When you think of training in the workplace, your mind probably immediately moves towards teaching people how to do their job. While this is an important part of the learning and development process, many people forget that they also need to teach their people about the culture and values of the organisation and how to enjoy themselves in the workplace.
Table of Contents
While the tips at training sites such as http://www.axcelerate.com.au tend to be more directed to the process based learning and development, this time the focus is on the feeling side of it.
Identify Your Organisation’s Values
How does your business like to conduct itself? What do you stand for? What don’t you stand for? While often these questions are left up to the marketing department to decide for your customer communication, it is important that your employees also believe in and support your brand and see these values carried through consistently across the organisation. Whether it’s serving a customer or having a regular one on one catch up with a staff member, your core operating ideals should be present. Just as customers need to trust to make a purchase, employees need to trust to be engaged and productive.
Have Some Fun
Training doesn’t always have to involve sitting in front of computer screens or starting at a PowerPoint presentation. Whether you are implementing a new sales process or trying to build team work, why not see if there is a more creative way that the course content can be delivered? Sometimes it’s nice to experience something a little bit different and it helps show your employees that you care about their wellbeing as well as your bottom line.
Give Them The Tools And Training They Need To Do Their Job
This still ties into how your employees feel about working for the organisation. Often causes of low morale can be attributed to employees not clearly understanding what is expected of them or uncertainty about how to do their job. Make sure that you are supplying the resources they need and that everything works – slow or malfunctioning software and equipment are another common gripe amongst employees. Make sure that their job description accurately reflects what you want them to do and there are measurable and realistic KPI’s in place. Above all else, communicate regularly with your team and check in with them on their progress and opportunities for improvement while taking the time to find out if they have any requests for assistance or further development.
Often low workplace morale has little to do with how much the employee likes their job, and more to do with how much they like the company they work for. Having a consistent and human set of values underpinning how your organisation conducts itself, regular opportunities for fun and ensuring your people know what you’re asking of them and have everything they need to be able to achieve it are all far more important than what you are actually asking them to do for a living.
How would you rate morale in your workplace?
Photo credits: jscreationzs – FreeDigitalPhotos.Net
