While attending the funeral of a transgender woman who had been a victim of violence, the Resource Center advocate recounted this quote from the woman’s eulogy: prejudice rarely survives experience. This poignant message of hope says that engaging people of diverse backgrounds, and sometimes with vehement differences, will one day help us overcome what divides us.

American women were in crisis before the U.S. supreme court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. According to research from the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), women lost 12.2 million jobs between February and April 2020, reversing an entire decade of job gains. And in its June 2022 fact sheet on labor statistics, the NWLC reported that, while May marked 17 consecutive months of job growth, women are still down almost one million jobs since the start of the pandemic two years ago.

The decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization created even more disparity for women in the workforce by eliminating protection for abortion, resulting in its criminalization, depending on the state. So, how should companies with U.S. operations react? Some would ask, is it wise for companies to comment on such a divisive issue?

We believe companies are responsible for fostering a fair and equitable work environment. As an organization that places the utmost value on supporting our people, Schoox has decided to provide financial assistance to U.S. employees who need to travel to a different state for abortion access. The benefit is available to all employees, including team members who are not enrolled in the company medical plan, and serves to bridge the healthcare gap created by the Dobbs ruling.

Beyond resolving the disparity in the company health plan, Schoox remains committed to the principle of bringing your whole self to work—whatever that looks like. For this reason, we do not shy away from tough topics. We find a way to listen, learn, and engage – with the hope that our shared stories will one day overcome our differences. 

Resources:

Resource Center – Nonprofit providing education and services to the LGBTQIA+ community

National Women’s Law Center – Nonprofit advocating for women’s rights and LGBTQ rights 

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Creating an effective strategy to develop and retain your employees can have several benefits beyond just the employee. It can also improve the performance and growth of your business.

But first, employers should understand the reasons why employees leave their jobs to begin with.

Most commonly, an employee leaves due to:

• A negative corporate culture
• Not feeling valued
• No room for growth
• Having a bad relationship with their manager

Once you can identify the specific reason an employee leaves, you can begin addressing the issue more effectively.

Following is a list of strategies you can implement to start building a culture where employees feel engaged, motivated, and driven to succeed and grow alongside your business.

Eight strategies to hang on to your employees

1. Treat employees with respect.

Most importantly, show employees that you respect and value what they bring to your organization. As a result, it will motivate them to be as invested in your company’s success as you are.

2. Ask for feedback.

Ask employees why they work at your company and if they feel any improvements should be made. This not only promotes trust, it also gives you the specific information you need to make things right.

3. Provide mentorship.

Mentor your employees regularly to continually build trust. Doing so will help them envision a path to success within your organization.

4. Play fair.

Being just and fair is an essential quality for managers. Showing favoritism or dabbling in office politics will undoubtedly create a negative impact on the entire team.

5. Have their back.

Also important, stand up for your employees whenever the need arises. When employees know they have your support, they can build and solidify trust.

6. Show recognition.

Take time out of your day to acknowledge each of your employee’s achievements. It goes a longer way than you may realize toward boosting morale and productivity.

7. Provide opportunities for growth.

A recent Software Advice article on employee trends found that 49% of small-business employees we surveyed told us they haven’t developed any new skills during the pandemic. In fact, 30% of employees chose learning and development (L&D) opportunities as the most important factors they consider when evaluating a new job after the pandemic.

With this in mind, be sure to provide training activities for employees. They help you better assess their strengths and areas for improvement so you can better develop them.

8. Give them a platform.

Empower employees to present their current projects, performance data, or other activities. As a result, you’ll also increase their confidence, improve their sense of role ownership, and boost productivity.

Getting started

In short, an organization’s culture is an essential factor for employee development and retention. And it begins with leadership.

When leaders visibly demonstrate their commitment to an organization’s mission and values, they empower employees to do the same.

The eight strategies above are only just a small number of other initiatives organizations can take to generate a positive and productive work environment.

To learn why organizations choose Schoox to helps organizations develop a productive, engaged workforce, visit our website.

The post 8 Effective Strategies to Develop (and Keep) Your Employees appeared first on Schoox - A Learning Management System.

Many of us get caught up in our own heads, too busy with the day-to-day responsibilities to remember to do this.

However, the benefits are huge for us as individuals, our colleagues, and the organization as a whole.

In this episode of The Learning Xchange, Schoox’s Matthew Brown, VP of Learning and Brand Success, takes us through this topic in detail. Matthew shares all the benefits that come with forging strong connections at work, the best ways to do this, and why you should try to interact more with different departments.

To learn more, keep reading or hit play on the podcast below:

The benefits of building strong working relationships

When we focus on building relationships that go beyond our primary functions and responsibilities, the benefits are huge for the business and everyone involved.

Don’t limit yourself as a learning and development professional to only building relationships when you need something. Instead, think about the below benefits of building positive relationships with everyone you interact with.

1. It helps to build trust

Building trust always comes from building relationships. We can see a measured increase in competence and productivity from employees and managers when everyone’s moving in the same direction.

2. It improves confidence

When you have increased trust, you also have increased confidence. You have more confidence in others and yourself to do what needs to be done. This can help ease any tensions, help you collaborate and communicate more effectively with different teams. This, in turn, then increases…

3. It increases productivity

When you combine increased trust and confidence, it can only mean more productivity across the board. When everyone feels more comfortable, you start to see people become more inspired to find new and effective ways to get things done.

This can have such a positive impact on the company culture.

4. Employees become more open

Another benefit is that employees become more open as they become more comfortable. This means you’re more likely to get honest feedback, and they’re more likely to say when they like or dislike something. All of this is key to developing a working culture that’s supportive and encourages productivity.

Learning and development professionals should lead by example

As L&D professionals, we sit in an interesting spot in the company. You are connected to the entire business and can therefore tap into parts of the employee experience that other managers or CEOs may not be aware of.

If we lead by example and create and nurture these relationships, we can implement positive changes for everyone.

You can also look for ways to help fill gaps within your team or the wider organization to inspire people to think and operate differently. The great thing about building relationships is that it’s a two-way thing. You can help inspire employees, but employees can do the same for the business and the people in charge.

Fostering a culture of collaboration and open communication has far-reaching benefits that you may not even realize at the time.

The four key areas of business to build relationships in

Aside from your own little bubble in the workplace, it pays to go beyond our usual functions and connect with different departments. Four key ones to forge connections with are:

1. Human Resources

The benefits of connecting with HR may be obvious, especially as L&D professionals. However, if we look closer at HR, they are essentially the keepers of policies and all things employee related.

This means that we could become more in tune with our organization and maybe even uncover the real needs of employees. We can use our conversations with HR to uncover the gaps and see where we could improve the employee experience as a whole.

Think about ways that you can arm the HR team with some great insights from the L&D team. In turn, try to also learn from them what’s happening, what insights they can share which might help you solve problems for your employees.

2. IT

Where HR is the keeper of employee information, IT is the keeper of technology. Building relationships here could be beneficial to help you build, maintain, and use learning technology.

This ensures that our learning tech and any other online experiences we want to deliver will feel cohesive and integrated into the business’ strategy.

The IT team is involved in all areas of a business because the world is so dependent on technology. If you want to drive transformation throughout your organization, the IT team should be one of your priorities.

3. Marketing

Marketing teams are full of creative, open-minded people who can also shine a light on both the consumer and employee experience.

Think of the marketing team as a group of builders and designers. Their jobs are often collaborative by nature, and there’s an enormous value in partnering with marketing. You can learn much more about the business and the people, but from an entirely different perspective.

4. Legal, risk, compliance, and security

Collectively, these groups are in charge of the safety of the company, and by nature, they have a difficult job. They have to keep up with all the legislation, regulations and always check that the organization is compliant. They also must ensure all employees and customers are safe from legal action, online threats, and so on.

This is a largely overlooked team, but they have a lot to offer. This department is always on the lookout for things that can go wrong. They’re good at anticipating problems and solving them.

This means they have a completely different perspective of the business, which makes them an unbelievably valuable team to connect with. You can learn a lot from them.

There may be other departments in your organization that fit into this list. Some of them may be obvious, like operations, others less so, like the finance team. Each and every department has something to offer, so take the time to get to know them. Build those relationships, help others, and share perspectives. By doing so, you can inspire some incredible change.

The post How To Build Work Relationships That Go Beyond Our Usual Functions appeared first on Schoox - A Learning Management System.

You feel blindsided. You didn’t know that they were unhappy, or that they were actively seeking other employment opportunities. You’ve just lost one of your best workers. Why?

That’s a great question—and one we’ll answer in this article. We’ll discuss why top-performing workers often leave, and what you can do to prevent “brain drain” at your business. Let’s begin.

Why top-performing employees leave

1. You’re not paying them enough money

Okay, this one is pretty simple to understand. Money isn’t everything, but it is a big thing. If you don’t compensate a top-performing employee appropriately, chances are that they will find another company that will.

Job-hopping is very common in the modern business world, and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the course of their career, an employee can expect to change jobs up to 12-15 times. And this number is even higher for younger workers. Staying at a job for only a year or two is no longer a stigma, people expect it!

If an employee can find a competitor who will give them a better salary, there’s not a lot you can do about that. However, you can take steps to boost employee engagement and ensure that they can always talk about their compensation.

If you make it clear that your employees are free to talk to you about getting raises or bonuses, they’re more likely to come to you before they start looking into a job at another company.

2. You’re not challenging them

Top-performing employees have many traits in common, no matter what industry they may be in. They’re passionate, driven, motivated, and hungry. They always want to learn more and they devour corporate training videos and e-learning materials.

So, what happens when they are no longer challenged by their work? The development of employee skills is important, but if an employee begins to feel inadequately challenged, they may become unmotivated and seek a different job.

Again, this can be solved by having an “open door” policy for employees and regularly asking them about how they feel about their current position. If you start to notice them using social media at work, or if they’re on their phones quite a bit, for example, these could be signs that they don’t have enough to do, or that they’re unengaged and would relish a new challenge, like learning a new skill or earning a promotion.

3. They don’t have a clear path for advancement

One of the most common reasons that top-performing employees leave is that they feel like they’ve “peaked” in your company, and there is no clear way for them to continue up the corporate ladder and earn more responsibilities or compensation.

When an employee feels like their career has plateaued, they’re more likely to become disengaged. As a result, the quality of their work may suffer. Even if they are a top performer, they may not see the point in doing more work than they have to because they won’t be rewarded for it.

This problem is best solved during the onboarding process. When you hire a new employee, you should make their path of advancement quite clear, including details about requirements for earning a promotion, a raise, or additional compensation.

By doing so, you can quickly create a culture where employees understand the value of their hard work and how they will be rewarded for “going the extra mile.” In many cases, simply providing a clear path for advancement is enough to retain your top talent.

Speaking of providing clear paths for advancement, you may also want to consider integrating your LMS with your performance management system.

In a recent Software Advice survey report, 5 E-Learning Trends Shaping the Future of Training, Sr. HR Analysts Brian Westfall and Sierra Rogers found that integrating employee training and performance management software systems and data is having a large impact with significant benefits. For instance, “employees can automatically receive personalized e-learning content based on areas of improvement, while managers can observe if training investments are actually improving employee performance.”

And organizations are catching on. In fact, Gartner indicates that 43% of L&D professionals plan to integrate their LMS with their performance management systems—making it the highest planned future adoption rate of any LMS feature. Definitely something to consider.

4. Your corporate culture needs improvement

Unfortunately, sometimes employees leave because they don’t like your current corporate culture. This is a difficult problem to deal with, because changing corporate culture requires buy-in from C-suite executives and managers. It also may require a change of corporate policy from the ground up.

Still, you should do your best to encourage a more active and engaged corporate culture. You can take steps such as:

• Creating more flexible schedules for employees
• Allowing some employees to work from home
• An “open door” HR policy that lets employees voice their concerns
• Encouraging collaboration between different teams and departments
• Providing a way for anonymous feedback and suggestions from employees
• Implement more transparent management communication policies

Changing your corporate culture is not easy, but it may be the key to retaining your best workers.

Keep your top-performing employees happy and engaged

It’s not always easy to keep your best workers around, and there’s never any guarantee that they’ll stay with your company for the long term. But with these simple tips, it’s easier to understand why they may leave, and take steps to prevent this from happening.

The post Why Top-Performing Employees Leave—And What You Can Do About It appeared first on Schoox - A Learning Management System.

Even those who love learning can sometimes struggle to motivate themselves to learn. It’s a common problem across all industries, and one reason is because training is usually a must-do, not a want-to.

Even when training isn’t mandated, a lot of people are still stuck in that same mindset. It may come from school or other workplaces where training is seen as a necessary evil. It’s something that distracts you from your routine and responsibilities.

How do we get employees to want to learn? How do we teach them about the joy of learning for learning’s sake, not just as a box-ticking exercise? The best way to achieve success with training is to have enthusiastic and open employees, but for that to happen, some mindset retraining needs to take place.

In this episode of The Learning Xchange, Schoox’s Matthew Brown, VP of Learning and Brand Success, discusses just that. He shares some reasons why employees are hesitant about learning and what we can do to change their learning mindset.

Listen to the episode below or keep reading to learn more.

Current mindset: Learning is often compliance-heavy

Since the first moment we were introduced to the concept of learning, we have been pre-programmed with some very specific expectations.

Going back to our school days, the teacher would stand in the front of the room. They had all the answers. They told you what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. But they didn’t always say why.

As a result, people have years of habits and preconceived ideas whenever they approach learning later in life. They associate learning with something they must do.

In an organization, this continues. When we think of learning activities, it’s all phrased in a similar way:

• You MUST do your security awareness/anti-harassment training
• You MUST complete your new hire training by a certain date

These phrases all have an undertone of compliance, so we need to be careful in choosing our language.

If we want highly engaging learning environments, we need to figure out how to reprogram some of those ideas. We need to democratize learning and build excitement.

A simple way to start is to try and adjust the language you use when talking about training. You’ll then want to try to tackle some of the bigger culture issues to help shift that compliance mindset.

It’s not that employees don’t want to learn. They’re not completely averse to it. It’s about breaking the muscle memory and retraining their brains to accept learning as a want-to, not a have-to.

Common excuses and barriers against learning

People often come up with reasons against spending time in a training session. One of the most common ones is “I’d love to, but I don’t have enough time.”

Everyone’s busy with their usual responsibilities, so it can be a big ask for them to take time out from their day to learn.

Another one is, “I’ve already done something similar. I already know the content.”

Do any of those sound familiar? We live in a world where workdays are already crammed, and so trying to squeeze learning in there feels more like a chore. It becomes a box-ticking exercise where no one really absorbs the content or wants to be there.

The issue of trust affects employees’ learning mindset

On a similar note, one roadblock could be a lack of trust in the workplace.

If your employees don’t trust that you have their best interests in mind, they will be less enthusiastic about getting involved in learning.

When organizations push training, it’s usually to tick boxes or to fulfill items on a job description list rather than to benefit the employee themselves.

Employees may not trust you because they feel you’re only giving them training for selfish reasons.

A different approach to learning

Our main job is to help employees learn how to be learners again.

In their own personal time, they will have no problem seeking out information they need to solve problems or learn something new. For example, if they need to fix a home appliance, they might watch a few YouTube videos.

The issue isn’t that they’re averse to learning as a whole. It’s all about how it’s presented and integrated into the workplace.

Another approach is to think about making employees excited to learn. Instead of just focusing on the job they currently have, introduce opportunities for them to learn and grow for the job they want to have. Perhaps even make time for them to learn about their own personal interests and hobbies.

Make learning and development a benefit for the learner, not just the organization. This will achieve two things. One, it earns their trust, and two, it can drive some exciting transformation.

As an employer, you could provide a library of content to satisfy a wide range of needs to help earn their trust. You might want to encourage employees to each carve out a protected hour or hours per week just for learning and development.

By doing so, you can start to remove some of those obstacles to learning and make it more integrated into everyone’s work lives. It won’t be a quick fix, but subtle changes in the way you approach learning and the language that you use can slowly start to shift your employees’ mindsets.

The post How to Shift Employees’ Learning Mindset from “Must do” to “Want to” appeared first on Schoox - A Learning Management System.

If so, you’re not alone. Let’s face it, compliance training often carries with it a stigma of being “boring” or “dry.” Regardless, it is still an important and necessary aspect of business—one that can come with significant consequences if you fall out of compliance.

Naturally, it begs the question: If employees view compliance training as boring, and HR and L&D teams see it as a one-time, annual event, how can employees retain what they learn? Likewise, how can their behaviors change if the information isn’t enforced? And how can businesses continue to avoid risk?

Organizations can address all of these issues with a shift in mindset about how they create and deliver their compliance programs. How? By treating compliance training the same way they treat continuous learning.

What is continuous compliance training?

Continuous compliance training is about building a culture and strategy within your organization through learning to continuously manage and address risk more effectively. It ensures that you meet regulatory requirements while upholding the safety of your employees, customers, and systems.

While people often link continuous compliance training solely to data security, it can cover all areas of compliance risk, from cyberattacks and workplace safety, to sexual harassment and discrimination. 

It is also important to note that being able to continuously evaluate and manage your level of compliance does not mean running a report or viewing a dashboard to monitor course completions. Completion rates are not evidence of the effectiveness of your compliance.

Qualitative information, on the other hand, is helpful in determining the effectiveness of your compliance programs. For example, post-course exams, evaluation surveys, and conversations to determine the level of information the employee retained from the course. Role playing or on-the-job observation could also be helpful to determine an employees’ ability to demonstrate what they’ve learned.

Why does it matter?

Continuous compliance training matters more than ever. Companies are functioning in a much riskier environment as compared to even just a few years ago. The COVID-19 pandemic and remote work adjustments have made certain data risks more pronounced. 

And as mentioned previously, not just data risks. The George Floyd incident and Black Lives Matter movement put a glaring spotlight on employee behavior risk. And social responsibility risk, too. This prompted organizations across the country to develop or improve their diversity, equity, inclusion programs. It also revealed the need to implement or revamp their corporate social responsibility initiatives to regain public trust.

Additionally, the #MeToo movement caused employers to rethink their sexual harassment prevention strategy. Several states have passed laws to expand their sexual harassment compliance training. Some states even call for the training to be more meaningful and relatable.

Thus, it might be easier to consider what could happen when companies think continuous compliance training doesn’t matter. By underestimating the need to implement these programs, organizations could be faced with:

• Disengaged and complacent employees
• Harsh fines and penalties from auditors and regulators
• Increased susceptibility to discrimination lawsuits or security attacks
• Exposing their systems, employees, and customers (and their data) to risk

How can my organization make the shift to continuous compliance training?

Transitioning from your one-time annual approach to compliance training to a fully-fledged continuous strategy will take some planning. Here are ideas to consider before you start:

• It might go without saying these days, but for optimal results, you’ll need a trusted learning management system (LMS). You’ll also need online learning courses, whether you buy them, design your own, or both.
• Select a trusted content vendor that regularly updates their compliance courses to meet changing industry, state, and federal requirements.
• Speaking of content, it must be engaging and relevant to remain top of mind for your employees. Select content that includes scenario-based learning. Include checkpoints throughout the course to assess knowledge retention, or add an interactive “choose your own adventure” type of course.
• Incorporate points, badges, or leaderboards to boost friendly competition among individual employees, teams, or departments.
• Training doesn’t only have to be online. It could be on-the-job training or other in-person activities that you can still track in the LMS. 
• Find an LMS that makes it easy for you to track and report on your compliance training.
• Align your continuous compliance training strategy with your company’s overall risk management strategy.
• Finally, measure the true effectiveness—not completion rates—of your program.

For more information on how Schoox simplifies compliance training, download our free eBook: Take the Complicated out of Compliance.

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Self-care is something that often gets neglected in the hustle and bustle of the modern world. But are we doing ourselves, families, and colleagues a disservice by doing so? By ignoring our own needs, are we making things more challenging for ourselves, our productivity, and our teams at work?

In this episode of The Learning Xchange, Matthew Brown (Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success) explores the topic of self-care and why it’s so important to make time for ourselves. Focusing on good self-care has plenty of benefits for your own mental health and wellbeing, as well as your team’s.

Listen to the podcast episode below to learn more or keep reading.

Health and wellness have been huge topics for discussion throughout the pandemic. At the forefront of this discussion is the topic of mental health specifically. Despite the benefits of remote work, it has taken a toll on our health for many of us.

Have you been thinking carefully about your own wellbeing? Are you taking time out of your day just for self-care? Are you conscious of the self-care of your employees or other team members?

In a remote setting, it’s easy to sweep this under the rug and neglect to think about it, but it’s more important now than ever to pay attention to self-care.

Self-care starts with us

When it comes to self-care in a team environment, it starts with us as individuals. If we want to improve our team’s mental health and wellbeing, we need to start with ourselves.

Ask yourself: “What am I doing to take care of myself so that I can be in service of others?” If you’re running on fumes yourself, how likely do you think you’ll be able to help others to the best of your ability? Not very likely.

That’s why we need to be conscious about where we spend our time and ensure that we’re setting aside time for breaks and self-care.

The struggles of self-care in the era of remote work

While remote work can certainly have a beneficial effect on mental health and productivity, that doesn’t mean it’s all good news. In fact, there are two main issues with remote work for some people.

It can be much more difficult to shut off from work if you’re working from home. If you’re sitting at your desk alone all day, it’s easy to forget to take a break or to simply eat at your desk.

It’s also easy to watch your calendar fill up, especially when all those meetings you’d usually have at various sites or conference rooms are now all in the same place. There’s no commute time, which makes setting up meetings convenient. But sometimes that just means our schedules are packed full.

Another issue with remote work is for those who struggle with feelings of isolation. There’s none of that water cooler chat where employees can blow off steam and socialize away from their desks.

Ways to practically apply self-care to your professional life

1. Manage your calendar

One of the simplest things you can do is manage your calendar more effectively. This doesn’t mean extreme calendar blocking where every minute of your day is booked for something. Instead, it means setting some realistic goals.

For example, try blocking out just 30 minutes each day just to give yourself time to step away from your desk, eat, and disconnect from everything. No eating at your desk, no emails, no chat messages, don’t even bring your phone. These 30 minutes are for you to just check out and think of something else.

If you can extend that time to an hour, use the first 30 minutes to decompress and try to do something a bit more fun for the rest. For example, focus on a hobby.

Make sure you’re also blocking at least two 15 minutes breaks during your day, so you’re getting regular time away from your desk.

2. Create to-do lists

To-do lists are such a simple productivity tool that can really keep you on track. When creating a to-do list, try to quickly prioritize tasks on it, mark off the must-dos or the nice-to-dos, or whatever prioritization method you use.

Another thing to bear in mind is that these to-do lists need to be flexible to adapt to change. If we have learned anything during the past 12-18 months, it’s that change is constant. So, when you make your lists, be sure to revisit them multiple times a day to adjust them as needed.

When you look back at it at the end of the day, you will see that you probably accomplished more than you thought.

3. Set boundaries

Another thing you can do for your own wellbeing is to set boundaries in your life and stick to them. One of the ways we can do that is to learn how to say no. It’s not always easy, but you don’t have to be abrupt about it, just firm.

Identify areas of your life where you can take a step back and delegate tasks to someone else. You may not even have to say no. Instead, you could say, “Yes, but not right now,” and say you’ll get to it next week.

4. Lead by example

Team leaders should practice good self-care, feel its impact, and then share those benefits and lessons with others. Lead by example.

A big part of being a good leader is also about actively displaying an interest in your co-workers or employees. Be very open for a candid conversation and look for as many moments as you can for those water cooler-type conversations.

It’s easy to forget that we’re all human in a corporate environment, especially when it’s remote. In person, it’s easy enough to have these talks after bumping into someone in the hallway or break room. Those moments are beneficial to just catch up with people, vent, or discuss something completely unrelated to work. But it’s much harder to have those moments when we’re all virtual.

Scheduling a meeting for these discussions may seem awkward, and yet a lack of engagement and isolation really affects some people.

Working from home can be isolating, and there is an emotional toll on that. So, be mindful of this. Try to find ways to create time and space for employees to connect with each other and blow off steam. This could be virtual lunches, fun activities like a networking mixer, or a team cooking challenge—any activity where deliverables and work responsibilities are not to be discussed.

5. Make employees aware of the help available

If your workplace has some kind of Employee Assistance Program (EAP), make sure your employees are all aware of it.

Many won’t know about it or will be unsure of where to go to ask for help. Be proactive in letting people know what’s available.

6. Rethink learning and development activities

The above also applies to learning and development activities, seminars, and workshops. Try to find ways to creatively weave in icebreakers to help people connect on a human level. Make sure there are plenty of breaks for everyone and try to include some wellness-inspired activities into your training.

All of the above are simple changes you can make in your personal life and your work life. Practicing self-care goes a long way in keeping everyone happy, productive, and healthy.

The post 6 Self-Care Tips You Can Apply Right Now at Work appeared first on Schoox - A Learning Management System.

There’s a lot more open discussion in the world today, and more people value the spirit of inclusion and diversity. But for some, there’s still a long way to go, particularly in the workplace.

How you approach open discussion in the workplace can significantly affect collaboration, morale, and productivity.

Are you actively seeking to learn from others with different opinions, experiences, and backgrounds? If not, what valuable ideas and perspectives could you be missing out on? Hearing differing perspectives that challenge our own has great benefits.

In this episode, Schoox VP of Learning and Brand Success Matthew Brown discusses the importance of valuing different perspectives.

Listen to The Learning Exchange podcast episode below to learn more or keep reading.

The benefits of seeing a different perspective

Hearing different opinions has multiple benefits. It makes everyone feel heard and understood. But it also helps us broaden how we think about things and how we approach problems.

L&D professionals or a managers can greatly benefit from creating a safe space for people to share their diverse opinions.

Sometimes it’s not easy to hear differing opinions, especially if they are directly challenging your own. But it’s important to fight any defensiveness that often comes up when a challenge presents itself. The benefits will always outweigh any initial discomfort.

The difference between feedback and valuing different perspectives

By listening to different perspectives, we don’t just mean getting some simple feedback.

It’s important to understand the difference between seeking feedback and valuing different perspectives. Feedback is great. But many people are programmed to give positive feedback. While it may be constructive, it may not offer too much in the way of change.

Most feedback won’t go too far outside what you’ve put in front of them. Try to present a completely different perspective that is outside the box and offer something entirely unique.

Different perspectives and problem-solving

We have only lived in our own world, so we only have our own experiences to draw from. Unless we’re open to hearing and encouraging other perspectives, we may never know other experiences or skillsets. And that could be the very thing we need to solve a problem.

Let’s look at an example. Say you are in a meeting about a new project, such as a new learning program or training course. The people in that meeting may not necessarily consume the program themselves. They’re not the target audience. They may create an excellent course for people at their skill or experience level. But it could completely miss the mark for the people taking the course.

It may not be useful for people with lesser experience or completely different skillsets. For example, you need to get everyone up to speed. Maybe you should start the course at Step A instead of Step C.

The outcome you want your course to bring may not happen the way you want it to.

In this case, try seeking an outside perspective. It could help you create a course that fits the needs of those actually consuming it.

Are you in a similar position? Consider whether you may be too close to the topic to give your audience what it needs.

There are no stupid questions, only different perspectives

Have you ever been at an event where someone makes a comment or asks a question intended as a joke? And the audience or moderator casually laughs it off?

What would happen if, instead of disregarding it, we nurtured the conversation and opened a dialogue? Maybe you could say something like, “Tell me more about it,” or “Why do you think that?” Encourage them to speak their mind and share their thoughts openly without judgment.

When something like this happens, you will likely notice that the energy in the room changes. The moderator has decided to create a safe space where people feel more open to talking.

When people know others won’t ridicule them for “stupid questions,” they will be much more open to sharing. When people are comfortable sharing their own thoughts and experiences, everyone wins.

What if people aren’t open to different perspectives?

At some point, you will likely run into people who are less open to other opinions. They may approach things more cynically or will be stubborn to change.

While this can be a challenge, it’s an opportunity to lead by example. You can demonstrate what it looks like to embrace different perspectives. And you can show what happens when someone opens up a dialogue.

Handling difficult conversations

Training yourself to hear other perspectives has another benefit as well. It can make dealing with difficult conversations much more productive.

Whether it’s a difficult guest, customer, or employee, seeing different perspectives can really help you step outside of your preconceptions. You can step outside, recognize when something is wrong when you might normally get defensive. Developing this skill can make you a much better leader.

Try challenging yourself. Pick an upcoming project and bring a diverse group of individuals together to collect feedback.

Actively seek out different perspectives. When you listen to and represent others’ voices, they are much more likely to engage with an open mind. And that’s how we all learn.

The post The Value of Embracing Different Perspectives at Work appeared first on Schoox - A Learning Management System.

Innovation is so important for organizations to continue growing. But are you openly encouraging it within your own team? Are you creating a space where employees at all levels feel comfortable sharing their ideas?

That’s what Matthew Brown discusses in this episode of The Learning Xchange podcast. Matthew (Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success) shares his six tips for encouraging innovation in your team. He says that being more open to trying new things and encouraging everyone to speak up can empower your organization.

Listen to the podcast below or keep reading.

1. Realize that innovation is everyone’s job

A common issue in organizations is to assume that innovation is someone else’s job to figure out. Surely coming up with new ideas is for the creative team/the managers, no one else?

The reality is that no matter where you are in the organization, everyone has ideas. Everyone can, and should, share their unique perspective to help the organization grow and improve.

Getting into the mindset that innovation is everyone’s job can take some adjustment. But by encouraging everyone to contribute and valuing everyone’s ideas equally, you can learn so much from your team.

2. Encourage trial and error

Employees often feel like they need to be perfect. Sometimes they can be terrified of making mistakes. The problem here is that this fear can close off any innovative ideas or creative problem-solving.

If employees believe they have to do everything the same way each time, how will you ever challenge the status quo? How will you improve your processes?

By encouraging trial-and-error thinking, you’re saying that mistakes are okay. They are part of the process. Only by trying lots of things can you uncover something great.

What employees need to know is that their ideas are valued and welcome. They need you to provide a safe space for them to feel comfortable sharing ideas.

3. Encourage people to tell stories

On a similar note, mistakes are part of the process. They are the foundations of any great business or invention.

The products you see at the store, the technology you use every day, was almost certainly not the original idea someone had initially.

It’s hard to imagine all the mistakes people made along the way when you see the finished product. As a leader, you can encourage people to share stories of how mistakes turned into successes.

Tell employees about your own processes or ideas that were far from perfect in the beginning. Let them know that any idea can be built on.

4. Look at creative solutions

A common issue that organizations have is subscribing to a “not invented here” mindset.

By that, we mean when we use a tool or service that has issues. Rather than trying to create a solution, we brush off the problems as out of our control. It’s not our software. It’s not our service.

This mindset makes it harder to come up with creative solutions and ways around the problems. If we live in that fixed mindset, we never bring our best ideas to the table.

Instead, we should encourage creative solutions and problem-solving. Ask your team what the issues are, and if they have ideas they would like to try out.

5. Broaden your idea of what innovation means

When it comes to the subject of innovation, we all have ideas about what it means. In an organization, it could mean something different for each member of the team.

One assumption that people have is that innovation is one person’s or department’s responsibility. New ideas and processes are for X department to worry about. However, innovation is a group effort, or as we mentioned earlier, it’s everyone’s job.

Innovation is not just a business process. Everyone has a voice and an opinion worth sharing, and this should be encouraged.

Innovation comes from discussion and experimentation, but everyone needs to be on board with what it means for your team. Spend some time outlining what you want innovation to mean in your team. Discuss it with colleagues and employees and get their feedback.

6. Accept that no idea is a bad idea

Lastly, one of the most important things you can do is realize that no idea is a bad idea. Even ideas that are not practical or are nonsensical can still have value – but only if they’re spoken about.

If you have an open working environment where everyone shares ideas, the chances are you’re going to find some that just don’t work.

There’s nothing wrong with that, and those sharing shouldn’t feel discouraged.

By openly discussing these ideas, it can spark new ones for other people. It can generate new ideas from different perspectives. Soon enough, you will have tons of brand-new ideas, like a snowball effect.

That’s where true innovation comes in. By gather different perspectives, ideas, and creative solutions, you can build on them and factor real change into your organization.

As a business leader, innovation is not your burden alone. By sharing and encouraging others to share their thoughts and solutions, you can progress and move forward in your business.

For more insights, visit our podcast, The Learning Xchange, on your favorite podcast app.

The post 6 Tips on How to Encourage Innovation in Your Team appeared first on Schoox - A Learning Management System.

Feedback is integral to any group of people working together. It’s key to healthy working relationships, clear communication, and overall productivity. However, your company’s culture could be standing in the way of open and honest discussions at all levels in a business.

How you approach feedback can have a huge effect on your business. Get it wrong, and you could have an unhappy team on your hands. Get it right, and everyone can move forward and build solutions…instead of just resentment.

So, how can you start to build a culture of feedback within your company?

In this episode of The Learning Xchange, Matthew Brown, Schoox’s VP of Learning and Brand Success, discusses the importance of feedback in a company setting. He also shares some best practices for giving feedback that genuinely helps others to improve.

Listen to this episode of The Learning Xchange below or keep reading…

Being mindful

There’s more to being a manager than just being firm. Sensitivity and mindfulness are sometimes overlooked qualities.

What do we mean when we say ‘mindful’? We don’t just mean being nice. We use the word mindful here because there are lots of elements to consider when giving feedback.  There’s body language, tone of voice, timing, the situation, and the person themselves.

Being mindful of all these elements will help you to give feedback in the best way for specific individuals and situations.

Moving away from defensiveness

Defensiveness is a fairly common response to feedback, no matter how gently you may give it. No one wants to hear that they are doing something wrong.

While you can’t guarantee the other person will react well, there are some ways you can ease it.

The first thing is to try to separate feedback from the other person. By this, we mean moving away from criticizing the person and instead commenting on the behavior. This approach, paired with mindfulness, should help to clear some of the defensiveness that can come up in feedback.

The importance of communication

Giving feedback is a way to communicate and raise an issue. It’s not necessarily going to be when the issue gets resolved. It’s simply to get everyone on the same page.

Rather than say your piece and try to jump forward into solving the issue, let the other person process what you said. At first, there may be some defensiveness or embarrassment if you brought up a mistake. That’s fine, needing some cool-down time is normal. Give them some space to process it and then regroup later on.

By doing this, you help to ensure that the person receiving the feedback fully understands the message. If they don’t understand the message behind the feedback, you may end up having to repeat yourself in what could potentially become a much more awkward conversation in the future.

Best practices for giving feedback

If you want to get better at giving feedback, here are some tips that you can apply to the majority of feedback scenarios:

1. Focus on behavior

Rather than focusing on the person, focus instead on the behavior. Make it more about how the behavior must change, rather than suggesting that the person is at fault. Giving feedback is not about placing blame, it’s about communicating and moving forward towards a solution.

2. Remember to listen

Feedback is a two-way street. As the saying goes, you have two ears and one mouth, which means you should be listening twice as much as speaking. The same applies to feedback. Whether you are giving or receiving feedback, it’s important to listen and make the process a back-and-forth dialogue.

3. Be present

This applies both ways, but particularly when receiving feedback. Many people tend to listen to the feedback at first and then become defensive. They then spend the rest of the conversation waiting for their turn to speak to defend themselves.

It can be a difficult habit to break. However, try to practice being present and in the moment when feedback comes up and again, listen more than you speak. Take some time to listen and absorb what the other person is saying.

4. Be mindful

Rather than focusing solely on the message you need to get across, look at how you’re giving that message. Being mindful of how the feedback comes across will mean the conversation is much more constructive and positive.

Be mindful about things like body language and tone of voice. Think about the other person’s situation. Are they swamped at work? Are they struggling with something else right now? It’s probably best to hold off if this is the case because they will be distracted. Make sure you always take some time before you give feedback to assess the situation.

5. Check that the feedback is actually helpful

Feedback should be about creating positive change. It’s not about ranting, getting complaints off your chest or putting other people in line. While this might seem obvious, always consider what your intentions are before you approach the other person.

What some managers forget is that feedback isn’t just for them. It also needs to be useful for the other person as well. What will they take from this interaction? How can they improve?

Giving feedback can feel awkward at first, and receiving it is rarely fun unless it’s full of praise. However, feedback is an important part of any team of people. How you approach it can have a huge effect on productivity and morale.

Are you unintentionally avoiding feedback in the workplace? Do you encourage an open dialogue between managers and other team members? Take some time to assess your team’s approach to feedback going forward.

Thank you for reading this podcast summary. For more tips from The Learning Xchange, you can find all the episodes so far on your favorite podcast app or website. Please subscribe to show us your support!

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