Training Tools, Tips & Resources

Training resources blog by Corexcel. Your connection to everything related to training.

Obama announced earlier this week that he will continue his efforts to provide job creation and unemployment assistance to those who have  lost their jobs due to the economic downturn over the last few years.

In his latest budget proposal, the Universal Displaced Worker Program would provide a uniform, national assistance program for “displaced workers” across the country. The resources mentioned in the program include access to job placement services and even a $4,000 grant to the unemployed workers to help fund new career training.

The Obama administration defines “displaced workers” as those “who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, but because their employer closed a plant or division; moved or abolished their position; or simply had insufficient work for them to do.”

The Universal Displaced Worker Program strives to help the unemployed by providing readily available resources, including, but not limited to:

  • Job Placement Services
  • Wage Insurance for Older Workers
  • Universal Access to Job-Coaching Centers
  • $4,000 Assistance for Career Training

“Americans looking for work shouldn’t have to go through a complex administrative process or navigate multiple websites just to figure out how to get the services and training they need,” President Obama said on Monday. “It’s time to modernize the system.  Anyone who has lost a job, no matter what the circumstances, deserves the same support to get back on their feet – and today’s announcement will help make sure they get it.”

Obama’s plan also calls for the creation of the American Job Center Network, which would strive to unify federally-supported career centers and provide the unemployed with online resources and phone numbers.

Officials say the program would be paid for by combining current spending on employment services with an additional $28 billion over a 10 year period.

NCAA March Madness – 5 Tips for Building a Winning Team

March MadnessI grew up playing soccer all my life. At around 8 years old, I started playing for my local league and soon began playing for county and state select teams all the way up into college. Having experienced the need for teamwork, communication and the right coaching, there’s no doubt that now, so many years later, I can make a clear connection between sports and business.

Although each team may have their star player, a good coach will tell you that you can’t win games without the involvement of the entire team. It’s the same with business. While we search for new, aspiring talent, it’s the work behind the scenes that ultimately determines a team’s success.

So, what exactly makes a team successful?

CommunicationEvery successful team needs an open line of communication. One of my favorite coaches used to have us play scrimmages in silence all the time; we’d wave our arms frantically at each other and get frustrated when our teammates couldn’t see us. The activity proved that communication was necessary for a team to be successful. Get in touch with your team. Hold meetings with your team on a weekly or monthly basis to learn more about their workload. Schedule planning meetings with employees to gather feedback before beginning a new project or making team decisions. Communication will only help your team stay connected to each other and to you.

TeamworkEvery coach knows that a team is made up of different players: the goal scorer, the playmaker, the future coach. Managing a team can be difficult with so many different personalities and priorities. It can become especially difficult to keep everyone calm and productive during stressful situations. Whether you’re coming up on an important deadline or preparing for a company-wide change, stressful situations will happen, and conflict may occur. Learn more about resolving conflicts by taking online courses or behavioral assessments for your entire team. Your team needs to work effectively together to maintain (or increase!) productivity levels.

EvaluationEvery manager should take time out to evaluate each of their employees. Whether this is done on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis is up to you. But make sure you take time out to meet with your players to discuss how they think they and the team are doing. Yearly performance reviews are a great place to start. You’ll spend one-on-one time with each of your players to learn more about them, their opinions, their workload and you’ll get a much better grasp on what you could be doing to coach each of your players more effectively.

TrainingJust as important as employee evaluation is the need for training. Just as sports teams need conditioning, your employees need continuous training and development opportunities. Not only will they develop their skills, but providing development opportunities helps to improve company culture and increase employee retention.

CoachingAnd last, but certainly not least, is leadership. Every winning team has an organized, knowledgeable coach pushing the staff to be successful. All of the above steps cannot be completed without you, the manager. If you’re worried about your team’s success, evaluate your leadership strategies. Every team member is different, and an effective leader knows how to adjust their managerial style to each of their staff members. It’s important to know what motivates and demotivates and, even more importantly, to lead appropriately after knowing this information.

Take this time to evaluate your team. How do you measure up? Are you worthy of March Madness selection? Do you think you could make it to the Sweet 16, Elite 8 or even the Final Four? What makes your team special, and what does your team need to work on? Answering these questions and putting the above suggestions in place will put you closer to winning a championship.

Related Links:

Online Management Courses – Accredited, self-paced courses. New courses available specifically for new managers!

Online Leadership Courses – Accredited, self-paced courses designed to help leaders of all experience levels lead effectively.

Everything DiSC® for Workplace – DiSC assessment ideal for any member of a team – focuses on effective communication.

Everything DiSC® for Management – Compatible with Workplace, DiSC for Managers will give you great insight on managing employees of all behavioral styles.

If you read our recent blog post on the importance of performance reviews and providing constructive feedback, then you’re familiar with the vital impact that performance reviews (or lack thereof) can have on your business’ bottom line.

Conducting consistent, effective performance reviews will increase productivity, boost morale and develop your team members’ skills, while a lack of performance reviews negatively impacts retention, company reputation and employee productivity and motivation.

Although we may try to self-assess how we are doing, it is the manager’s role to provide clear, unbiased and constructive feedback to staff in order for staff to fully understand their strengths and improve upon their weaknesses.

For a limited time, we’re offering $15 off (Now $34.00) our Providing Performance Feedback online course so that you can start improving your performance by conducting effective performance reviews with your staff.

Providing Performance Feedback is a self-paced online course designed to help managers and team leaders implement systematic, fact-based approaches to performance improvement via quality feedback. Even experienced managers will learn how to more effectively evaluate and improve their employee’s performance by conducting open and consistent performance reviews.

Upon completing Providing Performance Feedback participants will be able to:

  • Assess team member performance based on facts and behavior,
  • Use positive performance feedback to encourage self-motivation of team members,
  • Conduct effective, interactive performance reviews,
  • Gain team member commitment to changes needed to improve performance.

Special Pricing

Call Corexcel and mention this blog post to receive $15 off the course. Now, through March 28, 2012 you can register for the self-paced, online course for only $34!

Participants have one full year to complete the course. You’ll have 24/7 access to ALL of the material. How and when you complete the course is entirely up to you!

This does not apply to monthly online billing or existing Management Online Courses customers. This online special will expire March 28, 2012. To guarantee this special pricing, call the Corexcel offices at 1-888-658-6641, Monday – Friday (9am – 5:30pm Eastern Time).

HURRY! Offer ends March 28, 2012.