Objective The needs analysis conducted across departments has produced a common fault among existing employees of a lack of morale, which in turn, is being projected into further problems. The lack of morale is being reinforced through improper direction from management, a decrease in sense of belonging, and an absence of performance evaluations and feedback. Because this issue runs through many different departments and needs to be addressed as a whole, Human Resources needs to step in and conduct an initial training session with upper and senior management. This step will provide management with the necessary background information and tools to conduct separate trainings session with their employees to help boost morale and ensure that both existing and new hires are engaged, feel as though they belong to the organization, and that their voices are heard. Sub-objectives In order to properly conduct these training sessions to ensure there is an increase in morale across all employees throughout all departments, many subobjectives need to be met: Human Resources must create and implement a training program for upper and senior management on how to conduct performance evaluations, provide constructive feedback, and how to direct a future training program with their department. Prior to management meeting with their departments, anonymous surveys should be given to all employees to collect data on any concerns and ideas on correcting these concerns (to increase sense of voice within the organization). Management must be aware of their shortcomings based on the results from the anonymous surveys and feedback by the people they manage so that issues within the department can be address. A training session conducted to increase employee knowledge on organizational culture and address concerns. This will help create a stronger connection to/ from the employees to the organization and to their department. Yearly performance evaluations must be used by management so that morale and performance can be tracked for every employees so that any changes can be noted. These evaluations will also help to increase morale because employees will not have a connection with their manager, feedback on their performance, and an outlet to bring up any concerns they have in the future. Designing or Purchasing a program We reviewed the pros and cons of both purchasing a program and designing a program. Our first thoughts were to purchase the program because of several factors. Because the organization as a whole is lacking morale, we thought it would be a good idea to have a team building day while increasing the employee's knowledge of the organizational culture. The day would consist of getting together and spending the day doing activities to get to know each other on a personal level and learning about the history of the organization, the culture and the mission statement. Since this would only be one day, human resources thought the cost savings of purchasing a one time course would be much more cost effective than having members use their resources and time creating a program. However, once the organization started researching the companies that offer team building sessions, we discovered that there are several resources online to help create a team building session. Because we wanted the day to be a mix of team building activities and learning more about the organization, we thought it would be best if designed the session ourselves because an outside agency does not know our values, mission statement and culture. The more we looked into it, the more it made sense to create our own session for the following reason: It allows Human Resources to customize the activities that suit the issues of our organization directly. It can be the starting point for team building sessions to occur annually. We can see which activities worked well and which ones we need to change. It can also be used as a reminder of the mission statement and values of the organization and how they relate to company morale. Management can run the sessions so they too have involvement in boosting company morale with the hopes that the employees see management in a new light, instead of perhaps just an authority figure. We are hoping it also opens up communication between employees and management so that employees feel comfortable with management if ever a problem occurs at work. This way, the employee can talk about any frustrations and come up with a solution instead of carrying it with him/her and in return, have morale be affected. Although the start-up costs will be higher to build a team building session instead of purchase one, the Human Resources team believe the long term costs will result in savings for the company because the session can be used in years to come instead of having to hire an outside agency each year. We are aware that the session will not be effective if we use the same material each year, however, we can have a starting point and tweak the day's activities to fit the needs of the staff each year. It is the hopes that if we do a team building session every year, it will soon be a day that employees look forward to and share our enthusiasm about it, which will definitely be calculated as a return on investment. Overview of content/Identifying It Often times Management can be and are disconnected with their employees or they do not give them enough affirmation that is needed. Lack of morale is an emotional issue and therefore employees need to know that their work is appreciated. They want to have the sense that they belong, that they are respected and have the respect of their peers and management. Everyone in the workforce has common goals and common purposes then management too has the same goals. There are a many ways to attempt to boost morale within the organization: See if there are any issues that employees are having that you can help with, and be sincere about your approach, it is best to go with a soft and casual approach Take breaks or lunches with your employees or even a small coffee break, it helps show you do not consider them beneath your association. This gives you ample opportunity to show that you can have a conversation that is not work related and goes a long way to maintain and/or open the lines of communication. Observe the work that they are doing and interact with them, see if there is anything that you could assist with. Employees want recognition and acknowledgment that their work has purpose and that it is appreciated Recognize how the contributions of your employee have helped you get your job done. Recognize how the contributions of your employee has helped Challenge your employees - as managers, they are trained to delegate so if you can see if there is a task you can delegate to one of your employees. Take an active role in their career development, all employees like to know that there is career development opportunities and having management back you up and support you can help tremendously Check their progress with regular follow-up meetings. Low morale in the workplace is an emotional issue for employees as mentioned above, it is best to deal with problematic employees before they infect the entire group. By initiating ways to improve and boost morale employees will feel valuable and feel worthy as well as a worth team member. Training Methods Training in simple words can be defined as equipping employees with required knowledge and skills for the job. Training increases productivity, reduces supervision and heightens morale. Below are several different types of training methods used to acclimate employees within their current organization. Methods of off-the-job training Vestibule Training Uses equipment which closely resembles the actual ones on the job Trainee is permitted to learn under simulated conditions No pressure to produce while learning Lectures Verbal presentation by an instructor Lecturer should have considerable knowledge in training area Used for large groups Audio-Visuals Provide wide range of realistic examples and job conditions One-way system of communication Case Study Written description of an actual situation Provokes reader with the need to decide on what is going on What the situation really is, what the problems are and what should be done? Sensitivity Training Uses small # of trainees Meet with trainer and gain insight into their own and others behaviors Meetings have no addenda and are held away from the workplace Brainstorming Idea generating method Creative solutions to problems Trainees should deliberately Methods of on-the-job training Coaching It is one to one interaction Considered as corrective measures for inadequate performance Helps identify weakness and focuses on areas which need improvement Mentoring Focuses on attitude development Conducted for management level employees Done by someone inside the company One to one interaction Job Rotation Provides benefits to both employees and employers Increase employee interest level and motivation Helps individuals explore their interest Methods of Technology based training Enhances retention rate Provides for self-reinforcement. Interactively improves the retention of the skills being taught. Ability to customize the learning material to your own needs with more control over your learning process. Saves Time Skill assessment performed prior to taking the training determines which topics are needed to focus on Learning objectives contribute to saving time and has more lasting learning effect. Learn at your own pace Flexibility Your own learning style comes into play We have decided that a selection of team building activities for our company will be more suitable. Certain sessions can be tailored towards specific departments. We will utilize information from online companies that offer this service, however we will design the sessions ourselves to be more suitable for our organization. Considerations Trainer Selection Managers are aware that there is a problem with a lack of morale in the department. Therefore, managers are willing and able to help with the change and are accepting of the requirement to conduct the training themselves. Those managers chosen to help with facilitating will have a high amount of energy and passion for the organization and will be consistent with the ongoing training of our employees. Trainee Selection All current staff need to be involved in the training session as we are having a team building and morale boosting session. If we hand pick employees and say they need to attend, we feel they may be resentful because they were not pulling their weight in the company. Also, if we have all staff attend, we're hoping to have the employees who are gung-ho about a morale boosting session. Therefore, they can help the trainees boost morale and raise the energy in the training sessions. Room Set Up, Scheduling Administration Since the office has 4 meeting rooms as well as having the availability for multiple meeting rooms within the building (Bentall towers), we are able to hold multiple training sessions for all the departments in one day. We can then bring the departments together in the larger boardroom, which holds up to 60 people, to have large scale session and receive feedback from employees and possibly consider any improvements that may be needed. Setting up a Learning Climate The experience and age of the employees should be taken into account because of the difference in learning styles required by each age bracket. If we assume the average employee is considered an adult learner, considerations should be made to include them in the training sessions as much as possible. Therefore, taking advantage of the anonymous survey and the complaints will bring forth ideas by the employees. This will help to promote employee engagement and a sense of feeling as though their input is valued will help directly boost morale and ensure a successful training session. Promoting the 9 Events of Instruction or Critical Thinking The lesson plan will be designed to promote the 9 events of instruction in the following ways: Gain attention - there will be an ice-breaker at the beginning of the training day as a way for trainees to feel comfortable around their colleagues and to get excited about the course. Describe the objectives - this will be done by one of the managers as one of the PowerPoint slides Stimulate recall of prior knowledge - trainees can share instances where the feel the organization lost morale and then where they feel morale could have been boosted. This can be done anonymously and then the trainers can share to the group what someone wrote down. Present the material to be learned - A PowerPoint presentation will be given to the trainees covering material. Provide guidance for learning - Trainees will be split into small groups to discuss the material covered. Facilitators will be walking around the room to join the discussion, ask questions or offer suggestions where needed. Elicit performance practice - Trainees will get to play games where they are split into two teams, hopefully providing a small competition between the two teams. They can practice communication amongst the group, trust, and being enthusiastic about a work related function. Provide informative feedback - While the facilitators are walking around the small groups, they are able to give feedback about the suggestions and comments the employees have. They can also discuss what they saw to be working for teams when playing the game. Assess performance - After the game, the trainees come back as a group and discuss the winning team's strategy or what what worked and what didn't. Do the same for the losing team. Enhance retention and transfer - As a group, discuss how the qualities and characteristics used in the game can be beneficial in a workplace setting to boost company morale. Strategies for Transfer of Learning As this will be the first year we are conducting this type of training session, the plan is to keep it simple. Throughout the training day, there will be a variety of different techniques used to ensure the sessions will be beneficial for everyone involved. We plan on having management lead the session, in the hopes that the employees have more buy in. Real life examples will be used in the organization (from previous years) to ensure material is relevant. We plan on sending out the agenda ahead of time so that employees are aware of the day's events and are prepared for the group activities. In addition, we plan on using PowerPoint presentations, as well as group discussions (world cafe style) to appeal to all types of learners in the group. The games are intended as dual purpose; they are to encourage team building, but are used to practice communication skills and have the trainees actively engaging in conversation. We are hoping the combination of activities will make for a positive, memorable and meaningful training session. Lesson Plan for Departmental Training Session Each manager will be given a rough lesson plan to be followed during the training session, but can be further tailored to match the departmental needs. The initial training session will take place in order to reintroduce the company's organizational culture to the employees. The end result will be that employees values and ethics will feel more aligned with the company's mission statement. Ice Breaker/Introductions - Managers should give employees the chance to introduce themselves, stating what their personal objectives are and what they hope to gain from training. Manager Introduction - Managers introduce the training session objectives. Short Presentation - The Manager will then give a short presentation about the organization's history, culture, and mission statement. Team building Activity - employees play a team game such as dodgeball where the staff work together collaboratively to win the game. This will create team building skills and excitement about a small team rivalry. Group Discussion - This may differ depending on what the manager sees fit for their particular department. Some managers may choose to conduct a simple question and answer period. Others could see the benefits in starting a World Cafe style discussion where employees are split into smaller groups with a host facilitating conversation in each group. This method is more suited for hosting larger group dialogues. Share Findings - A final summary of the discussions that took place. If smaller groups were formed in the Group Discussion portion, this is when they should report back to the larger group with the topics that were shared. Team Building Activity - employees will play a mini Olympics game where they split into three small mini team games. Whichever team wins two out of the three games, wins. The games this year will be bean bag toss, three-legged race, and egg toss. Final Thoughts - give the employees an exit survey where there will be questions about what they liked about the day, what could be changed, and what they learned. Materials PowerPoint Presentation - A basic template of the presentation will be given to the managers of each department. It is up to them to customize this template to fit the specific needs of their departments. Depending on departmental size and the issues they face on a daily basis, this presentation could be drastically different from group to group. Company Culture Booklet and Videos - Multimedia elements are a great way to keep employees engaged during presentations and training sessions. Videos that express the organizational culture are an important tool and booklets that employees can take home as a reminder would also benefit this type of training. Evaluative Component Meetings - Meetings are an important way that knowledge is shared. Daily meetings can be held for management, weekly store meetings can be held for anyone that wishes to attend, as well as, departmental meetings twice a year. Yearly Performance Evaluations - In addition to frequent meetings, yearly evaluations are an important tool in retaining culture in an organization. Often during performance evaluations key goals are set with specific time periods. They are then revisited so ensure employees are on the right track. Structure could be as follows: Introduction and overview of performance evaluation process. During this step the manager is able to convey the importance of evaluations such as this to the employee. Reminder of the goals that had been set in the previous year. Were these goals met throughout the year? If not, what can be done to ensure completion of these goals in the future? What support can management provide for the employee. Setting of goals to be accomplished in the upcoming year that are time sensitive and measurable. Part 2. The Presentation Portion Part A: Overview of Your Training Proposal Overview (sell why we need this program) Performance Issues Being Addressed The largest issue being tackled by this training session is the serious lack of moral among existing employees and, subsequently, new employees. This may not be a direct performance related issue, but it does negatively affect turnover, daily accomplished work, and employee to management relations. With department focused training sessions and the addition of individually-catered performance evaluations; a stronger connection to both the organization and management will be created. Moreover, with this desired effect on moral, we can assume that it will spill over onto the issue of turnover where the companies atmosphere will be more inviting and reduce the number of new hires exiting. With a simple addition of a training session annual performance evaluations, gaps in performance and attitude will be addressed and resolved in a timely and cost effective manner. Approach (how it'll be fixed) Objective (why it needs to be fixed and desired outcome) Reasoning (why this type of training session) Part B: A Sample Segment from Your Proposed Training Program The second part of the presentation shows a short, component or sample from your proposed training. This is almost a \"proof of concept\" to support your proposal. It is meant to give an idea of what your training will look like and show how you will actually tackle course development. Ideally it is an interactive component (even if you don't have a class in front of you). The interactive component should demonstrate a sample of intended course content and demonstrate how your course will engage an audience and result in either knowledge or behavioural change. Remember to think about an evaluative component to demonstrate participants have learned. Examples of the presentation formats could be narrated PowerPoint slides, URL of a video, etc. or combinations of technology e.g. imbedded in a recorded webinar