What's New?

Customer service is back! Have you noticed that the checkout person at the grocery store actually looked you in the eye and said hello? Or when you left the drug store they said, "Thank you for your business!"? We have been experiencing a new commitment to customer service everywhere we go.

Some of our Academy clients have already figured it out. They are getting their entire teams aligned by making sure they are on the same page (literally as well as figuratively). They are asking us for programs that focus on the basics, the steadfast, time-honored fundamentals of doing a great job of taking care of - not "servicing" - your customers. There's an art and a science of understanding what makes customers buy, how to keep them buying and how to get them attached to buying things from you.

How are you renewing your commitment to customer service?

Masters of the Academy

Introducing Angeline van der Heijden

The Academy is proud to announce that Angeline van der Heijden has joined us as Master Trainer for Spain. Angeline is a long-time veteran of the OBC Industry. In 1984 she opened her first center in the Ruhr-Area in Germany. In 2003 she sold her centers, after 18 years in the business and managing five centers in Hagen, Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Essen. Since then, she has been living in Mallorca, Spain.

She served on the German OBC Association board for eight years – four of them as the president. As an active member of OBCAI, she was responsible for the acquisition of new members in Europe for two years. She is now dedicated to building and coaching her own worldwide sales force within the communication industry. Angeline gained experience teaching and coaching people within her day-to-day operations and challenging business opportunities in the OBC industry. She also serves as a trainer with Assistenz. Angeline was nominated as Germany's Business Woman of the Year in 1999.

Angeline was born in the Netherlands and is fluent in English, German, Dutch and Spanish. She is availble to train and coach in any of those languages. You can reach her at aheijden@theallianceacademy.com.

Training that Works

Discipline in the Workplace

It sounds almost like an oxymoron, doesn't it? After all, discipline is something used with children, right? And hopefully, you've got all adults working for you. So the notion of conducting a discipline session makes everyone feel uncomfortable - as though you are somehow overstepping your bounds.

That discomfort you're feeling can make you go easy on someone ("Oh, it more than likely won't crop up again so I'm not going to do anything about it.") or go too far ("A caller complained that she was on hold too long so I'm writing you up!")

Neither option can be ideal for you, your center, or your team. You do need to discipline a team member whose actions have crossed the line. However, you need to accomplish it properly.

First things first: recognize what discipline actually means. It is a follow-up to coaching. You do it because you have already given corrective feedback and suggested ways to correct the problem -and the team member in question has failed to heed your advice. Discipline is a way of declaring, "That correction needs to occur. If it doesn't, there will be consequences." It will sound basic, yet the truth is it's easy to make mistakes in this arena which A) result in an ineffective session, after which nothing changes, B) strain your relationship with your team member, C) anger or upset him or her to the point of much worse performance (this, in turn, will lessen morale), and/or D) lead to legal action against you or your firm.

Unpleasant as it can be, you have to address employee infractions. Here's why.

The initial as well as most obvious reason can be simply that: You expect your team member to do the right thing. You would like him to stop being rude to clients or to adhere to the center dress code, or showing up two hours late each Monday. (Yes, of course, the present rule-breaker may be a woman, but we are trying to steer clear of that confusing he/she/his/her conundrum. Please bear with us!)

Conduct a discipline session ideally and you increase the likelihood that your team member will cease this offending behavior and improve dramatically.
The other reason not to let things slide can be a bit more complicated. Suppose your team member is merely, well, a lost cause? Suppose you know in deep down that he's not going to ever develop into an intuitive, innovative "happy center citizen"?

That's all the more grounds to discipline him. Perfectly structured, properly documented discipline sessions - with all your I's dotted and T's crossed - may be half of the battle of getting him out the door . . . with a clear conscience and tiny odds that a disgruntled employee will pursue litigation.

Basically, there are three forms of disciplinary action:
1. You can give a written warning
2. You can suspend an employee without pay for a designated span of time
3. You can dismiss the employee

A part of this "art" we mentioned above involves understanding which type of discipline session might be appropriate and when. The other part involves determining what you can say throughout a session. You do have some leeway depending on the particulars of your team member and also his breach. Every case is different, every person is distinct, and most every workplace culture is unique...so it's hard to submit carved-in-stone rules.

The one key here is to act on the unacceptable behavior as soon as it occurs.

Case Study

The Eye of the Tiger

In the past, India looked to the west for lessons on developing skills in the workplace, but now the roles are reversed. By emphasizing ongoing training as a priority for new and existing employees at all levels, India's leading organizations are models for managing talent. Some of these employees spend up to two weeks annually in training, a prospect unheard of in the west.

In this regard, the United States could learn a lesson from its former protégé. The Indian industry adapted the best workforce training and development practices from the United States and Europe to develop a surrogate education system. The seven areas in which India has excelled are employee recruitment, new employee training, continuing employee development, managerial training and development, performance management and appraisals, workforce retention and education upgrades. India understands that it all starts with selection and looks for potential rather than skill when selecting a new employee. No matter the position, all employees are trained on customer management, communication, team building, cultural skills, and personal effectiveness skills.

This allows a company to increase efficiency, reduce turnover, and increase profit margins. The Motto in India is "Truth alone triumphs," and the one truth in our business is "Team alone triumphs."

For more information on how to effectively train your team members at all levels, contact us today.

Focus On...

Transforming Professional Relationships

Let's face reality: not everyone loves their job. The research over the past several years on employee engagement and turnover suggests that 30-40% of the U.S. workforce is dissatisfied. One of the root causes of this fundamental dissatisfaction is the quality of workplace relationships.

The one professional relationship that has the most impact on our experience of work is the relationship with our immediate supervisor. Actually, this relationship is the single most important factor behind turnover and employee engagement.

Most centers operate under the model of "manager as customer" and not "manager and team as customers to each other." As anyone who has supervised others knows, not all teams are highly committed, productive, and self-motivated. Nor is every manager always focused on the satisfaction and success of the team. This new management model collectively accepts shared accountability for the performance goals and the relationship: and at the same time, the manager commits to her role to help the team succeed and be satisfied. As a result, both the team and the manager become partners on a path to mutual success.

Let's call this new model the "Relationship Flight Plan." This plan creates a process whereby the manager and the team members commit to a behavioral contract where both parties feel equal and respected.

So what might a manager include in a commitment to their team?
• Providing coaching to help individuals develop
• Offering resources and support so the team can do its job
• Being a press agent for the team's accomplishments and helping them secure recognition
• Maintaining honesty and communicating information in a timely way
• Being supportive of team members' personal lives
• Helping the team determine goals, priorities, and trade-offs

What might a team member include in its collective commitment to a manager?
• Working as a team to achieve agreed upon goals
• Providing the manager with timely information to help her make good decisions
• Acting at all times in the best interest of the center
• Using scarce resources wisely
• Indentify solutions, not just problems
• Respecting and supporting the manager's decision, even when the team's views differ.
• Offering helpful input and feedback
• Refraining from negative gossip
• Treating colleagues as they would customers

The point is these are not simply platitudes, or a list of clichéd best practices. They are a set of firm behavioral commitments along with relevant examples to ensure clarity and signed as a gesture of sincere acceptance. It's all about the relationship.

Insider Tips

Ten Things to Do Before Taking a Vacation

Concerned about the how the center will operate without you for a few days? The days before you take time off can be the most important part of making sure you have a relaxing vacation. Planning is part of this; leaving your work in capable hands or organizing things so someone else can pick it up if needed will cut down on stress – yours and theirs. Here is a quick ON VACATION checklist:

O – Overflowing mailbox: Clean up and organize before you go so you do not exceed your size limit.
N – Needed files: If someone else will need to use your files, make sure they can access them.
V – Voice message: Do not forget to change this to notify callers you are on vacation. Provide information to reach your back-up support team and how to return to the operator.
A – Access: If you are granting someone access to your mailbox (voicemail or email) while you are gone, be sure to test that they can access the mailbox. If you plan to check your email remotely, test this ahead of time and be sure to bring the access instructions.
C- Calendar: Create a multi-day event showing you are out of the office, so others will know you are unavailable for meetings.
A – Advise: Advise all internal and external customers that you will be out of the office.
T – Task: Assign tasks to each team member while you are gone.
I – Information: Do you contribute to reports that others prepare? If so, give them your information prior to leaving the office.
O – Organize: Make sure your team can easily find items while you are gone.
N – Notify: Set-up an auto-reply so that people who email you while you're away receive reply telling them that you are out of the office, when you will be back, and who they should contact as an alternative.

For more Insider Tips, visit the Academy site to access the Training Bytes section.