Articles

Customer service is a noble profession and Bob Farrell is the world's number one ambassador of this quickly vanishing art. In Give em the Pickle, Bob inspires us to passionate customer service. Bob's wit and wisdom have made him one of the most sought after speakers in the corporate world and his training video has quickly become a staple in thousands of company's customer service training programs.

The benefits of implementing customer service training for employees and managers are many and the importance of this training should never been overlooked. However, implementing a training program that proves to be successful is a challenge that every company faces since it involves an array of factors. An effective employee training program must go beyond textbook material. It must also take into account the specific company's needs, its customer's needs and an assessment of how well employees and managers are meeting those needs, among other factors.

In the business world everyone has customer service standards and everyone knows the basics of customer service. Sometimes it's tough to get an edge in service because everyone has about the same service standards. If you've reached this point, it might be time to hand out some pickles. I don't mean pickles literally. Customer service guru Bob Farrell defines pickles as the extra things you can do in service that make the customer happy. In other words, what can you do beyond the norm to "wow" the customer with your service? In Bob Farrell's case it was literally pickles. He gave extra pickles for free. In your case, it's probably going to be something else.

Sexual harassment training is one of the best investments in time and money that a company can make. It is imperative in today's litigious world that everyone in an organization knows exactly what sex harassment is and why it is unacceptable. Despite the heavy amount of press on the subject, there are still employees who either know better and still do it, or simply don't understand exactly what constitutes harassment in the workplace. In addition, a company can be held liable even if they didn't know the harassment was occurring if they did not provide training and a policy to employees.

Sexual Harassment training is quite possibly the most important training that your organization can provide and the use of sexual harassment videos is the most effective way to conduct this training. Sexual Harassment videos almost always come with a leader’s guide, a quiz and attendance forms. Everything you need to give the training in one box. There is no need for trainers to reinvent the wheel. Everything is provided and the training is ready to go when you are ready. There are some excellent programs on the market. Here is a list of 6 of the best. (In no particular order)

Great business leaders know that there is a lot more to becoming a leader than simply being assigned to the role of manager. A manager is primarily an administrator. The job of a manager is to run a section, group or division of an organization and the role is an important one. The skills associated with this administration take years to develop and the position is earned. However, it does not automatically make you a leader. A leader earns his title by getting others to follow his vision. Both roles are extremely important within an organization and the employee who excels in both becomes an organization's most valuable asset and leadership training is imperative to accomplish this.

We all have biases. It's a natural phenomenon created by our life experiences. What's important is how we handle these biases. We can choose to stereotype and apply our biases to an entire group of people or we can respect the differences people have and accept that others are different. When we accept and respect differences we strengthen the workplace. Diversity is here to stay and if we accept that others are different and avoid stereotyping then our personal and professional lives will be more productive and fulfilling.

Interviewing an employee is one of the most important jobs that a manager will do. All interviews need to have a combination of legal and effective questions that will hire the best candidate and keep the company out of legal jeopardy. Setting the right tone at the beginning of an interview is essential to the whole process.

 

Hiring a new employee can be a legally dangerous situation. Turnover as a result of a bad hire can be costly. Most studies show a cost of about 30% of the employee's annual salary to find a replacement. In addition, interviews can put the company in legal jeopardy if they are not conducted correctly. One of the most important aspects of conducting a legal and effective interview is the preparation. In addition to preparing questions that are legally acceptable, an interviewer needs to make sure that the questions also are sufficient to provide an effective hire.

Change is inevitable. Unfortunately, change can bring about fear, uncertainty and distrust amongst your workforce. These reactions are normal. Most people will feel one if not all of these feelings at some point when faced with change. It's your job as a manager to get them through these tough times. The business world is constantly in flux and it will be a constant challenge for all managers to bring their employees along and through these changes. Here are three ways to help your employees to embrace change.