companies understand that employees who don’t trust and feel valued by the people for whom they work will probably move on to somewhere else that values them more. Many organizations are responding by reinventing themselves. They want employees to see the place they work as consisting of trustworthy people with whom they can easily relate. The Mercer report listed the top 10 responses from North American employees about what helps them thrive. Employees want: • Fulfilling work • To be valued for their contributions • To have managers who advocate for them • A sense of belonging • The power to make decisions • Fun at work • An organizational purpose that makes them proud • Opportunities to learn new skills • Integrated life and work • Wealth-building opportunities • Notice how far down the list money is mentioned. Yes, it’s important — it made the top 10 — but it is not as important as other workplace characteristics. Another item worth noting is the desire to learn new skills. This can be leveraged to increase job satisfaction in other higherranking areas. If one learns new skills, there’s a good chance to find work more fulfilling, have a greater sense of belonging and have more fun at work. (Who doesn’t enjoy a break from routine?) Opportunities to learn tell employees they are valued and that their managers advocated for them; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been given those chances to grow. Training classes might also apply to an employee’s life as well as to their work. In short, one specific area (opportunities to learn new skills) may help improve work in five or six other areas, depending on the program. For years, NCDU has offered the Thought Performance Training program to help team members thrive within their work environment when following the principles taught in the class. The current economy is a reminder of how important this specific course can be since it benefits participants in the ways described above. As a result, NCDU wants to remind dealers about this class because it can help their employees. We asked Craig Bickmore, executive director of NCDU, about the class and its potential for positively changing lives. Personally, he has benefited from similar training and wants to provide other NCDU members the same opportunity he has had. Craig believes dealers who invest in sending their employees to the class will create a virtuous circle that improves their dealership’s bottom line. Read about NCDU’s Thought Performance Training program in the adjacent Q&A with Craig Bickmore. 3 For years, NCDU has offered the Thought Performance Training program to help team members thrive within their work environment when following the principles taught in the class. 9
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