5 Actions for Measuring Training Results

By Michael C Colucci

As with any type of training, one of the largest, if not the largest, challenge is measuring the results.

And by “measuring the results” it is fairly commonly known that what we really mean – at least in the corporate environment – is…

Proving that it was worth the money spent.

While the argument can be made that employees should be constantly experiencing new opportunities for development – and many of those through training – we have to face the fact that we live in a business environment that is moving so fast that short term means of measurement are required.

Unfortunately, that means that proving the value of training is under a time constraint. It is important to realize that training and education are distinctly different and it is that difference that gives companies the permission to say, “I am not going to train my employees on just anything, it has to be relevant and it has to contribute to the bottom line.”

What is that difference?

Training requires an action be demonstrated.

Education requires an answer be given.

Think about it for a minute. The majority of the education system is measured through a test. If when the question is asked, you give the correct answer… you have met the requirements.

Corporate training isn’t meant to inform… it is meant to transform.

It is meant to empower people to act or respond … act or respond… in a desirable/favorable/determined way.

Let’s quickly look at the 5 Necessary Actions for Measuring Training Results and then support them a bit. They are:

1. Identify the desired behavior that aligns with business goals
2. Provide training that conditions people to act or respond in those ways
3. Encourage the desired behavior outside of the training event
4. Deliberately seek to observe the new behavior
5. Document observation of the behavior

If training is changing behavior then it isn’t accomplishing its goal.

So the question that needs to be answered before you ask “did the training do anything?” is actually:

What do we want our employees doing that will result in the business goals we have set?

In order to ask this question you must both have clear goals, and understand what they are currently doing and how it is either contributing or detracting from those goals being reached.

When the goals are very specific, such as the operation of a piece of equipment, it is easier to measure behavior not only because it will surface if it is not being done correctly but because it is easier to observe.

Sales training also falls into the category of being more easily observed because sales managers can accompany their team. And the leap to agree that increased revenue from a particular individual after training was a direct result of the training (whether or not the statement is actually true) is more easily made. If for no other reason than people want to believe they made the right choice in their training.

But when you move into behaviors that are not as openly displayed or ones where the connection to revenue is harder to make in the short term you will… not might… you will meet resistance.

We have been trained to view it this way. And I don’t see companies paying for training to change the way we view training. It is a Catch-22.

One way to measure the result of training is to deliberately look for behavioral change. And when you see it… acknowledge it. It doesn’t have to be with money. (I know that is what may have come to your mind.) It can be an email or a “good job” comment.

I still remember a compliment my boss gave me when I was a stock boy in high school.

But to look for it is a lagging indicator.

You need to encourage it. Part of the actual training program needs to be “post-delivery engagement.”

There needs to be a process in place to encourage and support desired behavior if that behavior will then be required. And especially if that behavior is going to be the measurement of the effectiveness of training.

I have been through training that I continue to benefit from. And I have been through training that I have forgotten.

I have rarely been through training that provided follow up.

So… back to the initial question: How do you measure training results?

1. Identify the desired behavior that aligns with business goals
2. Provide training that conditions people to act or respond in those ways
3. Encourage the desired behavior outside of the training event
4. Deliberately seek to observe the new behavior
5. Document observation of the behavior

If the business goals are important then the behavior is important. If behavior hasn’t changed… change the training.

Don’t just inform… transform.

Michael Colucci is the owner of The SDG Group (http://www.thesdggroup.com) where they focus on providing innovation training.

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source: http://www.callcenterbestpractices.com

Training Unplugged: The Essential Basics of One-On-One Informal Training

By George Saridakis

You know, training is nothing if not ubiquitous.

Amongst mandates for manuals, learning management systems, and e-learning modules, I happened upon a most intriguing training mission in the darndest of places: my own company.

Recently, we welcomed a new business developer to the team. Having been a top salesman in previous lines of work, his passionate and infectious personality has definitely added a new facet to our workplace that inspires us all.

The only caveat to his arrival was that he had no experience in instructional design or the other services we offer. My mission then, was to bring him up to speed with what we do, so that he can knowledgeably transfer his passion to us and let him work his magic from there!

So for the first time in a while, out went the manuals, the learning management systems, and the e-learning modules, and up went the sleeves: It was time for some old-fashioned, one-on-one informal training.

How would I go about training my new colleague without the fancy tools? Remarkably, it was in the exact same way I’ve done it everywhere else.

You see, the wonderful thing about learning is that it’s always a journey between where you are and where you want to be. As an instructional designer, I am an architect of that journey, entrusted with the task of making it as enjoyable as possible on the way to the established destination.

That journey for me, regardless of the means at my disposal, involves two metaphors: the staircase and the pyramid. The staircase starts at the bottom, where the learner knows little or nothing about the subject at hand, and must climb the staircase step by step to attain the desired level of knowledge.

The pyramid represents a body of knowledge, with the top representing the essence of that knowledge in its most succinct form, and the bottom embodying the most intricate of details.

Before I sat down to train him, my business developer had been jumping around from our website to our portfolio to multiple conversations with my boss in order to learn about us, and by the looks of things, he was getting rather in confused in the process. Having observed all this, I told him from the get go that we’re starting at the bottom of the staircase.

“First and foremost, we’re a communications company. We help other companies get their important messages across to their employees and clients.”

This simple, succinct way of describing the company represents the first step in understanding what we are. At the same time, it represents the tip of the pyramid of knowledge about us, from which all other facts unfold underneath to form the remainder of it.

“We help other companies get their important messages across in three different ways: corporate training, graphic communications, and digital solutions.”

Behold, the next step, which steadies itself upon the foundation of the first step, but takes you a little further. Behold as well that it’s the unfolding of the tip of the pyramid into the layer underneath: the basic concept of a communications company being elaborated to list our three essential services.

“Great George, now what about the cartoon, and what about the 3D environment, and what about the posters, and what do they have to do with…”

“Stop, stop, stop! Too much! Too soon! I haven’t gotten to that yet!”

As I explained to my enthusiastic student, what he was trying to do was reach the top of the staircase without me building all the steps he needed to get there.

What he was listing were a myriad of details, examples of our services in all our domains that were messing him up because he didn’t have enough prerequisite knowledge to connect all these examples to.

Because I didn’t build the next step in the staircase from where he was, not only was he not climbing it successfully, he was falling right through it.

And so, I resumed my architecture, and explained to him as simply as possible what corporate training is about, what graphic communications are about, and what digital solutions are about. One more step. One more pyramid layer.

Soon enough, through just a few more steps, I was able to lead him all the way down the pyramid where all the particular examples of our work trickled down to.

Since this training, I’m happy to report that we have ourselves one happy business developer, not that he wasn’t happy before.

I think it meant a lot to him for me to meet him where he was at knowledge-wise and bring him up to a respectable level. I think it’s also important to note that as instructional designers we should always respect our learners’ starting level, no matter how elementary it may seem to us.

After all, what they’re lacking in one domain they abound in another. To return the favor for my training, my business developer has been demonstrating his sales techniques to me, and I assure you, that in this case, it is I who am the much humbled student!

George Saridakis is a self-professed education enthusiast whose passion for teaching and learning has garnered him a Master’s degree in Educational Technology, the role of head course developer and trainer of Pratt & Whitney Canada’s training department in Quebec, and the distinction of being an author, having published his first book, Think and Learn Rich: Accelerated Learning in Higher Education. Currently, he serves as the director of e-learning at Studio 7 Communications.

http://www.studio7web.ca/about.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=George_Saridakis

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If Superman worked in a call centre

If Superman was answering the phone in your call centre, what would he do? Would Batman do any better?

Read on to find out which superhero would give the best customer service, and which special abilities your agents can develop to become call centre superheroes.

Which superhero would do best in a call centre?

This was a question that we recently posed to our readers on our Twitter Page. Superman was a popular choice.

“No doubt it would be Superman! Batman is too moody and the Hulk is too irritable! Superman gets the ‘need for good PR’!” said FrontRange Solutions.

“Superman hands down! Nothing says ‘how can I help you?’ better than his charming smile and bright red cape,” said RPOA.

But versatility would also be a useful call centre asset.

“I think it would have to be Elasti-Girl; she’d provide the most flexible customer service ever!” said Sara Lewis.

Which ‘special powers’ would help deliver great customer service? Call Centre Helper took to the mean streets of Gotham City to find out.

Super listening skills

Listening skills

Any good customer service agent must have great listening skills.

“Ever notice how superheroes never interrupt or jump to conclusions? Superheroes are good listeners! Call centre agents need a variety of skills but the most important skill is the ability to listen to the customer,” said Bill Leinweber, Chief Experience Officer at Landmark Experience Consulting.

Super honesty

They must also be honest. All true superheroes make a stand for honesty against corruption and vice. Call centre agents must do the same, and one superhero in particular provides an honest role model.

“Let me be the first to say Wonder Woman, with her golden lasso of truth. This would be valuable both for the agents – sincerity – and for the callers, as it’s easier to help someone who is telling the truth,” said Heidi Miller, Chief Conservation Officer at Spoken Communications.

Saving the day

Team effort

No customer service superhero can solve every customer problem on their own. A team effort is important, meaning collaboration with other agents and management throughout the call centre.

“Management should provide proper assistance, efficient trouble-shooting tools and should not evaluate the agent based on the average handling time of calls,” said Jay Gollamudi, Senior Information Analyst at Verizon Wireless.

So, should we create new superheroes for the call centre?

Super empathy

When customer frustration mounts, the call centre must turn to “The Empathiser”. She is blessed with a deep understanding of customer frustrations, and she can turn the angriest complainants into satisfied customers by effectively and efficiently sorting out their problems. The Empathiser often steps in to save the day when all looks lost.

Silver Tongue

“Silver Tongue” gets results, and his sales abilities border on the telepathic. He knows what people want. He greets customers with unflagging enthusiasm, and never lets up until a sale is made. As the ultimate ‘people person’ he has a way with words that could convince a customer to buy a whole new bathroom suite when all they called up for was a new toilet-roll holder. His innate ability to up-sell means he smashes targets every week. Only alcoholism and economic recession can harm him.

“I’ll be round in a minute”

Repair Man

Boiler Repair Man always shows up on time, arriving at the scene of the customer’s ‘crime’ faster than the competition. His magic toolbox contains any part needed to fix your boiler – or washing machine, computer, or pretty much any other problem. No more waiting around because the service guys don’t have the right part with them in the van. Boiler Repair Man delivers every time – if you happen to have ordered groceries online.

Multi-Mouth

Multi Mouth

The hard-working lynch-pin of the call centre. Rumour has it Multi-Mouth was created in a top-secret local government customer service genetic engineering experiment gone horribly wrong. It isn’t clear whether Multi-Mouth is male or female, as no one can distinguish gender characteristics amongst the tangle of arms and mouths that descend on vine-like stalks from its vaguely humanoid head. Some say it never goes home, working endlessly without a break. Since Multi-Mouth began work, call queues are a thing of the past. It can answer more than ten calls simultaneously, never losing track of a customer, staying with each call until it is successfully resolved. Of course, in the real world, few customer service agents have multiple mouths. But many conscientiously work hard and take pride in their job. Just like a superhero would.

Super supervision

Super Vision

Supervisors and team leaders can be superheroes too. As a natural leader the supervisor makes sure his or her team of superheroes use their powers for good rather than evil. Think Professor Xavier in the X-Men.

The management skills of Commissioner Gordon

The Executive is the public face of the shadowy Board of Directors, a mysterious organisation that meets from time to time behind a closed door marked ‘Boardroom’. What exactly they discuss is anyone’s guess, but when word of a meeting spreads, it’s a good bet The Executive will soon show up in the call centre. His loyalties aren’t always clear, but his unexpected visits sometimes bring promises of renewed commitment, focus and investment. He’s similar to Commissioner Gordon, Batman’s sometime ally in Gotham City’s Police Department.

Batman’s super gadgets

Not every superhero is born with superhuman abilities. Not every customer service agent has innate empathy, listening ability and sales skills. Sometimes a superhero has to be created. Batman doesn’t have any superhuman powers. He isn’t indestructible, can’t read minds, and isn’t a genetic mutation of a spider. He’s Bruce Wayne, ordinary bloke – well, ordinary billionaire play-boy – but an array of gadgets allows him to become Batman, the crime-fighting caped crusader. Call centres can learn from his methods. Even agents who can’t read minds can still become superheroes given the right equipment.

Enable single sign-on

All systems and workflow in a call centre should be set up to allow agents to take calls as smoothly as possible. Take computer sign-on, for example. When Batman hears of trouble, he doesn’t have to sit in the Batmobile for five minutes, typing in his login details and waiting for it to boot up. He’s away instantly. Call centre staff also need to be ready to go the moment they get a call from a customer in distress.

“Contact centre agents often have multiple logins and must switch between different applications, resulting in long hold times for customers and inefficient business processes,” said Aphrodite Brinsmead, Associate Analyst of Customer Interaction Technologies at Datamonitor.

Eliminate the need to flick between different software screens, cutting and pasting information between browser windows. A system that alerts agents to opportunities to up-sell – in real time – could add a few sales seamlessly, almost like mind control!

Training

Batman built his own tools, assisted by Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) in the recent films. Call centre agents must be trained properly, according to Francis Carden of OpenSpan.

“Many superheroes had difficulty harnessing their powers in their younger days. By investing in a comprehensive training programme, teaching superhero agents to utilise the tools and applications at their disposal, a call centre manager can ensure that all investments, including staff, hardware and software, are being used to their full potential,” said Carden.

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