It’s not the new hire’s fault for being unprepared and under trained.
There is plenty of blame to go around.

Yesterday I called my phone company, Quest (soon to be CenturyLink), to inquire about their Internet service. Had I not wanted to give David, the young agent I was working with, a chance, I would have asked to speak to a supervisor much sooner. But, after 48 minutes on the phone during which I was put on hold no less than six times so he could ask his supervisor a question, I finally threw in the towel.

When the supervisor (or someone posing as a supervisor) picked up I calmly explained my frustration with having to go through such an arduous process to try to do business with them. Instead of an apology I got an excuse, “It’s not his fault. He’s new.”

The supervisor was right. The rep wasn’t to blame. There is plenty of blame to go around.

10 Reasons Why

your new hires are ill prepared to do their job
and what you can do about it

1. Poor job fit.
Hire people who have similar traits to the high performers you have now. If roses thrive in your environment, don’t hire petunias. Look for the very best roses you can find.
2. Poor planning.
Recruiting new hires (that are a good fit) takes a certain amount of time. Training takes a certain amount of time. Short cut either one and it will come back to bite you.
3. Misaligned training curriculum.
Too often curriculum suffers from “In a Perfect World” syndrome by teaching processes and procedures the “right way” when it’s really the wrong way.
4. Releasing them before they are ready.
Just because your new hires went through training doesn’t mean they are “trained.” Test new hires at each stage and don’t pass them on until they meet or exceed the standard.
5. Lack of accountability.
Trainers should regard the call center supervisors as their “internal customers.” As with any service relationship trainers should be held accountable for delivering on their customers’ expectations.
6. Settling for the status quo.
Just because new hire training has always been this way doesn’t mean it has to be in the future. Say something. Do something. Don’t settle.
7. Training stops short.
It isn’t enough to send new hires through the initial round of new hire training. Include regular 90 minute sessions on soft skills for all new hires in the first 6 months.
8. Treating new hires as just another newbie who may or may not make it.
Remember that every new employee comes to the job excited about working for you. You have an obligation and a responsibility to do everything you can to help them be a success.
9. Excessive turnover.
High turnover doesn’t have to be the “cost of doing business.” Do an audit to determine root causes. It’s well worth your time. Turnover is the hidden killer.
10. Supervisors don’t speak up.
If you are a supervisor who is tired of “babysitting” new hires and training them on skills they should have learned in the classroom, stop complaining. Talk with your fellow supervisors and organize a campaign for change.

As much as I’d like to believe that CenturyLink will do a better job than Quest, I have my doubts. That’s the promise AT&T made to us when it morphed into Quest.

Make it a great week! 

Barbara Burke
Copyright 2011 Barbara Burke. All Rights Reserved.

Have you ever asked your employees the question,

“How can I help you be more effective?”

If you are going to manage and lead successfully, it’s important to know what your people need to be effective. It’s such an obvious question, but one that most leaders forget to ask. 
You are bound to get a variety of responses. From, “Gee, it’s all good.” to requests to fix things outside of your control such as an unpopular HR policy.

What you are really looking for by asking “How can I help you be more effective?” is an honest dialogue about how to make things better.

8 Tips for Mining Employee Gold

1. Be clear as to your motives.
   Resist using the discussion as a way to generate employee compliments about on how great you are.
2. Be present.
   Be ready to receive what is being said — no matter how hard it may be to hear.
3. Embrace your naysayers.
   Every team should have a few contrarians who ask ‘why?’ Nothing will ever change is you have a bunch of get-along-go-alongs.
4. Even if they may be wrong, your employees have a right to think as they do.
   Remember that a person’s perspective is their reality.
5. Own your mistakes.
   The fastest way to create trust is to admit to your employees that you screwed up.
6. Probe to understand.
   Ask open-ended questions (starting with ‘who, what, why, where, which, when or how’) so you get the full picture.
7. Be accountable. 
   If your meeting goes right, you’ll have a list of action items. Set a date to get back to them on your commitments.
8. Repeat the same process once a month.
   Your employees will look forward to these sessions and be eager to share their creative ideas about how to make things better.If you regularly engage your employees in this type of constructive dialogue, I guarantee that within a few months you’ll have happier employees, happier customers and a more efficient operation.
   Make it a great week!Barbara Burke

Suddenly 60. If you’re lucky it could happen to you.

Several months ago (way back when I was 59) I thought that making it to my 60th birthday in more or less one piece would certainly be worth celebrating. But, as the date approached I began to seriously consider what it meant to hit that milestone. I’ve come around to (mostly) accepting that my body will continue to age. But, what’s really gotten my attention is the fact that I have a mere 20 or 30 years in which to enjoy what’s left of this amazing ride.

Today, on my second day of being 60, I selected 10 of the most powerful lessons that I’ve learned thus far.

10 Truths I Wish I’d Learned Earlier in Life

1. You will always have problems.
   It’s crazy to think otherwise.
2. If you don’t ask, you won’t get.
   Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. People aren’t mind readers, ya know.
3. Do what you love and the money will follow.
   Choose work that you are passionate about and that will make the World a better place by the time you leave.
4. Worrying is a waste of time.
   99.5% of what you worry about will never happen so why waste the energy?
5. Life wasn’t meant to be a struggle.
   Consider the possibility that you are making your life a lot harder than it needs to be by trying to control the uncontrollable.
6. Everybody is doing the best they can.
   This includes your parents, so stop blaming them for how you turned out.
7. Don’t let fear stop you.
   Realize that being afraid of taking a risk is much, much worse than trying and failing.
8. You can’t fix other people.
   Everybody is on their own unique journey.
9. Practice mindfulness.
   Right here, right now is all you’ve got. Be present for it.
10. Enjoy the ride.

I did have a big shindig to celebrate. As my many wonderful friends gathered around the cake to sing the birthday song I realized that being there at that very moment was about as sweet as life gets.

Make it a great week!

Barbara Burke

Copyright 2011 Barbara Burke. All Rights Reserved.