It’s a Training Issue!
There’s a common phrase used by
Organizational Development and Human
Resource professionals, when
identifying kinks in the growth of
an organization or company - “It’s a
training issue.” The same phrase can
be applied to almost any group of
human beings that are working
together to achieve a common goal.
When progress stagnates and
obstacles appear, you can retrace
the path of movement and discover
that things started to go wrong when
someone wasn’t trained properly.
Have you ever experienced any of the
following situations?
Fast Food Nightmare
You pull up to a fast food drive
through window and a voice, with a
foreign accent quickly spews out
some inaudible words that you assume
are probably akin to “May I take
your order?”
The waitress from hell
After being seated for thirty
minutes at a local restaurant, a
waitress finally approaches your
table and asks if you’d like to
order. When you politely explain
that you’re frustrated because
you’ve been waiting thirty minutes,
she condescendingly responds with a
sigh, “The kitchen is backed up and
I just had a party of fifteen in the
other room.”
Know-nothing Receptionist
You miss a much anticipated call
from service person you’ve been
trying to reach about a product you
purchased that doesn’t work
correctly. When you call the person
back, a receptionist says the person
is not in and you should try back
later. The receptionist is not sure
when would be the best time and – no
– the person you seek doesn’t have
voice mail.
Travel Trauma
After being on the road for twelve
hours, you arrive at the hotel where
you have a reservation for the
night. The check in time is posted
as 3:30 pm. You arrive at 4:30 pm
but the room is not ready. You are
politely encouraged to check back in
about an hour to see if the room is
available. The front desk clerk has
no idea what you should do with the
hour of “kill time” and can’t
guarantee that the room will even be
ready in an hour.
Office Chaos
You work in an office and have a
large amount of administrative tasks
that bog you down. There is an
administrative assistant working ten
feet from your desk who is supposed
to offer support to your team. His
understanding of “support” and yours
differ. It appears that some members
of your team get more support from
this guy than others. You express
the inequity of support to your boss
who sees the conflict as
“personality differences.” You just
want your darn copies made in a
timely fashion.
All of the instances above show
poor service and mismanagement – in
some cases “abuse,” but it all could
undoubtedly be corrected through
proper training. Thus, the root
of these corporate and retail
nightmares are addressed as
“training issues.”
“Training” is such a bland
word. The mere mention of the word
conjures up visions of boring
classroom environments,
unenthusiastic training instructors
and wasted time having concepts that
common sense has already taught you
rammed down your throat.
Few people are ever excited about
training. My husband, who is an iron
worker, recently went through
training mandated by OSCA that
instructed all the workers on his
team in the safety procedures for
operating a forklift truck. One of
the most crucial training points was
that “one should never leave the
driver’s seat of the forklift while
the motor was running and the
forklift was in gear.” Duh!
Despite the negative karma training
has gained in the corporate world,
and the hype it was granted during
the dot com boom, the simple truth
is that training is not merely
dispensing information about
technique and skill. It is also
communicates expectations and
requirements of the job. People need
to be told what is expected of them
in clear terms, and relaying that
expectation is a part of the
training process. Training lays the
foundation for affirming performance
as well as correcting mistakes.
In all of the examples above, the
“untrained” employee has emotionally
disconnected themselves from the
person they are employed to serve.
Each has personal issues foremost in
their minds which override their
willingness to adequately serve
others. If you were to get their
side of the story, you’d hear some
of the following responses:
"Everything moves so fast around
here. It’s all I can do to keep up.
No one really tells me what to do;
they just tell me if I’m doing
something wrong.”
“I could do my job if those I
depended on could do theirs.”
“I’m tired of taking the hits for
the poor performance of my
superiors.”
“No one ever told me exactly what my
job is. I guess they think I’ll
figure it out. What I know of my job
expectation has been mostly
communicated by others telling me
what I’m doing wrong. It’s every man
for himself around here”
Poor service is not due to poor
employees, but poor employers.
The bottom line is that lack of
service = lack of growth, lack of
productivity, lack of profits. Your
company’s lack of service will pay a
high price in the world of your
competitors. You will have to
continually compensate with special
promotions, additional advertising,
increased hiring and give-aways to
disgruntled customers. Good service
is linked to happy, valued employees
that provide the service. Training
is a crucial tool in helping
employees feel valued in the work
environment.
How do you use training to solve the
problems mentioned above? It’s all
about having a training program that
is set in place and held as a
priority. Don’t fall into the
“training out of desperation”
category and only offer training
when you have to put out a fire.
Remember that training can be a form
of giving your employees attention
and recognition. If done well, they
will appreciate it and feel
affirmed.
Always have some type of training
scheduled. It can be as infrequent
as once a quarter or as frequent as
once a week. You can do it in house
or outsource it. Having scheduled
training opportunities will prevent
the development of service problems
that cost you big time in the long
run.
New Hire Orientation
The most important training you’ll
ever do with an employee will be
when he or she first comes on board.
Here’s an example of training to put
in place for new hires.
As a company policy, be sure to have
specific, written job descriptions
for each employee, and a system
established for continually updates.
Job descriptions should focus on
competencies rather than functions.
Develop an Orientation Training
Program for each new employee that
is hired. The program can last
anywhere from one half a day to a
week, but it should include the
following:
- Introduction to the rest of
the staff.
- Thorough review of the job
description and company policies
with the direct report, clearly
laying out expectations and
processes for recognition and
correction. Allow time for
questions and answers.
- Site tour – where are the
bathrooms, kitchen, parking
spaces, emergency exit, etc.
- Employee paperwork – W4,
benefit forms, waivers, copy of
Personnel Regulations and job
description, etc.
- New hire should be given a
thorough briefing on what the
organization does, its goals,
its vision, who it serves and
the role of the new hire’s
position in the grand scheme of
things.
- If possible, assign another
staff person to be on call for
questions that arise by the new
hire.
- FREE LUNCH - Be nice and
have that staff person or
yourself take the new hire to
lunch their first day.
Have a 30 day review set up (mark
it on your calendar) where you will
evaluate the new hire’s performance
and inquire about their feelings and
frustrations related to the job.
NOTE: If you reschedule or
cancel this 30 day review,
you'll send that employee a
clear message about the priority
you place on their training and
development. This meeting is
crucial to the new hire and they
anticipate it with great
expectation.
A training program, aside from
being a way to continually dispense
needed information to your employees
is also one of the most effective
methods for gaining information
about how to improve company
infrastructure. It is a safe
environment for workers to share
thoughts, feelings and ideas on how
to improve the company. In addition,
training – when done properly –
affirms employees, helps them to
develop a sense of loyalty to the
company, reduces turnover and
creates a prime opportunity for
building consensus.
Training and development is an
investment, not a cost.
Fortune 500’s lists on top
companies, Best Small Businesses,
Best Companies to Work For and Best
Bosses have repeatedly displayed
interest in employee satisfaction as
well as training and development.
Edward Jones, a stockbrokerage out
of St. Louis, MO was rated #1 for
the second consecutive year on
Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to
Work For.”
According to Fortune it spends 3.8%
of its payroll on training, with an
average of 146 hours for every
employee, and new brokers get four
times that much. When asked why it
spends so much on training managing
partner John Bachmann replied, “In
order to grow, you have to be
trained or you get trapped in the
present.” One administrative
assistant at Edward Jones was quoted
by a Fortune journalist saying,
“I’ve never experienced working for
a company that has so many satisfied
employees.”
1
A training program is an ideal
starting point to take action to
decrease turnover, improve employee
performance and initiate loyalty. It
is also a strong foundation for
developing affective communication
within the company or organization.
If you have no training program
currently established, start with an
orientation training program or look
to your local university or
community college for training
opportunities.
Start a training library by ordering
books, videos and periodicals that
address competencies you want to
develop in your staff. Beginning or
improving a training program shows
employees that you care.
1. Fortune Magazine,
January 20, 2003 Issue: Summary on
Edward Jones – Ann Harrington
Mindie Burgoyne
- 2004
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