Employee Improvement Training Materials - How to improve employees

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charmsli

Good day everyone!

I am being tasked to create a course module about "Ways on how to improve employees". I saw a good material here about roles and responsibilities and I think it's a good one. I also need some training material on how will our employees will work with improvements and not working on a routinary base style. Please help.

Thanks and Best Regards!
 

RoxaneB

Change Agent and Data Storyteller
Super Moderator
Re: Training Materials on Ways of Improvement (Employees)

My organization applies the concepts of Routine Management and Improvement Management. The tools and methods used for each are different as one focuses on day-to-day activities to promote stabilization while the latter has its attention on the activities that will promote growth, improved effectiveness and efficiency and competitiveness.

That being said, it may be difficult to provide materials if we are unsure how you have differentiated between Routine Tasks and Improvement Tasks.

I will say this much...
  • Operators are responsible for Routine tasks - they may be part of an Improvement initiative, but that is secondary to their main role.
  • There can be no improvement without routine - if your current processes are not under control, how can you expect to improve them?
  • Keep Routine and Improvement intiatives separate. Example - To treat a failure is one thing. To treat a chronic failure requires a separate approach.

I am confused by your question of how employees will work with improvement tools and not with routine tools. Can you please clarify this?
 

Jen Kirley

Quality and Auditing Expert
Leader
Admin
Re: Training Materials on Ways of Improvement (Employees)

It would be hard to know how to respond until we can understand just what sort of employee improvements you are looking for.

I would begin by improving the system in which the employees work. Do they have many opportunities for error? Do they know exactly what needs to be done, how to do it and what special wishes the customer has, if any? How do they know?

Are their tasks complicated?

Do they feel welcome to think of, and see fulfilled ways to improve their tasks and workspaces? What are their present roles in helping to improve their work?
 
C

charmsli

Re: Training Materials on Ways of Improvement (Employees)

You're somewhat right on some areas. But what we really want to address is the work attitude of our employees where in they should have to wrok with vision and goal, not just meeting thier quotas..stuff like that. And I need some material on ways of improvement, how these aspect can meet to thier current jobs...other than Kaizen principles.
 
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joshua_sx1

…I’m not sure if there are training materials that effectively boost the moral of employees towards their works… well, reality check would tell us that everything will still be rely on individual attitude (i.e. how employee usually given importance to their job is directly related to how they are benefiting from it… the lower their salary, the lesser their concerned)… instead, motivation tools are usually being applied for this purpose… and one of the best motivational tools is the “reward scheme”, where you are giving reward (specifically monetary and recognition) to employees who are performing way beyond their capacity…

:2cents:
 
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charmsli

I actually agree with you, but this organization is quite different from others considering that this is a Japanese Industry (no offense, but its the reality), where in they consider "salary increase, benefit/compensation study" as thier last resort in boosting the employee morale, sad to say:( so the effect in in training. Aside from the fact that Values training is not the ONLY answer, i still believe that it can somehow adress the issue. AS long as the content and delivery of training is effective, I am confident that I can change thier mindset, of course in support for other programs (benefits and compensation administration, job security, etc..) So please if someone out there has a good material to share, please do so.

Thanks for the replies! :)
 

SteelMaiden

Super Moderator
Trusted Information Resource
My first question is why is morale low? Has your company looked for a root cause? Is it because of fighting/arguing/conflicts between workers or workers and management? Then maybe a conflict resolution class.

Is it because workers don't feel appreciated? Then maybe it is managment that needs to go "back to school" Personally, any morale issues I've ever seen in the workplace lead back to supervisory/management personnel. :2cents:
 

Coury Ferguson

Moderator here to help
Trusted Information Resource
I agree with Steel here. There are factors that you need to take into consideration.

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Determine what the Motivational factors are with the employees
2. Create Metrics to visually see what the results are
3. Interview each employee, and find out what training they would be interested in.
4. Interview each Supervisor/Manager and get their feedback (this can be both dangerous and political suicide, be very careful)
5. Develop the "team" atmosphere.

This is how I would approach this issue, and may not be absolute, and is my opinion.
 
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Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
I actually agree with you, but this organization is quite different from others considering that this is a Japanese Industry (no offense, but its the reality), where in they consider "salary increase, benefit/compensation study" as thier last resort in boosting the employee morale, sad to say:( so the effect in in training. Aside from the fact that Values training is not the ONLY answer, i still believe that it can somehow adress the issue. AS long as the content and delivery of training is effective, I am confident that I can change thier mindset, of course in support for other programs (benefits and compensation administration, job security, etc..) So please if someone out there has a good material to share, please do so.

Thanks for the replies! :)
Based on my experience working for, with, and against hundreds of organizations over the years, it is my opinion the situation is one of
"self fulfilling prophecy!"

Some managers and owners, particularly absentee ones, have a pre-conceived notion they're smarter and more motivated than the employees they hire. With this bias coloring their actions, these managers and owners lose respect for the employees and show it by exploiting the workers in pay and working conditions and substandard tools and materials (think of the Old Testament story about Pharaoh withholding straw from the slaves and yet requiring them to make bricks by finding straw on their own time and at their own expense.)

The bias makes the owners suspicious of motives and paranoid about employees willfully committing "work slowdowns" or even sabotage. The self-fulfilling part is the exploited workers, dissatisfied with pay and working conditions DO become restive and unhappy and DO work more slowly (either because the tools and materials and management-imposed work instructions dictate [think Deming's RED BEADS here]) or because they ARE consciously or unconsciously slowing the pace in an attempt to create parity ("work worthy of the pay.")

If the managers resort to harsh punishment of employees perceived to be slacking off, actual sabotage sometimes follows, resulting in an ever-escalating war between workers and managers as each mistakenly tries to force the other side into submission.

Sadly, the situation is NEVER completely resolved by "training" only one side of the equation. Much more success can be expected when both managers and rank and file employees are involved in something like Deming's System of Profound Knowledge (SoPK), where each participant becomes aware of the value provided by ALL members of the organization. With a good SoPK, employees get fair pay and good working conditions because the managers realize it increases the net value each "enlightened" employee brings to the organization.

Bottom line:
Training ONLY the employees without collaterally improving pay and working conditions probably will not deliver the desired result. Probably, the most efficacious course of action is to find a sympathetic manager as a prospective "champion" to sponsor a radical change in training BOTH managers and employees, with a lot of emphasis on meeting or exceeding pay and working conditions of similar organizations (takes away a lot of the "grass is greener" dissent so prevalent among organizations where the workforce is exploited in pay and/or working conditions.)
 
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C

charmsli

Thanks for all the replies. I really appreciated it. AS far as the employee morale is concerned, it's really quite obvious that we are facing a political challenge here considering we are a unionized company. Sometimes employee fight for thier rights thru noise barrage, NO overtime, no output etc. As for the management side, they tried to resolve this issue by employee relations programs. As for Training, i want to give them values seminar that will 'somehow' address this concerns. As for the feedback I've recieved yesterday from our President, our employees just work for salary and nothing else. They do not value the "kind of work" they've had. They just don't mind the effect of KAIZEN, the good thing that KAIZEN can bring in the company, that's why I am developing a module that will help them develop thier sense of responsibility and ways on how to improve on thier respective work areas. Monetary/salary issue is out of it.

Gosh! A really tough day for me huh!
 
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