Wednesday, November 27, 2019

25 Effective Teambuilding Activities

25 Effective Teambuilding Activities25 Effective Teambuilding ActivitiesTeambuilding can be humdrum but it doesnt have to be. Boost staff spirits and build camaraderie with one of these low- or no-cost teambuilding activities.Every team is different, and leaders would be wise to choose a creative teambuilding experience that fits their groups personality and needs. Some may prefer to get their employees away from the office for a day of adventure or rejuvenation. Others may opt for a mora structured activity, such as a brainstorming or strategy workshop, to inspire new ideas or ways of thinking.Whatever you decide, yur goal should be to carve out time for your employees to have fun, interact outside of their normal work environment and learn a thing or two. So how do you choose an unforgettable teambuilding activity for your staff? The Creative Group asked more than 400 advertising and marketing executives to share the most memorable teambuilding experience theyve ever had. Get insp ired by these 25 effective teambuilding activities that range in price and purpose.Creative and effective teambuilding activitiesSome of the examples executives recounted prove that effective teambuilding activities dont have to break the bankWe instituted Take Your Dog to Work Day.It creates camaraderie among employees.We play office trivia as a team.ur department watches a movie together every month.We celebrate birthdays and company anniversaries.We hold chili cook-offs.We invite employees to family friendly company picnics.Some staff bond over sporting darbietungsWe organized a monthly bowling trip - and it turned out great.We formed a company softball team.We participate in activities such as basketball, pool and laser tag.We host an event for new hires that includes activities like wall climbing.We invited all employees to a baseball game.We went out for a go-kart race with all our employees.Ready to staff an open role? Use our candidate finder.Teambuilding activities that re quire brains over brawn are often good choices for those on a budgetWe offer workshops to help develop skills like effective communication, team coordination and problem solving.We plan an annual staff retreat to talk about upcoming events and discuss strategies and goals.We played a blindfold game, which helped build trust on the team.We invite motivational speakers to present to employees.Have more funds to work with? Consider one of these more elaborate outingsWe competed in an escape room challenge.We took a tour of the World Trade Center.While at a national meeting, we broke into groups and composed songs and then performed with local country musicians.We went zip-lining.We participated in a water rafting trip.These examples prove you can build camaraderie while giving back to the communityEmployees participated in a 12K run to support a good cause.We volunteered to help build a home.We hosted a banquet fundraiser to help students go to college.Our team came together to help fe ed the hungry in our community.Effective teambuilding icebreakersIf you want to create a precedence of thinking outside the box with your team activities, sometimes all it starts with is a good question. You can even incorporate these in regular meetings to lift the mood and engage your staff. But dont pose questions that make employees roll their eyes. Consider these thoughtful and fun teambuilding questions for your next get-together.What was your first job? What skills did you learn from it that you still use today?What is one thing that no one in this room probably knows about you?What book, show, podcast or Ted Talk would you recommend to your coworkers?If you could choose any one famous person, living or dead, whom would you like to join our team? Why?Are you an early bird or night owl? How does this affect how you work?If you could pick up a new skill in an instant work related or otherwise what would it be?What is one thing you would like to do in the next year that youve never done before?What is the most interesting place that youve been, near or far?

Saturday, November 23, 2019

You Can Fire an Employee With Compassion and Class

You Can Fire an Employee With Compassion and ClassYou Can Fire an Employee With Compassion and ClassManagers cite firing employees as the job they most hate to do. Sometimes, however, terminating a staff parties employment is the best step to take for your organization. Sometimes terminating a persons employment is the kindest action you can take for the employee, too. Some employment relationships were never meant to work. In some circumstances, firing an employee is an immediate necessity for the safety and well-being of the rest of your employees. Occasionally, the employee may have done such an egregious action that immediate termination of employment was warranted. Because employment termination can take many forms, depending on the circumstances, lets take a look at immediate termination for cause and termination for non-wertmiger zuwachs due to a lack of productivity or a general mismatch of the employee, job, and company. Immediate Employment Termination for Cause Occasio nally, situations arise for which you will want to terminate a persons employment immediately. Make sure you have behauptung instances listed in your employee handbook. These often include situations in which an employee threatens violence or commits a violent act,brings a weapon to work,views pornographic movies on work computers and on work time,steals company property, and/orcommits similar offenses of a dire nature. The best you can do, under such circumstance, is to follow this process to terminate an individuals employment. Ensure the employee is not a danger to himself or otzu sich employees. (If he appears to be, help otherbei employees to safety and call law enforcement authorities and security personnel immediately.)If the employee does not appear to be dangerous to himself or others, notify law enforcement authorities if an illegal act has taken place.Utilize internal security personnel, if available.Remain polite and respectful.State the offense calmly and with a witness in the room.Tell the employee his employment is terminated. Obtain the return of all company property.Allow the employee to pack personal items from his workstation if circumstances warrant.Enable the employee to ask any questions about the end of employment.Escort the former employee from the building with the understanding that if he returns he is trespassing. Employment Termination for Non-Performance Firing an employee does not have to be the worst experience of your year. You can use the occasion to examine what went wrong in the employment relationship. Assuming the termination is for a mismatch, you can help the employee build self-esteem despite their employment termination. You can encourage the employee to look ahead and get started on a new job search. Even if the firing is for non-wertzuwachs, you want to end the relationship on a positive note. Firing an employee who is unable to meet reasonable company production standards is common. So, is firing an employee who, even with extensive training, proves unable to perform her job. Occasionally, you have an employee who is perennially late for a job that requires constant staffing such as an assembly line or a frontline customer service worker. Sometimes, an employee is bored or unhappy with her current fleck, pay, or job title. You have no open positions for which she qualifies. Her pay and title are consistent with the position. Unfortunately, the employees job performance is rapidly deteriorating. In some instances, an employee is either consciously or unconsciously asking you to fire her for her performance. The individual knows, on some level, that her employment with you is the wrong placement. In a recent termination meeting, the employee stated, What took you guys so long to fire me? I am bored out of my skull with this job. In all of these instances, these are the steps to follow. Steps in Employment Termination for Non-Performance Before the Termination Meeting Make sure the employe e is clear about the job expectations, the production expectations and any other details that would enable the person to perform effectively. Job descriptions, posted production standards, and data about performance help the employee understand and perform their role. A performance management system ensures the employees clarity about the goals.If the employee is violating policies and procedures, make sure these are written and that the employee has been trained in the policies and procedures. A signed form stating that the employee has read and understood the policy is good testimony that you can use to allay the potential for future litigation. Provide help and guidance give the employee regular feedback about her performance. Make sure you explain the potential consequences of underperformance. Coaching for improved performance provides a step-by-step coaching approach you can use to help an employee improve her work performance. This approach avoids discipline and produces resu lts.Determine that you are applying the performance standards fairly. For purposes of discrimination avoidance, you must address any employee who is doing the same things in the same way. You must address the employee with the most serious problems first. All employees who are failing to follow your policies must be disciplined in the same way never focus on one persons performance. If you determine that a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) might help the employee succeed, use a PIP to positively encourage the employee. The detail required in a PIP sometimes helps a failing employee reach clarity about job expectations. You can fire an employee without using a PIP on occasion, too.Most importantly, you need to document any performance discussions for the employees file with the time, date, and policy or performance problem clearly identified. Keep good records because you never know when you will need them. Minimally, good records will refresh your memory of the termination. Employe es move on and good records ensure the employer will be able to address any issues about the termination in the future. In progressive discipline, each write-up must escalate so that you have verbal warnings, verbal written warning and then suspensions on the record. This ensures that employment termination is never a surprise. When you schedule the termination meeting, the employee should not be surprised. In a recent termination meeting, the employee came to the meeting with all of his possessions already packed. No surprises is good. Employment Termination for Non-Performance During The Termination Meeting These are the steps to use when you schedule and conduct an employment termination meeting. Schedule a meeting that includes the employee, the employees supervisor, and either a Human Resources representative or in some cases, the supervisors manager. These meetings are often held mid-afternoon on a Tuesday or Wednesday so that the employee has the ability to start a job se arch immediately. Even in this connected world, you want to enable a terminated employee start to take action immediately.Be straight-forward. Tell the employee her job is terminated. You can tell the employee the reason for the termination although most lawyers would advise against this. In many companies, where the employees have carefully and regularly communicated with the employee facing termination, they do not. The assumption is made that they have communicated effectively about the performance issues for months. No need to rehash everything at the termination meeting. Be civil, concise, and compassionate. Respect the persons dignity. Allow her to speak if she wants to and ask any questions she may have. You may even engage in some discussion about what went wrong in the employment relationship. Example, perhaps the person was not a good fit for the position from the beginning. Perhaps the employees work style is too slow for the pace of the company. Perhaps the employee had become so bored, she wanted to be fired. At no point, however, allow the person to think you might be talked out of the decision to terminate her employment. The employee may try to get even, to lash out and make you wrong. Dont become angry, argue with the employee, or try to settle the score. Recognize going into the meeting that you are likely very disappointed, too.You had an expensive investment in this employees success, both personally and financially. You will have to recruit and train the employees replacement. Make sure your emotions are under control so you can remain compassionate and respectful.You can assess by the way the meeting has gone whether discussion or advice to the departing employee would be helpful. You will find that you can often help by discussing the kind of job the employee might succeed in, how to locate job searching resources, school attendance ideas, and the employees strengths. This brief discussion can help the employee clarify their direction an d help them move on. You build the employees self-esteemand help them begin the process of job searching. Collect all company property or determine its location and make arrangements to collect it. Work closely with your IT staff to cut off the employees access to work systems and regain electronic devices the company owns.Give the employee a choice about who among the meeting attendees will walk her out of the building. Give the employee a choice about whether she wants to remove personal belongings from her workstation now or after hours.Complete all of the steps in your employment ending checklist. Note these are the top ten things you never want to do when you fire an employee. More Most Popular Content Top 10 Human Resources Trends of the Decade DisclaimerPlease note that the information provided, while authoritative, is not guaranteed for accuracy and legality. The site is read by a world-wide audience and ?employment lawsand regulations vary from state to state and country to country. Please seek legal assistance, or assistance from State, Federal, or International governmental resources, to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct for your location. This information is for guidance, ideas, and assistance.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Military Spouses Volunteering During Employment Gaps

Military Spouses Volunteering During Employment GapsMilitary Spouses Volunteering During Employment Gaps4While accompanying a spouse on active service you may find yourself in a situation where employment opportunities are very slim. Often times this occurs on remote and overseas assignments. However, there is also a possibility for it happening when stationed stateside. During employment gaps it is important to continue to stay involved in activities that will support your professional aspirations. One such way to do this is by volunteering during employment gaps in the local community.Volunteering can provide a tremendous amount of experience and is a great way to show employers what you were doing between positions. Additionally, volunteering gives back to the community, requiring characteristics that can only enhance workplace culture.Here are some items to keep in mind when choosing volunteer activities to utilize in your professional job search as well as some benefits gained t hrough volunteer activitiesHow does it relate Choosing a volunteer activity that relates to your desired industry can provide specific experience and skills needed in the future.Length of time If the volunteer position or activity is for an extensive amount of time, it is well worth adding it to your resume as experience when you have employment gaps. This can show employers that you are invested in what you do and that you can be relied on.Foot in the door Many volunteer organizations will choose within their volunteer pools when hiring for paid jobs.Connections Volunteering can be a great place to make connections and network. You can build business relationships that may lead to other great volunteer or employment opportunities.Personal Well-being Who doesnt feel great when giving back to the community? Not only does it provide food for the soul, but it also helps to build self-confidence, develop social relationships, and supports physical activity.Volunteering is an activity th at should not be ruled out by the unemployed or those seeking to develop professional (or personal) skills. Giving back to the community will provide personal growth and happiness, as well as assist professionally through the experience gained, skills learned, and connections made. Heres to offering a helping handReaders, what was your last volunteer experience? Do you find volunteering during employment gaps useful? Has it ever helped in your professional life? Tell us