of accidents. Having too much stress, or as we call it at Lumina Learning, being “overextended,” can even turn your positive qualities into negative ones. For example, someone who is detail-focused and analytical may exhibit “analysis paralysis” when overextended. Someone who is typically creative and social, may become impulsive and overly emotional under extreme stress. And the “people person” who brings harmony to every meeting may suddenly become stubborn and resistant. When Mr. Nice Guy turns into Attila the Hun, it’s time to get a handle on stress.

That being said, the next question is, “so how do I do it?” Start by allocating some time to sit down and review your day, your week, your life. Where and when do you notice your body crying “uncle” via a headache, mood swing, or other physical signal? Can you identify particular responsibilities, activities, people that are stress triggers for you? Is it the unexpected that gets to you, the volume of work, the work itself, or the fact that you never seem to get a break? Write your personal/professional stressors down and then select and prioritize three that you will work on to mitigate. Do you need to have a “difficult conversation” with someone to work through a stressful relationship? Do you need to request more resources to meet a looming deadline you are worried about? Ask for what you need.

And to ease your stress in general, give yourself a break, and do these 5 things:

1. Set boundaries. Establish a time after which you don’t take work phone calls or respond to work emails, texts, smoke signals, whatever. Manage expectations about your “work hours.”
2. Be willing to say “no.” When asked to do something with a clearly unreasonable deadline, or without appropriate resources, explain the impact it will have on your current work. Offer alternative dates or suggest alternative resources.
3. Stop and pause. Do a personal check-in. Adjust priorities, if necessary. Take a break.
4. Breathe. Deeply and often. Consider meditation. Take a walk in the park or along the beach.
5. Laugh. I can’t recommend this enough. Find something to laugh about every day. It’s good medicine.

“Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, and let go of what you can’t change…Life’s too short to be anything but happy.” – Unknown

Till next time,

Karen

The post Stressed? Time to Evaluate Priorities! appeared first on PeopleThink.

Let’s face it. Work environments are pretty stressful these days. The constant push to get more done (often with fewer resources and less time) can take a toll on your mood, your health, and your relationships. But here’s the thing. Adding a little levity to your day will not only help you get more done, it will improve your mood, your health and your relationships!

How great is that?

In a recent Fast Company article, “The Surprising Ways Humor Can Improve Your Culture,” author Harvey Deutschendorf outlined five reasons why putting some humor into your work culture “can have you laughing all the way to the bank.”

1. It lowers stress and improves motivation
2. It builds stronger relationships
3. It helps you show appreciation
4. It improves your health
5. It makes for smoother transitions

If you know me, or have been following my blogs, then you know that I’m a major advocate for infusing some fun and laughter into the workplace. In fact, I wrote about the benefits of laughter early last year. In addition to the benefits Deutschendorf describes above, research shows that laughter contributes to increased creativity, improved problem solving, and enhanced memory.

I’ve seen how this works firsthand. Back in my hi-tech corporate days, I was asked to create a strategy that would improve communication and integrate the cultures of a number of newly acquired teams located on multiple campuses. The teams included senior managers, individual performers and all levels in between. The challenge was that they were not, and were not going to be, under one roof. And there was a fair amount of cultural resistance in becoming part of the new organization. I definitely had my work cut out for me!

I put together a team, booked a conference room for several weekly meetings, and armed myself with colored markers and blank flip chart paper. And then the fun began. A few ideas. Laughter. More laughter, more ideas. At one point we were laughing so hard that someone asked us to “pipe down.” OK, so disturbing others is probably not such a good idea, nevertheless, we made it fun and got it done! The outcome was the “People Road Show” – a traveling troupe of presenters who communicated the new culture, learning and volunteer opportunities, benefits and other people-related messages in a very creative and positive way. We had music, a tag line, a logo, and plenty of opportunities for the audience to ask questions and share concerns. Each “Road Show” concluded with a company-sponsored barbecue where employees from different campuses could get to know one another and feel part of the bigger picture.

The fun we had in the development process became an integral part of the product, and helped create one cohesive team out of many.

“A wonderful thing about true laughter is that it just destroys any kind of system of dividing people.” – John Cleese

Keep laughing!

Till next time,

Karen

The post Want to Get More Done? Lighten Up and Laugh a Little! appeared first on PeopleThink.

Fast forward to TODAY. If you were asked to write about your summer vacation, would you have a good story to tell? Or would your response be “What vacation?” If the latter, you wouldn’t be alone. A survey conducted by Skift, who tracks American travel habits, found that in 2014, 42% of Americans didn’t take a single day of vacation. Why is that? Some often-cited reasons (ahem, excuses) are: heavy workload, lack of money to “go anywhere” and the perception that people who take time off are less dedicated.

It may also stem from the fact that the United States is the only advanced economy that does not require its employers to offer their workers paid vacation time. In their report, No-Vacation Nation Revisited, researchers at the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that:
• Nearly one-fourth of U.S. companies offer no paid time off
• Those companies that do offer an average of only 10 days vacation per year

Compare this to European countries where employers are required by law to offer at least 20 days per year. And they expect their employees to take it! In Austria, the typical employee gets 25 days annual leave plus 13 paid holidays. Now that’s a vacation!

It amazes me that so many people in the U.S. who DO have the opportunity to take time off don’t take it. Even those working for companies that have unlimited or more generous than average time off policies. Back to that 42%. If you’re in that category, you are missing out on myriad benefits from getting away from the office. And I mean REALLY getting away. Not just moving your electronics to the beach! Research shows that time away from work:
• Improves overall health
• Increases creativity (New experiences! Different scenery!)
• Provides for quality time with family
• Ignites neural connections (Increasing your brain power, and that’s got to be good!)
• Increases productivity upon return

So what are you waiting for? There are still a few weeks left before summer officially ends. Do yourself a favor and use up some of those vacation days to take a well-deserved break. Even if you take a “stay vacation” (note: without electronics). You’ll feel better for it. Your family will feel better for it. And, yes, the company will survive while you’re gone.

Get working on that essay!

Till next time,

Karen

The post What Did You Do on Your Summer Vacation? appeared first on PeopleThink.

If you HAVE joined in my challenge, I’d love to hear what you’ve been doing to be more in the moment and appreciate today, versus fretting over yesterday or focusing on tomorrow. Please comment.

If you have yet to join my challenge, I invite you to do so today. What are you waiting for? Don’t lose those magical moments. Here are 6 ways to make the rest of your year “The Year of Being Present.”

1. 1. 1. Pay more attention to the little things. A sunrise, a smile from a stranger, your child’s latest discovery, a “thank you” from someone you helped or coached.
      2. Listen. Really listen. Too often we are forming our response or thinking of other things when someone is speaking to us. Be in the moment and focus entirely on them. You will be amazed at what you’ll learn, and how good you’ll make them feel.
      3. Figure out what ignites your soul and do it. Often. Schedule it. Capture it. Repeat it.
      4. Say “thank you.” Always. We seem to run through our days so quickly that we forget to stop and say “thank you” to those who have helped in some way, or given advice, or shown a kindness. Be specific, and if possible, do it in person.
      5. Have at least one belly laugh, every day. Laughter is an incredible stress-reliever and healer. And so powerful when shared. DO NOT miss the moments of laughter.
      6. And, perhaps most importantly, surround yourself with good friends – as I do with my Jersey Girls…

“Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going.” – Tennessee Williams

Till next time,

Karen

The post The Year of Being Present – How’s It Going? appeared first on PeopleThink.