Magnify Customer
Retention: Focus on Outcome Based
Training
By Anne M. Obarski
Training new employees is
always a challenge when employee turnover within an
industry is high. So it is within the retail
arena. Training programs used to run for two weeks
or more and drained the retailer's budget. Times
have changed and so have the training programs and how
they are implemented. From class room settings and
roll playing to interactive video, web-based training
and pod-casts, employees have experienced it all.
The challenge for any business is to make sure that the
employees learn the material so they can perform their
job to the company's expectation level.
Training programs and
teaching styles may change but the goal of any good
program is to develop employees who understand their job
and how to perform it and do it every day with
consistency.
If the outcome is to have a
team of productive, successful and loyal employees then
let's work backwards to see what it takes to arrive at
that point?
My logo for my company is a
magnifying glass followed by a tag-line, "sharpened
focus- targeted performance". I chose the
magnifying glass because I help companies focus on
seeing themselves through their customers' eyes. When
you use a magnifying glass, you need patience to find
your target and to focus on it. Creating a focus
driven company allows the performance requirements of
each and every employee to be clear cut and measurable,
thus outcome based.
Let's look at your training
program though a simple magnifying glass.
1. Handle:
Before you can use the magnifying glass you need to
grasp the handle. In a retailer's case the
"handle" is the customer or client. A good
training program needs to start by educating the
employee about the company first and the customer or
clients they serve. Any hunter knows that the more
you know about your target, the easier it is to hit your
target. Getting a handle on the target makes
focusing on the end result, much easier.
2. Skill Level: Analyzing
the skill level of each employee is critical to any
successful training program. I have read recently
that more employees are let go from their job because
their lack of soft skills versus their knowledge of hard
skills. Better said, those employees who have
great communication skills can be taught the computer
skills or technical skills needed for the
position. Debbie Fields of Mrs. Field's cookies
says she hires the smile first. A good training
program provides on-going communication and personal
skills training to ultimately help to build strong
relationships with customers and clients.
Focusing on soft skills can result in hard, bottom line
results.
3. Performance: Just
like in school, once you have been taught something, the
teacher expects you to perform. It is no different
in the business world... It takes time and
training and practice to be flawless in anything you
attempt to do. Sometimes it helps to have a
"mentor" or "trainer" to provide focus on the areas that
need improvement. It can be as simple as better
eye contact, clearer conversational skills, more
effective sales techniques, better inventory management
skills or other "small" corrections that can have a big
impact of the employee's performance as well as the
total performance of the company. Focus on the
little corrections that produce big results.
4. Feedback: Who
holds your employee's accountable? Do they know
what they are accountable for? Do they understand
their job description and do they follow it on a daily
basis? A good training program provides the
template for a performance appraisal.
I believe that it is unfair
to test someone on something they have never been
taught. There are very few of us as students who
ever liked to hear the words "pop quiz". Many of
us would say it was unfair and that you didn't have time
to study or that you didn't know the material you were
going to be tested on.
In the case of a
performance review, the employee should know exactly
what he or she will be held accountable for in their
job. If the training program covers customer
service, sales performance and performance within the
team, then it should be fairly simple to give the
employee feedback on his or her job performance based on
what they were taught in the training program. Mystery
shopper programs that have surveys based on information
that was taught in during employee training, can be
extremely helpful in pin-pointing areas that need
improvement. Focused feedback, delivered in a
tactful way, can positively affect the attitude and
performance of the employee.
If you want a successful
training program, get handle on what the company stands
for and who you serve. Then offer continual
training in the area of communication skills and monitor
each employee's performance, determine the areas that
need improvement and become an effective evaluator in
reviewing the performance of employees.
A simple formula achieving
the desired outcome from a solid training program
is:
Target + Skill + Performance + Accountability =
Success
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