“John Aramini Delivers Message of Exceptional Service & Change at GSETA Conference”
I was excited to be selected to present for The Garden State Employment & Training Association (GSETA) at their 36th Annual Workforce Development Conference in Atlantic City on October 3 & 4, 2018. The GSETA Conference brought together national, state, and local stakeholders of the workforce system.
My session “Exceptional Service: Enhancing the Customer Experience” focused on instituting customer quality assurance practices and the potential reinvention that Workforce Development Board members and One Stop management staff may need to implement to attain the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) performance measures emphasizing “effectiveness servicing employers”.
I discussed the notion that this involves the combined efforts of introducing new business practices and building a customer-centric culture. I suggested that this is a new knowledge base to be acquired, which is now equally important, yet distinct from those capabilities when providing career planning and training services. Competence in business development, employer engagement and customer service are essential to maximize relationship outcomes when interacting with the business community. Performance measure implications for One Stop business practices include CRM, marketing, sales planning and targeting.
In addition to sharing new concepts and ideas, attendees had the opportunity to participate in exercises readily applicable back on the job for use with their staff to generate discussion and to introduce potential improvement actions. For example, an exercise based on the following Core Customer Service Beliefs began the dialogue on customer engagement and establishing standards:
- Achieving performance measures and building your organization’s brand reputation requires an organizational and team effort.
- Exceptional customer service is personal accountability, choice and ownership.
- Customer service is not just a department or a training program: it is a way of behaving and a core value for an organization.
- Meeting internal customer needs improves overall customer service.
- Co-worker relationships are equally important as communications and services with your stakeholder groups.
- Superior service and engagement are expected between co-workers, supervisors within departments, and among departments.
- The customer is your ultimate employer.
- Listen to your customers and cherish the complainers: they can provide you with valuable insights that you may not be aware of.
Aramini Management is a management and business consulting practice. Since 2005 we have assisted organizations in the corporate, educational and non-profit arenas execute management and operational improvements to attain their goals and better engage their customers and staff including experience with One Stop Career Center operations and community college workforce development and training grant programs for corporate clients.
” A Prescription for Fixing Things”
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I like fixing things – not mechanical things. My most complicated tool is an electronic screwdriver. I enjoy working with organizations to get a project back on course, transforming a department with scattered direction or a company without a cohesive sense of brand and team.
When asked about a formula for introducing change, reinvention and direction, time and time again, it does start by taking a look at the “hard” side of the organization: its core business practices data, reporting, and outcomes. But there is also a significant emphasis on the “soft” aspects of the organization to establish a work environment where information flows freely among everyone to effectively address customer needs and improvement opportunities. Impact people to give them the opportunity to make a difference and the hard side of will follow. The following outlines a prescriptive framework with potential tactics to add to your own toolkit:
- Clarify mission. Clarify what the organization’s mission and strategy are. What do they want to accomplish? How does this relate to the department or area you have been assigned to? Anything particular they wish to modify or improve on?
- Determine measurement systems. What tools are they using to evaluate performance in achieving that mission? Is measurement taking place at the department and sub-department level? How are staff evaluated?
- Don’t prejudge with solutions to already know the cause of the problem, but verify root-causes. This can be difficult to do as your past experiences and instincts kick-in. What does organization think the obstacles are? Confirm with fact-finding that this is the true cause of the lack of meeting deliverables. With multiple staffers and departments, you may find some positioning and finger-pointing blame, with reality somewhere in the middle of all that.
- Pick your spots. Decide what you really need to focus on and what you can let go for now. It is easy to get sidetracked on items with little leverage on the outcomes but can cause a big stink when addressing them.
- Ask a lot, talk a lot, and listen a lot. Over communicate, repeat critical messages, and explain reasons why so everyone begins to live it. Be transparent and accessible to break down communication barriers: answer questions and provide information.
- Be half-full, not half-empty. Even when problems are screaming out at you, don’t scream back – making people feel defensive. You want them to be a part of the solution.
- Give credit, and timely feedback. Tell people when they are good and when their work isn’t so good.
- Push back. Key stakeholders may pressure you to address certain items perhaps of low value. You may need to say you will handle them but not now, but when and why.
- Be a buffer and advocate. Don’t let other managers run roughshod over your staff. Let them know to pick their fights with you. Work teams value knowing you are on their side.
- Provide tools and resources to do the job. This could include helping people open doors, removing barriers, and being their sounding board as needed.
“Taking Your Organizational Pulse”
Your doctor conducts a physical exam to see how your body is performing. The medical exam typically isn’t time consuming and designed to ensure that you remain in good health.
Is there a routine check-up that you could initiate on your own organization to get a pulse on its performance? Essentially, taking a snap shot of outcomes and work behaviors to stay ahead of the curve to address potentially developing issues.
Allow yourself and your management team thirty minutes to think through these questions for your organizational check-up and some fact-finding for potentially needed improvement actions:
- How are sales trends vs. last year? Ahead? Stalled? Behind?
- How many new accounts were developed in the past year?
- Is revenue up due to increased volume or a price increase?
- Is the account base up, flat or down?
- How much repeat business from established accounts?
- Are sales leads forgotten: people asking what ever happened with a prospect?
- What “new” ideas have your staff generated in the past year?
- How many new ideas did they actually take responsibility for and execute?
- Are new initiatives getting bogged down in department silos?
- Does your staff come to you for all decisions?
“Serious About Improving Service? Ask Your Staff.”
Your staff will have valuable insights and examples on service gaps and improvement opportunities. It may require some courage and thick skin to question your staff for their input on service. I do not suggest this unless you are really open-minded to what you will hear and are prepared to effectively respond with action. Staff are closest to the customers and the organizational practices that link to the customer.
And of course, do go directly to the customer for their input. Surveying your customers is an essential step to obtain quality assurance and satisfaction measures. This can be post customer service call questions, customer relationship surveys conducted periodically and simply a confidential post card for mailing after their visit to your location.
Who is the customer? Anyone you provide a service to can be included in the concept of customer. This includes your internal customers. Management, supervisory and co-worker interactions are as equally important as communications, programs and services with your external business customers, community representatives, clients, students and all stakeholders.
While you may be excellent in serving your direct clients and customers, you should be just as exceptional in providing service to each other. This is whether you are a private corporation, not-for profit or educational institution. An organization’s staff image outside the organization is reflected in their internal working relationships. Your employees are the face of the organization. Ask them the following:
- What are examples of our organization providing exceptional service to our customers?
- What are examples of our organization providing poor service to our customers?
- What causes poor customer service at our organization and within your department?
- How do you think our customers would rate of our organization’s service to them?
- What do you think our organization and your department can do to better service our customers and to build their loyalty?
- How would you rate our service to each other – that is, our internal customers?
- What improvement opportunities exist within our internal customer interactions?
- What do you think, that I as your manager, can do to improve customer service?
- What do you think you can do to improve your own customer service effectiveness?
- What do you see as the benefits of an improvement?
“Your Board Membership: Evaluating Performance:
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While it is worthwhile experience for the opportunity to give-back and make a difference as member of a board, there can equal amounts of frustration when progress is a stalled in meeting your mission. This can be remedied by conducting a self-evaluation of your board’s practices and productivity. Self-evaluation is a standard practice recommended by many experienced board advocates. This can be readily achieved through a questionnaire completed by each member with follow-up discussion among the group on what they see as effective practices as well as needed areas for improvement.
I like to break the performance criteria into two areas: “Board Structure & Practices”, and “Board Behaviors & Relationships”,
Aspects of “Structure” focus on descriptors such as board mission, meeting management and member training. Individual board member behaviors and the relationships and interactions among all board members comprise “Behavior” performance criteria. Examples include communications, accountability and problem solving.
Here is a sample questionnaire get you started in evaluating your board.
Would you agree or disagree with the following performance criteria as they pertain to your board experience?
Board Structure & Practices
- Strategic Plan: Board members clearly understand their organization’s strategic plan. Their work reflects the organization’s mission statement and strategic objectives.
- Board Policies & Procedures: All members have copies of the board’s policies and procedures, member responsibilities, and committee roles. New board members receive an orientation on their accountabilities toward becoming an effective board member.
- Meeting Management: Board meetings have established agendas and related materials are provided to board members in time for their review. Meeting agenda items are addressed and action taken. There are limited occurrences of unresolved items continually carried over from meeting to meeting.
- Board Composition: Board members possess the qualifications, experience, and diversity to meet their objectives, and address organizational and community needs.
- Board Leadership: Meetings are well facilitated, focused on priorities and refocused if discussion diverges off agenda items. The board chair supports the board and effectively represents the board and organization to its stakeholders.
Board Behaviors & Relationships
- Working Environment: Board working environment is generally tension free with communication open, everyone participating, not holding back on their ideas or opinions. Board members treat each other with respect and listen to and value all input for consideration.
- Interpersonal Communications: Criticism is openly expressed to address issues and without personal attacks directed at board members. Disagreements and conflict do occur as part of the process to constructively problem solve and work through issues. They do not prohibit progress but are managed effectively.
- Decision Making: Board members gather information to make evidenced-based decisions to arrive at a group consensus in which everyone goes along to complete the job.
- Member Accountability & Commitment: Board members are accountable to completing their assigned tasks and committed to board driven decisions even if they do not agree with action decided on.
- Member Leadership: Based on the board’s need for a member’s expertise, board members regularly step-up to lead discussions and committees to address issues. Members act as good will ambassadors positively representing the organization as its advocate to the public.