Wellness is more than weight loss and healthy diets. It’s emotional and mental strength, and it’s developing your skills.
That’s why our wellness committee hosted a lunch and learn on how to use Microsoft Word. Two employees with a significant level of knowledge in the program were the presenters.
Many people use this software daily, and sometimes we assume everyone knows everything about it.
We weren’t sure what level of proficiency there was in using Microsoft Office programs, so we decided to run an introductory session to set a baseline and to make sure everyone knew Word’s many features.
To our surprise, about 60% of employees signed up to attend this introductory session. We found that everyone had some knowledge of the software, but in many cases, only very limited word processing or what they needed to know to carry out their daily tasks.
It’s safe to say just about everyone left the session having learned something – some tips and tricks and maybe a little bit better understanding of what they can do in Word. In fact, they were calling for more – more Word sessions, Excel, PowerPoint – and they were suggesting other areas they’d like to learn about, like leadership and public speaking.
Our wellness committee learned two valuable lessons. We can’t assume everyone is confident in using the tools required for their jobs or satisfied with their level of knowledge and there is a thirst for continued learning. Many people commented that this introductory session showed them how much more they could learn. Our employees spent their lunch hours improving a skill and were hungry for more.
In this case, we didn’t need to hire a specialist or send people to a course. We just tapped the resources we had within the company. Greater wellness came from sharing the knowledge we already had.
