Leadership Lessons: Coaching During Tough Times

With an increasingly diverse workforce, economically tough times, competitive demands and greater pressures of doing more with less, leaders are becoming stressed out, and in some cases they are mixed up about how to cope in the current climate.

In these times, employees at all levels need more communication and honest feedback through coaching. In some cases, employees are not even aware that their productivity has tapered off, and managers may wonder whether they are coachable. Right now, your leadership may be one of the most important elements of management, as well as for the culture of your organization.

With the current economic business environment predicted to last well into 2009, the idea that coaching is needed rests on a long-term commitment to employees. Team leaders should be keen to help their team members perform their best by motivating them, encouraging them, listening to them, shaping their values, challenging them, facilitating their needs and inspiring excellence.

A recent Northeast Human Resources Association survey indicated that more than 70 percent of human resources professionals in the Northeast believe that their employees are overloaded and distracted at work. And those distractions lead to loss of productivity.

Key Priorities

A survey of 514 employed U.S. workers in October 2008 shows that employees are witnessing how the current economic climate is impacting the companies where they work. Twenty-six percent of respondents said they believed that layoffs would occur, and 62 percent said their companies would have trouble meeting goals. This reiterates the fact that many companies may have declining engagement of employees, and this is forcing employees to wonder whether they will be able to meet their personal and professional goals.

"The focus of [managing talent] in the past has been on rehabilitating poor performers," said Laura Lea Clinton, GPHR, director of HR management for CARE USA. "The trend will reverse to a focus on the continued engagement and retention of top performers."

The Society of Human Resource Management's (SHRM) December 2008 report, "Key Priorities for the HR Profession Through 2015," states that coaching is a training method organizations can use to retain the knowledge of more experienced or skilled workers so younger employees can benefit from their knowledge and experience. This is key during these economic hard times.

Can You Relate?

It is 5 a.m. and Sheila is up at the crack of dawn waking her kids and sending them off to school. Sheila hurries to get herself ready and out the door for the morning commute. On the way to work, she receives a call from her boss informing her that an 8 a.m. emergency meeting has been called. She slides in the door with just enough time to make take the elevator and grab a stiff cup of coffee.

Sheila manages a team of account representatives. In the emergency meeting, she learns that the company's biggest client has laid off 400 workers. With the client cutting back, Sheila's boss says she'll have to reduce her staff by moving two people to another team. Meanwhile, Sheila has 10 other accounts, with major work coming due on projects over the next two weeks. Facing a disgruntled and deflated team, she wonders if she can step up to the plate and coach them through the change.

Already beaten down from her own company's downsizing the previous month, Sheila wonders whether she's still considered a good performer. She's not confident that she's up for the challenge of restructuring her staff and workload.

Moreover, she's not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling from her boss, whose last words were, "We've got to do what we have to do to stay afloat ourselves. If you want to keep working, just do it." Sheila isn't sure what the priorities are anymore. All she is thinking about is the extra hours she'll be working. Sheila is stressed out and in danger of shutting down.

The Value of Coaching

Research suggests that the main causes of stress in Americans' lives are juggling work and their personal lives, lack of job security, people issues, and workload. Generation Y and Baby Boomers alike take unplanned days off from work as a way to deal with stress, which increases over time.

The value of coaching can be measured in the overall improved performance of individuals and teams. Coaching helps people through transitions, clarifies priorities, boosts team members' morale and helps positively shape attitudes. A team leader who cares enough about his or her team members to help and train them will gain their trust, cooperation and confidence.

Coaching helps employees move beyond their limitations. They grow with their own sense of satisfaction as a vital part of the team and the organization, and they are optimistic about their future in the organization. Isn't that what you want --- positive, enthusiastic employees serving the customer?

Coaching is a valuable way to build teamwork through communication, shared goals and collaboration. It also keeps the team focused on running the business and serving customers.

With Vital Learning's Coaching Job Skills program, your managers and team leaders will learn the coaching process that is so often neglected. They will learn how to identify coachable performance problems early, before problems become out of hand. They will also learn to communicate in coaching terms that improve employee performance and productivity. For general supervisory leadership skills, we continue to offer you the award-winning series by Vital Learning. Available in Classroom, Online, or Blended delivery options, the Vital Learning curriculum includes the following essential topics.

• Delegating - understanding when to use delegation and how to make it motivating
• Complaints - being able to effectively manage complaints
  
• Coaching - knowing how to productively coach job skills
  
• Project Management - being able to run projects, both on-time and on-budget
  
• Conflict - understanding how to successfully resolve conflict
  
• Hiring Winning Talent- knowing what to do to consistently hire the right talent
  
• Providing Feedback - understanding how to establish performance goals and standards and give feedback
  
• And more...

Leadership Lessons: Cutting-Edge Customer Service

The Problem

Maybe your organization doesn't make cutting-edge products. You don't necessarily have to. But do your employees deliver cutting-edge customer service?

With today's uncertain economy and belt-tightening occurring on every level, people are scrambling to maintain profitability and grow their businesses. Add to that competition and a world that relies on social networking and word-of-mouth marketing ... well, let's just call it a tough sell.

Retaining and gaining edge hinges on the kind of customer service that brings people to your door, helps you through the economic downturn and creates customer advocacy.

Who should you be training to provide cutting-edge customer service?

• Sales and service representatives

• All employees who deal with your customers

• Anyone who has internal and external customer contact

That sounds like almost everyone in an organization needs training, doesn't it? In truth, every employee can use customer service training. Such training helps an organization shift its culture to one that encourages cutting-edge thinking and progressive service.

The following are examples of organizations known for delivering superb, memorable customer service.

Nordstrom

An American business more than 100 years old, Nordstrom is touted in a destinationcrm.com article as the gold standard for customer service excellence. The company now relies on word of mouth as a primary marketing tool.

Nordstrom makes customer service a priority, and customers know they will be treated special. One longtime employee said that he felt empowered to pave his own career path and to bring customers along with him. Nordstrom also gives employees on the frontline the ability to make decisions.

Ford

Ford was founded in 1903, and remains a leader in the American auto industry. A Ford division customer relationship manager was interviewed, and she said the company has been responsive by listening to what customers want instead of telling them what they need. The Ford philosophy has always been to focus on the customer experience at every touch point.

Men's Wearhouse

A FastCompany.com article, "They Sell Suits With Soul," shares the story of Men's Wearhouse's record of turning "reluctant shoppers into loyal customers." One top executive said that the company's training curriculum is less about how to sell suits than about understanding people. In addition, Men's Wearhouse believes in "the ability to move beyond the initial customer request and to satisfy a true need."

The Solution

Design Customer Service Training and Make it Happen

Consider the level of customer service your organization provides today. What might you consider in the way of training for employees so they feel the kind of empowerment that leads to cutting-edge customer service?

Assessment must be a part of your customer service methodology. Some assessment firms indicate that finding the right operational targets and customer satisfaction information to determine where service and delivery integrate is key. Next, design a CSR training program that builds service levels to satisfy your customers; this will have a direct bearing on your organization's productivity and profitability.

Vital Learning, in conjunction with your training representative, offers a variety of customer service training programs. Each program is flexible to fit your needs and provides both traditional classroom-based and online options.

STAR Service is a powerful, four-hour program that teaches participants how to achieve the following:

• S: Sync up with customers
• T: Target customer needs
• A: Assist customer needs
• R: Reaffirm assistance and the relationship

The STAR Service program offers maximum training in a short period of time to improve CSRs' consistency and create positive and memorable experiences for your customers. It also helps increase customer retention, expand business relationships and drive increased customer referrals. Vital Learning's Winning Through Customer Service program offers four modules to train participants about professionalism that leads to a proactive, problem-solving culture. The program also focuses on communication skills while using a structured process/model for conducting customer service transactions. Furthermore, participants practice strategies for appropriately dealing with difficult customer situations.

Two complementary online programs, Delivering Customer-Focused Service and Dealing With Difficult Customer Situations, allow organizations to deliver training as either stand-alone, self-paced modules or blended learning to complement to the classroom-based programs.

There has never been a more compelling time to keep your organization moving and on the cutting edge with customer service training.

For general supervisory leadership skills, we continue to offer you the award-winning series by Vital Learning. Available in Classroom, Online, or Blended delivery options, the Vital Learning curriculum includes the following essential topics.

• Delegating - understanding when to use delegation and how to make it motivating
• Complaints - being able to effectively manage complaints
  
• Coaching - knowing how to productively coach job skills
  
• Project Management - being able to run projects, both on-time and on-budget
  
• Conflict - understanding how to successfully resolve conflict
  
• Hiring Winning Talent- knowing what to do to consistently hire the right talent
  
• Providing Feedback - understanding how to establish performance goals and standards and give feedback
  
• And more...