When a coworker retires, coworkers generally sign the retirement card, participate in the scheduled festivities, and send personal greetings and gifts to honor the retirement occasion. Traditionally, when the momentous occasion of an employee retirement occurs, it is marked as a life passage into the next chapter for the employee.

They use the retirement as one last opportunity to express care and appreciation for a valued coworker. As a consequence, employers and coworkers, who know not what the future brings, want to wish the retiring employee a happy retirement. This is greatly appreciated by the employee who has decided to retire.

But, the employer and coworkers are often more hesitent about how to deliver their retirement wishes effectively and successfully. You will want to make your coworker's retirement memorable. Use these sample retirement wishes to send a happy retirement message to a valued colleague.

Here are sample retirement wishes that you can customize for your own use when you have the opportunity to wish a treasured colleague all of the best in retirement. These retirement words wish the coworker the very best thoughts for the future.

Read through these sample retirement words and wishes to find sentiments that echo your own feelings about a coworker.

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How to Best Wish Your Coworker a Happy Retirement

Welcome to My NC Retirement for government employees, employers, and retirees! Here you'll find resources and tools to help you determine what actions to take to address your short-term and long-term financial and retirement planningneeds.

The online retirement application is here!

If you are a member of the Teachers' and State Employees' and Local Governmental Employees' Retirement Systems and are within 120 days from your chosen retirement date, you have a new way to apply for retirement. The NC Retirement Systems now has an online retirement feature in ORBIT. No more filling in multiple forms by hand or waiting for the Retirement Systems Division to receive your paperwork by mail. The online application offers a step-by-step guide to move you through the process, integrated videos, examples and links available on screen at critical decision-making points and built-in pension rules that prevent delays in the processing of your retirement application.

Make sure you have an up-to-date ORBIT account so you'll be ready when retirement time comes. Click here to access ORBIT or register today. The first step to take if youre thinking about retirement is to log in to ORBIT to get a free, customized benefit estimate of your retirement benefits to make sure you're ready to retire. Although we will still accept paper applications, we feel confident that youll prefer the online retirement application.

When youre ready to start planning, check out this process map which give you a good idea of the process and when youll make all your key decisions. Remember to talk to your HR staff to let them know your intentions and follow any internal processes your employer has. Once you have your customized benefit estimate and have spoken with your employer, log in to ORBIT and click on the Apply for Retirement Online link.

You can volunteer to help with hurricane recovery efforts without affecting your retirement benefits, but there are some rules that you should know.

There has been an outpouring of support for everyone impacted by Hurricane Florence, and we've receivedquestions about how our retirees can help without violating Return to Work Laws.

Return to Work Laws govern how retirees can work for a government agency that is participating in the North Carolina Retirement System. Return to Work Laws apply differently to members of the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System (TSERS) and the Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System (LGERS). If you violate these laws, you could be subject to financial penalties and/or possible loss of retirement benefits and health coverage, so it's important for you to know how these laws apply to you.

If you're thinking about volunteering, here's what you need to know.

If you still have questions about your specific situation, please call our Call Center at 877-NC-SECURE (877-627-3287).

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North Carolina Department of State Treasurer

Osho - Rajneesh Chandra Mohan Jain. Born - December 11, 1931, IndiaDied - January 19, 1990, IndiaPhilosophy - neo-sannyasins

"If you really want to know who I am, you have to be as absolutely empty as I am. Then two mirrors will be facing each other, and only emptiness will be mirrored. Infinite emptiness will be mirrored: two mirrors facing each other. But if you have some idea, then you will see your own idea in me."

"Find moments when you are not, and those will be the moments when you will be for the first time...really."

"When you are no more, only then for the first time will you be."

"Be true, and you will be blissful. Be authentic, and you will be happy. And that happiness will be uncaused; it will be just a part of your being true."

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The works of Osho challenge readers to examine and break free ofthe conditions, belief systems, and prejudices that limit theircapacity to experience life in all its richness. One of the best-knownand most provocative spiritual teachers of the twentieth century, Oshohas been described by the Sunday Times of London as one of the"1000 Makers of the 20th Century" and by American novelist Tom Robbinsas "the most dangerous man since Jesus Christ." More than a decadeafter his death in 1990, the influence of his teachings continues togrow, reaching seekers of all ages in virtually every country of theworld.

Oshosaid that enlightenment is everyone's natural state, but that one isdistracted from realising it particularly by the human activity ofthought, as well as by emotional ties to societal expectations, andconsequent fears and inhibitions.

He was a prolific speaker (inboth Hindi and English) on various spiritual traditions including thoseof Buddha, Laozi, Krishna, Guru Nanak, Jesus, Socrates, Zen masters,Gurdjieff, Sufism, Hassidism, Tantra and many others. He attempted toensure that no "system of thought" would define him, since he believedthat no philosophy can fully express the truth.

An experiencedorator, he said that words could not convey his message, but that hisbasic reason for speaking was to give people a taste of meditation:I am making you aware of silences without any effort on your part. Myspeaking is being used for the first time as a strategy to createsilence in you.

This is not a teaching, a doctrine, a creed.Thats why I can say anything. I am the most free person who has everexisted as far as saying anything is concerned. I can contradict myselfin the same evening a hundred times. Because it is not a speech, it hasnot to be consistent. It is a totally different thing, and it will taketime for the world to recognise that a tremendously differentexperiment was going on.

Just a moment when I became silent,you become silent. What remains is just a pure awaiting. You are notmaking any effort; neither am I making any effort. I enjoy talking; itis not an effort.

I love to see you silent. I love to see youlaugh, I love to see you dance. But in all these activities, thefundamental remains meditation.

Oshosaid he loved to disturb people only by disturbing them could he makethem think. Accordingly, his discourses were peppered with offensivejokes and outrageous statements lampooning key figures of establishedreligions such as Hinduism, Jainism or Christianity. Concerning thevirgin birth, for example, he said that Jesus was clearly a bastard,since he was not Joseph's biological son. An attempt on his life wasmade by a Hindu fundamentalist in 1980. Osho, however, said that theonly thing he was serious about in his discourses were the jokes theywere the main thing, and everything else was spiritual gossip.

Oshosaid it was very difficult for modern man to just sit and be inmeditation, so he devised so-called Active Meditation techniques toprepare the ground. Some of these preparatory exercises can also befound in western psychological therapies, suchas breathing, gibberish, laughing or crying. His mostsignificant meditation techniques are today known as "OSHO Dynamic Meditation","OSHO Kundalini Meditation","OSHO Nadabrahma Meditation","OSHO Chakra Sounds", For eachmeditation, special music was composed to guide the meditator throughthe different phases of the meditations. Osho said that DynamicMeditation was absolutely necessary for modern man. If people wereinnocent, he said, there would be no need for Dynamic Meditation, butgiven that people were repressed, were carrying a large psychologicalburden, they would first need a catharsis. So Dynamic Meditation was tohelp them clean themselves out; then they would be able to use anymeditation method without difficulty.

Osho Essential teachings

On MEDITATION - Meditation is astate of witnessing without judgments. It is not concentration: it is relaxation, let-go. There is no "how" to this,because "how" means doing one has to understand that no doing isgoing to help. In that very understanding, non-doing happens.

Meditation means awareness. Whatsoever you do with awareness is meditation.Action is not the question, but the quality that you bring to your action.Walking can be a meditation if you walk alertly. Sitting can be a meditation if you sit alertly.Listning to the birds can be a meditation if you listen with awareness.Just listening to the inner noise of your mind can be a meditation ifyou remain alert and watchful.The whole point is: one should not move in sleep. Then whatsoever you do is meditation.

On ENLIGHTENMENT- Enlightenment is everyone's natural state, but that one is distractedfrom realizing it particularly by the human activity of thought, aswell as by emotional ties to societal expectations, and consequentfears and inhibitions.

On LOVE - Love is the only real thing worth doing. All else is secondary. If ithelps love, it is good. All else is just a means, love is the end. Sowhatsoever the pain, go into love. If you don't go into love, as manypeople have decided, then you are stuck with yourself. Then your lifeis not a pilgrimage, then your life is not a river going to the ocean;your life is a stagnant pool, dirty, and soon there will be nothing butdirt and mud. To keep clean, one needs to keep flowing. A river remainsclean because it goes on flowing. Flow is the process of remainingcontinuously virgin. A lover remains a virgin. All lovers are virgin.The people who don't love cannot remain virgin; they become dormant,stagnant; they start stinking sooner or later -- and sooner than later-- because they have nowhere to go. Their life is dead. That's wheremodern man finds himself, and because of this, all kinds of neuroses,all kinds of madnesses, have become rampant.

On CELEBRATION - Celebration is the foundation of my sanyas, not renunciation but rejoicing; rejoicing in all the beauties, all the joys, all that life offers, because this whole life is a gift of God.

On HAPPINESS - Happiness is a function of truth. Whenever there is truth, happiness functions. Whenever there is not truth, happiness stops functioning and unhappiness functions.

On CREATIVITY - To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.

Oshowas born Chandra Mohan Jain in Kuchwada, a small village in theNarsinghpur District of Madhya Pradesh state in India, as the eldest ofeleven children of a cloth merchant. At the time, an astrologerpredicted that he might die before he was seven years old according tothe birth chart. His parents, who were Taranpanthi Jains, sent him tolive with his maternal grandparents until he was seven years old.

Oshosaid this was a major influence on his growth because his grandmothergave him the utmost freedom and respect, leaving him carefree; withoutan imposed education or restrictions.

At seven years old, he wentback to his parents. He explained that he received a similar kind ofrespect from his paternal grandfather who was staying with them. He wasable to be very open with his grandfather. His grandfather used to tellhim, "I know you are doing the right thing. Everyone may tell you thatyou are wrong. But nobody knows which situation you are in. Only youcan decide in your situation. Do whatsoever you feel is right. I willsupport you. I love you and respect you as well." He resisted hisparents' pressure to get married.

He was a rebellious, but gifted student, winning the title of All-India Debating Champion.

Hestarted his public speaking at the annual Sarva Dharma Sammelan held atJabalpur since 1939, organised by the Taranpanthi Jain community intowhich he was born. He participated there from 1951 to 1968. Eventuallythe Jain community stopped inviting him because of his radical ideas.

Oshosaid he became spiritually enlightened on 21 March 1953, when he was 21years old. He said he dropped all effort and hope. After an intenseseven-day process he went out at night to a garden in Jabalpur, wherehe sat under a tree: The moment I entered the garden everythingbecame luminous, it was all over the place the benediction, theblessedness. I could see the trees for the first time their green,their life, their very sap running. The whole garden was asleep, thetrees were asleep. But I could see the whole garden alive, even thesmall grass leaves were so beautiful. I looked around. One tree wastremendously luminous the maulshree tree. It attracted me, it pulledme towards itself. I had not chosen it, god himself has chosen it. Iwent to the tree, I sat under the tree. As I sat there things startedsettling. The whole universe became a benediction.

He finishedhis studies at D. N. Jain College and the University of Sagar,receiving a B.A. (1955) and an M.A. (1957, with distinction) inphilosophy. He then taught philosophy, first at Raipur SanskritCollege, and then, until 1966, as a Professor at Jabalpur University.At the same time, he travelled throughout India, giving lecturescritical of socialism and Gandhi, under the name Acharya Rajneesh(Acharya means "teacher"; Rajneesh was a nickname he had been given byhis family). In 1962, he began to lead 3- to 10-day meditation camps,and the first meditation centres (Jivan Jagruti Kendras) started toemerge around his teaching, then known as the Life Awakening Movement(Jivan Jagruti Andolan). He resigned from his teaching post in 1966.

In1968, he scandalised Hindu leaders by calling for freer acceptance ofsex; at the Second World Hindu Conference in 1969, he enraged Hindus bycriticising all organised religion and the very institution ofpriesthood.

In 1969, a group of Osho's friends established afoundation to support his work. They settled in an apartment in Mumbaiwhere he gave daily discourses and received visitors. The number andfrequency of visitors soon became too much for the place, overflowingthe apartment and bothering the neighbours. A much larger apartment wasfound on the ground floor (so the visitors would not need to use theelevator, a matter of conflict with the former neighbours).

OnSeptember 26, 1970, he initiated his first disciple or sannyasin at anoutdoor meditation camp, one of the large gatherings where he lecturedand guided group meditations. His concept of neo-sannyas entailedwearing the traditional orange dress of ascetic Hindu holy men.However, his sannyasins were not expected to follow an asceticlifestyle.

From 1971, he was known as BhagwanShree Rajneesh. Shree means Sir or Mister; the Sanskrit word Bhagwanmeans "blessed one". It is commonly used in India as a respectful formof address for spiritual teachers.

The new apartment also provedinsufficient, and the climate of Mumbai was deemed very bad for hisdelicate health. So, in 1974, on the 21st anniversary of hisenlightenment, he and his group moved from the Mumbai apartment to anewly purchased (by Catherine Venizelos) property in Koregaon Park, inthe city of Pune, a four-hour trip from Mumbai. Pune had been thesecondary residence of many wealthy families from Mumbai because of thecooler climate (Mumbai lies in a coastal wetland, hot and damp, Pune isinland and much higher, so it is drier and cooler).

The twoadjoining houses and six acres of land became the nucleus of an Ashram,and those two buildings are still at the heart of the present-day OshoInternational Meditation Resort. This space allowed for the regularaudio and video recording of his discourses and, later, printing forworldwide distribution, which enabled him to reach far larger audiencesinternationally. The number of Western visitors increased sharply,leading to constant expansion. The Ashram now began to offer a growingnumber of therapy groups, as well as meditations.

During one of his discourses in 1980, an attempt on his life was made by a Hindu fundamentalist.

Osho taught at the Pune Ashram from 1974 to 1981.

On10 April 1981, having discoursed daily for nearly 15 years, Oshoentered a three-and-a-half-year period of self-imposed public silence,and satsangs (silent sitting, with some readings from his works andmusic) took the place of his discourses.

In mid-1981, Osho wentto the United States in search of better medical care (he suffered fromasthma, diabetes and severe back problems). After a brief spell inMontclair, New Jersey, his followers bought (for US$6 million) a64,000-acre (260 km) ranch in Wasco County, Oregon, previously knownas "The Big Muddy Ranch", where they settled for the next four yearsand legally incorporated a city named Rajneeshpuram.

Oshostayed in Rajneeshpuram as the commune's guest, living in a modest homewith an indoor swimming pool. Over the coming years, he acquired famefor the large number of Rolls-Royces his followers bought for his use.

Oshoended his period of silence in October 1984. In July 1985, he resumedhis daily public discourses in the commune's purpose-built, two-acremeditation hall. According to statements he made to the press, he didso against the wishes of Ma Anand Sheela, his secretary and thecommunes top manager.

Increasingconflicts with neighbours and the state of Oregon,as well as seriousand criminal misconduct by the commune's management (includingconspiracy to murder public officials, wiretapping within the commune,the attempted murder of Osho's personal physician, and a bio-terrorismattack on the citizens of The Dalles, Oregon, using salmonella), madethe position of the Oregon commune untenable. When the commune'smanagement team who were guilty of these crimes left the U.S. inSeptember 1985, fleeing for Europe, Osho convened a press conferenceand called on the authorities to undertake an investigation. Thiseventually led to the conviction of Sheela and several of herlieutenants.Although Osho himself was not implicated in these crimes,his reputation suffered tremendously, especially in the West.

Inlate October 1985, Osho was arrested in North Carolina as he wasallegedly fleeing the U.S. Accused of minor immigration violations,Osho, on advice of his lawyers, entered an "Alford plea" throughwhich a suspect does not admit guilt, but does concede there is enoughevidence to convict him and was given a suspended sentence anddeported from the United States.

Osho then began a world tour,speaking in Nepal, Greece and Uruguay, among others. Being refusedentry visas by more than twenty different countries, he returned toIndia in July 1986, and in January 1987, to his old Ashram in Pune,India. He resumed discoursing there.

In late December 1988, hesaid he no longer wished to be referred to as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh,and shortly afterwards took the name Osho.

On January 19, 1990,four years after his arrest, Osho died, aged 58, with heart failurebeing the publicly reported cause. Prior to his death, Osho hadexpressed his belief that his rapid health decline was caused by someform of poison administered to him by the U.S. authorities during thetwelve days he was held without bail in various U.S. prisons. In apublic discourse on 6 November 1987, he said that a number of doctorsthat were consulted had variously suspected thallium, radioactiveexposure, and other poisons to account for his failing health: Itdoes not matter which poison has been given to me, but it is certainthat I have been poisoned by Ronald Reagan's American government.

Hisashes were placed in his newly built bedroom in one of the mainbuildings (LaoTsu House) at his last place of residence, his Ashram inPune, India. The epitaph reads, "OSHO. Never Born, Never Died. OnlyVisited this Planet Earth between Dec 11 1931 Jan 19 1990."

With200,000 visitors annually, the Osho International Meditation Resort inPune, India, is one of the largest spiritual growth centres in theworld today.

Today, Osho's books are more popular than everbefore, with translations published in 55 different languages. At theend of the eighties, the majority of people in South Asia wantednothing to do with Osho's commune; but since Osho's death, there hasbeen a sea change in public opinion. In 1991, an influential Indiannewspaper counted Osho, among figures such as Gautama Buddha andMahatma Gandhi, among the ten people who had most changed India'sdestiny; in Osho's case, by "liberating the minds of future generationsfrom the shackles of religiosity and conformism". Since then, histeachings have progressively become part of the cultural mainstream ofIndia and Nepal.

Osho is one of only two authors whose entireworks have been placed in the Library of India's National Parliament inNew Delhi (the other is Mahatma Gandhi). Excerpts and quotes from hisworks appear regularly in the Times of India and many other Indiannewspapers. Prominent admirers include the Indian Prime Minister, Dr.Manmohan Singh, and the noted Indian novelist and journalist, KhushwantSingh. The Osho disciple Vinod Khanna, who worked as Osho's gardener inRajneeshpuram, served as India's Minister of State for External Affairsfrom 2003 to 2004.

In the West, figures such as the American poetand Rumi translator Coleman Barks, the American novelist Tom Robbinsand the German philosopher, author and TV host Peter Sloterdijk havechampioned Osho.

Osho's Ashram in Pune has become the OshoInternational Meditation Resort, one of India's main touristattractions. According to press reports, it attracts some 200,000visitors from all over the world each year; politicians, mediapersonalities and the Dalai Lama have visited the Meditation Resort.

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In New York City, Long Island and the northern suburbs, tens of thousands of 1199SEIU members-about half our union members-work at institutions that belong to the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes or the Greater New York Nursing Home Association, or at institutions whose contracts are patterned on them. These master contracts have provided a level of healthcare, pension and other benefits that surpass those of most healthcare workers in our country through our 1199SEIU National Benefit and Pension Funds (NBF). Our goal is to eventually elevate all of our members to this level of benefits. But that is not now the case.

Find Your Benefits:

Florida | Maryland / DC | Massachusetts | NYC/LI | Upstate NY

1199SEIU members in Florida, Maryland/DC, New Jersey, Massachusetts and those parts of New York that do not belong to the NBF should refer questions about their benefits to their organizers.

Health Benefits

More than 200,000 members of 1199SEIU have won comprehensive healthcare coverage hospitalization, doctors visits, dental and vision care, prescription drugs, etc. with no or minimal out-of-pocket expenses for themselves and their families. In all, the benefit covers more than 400,000 lives.

Pension Benefits

The 1199SEIU pension funds serve over 200,000 members primarily in New York City and its Long Island and northern suburbs and remains the model for what we want to achieve for every 1199SEIU member.

Education, Training and Job Security Benefits

These benefits are aimed at helping our members earn high school, college and advanced education degrees, as well as train them for upgraded skills in a constantly changing work environment. Many members are also eligible for placement services and extended benefits if they are laid off from their jobs.

Child Care Benefits

This benefit is a unique program that helps thousands of union families by offering a broad menu of programs for our children from birth through college for day care and after school care, mentoring, camps, holiday programs and other activities.

Home Mortgage & Financial Wellness Programs

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Benefits :: 1199SEIU

Glossary of Labor TermsA

Agency Shop: A work place in which not all employees are required to join the union as a condition of employment, but those who dont must pay the union a service fee. Most common in the public sector.

American Federation of Labor- Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO): The American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is the voluntary federation of America's unions, representing more than 13 million working women and men nationwide. The AFL-CIO was formed in 1955 by the merger of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Recently, SEIU and other unions have called for significant changes in how the AFL-CIO is structured and functions.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): This federal law, passed in 1990, prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment and in public services, public and private transportation, public accommodations, and telecommunications services.

Anti-harassment policy: A policy set by the union, or jointly with management, to deal with harassment of members by each other, or by management. Harassment is unwelcome behavior that can include name-calling, jokes, graffiti, insults, threats, discourteous treatment, or written, verbal or physical abuse. Harassment is usually an abuse of power that violates human rights, based on prohibited grounds such as racial background, ethnicity, place of origin, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, and language.

Arbitration: A dispute resolution process whereby a neutral third party--the arbitrator--hears a grievance and makes a decision which is usually both final and binding on both parties. This process is used when the grievance procedure fails to produce a resolution of a grievance and the union determines that the case if worthy of going to arbitration.

Bargaining Unit: A group of workers with common interests certified by a Labor Board (NLRB, PERB) as a unit that bargains together in the same union. Workers who are not covered by the bargaining unit, like supervisors, are sometimes referred to as those, out of the unit. Workers who are covered by the bargaining unit are sometimes called, bargaining unit members or unit members.

Base Rate: The straight time rate of pay, excluding premiums and incentive bonuses. Boycott: A concerted refusal to purchase from, use, participate in, or support something in order to pressure an employer or other target to agree to the groups demands.

Bread and Roses: The not-for-profit cultural arm of 1199 SEIU. Activities include free lunchtime drama, music and poetry programs with professional companies, Labor Day street fairs, videotapes and films, concerts at Lincoln Center as well as art and photography exhibitions at Gallery 1199.

Canvass: A method of talking individually to every member of a bargaining unit to either convey information, gather information on a survey, or plan for united action.

Caucus: 1. A meeting of either side (union or management) without the other present. Either side may call for a caucus at any time during a grievance meeting, labor management meeting or negotiations. Caucuses are usually taken to consider a proposal, change the tone of the meeting, to analyze what is happening, etc.

2. A group of people with a common identity and other commonalities form a caucus within a larger group to advocate for the rights and interests of marginalized voices within the larger group. A caucus is self-defined by members. No one should feel they need to prove their identity; however, it is important that everyone respects the need for marginalized groups of people to have their own space for discussion and planning.

Those caucuses include: Asian Pacific Islander Caucus, Native American Caucus, Lavender Caucus, Latino Caucus, National African American Caucus (AFRAM), People with Disabilities Caucus, Retiree Caucus, Women's Caucus. The caucuses have tackled crucial issues of civil and human rights and fostered solidarity with unions in other countries. They have also shone a light on injustices in North America that SEIU as a whole has striven to overcome. In doing so, they have expanded and deepened the unique SEIU culture of unity in diversity.

Charge: A written statement of alleged unfair practices. Filing a charge with the NLRB or PERB is the first step in an unfair labor practice proceeding. If the Board decides to take up the charge, it will issue a formal complaint to start an unfair labor practice hearing. Chapter: All the 1199 SEIU members who work in the same institution are a chapter of the union.

Check-Off: A contract clause authorizing the employer to deduct union dues and PAC contributions from paychecks of those members who so authorize deductions. The company then transfers the money to the union.

Child Care Fund (CCH): The 1199SEIU / Employer Child Care Fund establishes child care, youth programs, and related services for Fund-eligible 1199 bargaining unit members in order to increase their access to high quality, affordable child care and youth-related services and information. To assist parents in reconciling their work and family responsibilities, the CCH provides programs and services that meet the particular needs of children from infancy through age 17.

Class Action Grievance: A grievance signed by many people in a workplace in order to show management that members are collectively opposed to a management's action.

Collective Bargaining: A method of determining terms and conditions of employment by negotiation between representatives of the employer and the union representing employees.

Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), Contract, Agreement: The legally binding document worked out in collective bargaining between the union and the employer(s) covering wages, benefits, hours and working condition as well as a procedure to resolve grievances or other disputes that may arise.

Concerted Activity: The rights, protected by the National Labor Relations Act, of two or more employees to act in concert to form, join, or assist labor organizations in order to affect their wages, hours or work or working conditions.

Continuing Violation: A violation of a law or contract which is continuing in nature, and which therefore is not barred by any time limitation, even though the violation began before the time limitation period began.

Contract Language The specific wording found in the contract. Differences in what specific words mean and how language in different part of the contract may appear to conflict frequently lead to arbitrations.

Contracting Out: Contracting out is when management hires an outside company to provide services currently or formerly provided by bargaining unit members.

Contribution Rate: The percentage of the payroll that an employer pays into the benefit funds.

Corporate Campaign: The use of strategic pressure on an employer's weaknesses to gain leverage during a contract campaign or organizing drive. These campaigns involve analyzing an employer's social, financial, and political networks and mobilizing union members and community members in a comprehensive approach which does not rely on the strike alone as the basis of the union's leverage.

Craft Union: A union whose membership is restricted to workers possessing a particular skill. Most craft unions today, however, have broadened their jurisdictions to include many occupations and skills not closely related to the originally designated craft.

Discrimination: Treating one worker differently from another because of race, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, ability or union membership.

Duty of Fair Representation (DFR): A union's obligation to represent all people in the bargaining unit as fairly and equally as possible. A union is said to have violated its Duty of Fair Representation when a union's conduct toward a member of a collective bargaining unit is arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith. A Delegate, for example, may not refuse to investigate a grievance or refuse to process a grievance which has merit. Delegates cannot just go through the motions in handling a grievance or give less effort to handling a grievance because you dont like the person with the grievance or if that person didnt vote for you or support you or any other reason except the merits of the case. It should be noted, however, that there is no absolute right to have a grievance taken to arbitration. The union may decide which grievances to arbitrate as long as there is no discrimination.

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA): This law requires that persons engaged in the administration and management of private pensions act with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence that a prudent person familiar with such matters would use. The law also sets up an insurance program under the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) which guarantees some pension benefits even if a plan becomes bankrupt.

Employment, Training and Job Security Program (ETJSP): ETJSP is a joint effort of 1199 SEIU and contributing employers. ETJSP provides worker friendly, high quality training programs and supportive career counseling to help 1199 SEIU members advance their careers. ETJSP has programs to prevent and/or minimize layoffs, foster a balanced and equal relationship between labor and management in order to improve workers job satisfaction, improve industry efficiency, and improve patient care. ETJSP provides financial support, training, and placement rights to laid-off workers and recruitment and job placement services.

Equal Opportunities Employment Commission (EEOC): The federal government agency that administers most discrimination lawsuits.

Exclusive Representative: The employee organization that, as a result of certification by a labor board, has the right to be the sole collective bargaining agent of all employees in an appropriate bargaining unit.

Exempt Employee: An employee who is not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act and is therefore not eligible for time-and-one-half monetary payments for overtime. Exempt employees are generally paid a salary rather than an hourly rate.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): The 1938 federal wage-hour law which established minimum wage, maximum weekly hours and overtime pay requirements in industries engaged in interstate commerce. The law also prohibited the labor of children under 16 years of age.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): Federal law establishing a basic floor of 12 weeks of unpaid family and medical leave in any 12-month period to deal with birth or adoption of a child, to care for an immediate family member with a "serious health condition," or to receive care when the employee is unable to work because of his or her own "serious health condition." Fringe Benefits: Vacations, holidays, insurance, medical benefits, pensions, and other economic benefits that are given to employees under the union contract in addition to direct wages.

Fund: The term used to refer to a wide number of programs from health care to mortgage assistance provided jointly by the union and the employers. The union negotiates the contribution rates employers pay to the Fund. Funds are governed by an equal number of Fund Trustees from the union and from the employers who make decisions about the benefits provided.

Grandfather Clause: A contract provision specifying that employees on the payroll before a specified time will retain certain rights and benefits even though newer employees are not entitled to these rights.

Greater New York Healthcare Facilities Association: The bargaining coalition of nursing homes mostly in downstate New York that bargains with 1199 SEIU for thousands of members working in nursing homes. Sometimes referred to as Greater.

Grievance: Any type of worker dissatisfaction including violations of the collective bargaining agreement, violations of law, violations of employer policies, violations of fair treatment, and violations of past practices. Grievances are usually defined and categorized in each contract, and therefore may vary from one contract to another.

Grievance Procedure: A procedure usually established by a collective bargaining agreement to resolve disputes, problems or misunderstandings associated with the interpretation or application of the collective bargaining agreement. It consists of several steps with the last step of the procedure, usually being arbitration.

Grievant: A worker who files a grievance.

Harassment: See definition for Anti-harassment policy.

Independent: An employer (hospital, nursing home, agency, etc.) that does not belong to a coalition of employers who bargain together like the League and the Greater. Independents bargain directly with the union one at a time.

Industrial Union: A union whose membership includes all workers in a particular industry, regardless of the particular skills the worker exercises.

Informational Picketing: A type of picketing done with the express intent not to cause a work stoppage, but to publicize either the existence of a labor dispute or information concerning the dispute. The law requires the union to give a ten day notice before doing information picketing in front of health care facilities.

Job Action: A concerted, coordinated activity by employees designed to put pressure on the employer without resorting to a strike. Examples include: wearing T-shirts, buttons, or hats with union slogans, holding parking lot meetings, collective refusal of voluntary overtime, reporting to work in a group, petition signing, jamming phone lines, etc.

Just Cause: A reason an employer must give for any disciplinary action it takes against a worker.

Labor-Management Meetings: Many 1199 SEIU contracts provide for regular meetings of Delegates with representatives of management to resolve problems, exchange information and hopefully to prevent problems.

Labor-Management Project: Established in 1997, the Labor-Management Project (LMP) was created to help labor and management to work together in solving todays healthcare challenges through consultation, facilitation, intervention, training, and mediation. Serving the members of 1199, the League, and other participating employers, the LMP seeks to foster joint work in solving problems and creating more meaningful and productive work environments.

League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes of New York: The bargaining coalition of hospitals and nursing homes mostly in New York City that bargains with 1199 SEIU. Sometimes referred to as The League this coalition of 67 institutions employs over 50,000 1199 SEIU members and sets a pattern for another 20,000 members.

Made Whole: A catchall phrase used in grievances and other legal action where a remedy is sought from an employer. Often used in discharge and discipline cases where the union seeks to have a worker, who had been wrongly discharged or disciplined, returned to work and reimbursed all wages, benefits, or other conditions lost due to an employer's unjustified action.

Management Rights or Prerogatives: The claimed rights of employers to control operational aspects of the workplace.

Member Assistance Program (MAP): MAP is one of the programs of the National Benefit Fund designed to counsel members with problems such as alcoholism and substance abuse as well as family problems. The MAP's telephone number is 646.473.6900.

Memorandum of Agreement: also Memorandum of Understanding: A legal signed document between the union and management which specifies agreements made in negotiations. Sometimes the MOA/MOU becomes an addendum to the main contract and other times it is eventually incorporated into the main contract.

Me-Too contract: Employers who are not in one of the bargaining associations like the League or the Greater, but who agree in advance to sign a contract with the same terms as those reached between the union and one of the employer bargaining associations.

Mobilize: To bring worker together to help the union achieve a goal as in mobilizing members in an institution to protest an unfair action by management or during contract negotiation to show that they are in support the unions demands or for rallies in state capitols or Washington DC to demonstrate for adequate funding for human services.

National Benefit Fund: The 1199SEIU National Benefit Fund is a self-administered, self-insured, non-profit, Trust Fund with an equal number of union and management trustees. The Fund is not an insurance company. It provides comprehensive benefits to members of 1199 SEIU, along with their families. Contributions from employers, not union dues, pay the costs of providing benefits.

National Labor Relations Act, NLRA, The Wagner Act, The Act: The NLRA was enacted in 1935 to guarantee workers in the private sector the right to engage in concerted activities for the purpose collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), The Board: The enforcement arm for the National Labor Relations Act. Its duties are: to issue and adjudicate complaints charging unfair labor practices, and require such practices be stopped; and to certify bargaining representatives for employees in their dealings with employers. There are field offices of the NLRB throughout the U.S. Decisions made by staff in the field offices may be appealed to the five member Board in Washington DC who are . appointed by the President of the U.S. In recent years Republicans have appointed board members who have weakened the protections for workers and unions.

Nursing Home Associations: Groups of nursing homes who bargain together with 1199SEIU. These include: Association of Voluntary Nursing Homes, Greater New York Healthcare Facilities Association, United Healthcare Facilities Association, Intercounty Health Facilities Association, Inc., KM Labor Group, Long Island Health Facilities Association, Inc. (known also as the Mini-League), Medco Enterprises.

Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA): The federal law which authorizes the OSHA federal agency to set workplace health and safety standards, obligates employers to provide a safe workplace, and provides for enforcement of the standards. The law encourages states to develop their own safety laws which can replace the federal law.

Pay Equity: A term covering the idea that female-dominated jobs or professions have been traditionally undervalued, based on levels of responsibility and required education, and that pay for these jobs should be raised to pay levels of comparable jobs which are traditionally held by men.

Pension Fund: The 1199SEIU Health Care Employees Pension Fund, with assets of over $7 billion, provides benefits to more than 30,000 retirees and their beneficiaries. The Pension Fund provides pension benefits that will assist participants in attaining a measure of financial security during their retirement years, as well as enhance the quality of life for members and their beneficiaries.

Phone Banking: The organized telephoning of large numbers of members to inform them of a union policy or action, to gather information of go turn out the vote for elections, etc. Phone Tree: A network of volunteer members in which one member calls a list of members, each of whom calls another list of members, etc.

Premium Pay: An extra amount over the normal hourly time rates, sometimes a flat sum, sometimes a percentage of the wage rates, paid to workers to compensate them for inconvenient hours, overtime, hazardous, or unpleasant conditions, or other undesirable circumstances Public Employment Relations Board (PERB): The administrative body that enforces the Taylor Law which is the labor law that governs labor relations in the public sector in New York State.

Re-opener Clause: A clause in a collective bargaining agreement providing for reopening negotiations on wage rates, and other benefits, during the term of the agreement "Right-to-Work" States: States which have passed laws prohibiting unions from negotiating union shop clauses in their contracts with employers covered by the NLRA. There are currently 22 "right-to-work" states, which are often referred to as "right-to-work-for-less" states. Most of these states are in the south and west.

Representation Election: A vote conducted by an appropriate labor board or agency to determine whether a majority of the workers in a previously established bargaining unit wish to be represented by a given union.

Scab: A derogatory word for a person who continues to work, or who accepts employment, while the workers are on strike. By filling their jobs, the scab may weaken or break the strike.

Seniority: Preference accorded employees, based on length of service with an employer, in such areas as layoff, recall, promotion, transfer, vacation accrual, scheduling, etc. Steward: Another name for Delegate used by some unions.

Strike: A concerted act by a group of employees, withholding their labor for the purpose of effecting a change in wages, hours or working conditions.

Supervisor: Those employees who have management rights such as the rights to hire, fire, or recommend such action. The employees who are defined as supervisors under the National Labor Relations Act are not permitted to become members of the bargaining unit at the work location. Under the Public Employment Relations Act, many supervisors can be represented by unions, but in different bargaining units from the people they supervise.

Service Employee International Union (SEIU), The International: The North American union of healthcare, public sector, building service and other workers with Local unions throughout the United States and Canada. SEIU is the largest and fastest growing union in the AFL-CIO. 1199 is the largest and fastest growing local in SEIU.

Unfair Labor Practices: Those employer or union activities classified as "unfair" by federal (NLRB) or state (PERB) labor relations acts. Employer unfair labor practices include employer threats against protected collective activity, employer domination of unions, discrimination against employees for collective activity, and employer failure to bargain in good faith with union representatives. Union unfair labor practices include failure to fairly represent all members of the bargaining unit and failure to bargain in good faith.

Unilateral Change: Any change an employer makes without the union's consent. The subject of unilateral change is ever changing due to NLRB, PERB and court rulings. However, unilateral change falls into three categories: unilateral change before a first time contract, during bargaining, and during the contract's terms. The NLRB and PERB recognize that an employer must bargain all changes in regards to hours of work, rate of pay, and other conditions of employment with the employee's.

Union Security Clause: A provision in a collective bargaining agreement designed to protect the institutional life of the union, such as union ship and union dues check-off clauses. Union Shop: Form of union security provided in the collective bargaining agreement which requires employees to belong to or pay dues to the union as a condition of retaining employment.

Vesting: The amount of time that an employee must work to guarantee that his/her accrued pension benefits will not be forfeited even if employment is terminated.

"Weingarten Rights": The rights of employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act to request union representation during investigatory interviews if they reasonably believe that the interview could result in their being disciplined. "Weingarten rights" also guarantee the rights of union representatives to assist and counsel employees during interviews which could lead to discipline. Similar rights exist under public employment labor laws.

Wildcat Strike: A strike undertaken without official union authorization. Although not necessarily illegal, these strikes are not necessarily protected by the National Labor Relations Board and are often a violation of the contract. In public employment in New York and some other states, all strikes are illegal.

Work-to-Rule: A tactic in which workers agree to strictly follow all work rules, even those which are usually not followed. The result is that less work is performed or that the employer is forced to deal with more paperwork, putting pressure on the employer to settle workers' complaints. Some, but not all, work-to-rule campaigns are considered slowdowns, and may violate no-strike clauses in particular contracts or public sector laws.

Workers Compensation: The government program that provides benefits to workers who are injured on the job.

Read more here:
Glossary of Labor Terms :: 1199SEIU

When your sales team goes from 0 to 1 or 1 to 2, sales training is easy.

Feature Announcement Email Sequences: email drip campaigns for salespeople. Schedule sequences of emails to be automatically sent over days or weeks. Learn more or try for free.

Your new hire gets to work alongside you and absorb the sales process, see how you handle objections, and where you find leads. Lead by example with your sales training and youll have a strong Number Two willing to follow you into battle.

But once you start to scale your startup, you can kiss those carefree days goodbye.

Without fail, youll be taken away by other tasks, and the sales training for new team members will be pushed over someone else in the company.

As a sales manager, director, or founder, its your job to give your sales team the tools they need to be successful. Without effective sales training processes and techniques in place, youre basically playing a big game of telephone with your values and strategies. What you taught to your first hires might get passed on correctly. Or it might not.

And the next round of hires? Before you know it, your vision has been completely thrown to the side and your sales department has devolved into a free-for-all.

The right sales training resources let you download all of your knowledge, experience, tricks, and sales strategies into an easily digestible format for new hires. Its like Neo getting plugged into the Matrix and learning Kung-fu in a matter of seconds.

Sign up for our free sales training course right now!

Now, unfortunately, we cant expect those kinds of instantaneous kick-ass results. But you can look at proven sales training best practices to help make sure that your team is set up for real success.

Your sales training can cover everything from onboarding new hires to developing their skills, setting up criteria by which theyll change and adapt with the market. If you can do all this, youll be putting together the building blocks for an unstoppable sales machine.

This is no small task. So lets take this one step at a time, starting with assessing your own team, finding the right methods for delivering your sales training, and then end with the 10 pieces of sales training your team needs to succeed.

Whether youre a team of 1 or 100, your sales team will have its own unique strengths and weaknesses. When youre starting to put together your sales training process you need to know these inside out.

But what questions should you be asking to really dig into the details?

When CEO consultant Melissa Raffoni spoke with 50 top CEOs of companies with teams of 10 to 1000, she found these eight questions coming up over and over when assessing the quality of a sales team:

Going deep on these questions will give you a great overview of how your team functions, where youre killing it, and where things are falling apart. From this information you can start to craft the basics of your sales training.

But asking these questions once and then moving on is a recipe for disaster. Sales training, like all parts of your sales efforts, will constantly evolve as your team and product changes and adapts to the real world. So its smart to revisit these questions at least annually to see where you might want to switch things up.

With the raw materials in place from your assessment, youll want to go in and look at the different ways you can implement your sales training.

Theres a huge range of options on the table, and no single one is right for every company or every team. Instead, youll want to experiment with what is getting the best engagement and results and what works with your teams structure.

For example, if youre an early-stage startup with a small sales team, putting together some short courses or conducting in-person workshops can be a great way to build your teams skills while coming together as a group.

As you scale and grow, it might make sense to bring in an outside consultant or send key members of your sales team off to larger conferences to see whats coming up and adapt your sales training appropriately.

Lets take a look at some of the most common formats for delivering sales training:

No, were not talking about sending your sales team back to college. But the typical course format, either in-person or online, is a great way to transfer your sales knowledge to teammates. Also, the course format can allow your salespeople to do their training on a schedule that works for them while allowing you to keep track of their progress.

Short in-person workshops for your sales team break up the work day and can be a great way to build excitement around your sales training. If you can handle the whole team taking a few hours off its worth it to close up shop and bring everyone together.

When your team gets too big or you cant deliver effective in-house training, it might be time to look at hiring an outside consultant to come in. It might seem awkward to bring in someone outside of your team, but a good consultant brings tons of value in everything from customized sales tools, a wealth of experience and valuable market information. It can also help you get buy-in with your team faster by bringing in an expert.

Not only are conferences fantastic for networking, but they allow your team to learn from proven leaders and get a pulse on whats coming up in your market. And remember the Roman philosopher Senecas words, while we teach, we learn. Make sure to put the added pressure of bringing back value to the company not just to make sure your entire team gets the benefit of the chosen few attending a conference, but to help those who went solidify what they heard.

Sometimes the best way to learn is to be thrown into the deep end. Conducting an audit of past sales cycles, both successful and unsuccessful, as a team is a great way to train your sales team about the real-world applications of what youre teaching them.

While not necessarily a sales training technique like the others, having self-serve resources available for your team teaches them to always be learning. Set up a wiki or a Trello board with processes and resources for commonly asked questions. And when your team asks you specific things, point them in this direction. It might come across as a bit cold, but youre essentially training them to help themselves.

Right, so weve got all the main channels by which you can deliver sales training to your team, now its time to talk about what exactly your sales training will need to coverso that you can evaluate all of the options on the table for your organization.

Effective sales training can cover everything from how to create a sales planto getting over your fears of rejection, staying motivated every day, and more.

The goal here is that each individual component of your sales training helps your team grow and progress, so that nobody feels like theyve hit a ceiling in their career.

If you need some inspiration on what to include in your own sales training program, or want to make sure you choose the right facilitator, here are 10 essential pieces of sales training you should bring to your team:

As the Greek philosopher Epictetus so succinctly explains, You have two ears and one mouthyou should be using them in that proportion.

In the rush to explain features and benefits of what youre selling, its easy to talk over your prospect. This is a common mistake many inside sales rookies make. And the problem is, the second someone thinks youre not listening, youve lost them.

Active listening is truly the silent skill of sales. Throughout the sales cycle, prospects will drop hints about what theyre thinking, how theyre feeling, or problems they need solved. Addressing these can make or break your sale. But youll miss them if youre not listening.

Here are a few tips to incorporate into your sales training thatll help your team team to listen more intently:

Its probably a pretty safe bet that robots arent taking your sales job any time soon. Thats because working in sales requires constant problem solving, empathy, and the ability to think fast and act accordingly. To instil these qualities in your team, they need to adopt a problem-solving mentalitywhich can thankfully be done through proper sales training.

This one starts with empathy, seeing the world through the eyes of your prospect. Listening only goes so far and you should always assume the problem your prospect communicates isnt necessarily the real issue they need solved. Look at the bigger picture.

Great salespeople go beyond simply solving their customers problems and actually find the problems their customers are unaware of.

As Daniel Pink, author of To Sell is Human,said in a recent interview: If customers know precisely what the problem is, they can find a solution. Where youre more valuable is when they dont know what the problem is, or theyre wrong about the problem, and you can identify a problem they dont realize they have. Or you can look down the road and say Here is a problem youre going to confront. Youd better get ready for it now.

To do this, you need to develop both a problem-solving and problem-finding mentality that, when combined with empathy, will let you find the problems your customers really need solved. Start by asking a few simple questions:

Take your time and be creative.

Solving these invisible problems your prospects have is a powerful tool in getting the sale. Reiterate the importance of keeping these questions top of mind throughout your sales training process.

Knowledge is power. And the best salespeople always have a solid foundation to work from.

Use your sales training to get your team ready for identifying objections that come up time and time again. You can collaboratively craft scripts to help them deal with these issues. Now, the idea of using scripts is a contentious one in the sales community. No one wants to sound like a robot, and this isnt what you should be advocating for here. Instead, these scripts should help you assay client fears and move onto the real issues more quickly.

Think of it like a basketball team. They spend hours upon hours practicing the basicsdribbling, shooting, defending, reboundingso that when it comes to game day, they dont have to think about it and can focus on adapting to the team theyre playing.

In the same way, scripts help your sales team get past common objections quickly and move onto creative ways to close the sale. Not only that, but youll have a template you can share across your team and help them level up their sales game quickly.

As part of your sales training, have your team:

Time wasted chasing after the wrong prospects can crush your sales efforts and even your company. Large accounts can sometimes take 618 months to close. But thats only if they do close. And sometimes a bad client can be even worse than a lost sale, wasting your time, asking for refunds and generally speaking poorly about your company.

Your team needs to know what to look out for to make sure theyre going in the right directionwhich is where good sales training comes into play. And as someone experienced in selling your product or service, youve seen first hand the signs that led to a sale, and the ones that made you get off the phone as quickly as possible.

Heres a few key red flags you should be using sales training to teach your team what to look out for:

If youre using cold outreach over email as one of your main sales strategies, youll want to have some form of training on the basics of how you connect with prospects over email.

First off, why email? Well, despite doomsayers spouting off about social selling killing email, email is 40X more effective at getting new customers than Facebook and Twitter combined. We put together a collection of 17 sales email tips that work you can check out, but here are the main pieces you should be covering in your training:

How to write subject lines that get opened: It might be just one line, but its the one that matters the most. Write like a human, avoid slogans, use lowercase text, and include your recipient's name if you can.

How to write effective email copy: Dont waste your prospects time. Be brief. Give context. And end with a clear call to action. Each sentence needs to show your value props and push your prospect closer to the next step.

Unusual ways to make your emails stand out: We all have overflowing inboxes. So to stand out, try a few tricks like: Adding value in your signature by including recent blog posts, news, or videos; include a personal note or some company humblebrag in the P.S.; and use formatting to your advantage by bolding important information and using bulleted lists.

Email experiments to run: Even the best email templates go stale. Start by deciding what you want to test: open rate or response rate/action. Then, try a few experiments like A/B testing subject lines, changing the From name, using personalization, or sending at a different time.

How to follow up properly: If your cold prospects arent responding, implement this follow-up formula into your sales training process:

If your salespeople are picking up the phone, youll for sure want to be training them on what to do when their prospect answers.

Your cold calling strategy should start with a funnel that looks something like this:

To help your team get the most success from this funnel, youll want to provide them with some simple tools and training around lead sourcing, sales call scripts, and how to handle objections.

Remember to incorporate teaching your team to keep it simple and focus on one step at a time throughout your sales training.

Can you reach one person? Qualify that person? Demo a prospect? Close a deal? The training should focus on pushing through and getting each prospect to the next step. So dont worry if the conversion numbers are bad to start.

Nothing kills a sale faster then not being able to tell someone why they need what youre selling. People buy results, not just products or services.

Your salespeople need to know how to clearly articulate the value that your product or service will provide for the prospect. They need to be educators and storytellers, explaining why what youre selling is so great and then getting the prospect to imagine themselves in a better life because of you.

Start by going through your customer profiles. Why are they good prospects for what youre selling? How can you show them the value youre providing? Do you have case studies or testimonials you can use?

Role play and get your team to practice articulating the value of your product until they can do it without even thinking.

If youre dealing with sales training for new or less experienced salespeople, youll want to train them not only on how to sell, but how to feel good about doing it.

Calling up or emailing strangers and asking them to buy what youre selling isnt something we normally do. And fear is only natural when youre put into an unfamiliar place. Taking the time to train your team about how to handle that fear will make them more confident, friendly, and ultimately happier.

Start by looking at all the places in your sales process where your team might be feeling anxiety or fear and how to address it:

Most people might assume theres no interest in what theyre selling if they dont get a response. But the follow-up is your key to higher conversion rates, and without it youre not likely to close many deals in the long run.

Steli, the CEO of Close.io here, follows a simple follow-up philosophy: Reach out as many times as necessary until you get a response. If a prospect says theyre busy for two weeks, he sets a reminder for 14 days.

Now, your own follow-up philosophy will come from your values and sales process, but the key here is that you need to have something your team can follow. Decide what frequency youre going to follow up, how youre going to track your messages, and which medium youre going to use. Then, teach your team to use their judgement and experiment.

One of the most important pieces of sales training your team needs is how to close the deal.

Without providing guidelines and processes for asking for the close, youre basically giving your team liberty to ask whenever they want. And unfortunately, too many salespeople wait until that nonexistent perfect moment to ask.

Here are a couple techniques you can try adding to your sales training:

The virtual close: As soon as youve qualified your lead and given them your pitch,ask for the sale. At this point, you basically know theyre going to say no. So follow up by asking, "Whats the process we need to go through in order to get you ready to buy?" With this simple question, youre getting them to draw you a roadmap to the sale youll eventually get.

Take the sale away: When objections arrive at the 11th hour, its easy to get desperate and make promises you cant keep. Instead, teach your salespeople to "take the sale away"by being decisive on pricing, emphasizing that youre building a long-term relationship, and imposing a break in the conversation. By using this technique, youre not only pushing people to close, but showing them that you value the service or product youre selling.

Sales training never really ends.

There are always new techniques, better scripts, new objections to overcome, new issues to address, another competitor entering the market that you and your team will need to learn how to combat.

The best salespeople have a drive to learn and be the best, and your sales training will help them get there. Invest in it early on and youll have a team that cant be beat.

Want to see how we do sales training? Sign up for our free sales training email course with video lessons and more!

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Say om

Learn about the different types of yoga and how it can be used as a tool to help you stay healthy.

Like yoga, the osteopathic approach to wellness focuses on your bodys natural tendency toward health and self-healing.

The purpose of yoga is to build strength, awareness and harmony in both the mind and body, explains Natalie Nevins, DO, a board-certified osteopathic family physician and certified Kundalini Yoga instructor in Hollywood, California.

While there are more than 100 different types, or schools, of yoga, most sessions typically include breathing exercises, meditation, and assuming postures (sometimes called asana or poses) that stretch and flex various muscle groups.

As an osteopathic physician, I focus a lot of my efforts on preventive medicine and practices, and in the bodys ability to heal itself, says Dr. Nevins. Yoga is a great tool for staying healthy because its based on similar principles.

The relaxation techniques incorporated in yoga can lessen chronic pain, such as lower back pain, arthritis, headaches and carpal tunnel syndrome, explains Dr. Nevins. Yoga can also lower blood pressure and reduce insomnia.

Other physical benefits of yoga include:

Aside from the physical benefits, one of the best benefits of yoga is how it helps a person manage stress, which is known to have devastating effects on the body and mind. Stress can reveal itself in many ways, including back or neck pain, sleeping problems, headaches, drug abuse, and an inability to concentrate, says Dr. Nevins. Yoga can be very effective in developing coping skills and reaching a more positive outlook on life.

Yogas incorporation of meditation and breathing can help improve a persons mental well-being. Regular yoga practice creates mental clarity and calmness; increases body awareness; relieves chronic stress patterns; relaxes the mind; centers attention; and sharpens concentration, says Dr. Nevins. Body- and self-awareness are particularly beneficial, she adds, because they can help with early detection of physical problems and allow for early preventive action.

Because there are so many different kinds of yoga practices, it is possible for anyone to start. Whether youre a couch potato or a professional athlete, size and fitness levels do not matter because there are modifications for every yoga pose and beginner classes in every style, says Dr. Nevins. The idea is to explore your limits, not strive for some pretzel-like perfection. It is a great way to get in tune with your body and your inner self.

Go here to see the original:
Benefits of Yoga | American Osteopathic Association

What is yoga?

Yoga is a spiritual tradition that began in India about 5,000 years ago. Historically its practices have been adopted by such religions as Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. However, the practice of yoga is compatible with any religion, as well as atheism.

The word yoga means union in Sanskrit. Many of the yoga traditions believe that the practices of yoga lead to union of a person with his or her true nature, or with God or the universe (however one wishes to conceptualize it). How this is interpreted and the means employed to get there differ in the various yoga traditions.

Patanjali, author of the classic yoga text, the Yoga Sutra, defined yoga as the quieting of the fluctuations of the mind. From a yogic perspective, the mind, and its ceaseless internal monologue, is the source of suffering. The various yoga practices serve to calm the mind. From a wellspring of relaxed concentration-the hallmark of yoga-comes inner peace, heightened creativity, and awareness of our essential nature.

Excerpt from:
Yoga | Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing

Arnie Cooper profiles the life of social thinker, visionary and activist Barbara Marx Hubbard

If I did not know lifes larger purpose, how could I know my own purpose?Many Americans remember 1984 as the year Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman to run for Vice-President. They may not realize that another woman, Barbara Marx Hubbard, was also a vice-presidential candidate.Now 76, this public speaker, author and social innovator laughs as she recalls speaking at the Democratic National Convention. As the guard escorted me to the platform he said: Honey, they wont pay attention to you; youll be saying this to the universe. Little did he know that Hubbard was a deeply spiritual person whose life work involved communicating her vision to an audience that extended far beyond the walls of any convention hall.When he mentioned the universe, my feeling was one of mystical reality. His comment helped me overcome my sense of doubt and sense of disappointment that no one was really paying attention. It also let me focus on the notion that thought creates.One such thought was the creation of an office of the future and a Peace Room. The goal was to match the sophistication of the Pentagons war room, not only in Washington D.C. but in every other world capital. But instead of tracking our enemies movements and working to defeat them, the Peace Room would track successful projects, initiatives and individuals from every sector of society.This idea had been welling up inside Hubbard ever since the US dropped the atomic bombs on Japan. Though she was only fifteen, the event caused Hubbard to turn to deep philosophical questions. What is the meaning of our new technological powers? What is the purpose of Western civilization? she wondered. To find the answers, she immersed herself in the work of Greek and Roman philosophers. She also read the existentialists like Sartre and Camus as well as the materialists who viewed the universe as nothing but matter. Unsatisfied by what she found, Hubbard became a metaphysical seeker. If I did not know lifes larger purpose, how could I know my own purpose?, she said.As a Bryn Mawr student doing her junior year in Paris, Hubbard finally heard an answer that satisfied her. Sitting in a cafe on a cold November day, she began talking with a young man. As Earl Hubbard took a drag on his cigarette he said: I am an artist. My purpose is to seek a new image of humanity commensurate with our power to shape the future. She ultimately married him.But being married, even to someone with the answers was not enough. Hubbard began reading the Christian mystic, Teilhard de Chardin, who wrote about a new kind of human on the earth who was attracted to the future. However, later, as a mother of five, living in Lakeville, Connecticut Hubbards interest in the future made her look neurotic. Said the local psychiatrist. Theres something wrong with you Barbara, because you think you need to connect and youve got more to do. Youre 32 years old, youve got 5 kids and a great husband, how could you be thinking this? Youre sublimating; your libido is off, he told her.The Evolutionary CrossroadsSuburban Connecticut in the 1950s wasnt exactly the place to dialogue about humanitys path. Most of Hubbards contemporaries at the time were trying to escape from such ideas. She soon felt like the ugly duckling in the swamp, and was compelled to find others who were also drawn to emerging paradigms.Then Hubbard met Jonas Salk and told him about her unconventional ideas and how everything was wrong with her. He told her This isnt whats wrong about you, its whats right about you. You are a mutant. Salk wasnt being funny; he was referring to his belief that, unlike most people on the planet, Hubbard embodied the characteristics needed by evolution to help bring humanity to the next level. He introduced her to three men: Al Rosenfeld, science editor for Life magazine, Dr. Joel Elkes, director of the department of psychopharmacology at Johns Hopkins and Louis Kahn, the architect who was working on the Salk Institute. Hubbard was finally able to connect with other evolutionary souls. More than that, she had found the path to her life work.In 1968-69 Hubbard published The Center Letter, one of the first newsletters on evolutionary transformation. She was also one of the original contributors to the Salk Institute. The following year, in Washington, D.C., she founded the Committee for the Future, which used her work to develop the New Worlds Educational and Training Center.After her brush with politics in 1984, Hubbard went on to co-found the Foundation for Conscious Evolution with Sidney Lanier in 1992. As she points out in her book of that title, Conscious evolution is a worldview that looks at the natural process of evolution in the past, and attempts to understand and guide our own period of transformation now. It acknowledges that humankind has attained unprecedented powers to control and change the evolution of life on Earth.Indeed, Hubbard believes that the human family has come to an evolutionary crossroads. Its obvious that if we continue doing what weve been doing, including overpopulating, polluting, fighting with this degree of violence that we are heading to a point where we could actually destroy our own life support systems, she says.Words that chillingly resonate as the world recently watched the war in Iraq. Still, Hubbard remains optimistic. A consciousness is rising on earth against war. And no matter what, the consciousness wont stop. I think we will see an increased uprising against the militaristic attitude and a real need to mobilize and organize for a better way. In any case, were going to be challenged to take greater leadership, not just to protest but to join together to build a world.In reflecting on the many challenges we face, she notes, Were now seeing the tail end of egoic based dominator structures, which happen to be in power in the most powerful nation in the world. Not that she looks to political activists for solutions. Sure, there was a time when you might have thought that one party or the other was the answer, but now I think something of a far more transformative nature is wanting to happen. The dysfunctionality in our current power structures will be revealed resulting in the emergence of a new politics of synergy, attraction and creation. It will be irresistible because its actually life-oriented, but it cant happen, she says, until that which is new-functional matures and connects.Hubbard is now helping to create a new social system to connect the growing movement of individuals working toward a sustainable future. In fact, nearly two decades after she spoke to the Universe in San Francisco, her Peace Room initiative is coming to life, through her Gateway for Conscious Evolution, a six-month online educational program that guides individuals through self- and social evolution.Visitors to her web site http://www.consciousevolution.net will see the idea graphically represented in the form of an operating hub divided into 12 major areas. Categories like Communications & Media, Science & Technology, Environment & Infrastructure and Learning & Education are just some of the initiatives.The Peace Room, means peace through co-creation, through the full expression of human creativity in cooperation with nature, with one another, and with the deeper design of evolution.Though it currently exists on the Internet it will eventually have a physical presence in locations around the world. And sometime within this decade, Hubbard envisions the first Global Peace Room hosted by the United Nations. Says Hubbard, we will move beyond our current confusion and see that the purpose of our crisis is to activate our newly emerging capacities...to restore the earth, free ourselves from illness, hunger and war and build a future equal to our vast potential.This year Hubbard will host a live Internet radio program through her web site. Live from the Peace Room will feature a dynamic scanning for the breakthroughs and innovations and showing them as a continuous process for the emerging world.Hubbard is the author of five books, including her recently published Emergence: The Shift from Ego to Essence, which offers a ten-step process to help individuals climb the evolutionary ladder to become universal humans, a state that will allow us to actively participate in the process of creation.No doubt, Hubbard is on a mission to stretch our species beyond its self-imposed borders. Yet what distinguishes her from others concerned about our future is that she is not only striving for changes within our institutions; shes also working to help individuals find the power to surpass themselves. Hubbard believes that if we are to address our many challenges, we must first move beyond our egoic existence.Arnie Cooper, a freelance writer based in Santa Barbara, California writes about nature, spirituality and the impacts of the media and technology. His work has appeared in various magazines and literary journals including The Sun, Mother Jones, Orion and Ascent. He also teaches Media Literacy and Creative Writing at the University of California, Santa Barbaras International Programs. He can be reached at abcooper at cox.net

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Personal Performance - Inspirational Speaker Christophe ...