Archive for category: Training & Development

Question:

Being in a service-based industry, I have heard some complaints about poor service from my clients and customers. How do I create a great customer service culture?

Answer:

Customer service is the cornerstone of any business, but it is especially important in a service-oriented business. Customer engagement and satisfaction have more impact on your business success than any advertisement or marketing campaign could ever hope to have and it all comes back to creating a team of customer service advocates. Remember, every employee has a customer they are servicing whether it is an external customer or internal. So, it is important that all employees receive effective customer service training.

You’ll need to set the expectation of how your business expects employees to treat their customers.  On a given day, some of the customers we serve are an absolute pleasure. Others can be extremely frustrating. Both types of individuals deserve the best possible service your employees can provide. The training you provide your employees, will help prepare them for both types of customers.  Key topics you’ll address include:

• Why is exceptional Customer Service so important?
• What is each of our role in Customer Service?
• Who is the customer? What do they want?
• What are the basics of Customer Service?
• How do you handle issues with tact and diplomacy?
• Discussion or role play industry related scenarios.

Training your employees is important to ensure everyone is working off the same playbook and has the tools and resources to do it.  But you also should evaluate if you have a culture that supports customer service and are you recruiting individuals that have a customer service mindset?

It starts with creating a culture of outstanding service by emphasizing the mission of the organization and making the mission people focused instead of product/service focused. Employees who look at each of their actions as being an essential part of the whole organization’s success and mission, feel more fulfilled and that carries over into stronger customer relationships.

Next, when hiring, you want to focus your interview questions and candidate screening on previous roles and responsibilities that demonstrate empathy and patience, being flexible and adaptable for client’s needs, feeling confident in their expertise to explain the company’s product or service and always be able to have positivity under pressure. Focus on candidates who can show you that they have taken the time and made the effort to learn the business and their customers in their previous roles. Ask for specific examples of times when a candidate delivered excellent service; focus on the details of their answer and the effort that was required to meet their customer’s needs. Then once hired, you can provide them with training on how you expect them to provide customer service and educate them on your business and services. With the right background and attitude, your training will be more successful.

Lastly, make sure your team knows that you are there to support them so they can help you maintain the culture and level of service that you have worked so hard to cultivate. Build rapport with your team and meet regularly, whether that is for a brief one on one or a daily team meeting or a quick huddle. Constant positive emphasis on the mission and values of the organization will create a ripple effect and carry over into all other areas of your organization including customer interactions.

Training and Development of your employees is a key factor in remaining competitive. Not only does it keep you up-to-speed technologically with your competitors, but it also gives you the edge when recruiting or retaining employees. Strategic HR has experience in developing training programs to keep you on the leading edge. Visit our Training and Development page to learn how we can assist you with your training and development.

Question:

We’ve just sent several of our managers to training.  How can I reinforce that training, now that they are back on the job, to make sure it sticks?

Answer:

You’re smart to be proactive. Too often, we hear, “I sent my employee/manager to training, and I don’t see that their behavior has changed at all.” Unfortunately, many organizations leave it completely on the employee to incorporate what they have learned, with no support from their manager or the company. According to a survey done by Training magazine, training expenditures in 2018 were $87.6 billion.  This was actually a decline of 6.4 percent, but still a significant amount of money. Companies spent an average of $986 per learner.  It only makes sense to want to see some return on that investment.

Yes, the employee needs to take ownership to incorporate training in their day to day, however, the manager and the company need to support these efforts.  Some things to consider that can help keep what was learned top of mind:

• Using what communication tools are available (meeting, intranet, email newsletter, etc.) and have the employee share with peers what was learned, including a couple specific takeaways.
• If a group of employees were trained, conduct a regular roundtable or brown bag lunch to share how they have applied the concepts incorporating what was learned or brainstorm solutions to a challenge that has come up.
• Share relevant articles to reinforce what was learned and build on what was discussed to keep top of mind.
• The manager can incorporate concepts learned into coaching of the employee.

Oftentimes, we feel that since the employee had the training, they should know how to do it. Training isn’t a miracle cure. A key for training to “stick” is to reinforce it on a regular basis until it becomes rote.  With the significant amount of money spent on training, follow up and reinforcement are critical to seeing the return we want.

Is training your employees a goal this year? Get your Training and Development program off to the right start by asking Strategic HR to help. We have the expertise to conduct a Needs Assessment and/or to recommend training options for your staff. Visit our Training & Development page to learn how we can help you implement a successful training program.

By Cathleen Snyder, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

One of the most frequent complaints that we hear about mid-level managers is, “They don’t manage their people.”  A team isn’t meeting productivity goals, has high turnover, and/or low engagement.  Add to that, that most companies evaluate their managers on productivity goals, but overlook how they achieve those goals.  Are they effectively managing their people, providing feedback, and motivating their employees?

We’ve all heard the adage that employees don’t leave companies, they leave managers.  With managers being such a critical element in employee retention it’s important that organizations take a hard look at what they are doing to help their mid-level managers be successful as leaders.

In a recent survey of 500 managers by business and technology consulting firm, West Monroe, managing their people ranked second of the most common workplace stressors.  44% of the managers that responded said they feel overwhelmed at work.  One reason for this may be a lack of management training.  Only a third of managers received 9 or more hours of manager training.  A startling 44% received less than 2 hours manager training.

Without training, managers will tend to emulate the management styles they have been exposed to, regardless of how effective that style may have been.  Even in today’s business world of advanced technology and innovation, we assume that individuals will have management skills, or learn them along the way.  With the impact that managers have on the overall success of the company, it’s too big of a risk to assume managers will “figure it out.”

The good news is, the benefits of conducting management training are many, and well documented.  In the West Monroe survey, of the managers that had training prior to beginning their management role, 92% stated they feel they have an adequate work-life balance (i.e. less overwhelmed).  85% feel that their responsibilities are clearly communicated.

According to Forbes Magazine, “An employee’s relationships with his or her direct manager is the most important single factor in employee engagement.”  Other key reasons to train your managers:

• Providing management training can lay the groundwork for consistency in how employees are being managed across the organization.
• Effective, well trained managers are proven to improve morale, thereby improving retention, which is critical to a productive workforce.
• Training your managers goes a long way towards reducing claims and litigation.

As we continue to stress, today’s job market is challenging to find the talent we need.  Our priority needs to be engaging and retaining the workforce we have.  Ensuring your managers are well trained and effective in their roles is one of the most important steps we can take to being a successful organization.

Cathleen Snyder, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, is Director of Client Relations with Strategic HR, and is passionate about manager training.  If you would like to share your comments or learn more, contact her at Cathleen@strategicHRinc.com.

Have you heard about Strategic HR’s Supervisor Training Series?  We’ve develop this three-session program to help give your managers the tools they need to effectively manager, engage and motivate your employees.  Register your managers today!

Question: 

I’m a new manager and I do not understand my role as a coach.  Can you explain how coaching is effective?

Answer:

Effective coaching is about achieving goals. Coaching helps the employee set realistic goals and identify specific behaviors or steps for meeting them.  As a Manager, you should help to establish guidelines and measures for success and hold the employee accountable for them.  In addition to driving results in order to maximize performance, you should also continue to build the relationship, offer clear expectations while providing support and encouragement. If an employee isn’t meeting your expectations, discipline and coaching can go “hand in hand” if done in a positive way.

A special thanks to Sherry Sims with Black Career Women’s Network for sharing her insight and expertise.

All to often the number one reason employees leave a company is because of their manager.  What Training and Development do you provide your managers to be successful managers?  Strategic HR provides a series of supervisor training customized to your workplace.  Learn more about all of our Training and Development programs or contact us directly at info@strategicHRinc.com.

Many of you are deep in the throes of your performance management process: reflecting back on 2015 and the performance of your employees and also looking ahead to how you can appropriately prepare your employees to tackle what needs to be accomplished in 2016.  It never fails that the performance management document seems to have the all-encompassing “Development Needs” section, and we are always struggling to pick the most relevant training from the list of offerings to address our employees’ development needs and move to the next section on the form.  But are we doing our employees a disservice by only focusing on training to address their performance and developmental needs?  Are training and development REALLY the same thing?

Good questions.  Remember back to your high school Geometry class when you learned that a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square?  The same is true of training and development.  Training is the square: depending on the needs you’ve identified for your employees, training can be an excellent source to prepare your employees to succeed in their current jobs or even potentially prepare them for a more responsible role in your company.  Employee development, however, is a rectangle: development may include training (the square), but there are a variety of other ways you can address the needs of your employees that don’t require them to attend a training session.

What’s the difference?
Most of us have benefitted from a training session or two that gave us some knowledge that we didn’t have so that we could perform our job responsibilities a little better. Training is typically focused on making sure we have the information needed to perform our current jobs and our participation is generally required.  Some that may come to mind are compliance training or training on a new system your company is implementing.  The best trainings help us learn rather than merely expose us to a new topic or new content.

Development, on the other hand, goes much deeper than an hour or two of listening to content on one topic.  Development is much more involved, usually longer-term and can include things like strengths assessments, job experiences, mentors or coaches, personality assessments, training, 360 degree feedback and many other approaches.  Developmental activities are used to prepare employees for the next step in their career and are typically voluntary.

Be the rectangle
Think back to the single most defining point of your career.  Did it involve a specific role you were performing or a job experience you gained?  A training course you attended?  Someone taking you under their wing and supporting your career growth and acting as a mentor?  Now, think about each of your employees.  Do you want them to look back at the single most defining point of their careers and remember you, the opportunities that you provided for them and the counsel you gave to them?  How can you become their rectangle?

So, as you’re thoughtfully plowing through your Performance Management documents and identifying some options for developing your employees, make sure to look at their individual needs closely and spend some time thinking through the best method of development for them.  Simply choosing from a list of available training sessions may or may not be the best way to help them grow and to help your organization reach its goals for 2016.

 If you have any questions or would like to share your comments or success stories, you can contact us info@strategicHRinc.com.

Question:

My company is in the chemical manufacturing industry where there are many processes involved in the different jobs. I would like to design an assessment center for technicians and other workers that would assess their ability to handle these tasks, such as checking temperatures and pressures, evaluating the raw materials used, etc. How do I determine what competencies are involved and how to go about designing an assessment center?

Answer:

For any type of assessment that involves job competencies you’ll need to address the following:

1. Observe and record how the best employees in each job category do the work.
2. Based on the information gained from your observations, you will be able to identify the key competencies and to clearly define them (i.e. problem solving, or communication).
3. Ensure the competencies are accurate and inclusive by involving some of the employees and respective supervisors in the review of the competencies. They will have a better idea of the accuracy of the competencies.
4. Once competencies are determined, you are ready to develop simulations for the assessment center to replicate the work being done (i.e. checking temperatures). Using employees that you feel are already successful in the job to pilot the center or assist in the development of the assessments will ensure it is more successful.
5. Schedule trainees or potential employees to go through the assessment center.
6. Track the results. You’ll need to assess the employee’s knowledge before they go through the center and be able to determine how it improved and impacted their job performance after completing the assessment. Does it seem to be working? Do you need to make any changes? Are there any biases or adverse discrimination that occurs because of the system?

Note: Depending on where you are located, you may need to do a number of pilots and analyses of the results to ensure there are no legal ramifications on the use of the center on hiring or promotion decisions.  Also, remember to be consistent in your application.  Don’t pick and choose who you will ask to go through an assessment,  it is better to chose a time in employment process and everyone who moves through the step is requested to take the assessment.

Get your Training and Development program off to the right start by asking Strategic HR to help. We have the expertise to conduct a Needs Assessment and/or to recommend training options for your staff. Visit our Training and Development page to learn how we can help you hire safely.