Oasis Learning Malaysia

Alhamdulillah completed day 1 - ushawan program in Merlimau Melaka. The session started with training needs analysis (TNA to identify participants learning needs) & then a Spaghetti Challenge. After 5 minutes the session becomes lively & full with energy. Hopefully this will continue into day 2

Success is waking up in the morning with a smile. You may feel some body ache and pains. Flex a bit, move a bit and its gone. If the pain persist, try guasha. My next post will explain this further. Have a great day ahead.

A program designed for Employers to manage staff in challenging economic conditions and retaining talents by educating them to be more aware & responsible for their own finances rather than leave it to others

Hi There Learners,

So what new and whats exciting in corporate training. For us in Oasis Learning s the abundance of ideas and suggestions from our customers. Continue this and we can achieve more this year, a year of new beginnings. All the best and continue learning at work and at home.

Welcome to Oasis Learning PLT new website:

OASIS LEARNING – Built with SitePad BUILDING SOCIAL CAPITAL We apply nature and common sense as our blueprint for sustainable solutions and nurtures positive action using talents strengths which results in life changing experience for our learners as well as improved productivity and performance for their organizations, our natural en...

TIPS TO WORK FROM HOME

Working from home is great on so many levels. Not having to commute saves money and time and can actually make you happier. A plethora of free tools make it dead simple to check in with office teammates. And if you want to work in sweats or pajamas, you can.

But there are challenges, as well. How do you keep from getting distracted with domestic duties? How do you handle a friend who stops by unannounced in the middle of the day? How do you get anything done if you have kids around?

A slew of people who work from home chimed in on the subject. Here's their advice.

1. Identify what needs to get done every day and make sure to do it. "As long as I have a plan on how to complete the list of daily tasks on my personal to-do list, it doesn't matter if or how I may be interrupted, as long as I get things done by the end of the day," says Michael Pesochinsky, VP, GC and CTO of Great Neck, New York-based GovernmentBargains.

2. Use the cloud. Klaus Sonnenleiter, president and CEO of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey-based PrintedArt, insists that important documents need to be uploaded to a cloud storage service such as Dropbox or Google Drive. "This way you can log in from anywhere and never need to worry about having your files with you," he says.

3. Get dressed. "I find that the most important thing for me is to keep a regular routine and to shower and dress every day as if I were going to an actual office," says Jenifer Kramer, Principal of West Hollywood, California-based Jenerosity Marketing.

Catherine Waldron, education specialist, with Enfield, Connecticut-based language curriculum company QTalk Publishing, agrees, and says she showers and dresses for work every day. "Getting dressed makes the home office more like a real office, and tells and reminds everyone, especially you, that even though you may be sitting on the sofa reading, browsing the Web, or talking on the phone, that you are actually working," she says.

4. Don't let friends stop by. Dana Marlowe, principal partner of the Silver Spring, Maryland-based IT accessibility consulting firm Accessibility Partners, uses lunch as a time to meet with friends and if they show up at her house she politely tells them she's working. "Boundaries are only as effective as they are enforced," she says.

Catherine Simms, co-founder of Stamford, Connecticut-based pet accessories company Whiner & Diner, also avoids drop-in visitors. "I just tell them that it is not a good time [and] over the weekend would be better," she says. She also instructs them to call first to see if she's home. Then when they do she doesn't pick up, at least during work hours.

5. Get out of the house. Meagan French, marketing consultant with San Francisco-based Meagan French Marketing, likes to work out of coffee shops. "Leaving my house to work helps separate my work time and personal time," she says.

6. Make a stoplight for family members. Here's an idea from John Meyer, CEO of Miramar, Florida-based work-at-home call center company Arise Virtual Solutions. Hang or tape colored construction paper on your office door. "Tape the red light up when you cannot be disturbed and the green light when it's OK to come in. Yellow light means to check first," he says. "Kids, no matter what age, understand the message and enjoy playing along." (For more commentary on how to deal with distractions from kids, check out 3 tips for working from home with kids.)

7. Invest in creating a comfortable office. Deb McAlister-Holland, a freelance marketing professional in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, says the $5,000 she spent remodeling her home office was the best thing she ever did to increase her productivity. "I love my home office. It has a big leather sofa, three walls covered with built-in bookshelves and storage cabinets, dedicated circuits for my computers, special lighting, and a soft hand-woven rug on the floor that's the perfect spot for my dog to nap while I work," she says.

Frank Niles, co-founder and partner of Fayetteville, Arkansas-based Scholar Executive Group, a boutique executive coaching and executive counseling firm, sings a similar tune. "It may sound trivial but it's not--also buy yourself a comfortable business chair," he says. "You'll be more inclined to stay working... As a result, you'll be more productive."

8. Be clear about your working hours. "Post your hours of operation on your door, as with any office and stick to them. Indicate on your voicemail your hours of operation and refer the caller to your residence phone if it is personal," says Denise Beeson, small business loan officer and business instructor at Santa Rosa Jr. College, in Santa Rosa, California.

9. Pretend you're not home. Don't answer your home phone or door during business hours, advises Ron Sellers, president of Phoenix-based Grey Matter Research & Consulting. "That way, I'm never tempted to chat or take time off or slack off in any way, and I remain focused on business," he says.

10. Don't go to non-work appointments in the middle of the day. "I try to make doctor and dentist appointments just as I would in a company office, first thing in the morning, last thing in the day to minimize disruptions of my work," says Linda Stokes, managing partner of the Academy Physicians, a physician recruiting company in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area.

11. Get in-person time with co-workers. Once a month the four-person virtual team at Moreno Valley, California-based commercial telecom company TelecomQuotes meets in person. "I'm a big believer in kinesthetic learning or learning by doing and that's a bit of a lost art with our virtual world," says CEO Michael Bremmer. "There is something about white boarding an idea, while talking through the story and everyone is leaning in, engaged, thinking about a common goal, drawing on the deep water thoughts, that you just don't seem to get on a conference call or video call."

12. Use Google+ Hangouts. While it's ideal if you can occasionally meet in-person with coworkers, sometimes it's not possible because teams are separated by geography. In that case, video chatting is the next best thing, with Google+ Hangouts being an excellent medium for doing it. You can meet with up to 10 people for free, unlike Skype in which at least one person in the group has to have a paid subscription for meetings between more than two people. It also lets you do things like share your screen with others or pull in apps such SlideShare or Cacoo to draw or give presentations, respectively. Check out Google+ a Ghost Town? Hardly, which discusses why Hangouts are good for business.

13. Enjoy your flexibility. Find your focus wavering? Take a break with a bike ride, swim, or even by quitting work for the entire day. That's according to Patti Hill, founder and managing director of Austin, Texas-based Penman PR. "Because my work schedule can be as flexible as I need it to be, sometimes it's important to walk away," she says. "It's amazing what a cool dip on a hot day can do for helping boost creative juices."

14. Enjoy disruptions. While some remote workers eschew personal visits during the work day, others take the opposite tack. Denny Daniel, curator of New York City-based The Museum of Interesting Things, says he started his own thing to reap the benefits of being his own boss. "So when people drop by I try to live life and see them unless I am with a client or not here, of course. If it is busy then at least I see them for a moment and enjoy life a bit too. It makes me work better in the end," he says.

15. Stay out of the kitchen. "This is sort of the dirty little secret of telecommuters, but it's like the freshman 15 all over again. I shudder at the thought of how many times I opened the fridge that first year. It was just constant snacking," says Joy Martini, president of the New York City-based marketing and communications firm Martini Consulting. "So you need a kind of discipline and that's really the clincher for the whole thing: having the discipline to get done what you need to get done; the discipline to avoid the kitchen; the discipline to kick your drop-in friends out."

16. Buy a noise-cancelling headset with a mute button. The last thing you want is to be in an online meeting and have the doorbell ring or police sirens blaring the background. "Perception is reality," says New York City-based Jonathan Vlock, co-Founder of the meal-planning app Cooking Planit. "You want people to think you run a tight ship, and have all of the necessary resources at your fingertips. This is especially critical when you are an entrepreneur talking to someone at a larger organization. People can't visualize your home but they can certainly visualize an office, and that is exactly what you want them to [see and hear]."

17. Check in with co-workers and the boss several times a day. Several years ago I worked for a large company that let me telecommute several times a week. Because I wanted everyone in the office to know I was really working and not watching TV or out shopping, I made a point of emailing and calling co-workers and especially my boss a few times a day.

18. Make use of free or inexpensive communications technology. Today there are countless tools available for keeping in close communication with office mates. A few to try include Hipchat for group chatting, Trello or Asana for project management, Expensify for tracking expenses and submitting expense reports and Sqwiggle, which keeps your we**am turned on so your co-workers can see you at your desk all day long.

LET'S GET DISCIPLINED

Let’s face it. We all probably need a little more discipline to achieve our prospective goals, especially when it comes to health! We also know you have really long days at work almost every day and it tough to eat healthy all the time. But, there is hope! And with a little bit of perseverance, we can achieve the discipline we need by following these easy steps provided by Forbes magazine:

1. Remove temptations. Self control is often easiest when abiding by the old saying, “out of sight, out of mind.” Removing all temptations and distractions from your environment is a crucial first step when working to improve your self discipline. If you are trying to have better control of your eating, toss the junk food. Ask your office intern to leave you off of the daily lunch order email. If you want to improve your focus while working, turn off your cell phone and remove the clutter from your desk.

2. Eat regularly and healthily. When you’re hungry, your ability to concentrate suffers as your brain is not functioning to its highest potential. Hunger makes it difficult to focus on the tasks at hand, not to mention making you grumpy and pessimistic. You are much more likely to have a weakened sense of self control in all areas of our life – diet, exercise, work, relationships… you name it.

3. Don’t wait for it to “feel right.” Improving your self discipline means changing up your normal routine, which can be uncomfortable and awkward. When a behavior becomes habit, we stop using our decision-making skills and instead function on auto-pilot. Breaking a bad habit and building a new habit not only requires us to make active decisions, it will feel wrong. Embrace the wrong. Acknowledge that it will take a while for your new regime to feel right or good or natural. Keep chugging along. It will happen.

4. Schedule breaks and treats for yourself. Self discipline does not mean your new regimen needs to be entirely cold turkey, hard core, or drill sergeant-like in ex*****on. In fact, giving yourself zero wiggle room often results in failures, disappointments, and giving into your old ways. Trying to lose weight? Treat yourself with a fancy massage after a month of gym trips.

5. Forgive yourself and move forward. Instituting a new way of thinking won’t always go according to plan. You will have ups and downs, fabulous successes, and flat out failures. The key is to keep moving forward. When you have a setback, acknowledge what caused it and move on. It is easy to get wrapped up in guilt, anger, or frustration, but these emotions will not help build improve self discipline. Use the hiccups in your plan as learning experiences for the future. Forgive yourself, and get back in the saddle ASAP. The longer you’re off your game, the harder it is to keep going in a positive direction.

Is a Happy Worker Always a Productive Worker?

For many years, organizational scientists and practitioners have shared an interest in the belief that employees who are happy with their jobs demonstrate higher levels of job-related performance behavior than do employees who are dissatisfied with their employment. This assumption from researchers Russell Cropanzano and Thomas A. Wright points to a positive causal relationship between employee happiness, that is, the level of job satisfaction that characterizes employee experience, and worker productivity. This seems logical. However, despite considerable research and empirical support for the assumption that a happy worker equals a productive worker, this premise remains ambiguous.

Numerous organizational scientists continue to express their skepticism concerning the presumed relationship between employee happiness and job performance. To address this situation, researchers Cropanzano and Wright have conceptualized happiness in a manner that equates it with job satisfaction, that is, as the presence of “positive affect” and the absence of “negative affect,” such the absence of emotional exhaustion and the presence of psychological well-being.

Other research from Thomas A. Wright and colleagues stated that organizational scientists have long recognized the importance of psychological well-being. It is also widely regarded in terms that relate to the effectiveness of an employee’s psychological and social functioning. A two-year longitudinal study was conducted by Thomas Wright and colleagues in 2002, which examined the relationship and effects of psychological well-being, job satisfaction and dispositional affect. Study results provided support for the hypothesis that psychological well-being can be positively related to job performance.

Another study conducted by Toon W. Taris and Paul J.G. Schreurs in 2009 tested the happy-productive worker hypothesis. The methodology equated job satisfaction with happiness and measured this factor, as well as emotional exhaustion. Using data garnered from 66 Dutch home care organizations, the researchers evaluated a variety of factors, which included levels of control, support, emotional satisfaction and exhaustion and evaluated them according to how they related to organizational performance. The Taros and Schreurs’ analysis partially confirmed the hypothesis, particularly about high levels of emotional exhaustion having a statistically significant relationship to low organizational performance. The researchers concluded that these study findings underscore the importance of improving employee job satisfaction and well-being.

Cropanzano and Wright pointed out that happy and unhappy individuals experiencing vastly different psychological situations. Unhappy individuals are generally sensitive to threats associated with their work environments, and they tend to be defensive and cautious in their relationships with co-workers, as well as less optimistic and less confident. Happy workers, on the other hand, demonstrate more sensitivity to opportunities, are more outgoing, and demonstrate a high level of optimism and confidence. As this indicates, the psychological condition of being unhappy is a factor in lowering the performance level of these individuals. Cropanzano and Wright stated that when something is rare, such as happiness in the workplace, people are more sensitive to signs that it is threatened. On the other hand, when individuals feel secure and enjoy a higher level of job satisfaction, they can afford to be less involved with worry and are, therefore, more sensitive to positive events.

The extensive review of literature provided by researchers Cropanzano and Wright proposed that the ambiguous research findings investigating the happy-productive workers’ hypothesis result in a variety of ways in which happiness has been conceptualized. These researchers offered and described a comprehensive framework that has the potential to improve the categorization and measure of happiness. They called for additional research to look at the role of happiness and unhappiness related to predictions of performance. They concluded that numerous prominent researchers working in the field of occupational health have estimated that only a minority of American workers can be considered as truly happy.

Perhaps something else to consider is research from Teresa Amabile and Steven J. Kramer discussed in a 2011 Harvard Business Review article, which talked about the “progress principle.” Their research concluded that “of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during a workday, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work. And the more frequently people experience that sense of progress, the more likely they are to be creatively productive in the long run. Whether they are trying to solve a major scientific mystery or simply produce a high-quality product or service, everyday progress — even a small win — can make all the difference in how they feel and perform.”

What Makes a Work Environment Hostile?

What constitutes a hostile work environment? Some employees believe that a bad boss, an unpleasant work environment, a rude coworker, failure to qualify for a promotion, or the lack of perks, privileges, benefits, and recognition can create a hostile work environment. But, the reality is that for a workplace to be hostile, certain legal criteria must be met.

A hostile work environment is created by a boss or coworker whose actions, communication or behavior make doing your job impossible.

This means that the behavior altered the terms, conditions, and/or reasonable expectations of a comfortable work environment for employees.

Additionally, the behavior, actions or communication must be discriminatory in nature. Discrimination is monitored and guided by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

So, a coworker who talks loudly, snaps her gum, and leans over your desk when she talks with you, is demonstrating inappropriate, rude, obnoxious behavior, but it does not create a hostile work environment. On the other hand, a coworker who tells sexually explicit jokes and sends around images of n**e people is guilty of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment.

A boss who verbally berates you about your age, your religion, your gender, or your race may be guilty of creating a hostile work environment. Even if the comments are casual, said with a smile, or played as jokes, the boss may be creating a hostile work environment.

This is especially true if you asked the individual to stop and the behavior continues. This, by the way, is always the first step in addressing inappropriate behavior at work—ask the inappropriately behaving boss or coworker to stop.

Legal Requirements for a Hostile Environment
The legal requirements for a hostile work environment include these.

The actions or behavior must discriminate against a protected classification such as age, religion, disability, or race.
The behavior or communication must be pervasive, lasting over time, and not limited to an off-color remark or two that a coworker found annoying. These incidents should be reported to Human Resources for needed intervention.
The problem becomes significant and pervasive if it is all around a worker, continues over time, and is not investigated and addressed effectively enough by the organization to make the behavior stop.
The hostile behavior, actions, or communication must be severe. Not only is it pervasive over time, but the hostility must seriously disrupt the employee’s work. The second form of severity occurs if the hostile work environment interferes with an employee’s career progress. For example, the employee failed to receive a promotion or a job rotation as a result of the hostile behavior.
It is reasonable to assume that the employer knew about the actions or behavior and did not sufficiently intervene. Consequently, the employer can be liable for the creation of a hostile work environment.
Dealing With a Hostile Work Environment
The first step an employee needs to take if he or she is experiencing a hostile work environment is to ask the offending employee to stop their behavior or communication.

If an employee finds this difficult to do on his or her own, they should solicit help from a manager or Human Resources.

When inappropriate behavior is coming from another employee, they are your best in-house resources. They also serve as your witness to the fact that you asked the offending employee to stop the behavior.

You want to put the offending employee on notice that their behavior is offensive, discriminatory, inappropriate, and that you won't tolerate the behavior. (In the majority of cases, the employee will stop the behavior. They may not have realized the degree to which you found the actions offensive.)

These resources will help you address a hostile work environment before the hostility escalates. You can pick between dealing with difficult people, dealing with a bully, holding difficult conversations, and dealing with conflict.

They will all help you increase your skill in dealing with the coworker creating your hostile work environment. These skills and ideas may be all that you need since many bullies are spineless when confronted.

Especially in instances where you have reported the behavior of a manager or supervisor to the appropriate manager or HR staff member, the behavior must stop. Additionally, the reported individual may not retaliate against you as a payback for your reporting of his or her improper behavior.

An employee who experiences a hostile work environment, and has attempted to make the behavior stop without success, though, should go to his or her manager, employer, or Human Resources staff. The first step in getting help is to ask for help. Your employer must have the opportunity to investigate the complaint and eliminate the behavior.

A later hostile workplace lawsuit you institute will flounder if the employer was unaware of the situation and had not been given the opportunity to address the behavior and hostile environment. This is in your hands because, in most workplaces, hostile, offensive behavior is noticed and addressed when it is obvious or seen by many employees.

Employees rarely need to address the behavior on their own. When the behavior is not widely viewed or if it happens only in secret without witnesses, you must bring the hostile behavior to your employer's attention.

Plus, you may find yourself surprised about how vigilantly your employer acts to prevent current and future incidents that may contribute to a hostile work environment. Many, many employers regard harassment and the creation of a hostile work environment as actions that are deserving of employment termination following a confirming investigation. Give your employer a chance to do what's right.