active listening

Active Listening Workbook Practice Exercises

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Active listening must be practiced for it to feel natural. I explained all about active listening as an essential employee communication tool in my last article in video. Using my practice exercises can help you assure your understanding on active listening. It is highly recommended to use these exercises as part of a team meeting or workshop.

 

Active listening will enable team discussions to arrive at consensus, which is crucial for the evolution and empowerment of the team. It is also a must to learn to use diplomatic disagreement, another highly effective communication tool. I will cover this in my next article and video.

 

You can download the practice worksheet though this link.

 

active listening
employee motivator checklist

Employee Motivator checklist and Worksheet Guide

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Employees must be motivated by the work to perform well and above expectations. Having the right person for the job that matches their thinking style, behavioural traits and occupational interests is the foundation.

 

Having the right person in the job is not enough. There are things that leaders and managers can do to enhance employee motivation and keep them engaged.

 

Each employee may have different things that motivate them, and this can change over time. So, it is important to have ongoing conversations with each employee to understand their key job motivators and how to meet their needs.

 

 

FastCompany published an article that referred to a study by BNET answering the question, “What motivates you at work?”

 

I created a checklist/worksheet to use to help determine the motivation factors of your employees. You can download the form and others from my documents section of my website. Instruction for using the worksheet are included.

 

I suggest completing the form on your own for each employee and having them also complete it. Then meet to compare and discuss. From that you can set action plans for each employee.

 

Creating an employee development plan2

Develop a Strategic Plan for Employee Development

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The old expression, “failing to plan is planning to fail” also applies to employee development. In my recent article about a leaders’ struggle to deal with employees being resistant to change, I wrote that strategic planning for employee development is a practice that a leader must undertake to avoid this dilemma.

employee development planDeveloping a human resource or employee development plan is often the responsibility of the human resource department if there is one. From my perspective, it’s the leader’s responsibility because the leader is accountable for the performance of the department and each employee.

Here is my list of things for the leader or manager to do to develop a strategic plan for employee development.

  1. Develop goals for the department based on the plans and goals of the organization. If these are not clear do what you can to get clarity or develop your own goals based on what you know. Involve the team members in this process as much as you can, as doing so will get their buy-in when it comes to their individual contribution and development needs.
  2. Consider each employees’ strengths and weaknesses in view of the department’s plans and goals. What strengths can you leverage? What weaknesses pose a challenge? What skills will the person need to learn in the future in order to reach the goals or plan of the organization and department. Consider soft skills as well as hard skills. Soft skills are those related to attitude and work habits that have an impact on personal productivity and teamwork.
  3. Meet with each employee individually to establish goals and objective relative to the department goals. Prior to the meeting ask each person to reflect on the goals they can set and what they will need to learn and develop. Discuss this at the meeting and put plans and goals in writing. Teamwork is crucial for companies to be agile and competitive. Consider the skills that employees need to learn to be effective in working with others. Set a followup meeting to complete this if needed.
  4. Research training resources for skill development. Schedule training sessions and plan individual coaching time to provide training you plan to deliver yourself.
  5. Review your plan monthly and conduct follow up sessions with the team and each member to review goals and development progress.

The items above provide a strategic approach to talent management and is the best way to ensure that people are ready and able to meet new challenges and keep the organization productive and competitive. Failing to do so will potentially result in the dilemma that Roger was facing in my previous article.

In future articles I will elaborate further on some of the above points especially regarding coaching employees. Subscribe to my newsletter or blog feed to stay tuned for that!

Stephen Goldberg