Engage, Learn and Grow

This is my last entry for the year 2009. Next year, we’re planning something completely different for the 2 Minute Trainer – I think you’ll like it (but you’ll have to wait ‘til 2010 to find out).

It’s fitting, then, that the last in the series of 12 key indicators of employee engagement that we have been discussing is this:

“In the last year, have you had opportunities to learn and grow?”

Employees who are fully engaged will answer “YES!” to this question. Which makes me wonder, have I had opportunities to learn and grow this year? Have you?

It’s been a tough year for many people. More people than I can fathom lost jobs this year; real people, with real mortgages, electric bills and mouths to feed.

Others of us retained our jobs but saw the way we do business change. We tightened some belts and adjusted some spending, all the while grasping with both hands to hold onto our turf in an increasingly challenging playing field.

I have had moments – not this year, fortunately – when I simply asked for boredom; a year with no “opportunities for growth” that were really euphemisms for “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

I’m pretty sure that’s not exactly the kind of growth the Gallup folks had in mind.

I like to think that they had in mind the kinds of opportunities to learn and grow that are fun and innovative; that take us out of our comfort zone and stretch us in a wonderful, exhilarating way.

Like the way I learned a whole new language when I got my iPhone (apps and app stores, for example). And then the way that I learned how to find almost anything at the touch of my finger, including where I left my car and what subway line to take back to the airport. It was fun to learn, and fun to explore a whole new area of knowledge and information.

Or the way my heart simply grew in size when our newest little god-daughter was born. It didn’t hurt a bit, and it was wonderful and amazing.

Could we embrace learning and growth at work in the same way? Could we help our team members experience this, too?

Have you seen the newest ads by the language company Rosetta Stone? The headline says, “What’s the best way to learn a new language? Act like a baby!” The ad points out that learning, for babies, is a thing of exploration and wonder. It’s magical and natural. It’s effective, too.

Somewhere along the line we started treating adult learning like a task – a requirement. It stopped being fun and joyful. It ceased being a natural by-product of our desire to learn more and more about our job, and continually increase our job skills.

Perhaps my wish for you, at the close of a year that may go down in the history books as the last year of the “decade from hell” (if Time magazine has its way), is that you will find, for you and your team, opportunities to learn and grow in the coming year that will inspire, enrich and energize you.

And that you’ll grow and prosper, both as a manger and as a member of this wonderful human family of ours.

Engage, evaluate

“It’s time for your annual evaluation.”

I don’t know about you, but that phrase sounds suspiciously like, “Please come to the principle’s office.”

It’s not a request, it’s a summons. You know that nothing good is going to come from it. In fact, you suspect that something very, very bad could be sneaking up on you in the form of “annual eval time.”

Interesting, Gallup’s #11 item on the list of 12 key expectations that measure employee engagement is this: “In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?”

Note that an annual evaluation only yields a “yes” answer for 6 months out of the year. So is the answer another evaluation meeting? Yuck!

Here’s what I’ve been trying, in my on-going effort to become a boss who fully engages every person on the team: I schedule a monthly “job review” meetings individually with each person on my team. Usually I schedule these for Friday afternoons at the start of each month. By Friday afternoon, we’re all ready for a more relaxed pace to wind down from the week. At the beginning of the month we can talk about last month’s accomplishments and plan for this month’s tasks.

Together, we’ve come up with a clear description of each person’s tasks, including goals and how we know when they’ve achieved their goals. It took a few months for us to get there, starting, as we often do with a list of goals that include, “Doing work assigned to me.”

Gradually, we started to see patterns. Desiree answers the phones and helps solve people’s problems. Wendy and Sara work with new and potential new clients to make sure we meet – and exceed – their expectations. Other team members have their own areas of work. In each of these jobs there are ways we measure success – how quickly we solve people’s problems; how happy our existing clients are with service. As we realize our big goals, we can start setting little goals, too; goals that help us grow in depth and breadth as individuals and as a company.

It’s been fun for me, and I think even the staff members look forward to it. We get a few minutes of one-on-one time to focus on expectations; to give feedback and to say a simple, “thanks for your efforts.”

I remember telling someone early in my career that any time an employee failed at their work, it reflected negatively on me, too. Over the years I’ve come to accept that some people are simply not a match for the job they’re placed into, and that has no negative reflection on them or me. I’ve also learned, though, that helping guide each person to success means taking the time, on a regular basis, to give them feedback on goals and expectations.

It means, in a nutshell, taking the time to talk to each person, regularly, about their progress.

Engagement: building friends

Someone once asked me who my best friend was (husbands don’t count)…and I had to think a long time before I could answer.

I work full time running a busy, growing company. I have three daughters, each of whom would like a little of my attention. My husband requests his 60 seconds of undivided attention each week, too. While we are involved in church and other organizations, few there would qualify for “best friend” status.

I could think of only one person in answer to that question: a co-worker. I spent hours every week with her, planning projects and carrying out these plans; solving crises large and small. Often, we’d end a busy day with a quick glass of wine or, when we had accomplished something really outstanding, a celebratory margarita (or two). Of all the people in my life, she was the only one I could call a “best friend.”

If you’re like me – and many other people in our fast-paced world, our best friends are often our co-workers or colleagues. They’re the ones we spend the most hours of our day with; and the ones with whom we share our agonies (“Can you believe the boss did that – again?!”) and our ecstasies (“We totally nailed that one!”).

The researchers from Gallup found that, in fact, having a best friend at work was one indicator (#10 on the list of 12, if you’re counting) of employee engagement.

I like that concept. It seems like a very long way from the thinking of management in my early career. Those were the days when we discouraged work relationships. We said, “They’re your co-workers; not your friends. Don’t get too cozy with them.”

We worried that if we had to discipline one person, their “friends” might get upset, causing a chain reaction of resignations or bad behavior.

What we discovered along the way was that treating people fairly caused generally fair reactions. Even “friends” understood and respected management decisions that were fair, balanced and focused on improving quality care.

Today, knowing how important friendship at work is to employee engagement, good managers actively looks for ways to encourage friendships. Mentoring new hires by pairing them with experienced staff who seem to have compatible personalities is one way that works for many; secret pals and scheduled social events are others.

As you’re working on building a more engaged team, think about ways that you personally – and systematically – encourage the development of friendships among team members.

Ask your team members, “Who is your best friend?”

And hope the answer they give is someone you know.

12 Keys: Are your co-workers equally dedicated?

My daughter came home from the school the other day with steam pouring out of her ears. Being a mom, I can see these kinds of things.

I asked her what on earth was wrong, and she began to tell me, with a great deal of emotion, about a school project that was supposed to be completed by a small group of students. Each student had a part to complete, but the final grade would be made on the project as a whole, no matter how well each part was done.

Of course, there was a slacker, one student who was too busy with sports or musical tryouts or boyfriend drama (or in this case, all of the above), to complete her assigned part of the project.

The entire group got a bad grade and my daughter was fuming. Who could blame her? She worked hard on her part, focusing on detail and design as well as the assigned content. She felt great about her part of the project, but lousy about her final grade and the outcome overall. Most of all, she felt that the final project didn’t reflect on HER ability or effort.

If you’ve put your heart and soul into a project, it really sucks to have someone else come along and mess it up. If you’re working with a frail, vulnerable person and you’re passionate about providing quality care, it more than sucks if you feel your co-workers may be taking short-cuts when they come on shift to take over for you.

Maybe that’s why day shift always complains about how few rounds night shift made, or evenings complain about how much laundry day shift left them to do.

Or your caregivers seem less than fully engaged.

It takes a team to accomplish great things; it takes a team focused in the same direction, each pulling relatively equal weight, to reach your organization’s fully engaged potential.

12 Keys to employee engagement: Your job is important

I love talking to people who are passionate about their jobs. You find them in all walks of life. Our UPS guy is passionate about delivering packages to my door. He bounds up the walk in his brown shorts and shirt, reaching into his pocket with his free hand to pull out a biscuit for my dog. Bella knows that brown truck and her tail starts wagging the minute she sees it.

The other day I heard a guy who made car parts talk excited about his job – he was definitely passionate about it.

Over the years I have had friends and relatives (not naming names here) who always seemed to hate their jobs. They complain about their bosses, their hours, their benefits. Still, they show up for work, put in their hours, collect their paycheck. Not ideal employees, I imagine.

Gallup asks this question, number 8 in the top 12 questions that measure employee engagement: “Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?”

Those of us in the business of providing care to seniors ought to be easily able to give our employees the advantage of answering a hearty “Yes!” to this question.

Isn’t every single job in senior care important? In my book it certainly is. I’ve known a few managers, however, who managed to convey the sense that there was a hierarchy of importance in senior care: The top manager or executive director was clearly the most important person, followed by department heads or team leaders, followed by care staff. Housekeepers, maintenance workers and kitchen staff were often at the very bottom of the manager’s list of important workers.

If you look at pay structure you could certainly get that impression.

A good manager, however, knows how valuable every single member of the team is to the overall organization, especially the ground-floor employees. They are usually the ones responsible for delivering the hands’ on care and making the property look great.

You can’t pay them manager’s wages, but you can recognize the value of their work.

You can greet them by name.

You can introduce them to visitors and guests, and mention something they do extraordinarily well.

You can thank them for the work they do, and tell them how important you know it to be.

You will soon watch them glow, as they recognize – and know that you recognize – that their job, their work, is truly important to the mission of the organization.

12 Keys to employee engagement: My opinion counts

Have you ever worked for a boss who genuinely wanted to hear your opinion? How about one who wouldn’t listen to anyone’s opinion – certainly not yours.

Which one made you feel more valued as a person? Which one made you want to think harder and do better work?

If you’re now a manager, think carefully about which one describes the way you manage.

Do you ASK for ideas and opinions from your team members, or just tell them the way things are going to be?

Do you stop talking and actively LISTEN if a team member offers an opinion or idea?

When was the last time you changed a plan because of the opinion of a team member? When did you last implement something based on the ideas of a team member?

Among the keys to employee engagement is this one thing: “My opinions count.”

I’ve sat in on employee meetings and heard managers say, “I want to remind you about our policies for being late, tardy or sick. If you’re sick, you’ll need to get a doctor’s excuse or it will be an unexcused absence. Does anyone NOT understand this policy?” Sometimes, the review of policies goes on and on, in a tone that wouldn’t make me feel valued or engaged if I was the recipient.

What if the manager had said, “I’ve noticed a lot of people being late or sick lately. Does anyone have any ideas on how we should handle this?” Perhaps, through active listening and open discussion, the manager may have arrived at the same place as the company policies, but perhaps some other conditions may have surfaced that could be handled in a way to build and strengthen the team, and the loyalty to the company.

New managers often believe their main job is to enforce company policies. Experienced managers who are focused on building a strong, engaged, successful team know the importance of collaborative decision making, and of seeking – and valuing – the opinions of each member of the team.

Training Personal Care Aides to deliver quality care

We’re excited around the aQuire Training offices. We just received our private school license from the Oregon Department of Education to offer the Personal Care Aide Certification course (and some other pre-hire courses) though our newest website identity, the Institute for Professional Care Education (www.IPCed.com).

Why is that so cool? Because with our school license we can now train workers who are job seekers and help prepare a pool of more qualified, trained workers. These individuals may be able to get workforce development funds to pay for their training, too – a clear win/win all the way around.

This matters to you if you hire caregivers. Hiring someone who has invested the time, initiative and money in a comprehensive 40 hour course means you’re hiring someone more likely to succeed and to love their job as a caregiver.

This matters to you if your loved one needs a caregiver. Ensuring that the caregivers providing care to your loved one are comprehensively trained and certified is an important step to feeling confident in the quality of care your loved one is receiving.

This matters to you if you’re focused on building a strong reputation for quality care. Demonstrating training above and beyond the minimum requirements is one way to set your organization ahead of the pack. And being ahead means business success, any way you slice it.

This matters to you if you’re involved in training, too. We are actively working to develop strong training partnerships with others in their training field to help reach as many people as possible.

This is one way we can reach out and improve the standard of care that is delivered, every single day, to people who live and work in our state, our town and our homes.

For details about the comprehensive 40 hour online Personal Care Certification Course see www.IPCed.com. Contact Wendy@aquiretraining.com for information on pricing advantages for bulk purchases of this Certification Course or to set up a personal web tour of the course.

12 Keys to employee engagement – 6

“We don’t like to train our employees. When they earn certifications or get other accomplishments they think we should pay them more. That just makes a lot more work for us, explaining why we can’t pay more.”

This is a real quote from a real corporate executive. He said it directly to me (a training fanatic) just last month.

Then he answered my question about his turnover rate with an answer that made me embarrassed for him.

Think his employees are engaged and working at a level which significantly contributes to the organization’s bottom line success?

I think not.

“Is there someone at work who encourages your development?”

That’s the sixth question in the Gallup organization’s 12 measures of the engaged employee.

To me, this measure means a couple of things: first, it means knowing your team members well enough to know how to encourage their development.

Secondly, it means helping each person set individual development goals, and reach those goals. It might not mean more training at all; it may mean giving them the opportunity to mentor with someone in a different role or department to see how another area of work fits for them.

Clearly it means management taking an interest in the individual, and helping them grow personally and professionally.

I feel sad for the people working for a company that sees employee development as a negative. I know that, despite this, many dedicated people work for this company – for now. But I also know that for this company – or any company – to truly thrive, they’ll have to focus on, and support, their worker’s development.

12 Keys to employee engagement – 5

Take a quick poll of your employees. Make it in writing, and ask just this one question:

“Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?”

Let them mark one box: yes or no; and return it anonymously. Then take a close look at the results.

Gallup’s highly successful organizations all have one thing in common: engaged employees. And engaged employees – not those just doing their jobs adequately, but those individuals who “work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company,” spell success.

One key indicator of the level of employee engagement is how they answer this one question. It gives us as managers pause to think about how we influence the answer to this question.

Do we know each member of our team individually: their family, pets, living situations?

Do we celebrate when something significant happens to them – and not just in monthly batched birthday “parties?”

Do we include their spouses/significant others and children on occasion in work-related gatherings?

Can we tell when they’re struggling or when they’re particularly excited? Do we do something concrete to acknowledge it?

When I first started working as a manager I was taught that work and friendship should never overlap. We were to have strictly professional relationships with the people who reported to us. Talking about personal goals, families or problems was never appropriate. Encouraging friendships at work was also viewed as negative – disciplining one person could result in all of her friends’ work suffering, too.

Today we know that work and personal life are much more closely connected. We meet our best friends – and sometimes our life partners – at work. We share births, illnesses and deaths. We often spend more waking time, after all, with our work mates than our family.

My goal as a manager has always been to hear each one of my team members say, “I love my job!” and mean it.

Obviously, taking a personal interest in their lives is one way I can help them achieve this level of engagement. I’ll be a better manager – and my organization will benefit, too.

Sounds like a win all the way around!

12 Keys to employee engagement – 4

“Wow – you’re really great with our clients’ families!”

“Thanks for finishing that report so quickly – it was well done, too.”

“Kudos to the kitchen team for the great dinner last Monday night!”

It’s nice to hear something good about your work, isn’t it? As a manager, though, we’re trained to be on the lookout for work that isn’t up to standard, and to watch for things that slip through the crack. We often don’t stop to think about the need to positively reward or recognize our team – on a consistent, regular basis.

Gallup’s index of items that create an engaged team includes this important question: “In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?”

The answer to this question may well determine just how engaged your team is in their work, and how successful your organization will be.

Clearly, if a highly engaged employee will answer “YES!” to this question, then the highly engaging manager needs to do these things: Provide recognition and praise on a regular, consistent (weekly, at a minimum) basis.

We know from behavior modification theory that we can change people’s behavior by positive reinforcements. As a manager, this is a very valuable tool. This doesn’t mean setting up charts and giving out tangible rewards. What it does mean, as indicated in the Gallup question, is giving frequent, unprompted verbal recognition for work well done. It means giving verbal praise – as simple as saying, “Excellent!” with a smile, when an employee reports on a completed project.

It means, in short, recognizing the efforts of the team members explicitly. It means changing management behavior from watching for errors, to watching for work well done. It means, when you catch an error, discussing it in a positive way with the individual: “I noticed you missed signing one day on the med sheet. You’re always so great about signing – can you go back and fix it so you can keep your perfect record?”

I’ve learned to add the words, “Thanks - great job!” when someone reports a task complete. I try, as well, to casually remark in the hearing of others how much I appreciate the work well done and prompt.

Learning to be the manager of highly engaged people takes focus and effort. Focusing on recognition and praise is one positive step we all can take to build the best team possible.

12 Keys to employee engagement – 3

Naomi can get any resident to take a shower. Even the most stubborn, confused, difficult resident seems to become a marshmallow in her hands. She will sing, laugh, hug and make miracles happen.

Naomi has a gift. We all know exactly what she does best, and we give her the opportunity to do it almost every single day.

The third question on the Gallup organization’s index of employee engagement asks, “At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?”

As a measurement for managers, one key element of employee engagement is being able to answer that question in the affirmative: “YES!”

Do you know what each of your employees does best? Have you discovered the person who organizes and straightens the linen closet in her free time, and glows when you notice it and thank her?

Juan makes the floors in the dining room absolutely glow. He will clean, buff and polish those floors, and you can see his pride in his work. Juan knows that his floors are the most beautiful floors in the entire company – management and visitors see it, too.

Figuring out the special talents of your employees is actually pretty simple: watch what they love to do. Ask what they do during those few unstructured moments during the day, or ask what their favorite part of their job is. We often love to do what we actually do best.

Naomi and Juan are employees who, every day, get to do what they do best in their work. It’s no wonder that they are happy people who stay on the job, year after year, contributing to the overall quality of care delivered to clients.

12 Keys to employee engagement – 2

Have you ever heard members of your team say, “We’ve been out of that stuff for weeks now?”

It doesn’t matter what the “stuff” is; it can be frustrating to hear that something your team needs to do their job well isn’t available to them – and you didn’t know about it.

One of the key questions the Gallup poll asked employees in their survey was “Do you have the materials and equipment to do your work right?”

Guess what answer the highly engaged team members gave? It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that if the company isn’t committed enough to supply the materials and equipment, the frustrated employee will not likely become one of the rare highly engaged team members.

The same thing is true for training. I have been astounded to hear employees who attended every single orientation and inservice tell someone from the outside (like an Ombudsman or licensing surveyor) that “no one ever trained me on that” when they were observed doing something incorrectly.

What I’ve come to realize is that the answer to the key question about materials, equipment and training is an individual answer. Some people need to be trained in a certain area slowly, repeatedly, and in greater depth than others, especially if their life experience hasn’t prepared them for this environment.

Some people won’t be comfortable asking as many questions, and may not realize that the supplies and equipment they need are, indeed, available – in a different location, perhaps, or upon request.

Take a few minutes this week to ask a random sampling of your team members if they have the supplies, materials and equipment they need to do their job right (however they define that). Take a few extra minutes to really listen, too.

Ask about training: “Could you use more training in any area of your job? Have you been provided with enough training?” Listen to their answers.

As a key indicator of employee engagement, this is a question that needs a resounding “YES!” before you can start seeing the bottom line results of a highly engaged team.

12 Keys to employee engagement – 1

It’s a good practice to keep an eye out for management ideas outside of our own profession. If we don’t, we risk becoming insulated and archaic. What we really risk is someone coming in from the outside, implementing creative ideas that we’ve never even considered, and zooming past us in the competitive marketplace.

In light of that, I frequently refer to the Gallup organization, whose most recent database includes information obtained from surveys throughout 163 countries, covering over 6 million employees. Their goal is to discover what creates an environment of employee engagement, and what are key indicators of engagement.

One of my favorite survey results is a summary of 12 keys expectations that, when met, result in a high level of employee engagement. These keys are in the form of simple statements, easy to understand, but often not to easy to implement.

Over the next few weeks I want to look at these keys, and consider ways we can make them work within the context of health care, senior care and caregiving.

The first statement, Key Number 1, is simply this:

“I know what is expected of me at work.”

Sounds pretty basic. But really, if this statement is agreed to only in companies with the very best management style, it means that many, many employees – nearly 71% of the workforce, in the Gallup organization’s survey, would NOT agree with this statement.

Maybe their boss says to them, “That’s not what I wanted you to do,” when you did exactly what you thought you were being asked to do.

Maybe they lack a job description that is clear and specific.

Maybe the bonus structure is dependent on what someone else does, even if the individual employee is doing exactly what his or her job description says.

Likely the person who can say this hears affirmation from his direct supervisor on a regular basis. He probably has regular conversations with his supervisor, clarifying priorities and tasks, and giving him feedback on how well he’s meeting his work goals.

Did you know that, in health care, one major contributor to the high rate of turnover is the negative relationship caregivers have with their immediate supervisors? In your organization, this may not be you, but a team leader or other middle level manager. Perhaps you have these expectation conversations with your team members, but then a middle level manager seems to expect something completely different.

Good leadership, the kind that makes a bottom line, sustained difference in an organization, doesn’t stop at the top. It filters through all levels of leadership, making sure that expectations and perceptions are the same throughout.

Ask a random sample of your team members how they would answer this question: “Do you know what is expected of you at work?”

The answer, in a well-engaged workforce, should be a clear, articulate, “Yes!”

Building your team from the inside

Right now applicants are plentiful for just about any job. It’s not hard to fill our vacancies. But I remember a year when we couldn’t find applicants, let alone new employees. We offered incentives to current staff; we threw away all of our long standing policies on not hiring close relatives. Basically, we hired just about anyone we could, without a criminal record, to fill our needs.

It was a brutal time for building a strong cohesive team. We had to dig deep to come up with ways to keep our good employees and build our new people into strong team members.

Funny how great ideas often come from moments of desperation. In this particular moment, we decided we needed to designate one month each year as “Employee Appreciation Month.” Since it happened to be summertime, we threw a dart on the calendar and selected October.

Over the next several years, Employee Appreciation Month grew to be something vital and relevant, no matter what the hiring situation. We found ways to include residents, families and the community in recognizing our employees’ dedication and hard work. Administrators created bulletin boards with a space for each employee to bring in photos of their kids, pets, or whatever was important to them. They would select an employee’s name out of a hat every day and do something special for that person – once, an Administrator spent the whole afternoon washing employees’ cars in the parking lot, with residents looking on and cheering.

Now that we’ve sold our own assisted living communities to focus full time on training, I do miss October. I miss the energy, creativity, and, most importantly, the opportunity to go the extra mile to say “thanks” to some very special people.

So if you would, just take a little time out of your busy day – or dedicate an entire month if you can – to saying “thanks” to the people who care for your residents. It’ll mean a lot to me – and to them.

Are you having fun yet? 4 tips for engaging training

Several months ago we posted a job for a new curriculum director. We asked people to submit a sample of work based on some content we made available to them. It was a way, we thought, to get a look at how a wide variety of people would develop a course from the same content material.

The results were very eye-opening. Some of the people with the strongest résumé’s submitted samples that could only be described as boring. They incorporated the content, yes. They were laid out in a simple, clear way. But they lacked the element that I have come to believe is as important for learning as good quality content: they didn’t capture either my imagination or my emotions. And they certainly wouldn’t be called “fun!”

When Learning Solutions magazine (elearningguild.com) printed an article titled “Edge and Emotion – What e-Learning Programs are Missing,” I thought, “YES - finally!”

The author notes that e-learning is more abundant than ever, and faster to develop, as well. But he asks, “Are we designing that content so that learners are pulled in and engaged in the first few seconds?”

As the article continues, I find myself agreeing, again and again. If we don’t get the attention of the individual, we’ll never really connect and teach. If we don’t feel passionate about a topic, we won’t transmit a feeling of passion to our audience.

Here’s what I gleaned from this article, combined with my own e-Learning experience. You can apply it to analyzing your own e-learning options or to developing powerful classroom-based training – the principles are the same:

1. Discover your passion. You might have a topic you need to cover in training – find an aspect of that topic that really lights your fire. Any subject can be boring – but I also believe that, with a little digging, any subject can be interesting too. Find the angle that interests you before you start – you’re more likely to develop an engaging, interesting training program as the result.
2. Use visuals that grab. Do you frequently train with powerpoints? Remove the words and bulleted text – you’re going to deliver that part anyway. Use the entire screen for an image that grabs the imagination and emotion of the viewer. Use images of real people, real places whenever you can. Look for something other than placid, smiling people –images can evoke powerful emotion.
3. Ask a question or pose a dilemma. Either approach can grab attention and get people invested in learning the answer.
4. If you’ve got a group, even a small group, get their participation in the topic. Ask real questions, and get participant’s answers. Try asking people which answer would be right – and make both options right in certain situations. A fun exercise we used to do in small group training was to pose a question and ask everyone who would answer one way to stand on one side of the room; everyone answering the other way stands on the other side of the room. Undecided can stand in the middle. That’s a great start to opening a discussion and dialogue on a topic.

To me, learning is the process of discovering answers to questions that make a difference in my life. It can be exciting, fun and rewarding – but only if it first grabs my attention and interest.

NEW customer service training courses now available

One thing all business development specialists agree upon during this current economy: this is not the time to scrimp on customer service. While businesses need to focus carefully on cutting expenses where they can, for a company to survive, customer service needs to be bolstered, not cut.

With this in mind, aQuire Training Solutions’ course development team has been busy creating a series of new courses on basic – and advanced – customer service skills. These courses are designed for caregivers and other staff working in the senior care environment: home care agencies, assisted living communities, nursing facilities and more. These courses, written by the newest member of the aQuire course development team, Melissa Dylan, take a light-hearted approach to a very serious subject: making the client the absolute focus of our work, every single day. Topics covered in the series include:

Courtesy. More than just being polite or nice to people, courtesy involves a set of unwritten rules or interacting with clients and guests on the job. It is the basis for good customer service.

Being there. Being available for clients is the first step in good customer service. This means promptly answering the phone, greeting guests the moment they walk in the door and setting aside less important tasks to help people. It means remembering – always – “people come first.”

Listening. Listening sounds easy enough, but it takes special skills to learn to be an active listener: to focus on the client, avoid distractions, use appropriate body language and provide feedback so the client knows you been listening.

Being reliable. Being courteous, polite and responsive isn’t the whole task. A key to great customer service is being reliable – to do what you say you’re going to do. To give customers what they ask for the first time, without needing reminders.

Being positive. Being positive means finding reasons why things will work, instead of reasons why it won’t. It means consistently positive behavior, positive responses to client requests (even when you can’t fulfill a request personally) and going the extra step for customers.

Melissa’s approach to training includes a humorous approach, lots of stories, and frequent opportunities for individuals to test their knowledge. The online delivery used by all aQuire courses means that caregivers can learn at their own pace, and at a time and place convenient for them.

If you’d like a free sneak preview of one of these courses, click here.

Then imagine your team, fired up and energized to provide the best customer service possible. And imagine your company – enjoying top-of-the-market success!

E-learning for everyone?

I’m about to share a secret with you: my husband and I enjoy massages. We have a new membership massage center near our home, and during their grand opening my husband bought a bunch of ½ off coupons. They’ll probably work exactly as planned, as we won’t want to stop going even when we use up our discounts…

The other day, waiting for our therapists to call our names, I flipped through the magazine in the waiting room. It was clearly an industry magazine, written for professional massage therapists. One cover article caught my eye: E-learning for massage therapists.

As I scanned the article, I had to smile. The author spent the first section pointing out not only the time/place advantages of e-learning, but also the research about e-learning being a more effective way to learn and retain new information.

The author went on to discuss the argument about the challenges of teaching hands’ on skills via e-learning.

A lot like teaching caregiving over the internet, I think. Yes, there is the hands’ on component. But if you don’t have a very clear understanding of the foundational concepts, the hands’ on skills may be simply rote series of steps. If you don’t, for example, understand what happens to the person’s perceptions and awareness with memory loss or dementia, it will be hard to know how to modify the hands’ on care you provide, especially on the fly.

I actually think it’s kind of cool that this same approach to teaching is reaching out to a vast variety of professions. For my part, I’d like my massage therapist to understand muscles and joints really well. At the same time, I’d like my caregiver – or my mom’s caregiver – to have a solid foundational grasp of body mechanics and other concepts that will help her be the best caregiver possible.

If you’re on board and using e-learning for your staff training, give yourself a pat on the back. You’re using an approach to training that helps you build the best, brightest caregivers – or masseuses!

Mentoring as tool for training and retention

If you’ve been following the various findings about reducing turnover and increasing employee retention, especially within senior care, you’ve probably seen the term “mentoring.” Mentoring is one way to blend training and help it carry over into the day-to-day workplace, while supporting the personal and professional growth of the employee.

Maybe, like me, you’ve got a general idea of what mentoring is, but aren’t really clear how to implement a mentoring program in your work setting. I decided that I’d do a little research and see if I could answer this question – and, while I’m at it, share what I’ve found with you.

Webster’s defines a mentor as “a trusted counselor or guide.” Others define the term more in the sense of a coach. While many of us think fondly of a boss or supervisor that acted informally as a mentor, few have formal experience within a mentorship program.

MetroHealth, a large healthcare provider in Northeast Ohio, has a mentoring program that all resident physicians are required to participate in with an attending faculty member.

It gave me some ideas for starting a formal mentoring program in a senior care community:

1. Since mentoring is most important for new hires, set up a system that matches each new hire with one of more experienced workers in the same department or job title. Matching the new person with a mentor on the same shift would be important, too, wherever possible.
2. Introduce the new hire to the mentor, and explain to both individuals the purpose of the program (to coach the new person in the best way to do his or her job in your environment). Being clear about the goals and using simple words to explain the program are both important, especially in the early stages.
3. Ask the mentor to meet with the new hire at regular intervals. I’d suggest quite frequently initially, perhaps as often as every other week. Once the crucial 90 days has passed, the meetings could become monthly.
4. Be sure to allow time for the mentoring meeting to occur. Allow both individuals to take an extra long break or lunch hour, on the clock, for their meeting.
5. Give the mentor some structure to follow during the sessions. I’d suggest a list of questions you provide to the mentor to discuss with the new hire, questions like:
   

• What are you finding hardest about your new job?
• What are you enjoying most about your new job?
• Do you have what you need to do your job well?
• Are there any policies or procedures you don’t really understand or find confusing?

Armed with this list of questions the mentor can spend a few minutes talking about the job with the new hire, helping him/her get answers and building a stronger connection to the organization.

Do you have a mentoring program at your workplace? Have you had a mentor that really helped you out? Share your experiences; I’ll pass them on as we explore this topic further.

6 Tips for Successful Long Distance Delegation

By
Marla Rosner

Managing a far flung team is increasingly the norm these days. Though a daily affair, delegating from a distance has a unique set of pitfalls. How do you know if those to whom you’re delegating “get it” when you can’t see facial expressions across the desk? Many managers that might be more prudent in delegating to somebody in their home office will abandon protocols when the individual receiving the project is out of sight. So what are the best practices of virtual delegation and how can you avoid common pitfalls?

Best Practices:
1. Evaluate who you’re delegating to and their experience and capability with similar projects.

2. Make a conscious decision about your method of communication; a phone call is best for certain communication while email is appropriate for other messages. For example, Sonya VandeKerkhof, CEO of Conscious Budget & Debt Reduction, Inc., who delegates to personnel in Australia, wisely provides her vision and inspiration about projects in a phone call when voice tone and inflection as well as dialogue with direct reports makes a difference in their understanding and “buy in”. She also leaves more time for silence, to allow questions and comments to come to the surface.

In contrast Sonya uses email to address timelines, methods, standards and other project details enabling crisp documentation while still allowing for Q and A. She also takes advantage of Google Apps to have her far flung team collaborate on project documents and color codes projects to signal priorities. Sonya makes email efficient by titling each message: “FYI,” “Question,” or “Action Needed” enabling her distance workers to prioritize their emails.

3. Listen carefully and follow up. In the absence of non-verbal feedback, reading “between the lines” takes on more importance. For example, Robert Mann, President at Lumenis, offsets the lack of non-verbal feedback from long distance personnel by listening carefully to comments and questions in phone calls. He knows those receiving an assignment have understood it when they expand on the principles of the message, paraphrase and ask appropriate questions and delegate appropriately to their direct reports. Robert follows conversations with email or text notes adding to the primary conversation.

Don’t
1. Don’t drop a new project on someone through email and expect them to fully understand your needs and requirements.

2. Don’t assign a project without follow up appointments to check on progress and challenges.

3. Don’t take the “one size fits all” approach when it comes to delegating. Consider who you’re communicating with and determine whether more or less detail is required. Efficiency may dictate one email to all project participants but may not account for individual needs to ask questions or get more information.

In short, virtual delegation requires more forethought, clear and crisp articulation, openings for dialogue and solid follow through to ensure assignments are understood and executed properly. Good delegation at the outset of a project saves time, hassle and misunderstanding down the road. If you think you’ve missed a step however, rethink your strategy and shore up communication gaps to salvage projects that may have gotten off track.

About the Author:
Marla Rosner, principal of Marla Rosner and Associates, is a vibrant and engaging group facilitator and instructor as well as a seasoned project manager. She has excelled as a training and leadership development professional for twenty years. As a consultant and working internally, Marla has a proven track record in guiding and executing management development initiatives to produce bottom-line business results. Types of projects include team building initiatives, first-time manager training, training design and delivery, facilitation, business procedures and training documentation.
www.rosnerassociates.net
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marlarosnerassociates

7 ideas for engaging training

Last week I mentioned how important it is to make staff training connect to real life experiences. I even used a slightly off-color story as an illustration. Ah, now you remember!

This week I want to share with you some ideas for making your training meetings fun and participatory. Blending these kinds of small group training experiences with your online training system will not only help you build a stronger team of folks who work together well and enjoy it, too, but it will also help staff connect the ideas they’re learning to real life.

The following ideas come from individuals who recently participated in the online forum for the CEU course we offer through EasyCEU.com titled Become the World’s Most Effective Trainer.

From Kayleen in Downey, ID:

1. One time I split the staff up into teams and timed to see how fast they could make a bed (the correct way).


2. Another time to get the point over how a resident can feel when they are losing their sight, I had a pair of glasses with Vaseline smeared on the glass. This made things blurry for the staff to see.


3. To make a point on how difficult it is for a resident with arthritis to pick up an item, I had staff put on large winter gloves and try to pick up a penny.


4. Another activity I did to make a fun staff training is I had a treasure hunt. I broke the staff up into teams of 2 and they had to follow the clues. The clues ended up leading them back to the staff training room where there was a box with treats. I continued with the main points of training to follow up.

The idea is to get the attention of the group, make it fun, and get the point across what you are teaching.

From Mary in San Juan Capistrano, CA:
I like to have my caregivers teach each other in areas that they are particularly strong. I encourage them to ask many questions! Sometimes the caregivers have some really great ideas that work for them and this makes them feel good to share these experiences.

From Susan in Eureka, CA:
I like to use modeling and role playing. I especially like to have each person pair up with a partner and take turns being the resident and the caregiver. Then follow up with how each felt about giving and receiving care.

From Cynthia (address unknown):
As the administrator, I have always done the abuse/neglect inservices myself. I believe that the staff needs to hear the message directly from me. I have a large "Bugs Bunny" toy and have done sessions using "Bugs" as the focus. Everyone, no matter what position in the facility, can relate to character. We have done everything from introducing "Bugs" as a new resident and taught all staff to assess what the new resident needs (everyone knows Bugs likes carrots) to "How to investigate a fur tear." The prop allows for visual keys in addition to a humorous commonality that fosters participation from all levels of staff.

Hope these give you some ideas to bring a little life into your training programs, too. Building an atmosphere as a place where professional learning and growth is valued means tapping into your creative side, too!

Share your ideas for making training fun – click here to respond

Training: Sometimes a laughing matter

At a fire safety seminar, employees gathered around the live demonstration area to watch the fire officer teach the proper way to operate a fire extinguisher.

Barking out instructions like a drill sergeant, the fire officer yelled, "Pull the pin like a hand grenade. Then, aiming at the base of the fire, depress the trigger to release the extinguishing agent."

The fire officer demonstrated a few times and then picked from the group an employee to extinguish a controlled fire. The employee was nervous. He fumbled with the fire extinguisher, forgetting to pull the pin. He squeezed the lever. Nothing happened.

"Like a hand grenade," the fire officer hollered. "Remember? Like a hand grenade."

The employee remembered. In a burst of confidence, he quickly pulled the pin.
And heaved the extinguisher at the fire. (Source: Training and Leadership Blog)

This is a cute story, true or not.

It reminds me of another story (only too true) that I heard many years ago when I was working at a school for developmentally disabled adults. Their sex-ed teacher (whom I was replacing) had been demonstrating the proper way to apply a condom, using a couple of fingers held together to illustrate the point to the students. Students were reportedly feeling fully protected for sexual activities by wearing condoms over their fingers. I was feeling way out of my element in trying to figure out a better way to teach basic safe sex!

The moral of both of these stories? Training must be contextual to be most useful. We can discuss concepts and give demonstrations, but until the person actually uses the concept in a real-life situation – appropriately and correctly – true learning won’t occur.

For training managers using online training resources like aQuire, the value of blended learning becomes apparent. Online learning is extremely valuable to help the person understand theories, concepts and approaches, but until he actually holds the fire extinguisher in his hands, he won’t really know how it feels (I’m going to leave the other story illustration alone here).

For best learning and retention of concepts, take the time to discuss with your team members what they’re learning online. If you have group meetings, talk about how concepts or classes apply to specific residents. Chat for just a minute or two with individual employees about their online classes and how they apply to residents or clients. Ask if they have questions, and what new ideas they’ve been learning.

Engage them in active learning as an integral part of their work – that’s how a company becomes known as a place where learning and growth is valued and meaningful.

Oh, and send me your stories. Beat mine, and I’ll buy you lunch!

6 factors for motivating adult learners

Occasionally I send interesting articles out to members of my team with notes attached that say something like, “Here’s a really interesting article for you to read.”

When I follow up and ask if the article got read, often the response is, “Ummm, not yet but I’m going to!”

While I love to constantly read and explore topics that interest me, not everyone on my team feels the same (hard as that is for me to believe). Motivating them to learn and grow in their jobs – in the way I think they should – is a challenge.

Author Stephen Lief shares the following factors that motivate adult learners:

1. Social relationships. Learning that helps us make new or more solid connections with others is valued by adults. Tip: incorporate small group projects, discussion or ice-breaker activities into your learning activities.
2. External expectations. Meeting compliance, gaining certification, meeting corporate training goals – these are strong motivators for adult learners.
3. Social welfare. Gaining knowledge or skills that will help others motivates many adult learners. Tip: always talk about how knowledge and skills involved in training will help your team members provide a higher quality of life or care for your clients.
4. Personal advancement. Knowing that completing a training requirement will result in a pay increase, a job promotion or other tangible benefit is a powerful motivator.
5. Escape or stimulation. Learning for adults should be fun and interesting as well as useful. Even the change of pace from the regular work day can be a motivator to learn if the process is enjoyable.
6. Cognitive interest. Many adults love to learn to get the answers to their questions; thus the wild success of search engines like Google. Checking Google’s top search terms for the last 30 days you’ll find anything related to Michael Jackson at the top of the list. Within the health category, however, people have searched the most for information about Demerol, cardiac arrest, progeria and vitiligo (loss of skin pigment). Adults are curious and eager to learn more about topics that interest them.

Next time I forward an interesting article around, I think I’ll look for a way to tap into one of these motivating factors and see if the results are better. I’ll let you know!

6 Keys to successful adult learning

One of my employees popped into my office this morning with a quick question. I was in the middle of a thought for an article and was typing like a banshee on crack (sorry – a figure of speech from my teenage daughters’ vocabulary).

His question got sidetracked as he shared how his 10 year old son asked him to teach him to type over the summer, and how valuable he thought this learning would be for him. He went on to talk about his son’s summer learning assignments from school, and how they were much less useful than learning to type.

It got me thinking about how we learn as adults – and how we, as trainers, need to focus our instruction in a way that truly suits adult learners. I turned to my best friend, Google, and did a quick search. Here are some of the keys I found that are important in adult learning:

1. Adults are autonomous and self-directed. They don’t want assignments and homework; they do want goals and real application for learning. One of my favorite inservice approaches that my own managers used was a self-directed learning activity. Employees were given a quiz over all the key points of the training – without any lecture or instruction. They were given 20 minutes to collaborate with each other, in any way they choose, to come up with their own answers. Ideally, they would be given access to books, manuals and the internet, too. At the end of the time, each group shared one answer with the entire group. The instructor, really a facilitator, was able to draw ideas, concepts and answers out of the entire group and offer feedback and further discussion. Each individual actively searched for information that he or she needed to complete the task. It was fun, active and successful.


2. Adults need to connect learning to their life experience. When we’re kids we have little life experience. We need to learn how to successfully gain that experience. As adults, we’ve often got more experience than the trainer. Much of that life experience comes off the job, too, in personal and family relationships. As a trainer, ask your team members to think about what experiences they’ve had in specific areas, and what those experiences taught them. Relating new information to past experiences is a great way to give that new information context and meaning.
   


3. Adults are goal oriented. Complete an assignment; get certified; meet compliance. What’s the goal? Make it clear, and then make the process to meet that goal very simple to follow. The learning itself doesn’t need to be simplified; just the goal and process to achieve it.


4. Adults need to understand the reason for learning. This is a little like the point above, but it goes farther. My employee who stopped in my office to talk about his son’s summer homework expressed complete disbelief in the one task assigned of practicing cursive penmanship. “No one uses cursive writing anymore,” was David’s point. His son, however, will probably simply do the assignment. Training adults means making sure that the materials you use, for example, are relevant to their needs. I’ve seen facilities use training videos clearly intended for acute care hospitals. I’ve watched while the participants viewing the videos whispered and squirmed. The training had little relevance to their needs and environment – it was not an affective training tool.


5. Adults prefer practical information. Many adult learners are less interested in abstract knowledge than in knowledge that has clear practical application in their lives. Many of us still love those odd little facts that have no apparent practical application, until you have the opportunity to share them at a cocktail party (“did you know that…!” In general, keep learning practical, or make it quirky-fun.


6. Adults need to be respected as learners. One of the first things that will turn a group of employees off is a condescending guest speaker. If it’s a mandatory inservice, they’ll stay in the room, but you’ll see their attention start wandering immediately. If they’re free to walk out, some will. Adult learners need to be treated like adults, but more than that, they need their life experience to be noted and respected.

Understanding the way adults learn best will help us not only in our training functions but also in all management and team-building functions. Next week we’ll look at ways to motivate the adult learner.

4 ways to connect with technology

Are you a Facebook addict yet? Notice I added “yet” to the question? Even my 76 year old mom has decided she’s got to get onto Facebook – all her grandkids, nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives keep telling her, “I put my pictures on Facebook!”

I joined a year or so ago, after I realized it was the only way I’d be able to keep up with my kids. They travel the globe and, way before they email their mom, they post their pictures and their adventures on Facebook for all their friends to see.

So now I’m an avid Facebook user, with 82 “friends” that include my relative, my kids’ friends and several grade and high-school friends I’m only now reconnecting with (that’s fun!).

Technology can be a ton of fun when it fills a need we have. In case of Facebook, technology helps us fill a social need to stay connected – or get re-connected.

In business, it seems to me that we’ve used technology begrudgingly rather than with the excitement of your first Facebook page.

Maybe we’ve been off the mark. Maybe it’s time to look for ways to use technology to increase our business and social connectedness – and have some fun while we’re at it! Consider these ideas:

Your website. Does your website increase your connectedness with the public? Do you tell your story and offer ways for people to contact you? Many company websites today avoid publishing email addresses to keep out unwanted emails, but that’s a barrier to connectedness. Like Facebook, your website should be updated often, changing content and images to keep it interesting and alive. It should also connect real people (you and your team) with real people (your clients and prospects).

Email. Are you using email to stay connected with others? If you’re reading this via email, you see one of the tools we use to keep in touch with our clients and prospects: subscription emailing through Constant Contact, one of the leading providers of this service (scroll down to the bottom to set up your own free trial). It’s easy to use, and very affordable. It doesn’t allow you to spam people, but it does give you a very user-friendly tool for staying in touch with a large group of individuals (Clients? Prospects? You decide).

Technology in Operations. Are you using technology to help you manage operations? To track employee hours related to client needs, and to keep care plans and assignments updated? Companies like HealthMEDX (a new partner of ours), Vigilan, and ALWizard are excellent resources. Used correctly, they can not only help you get a detailed picture of your operations but can actually enhance your revenue as you track service needs and staffing more closely. Rather than costing you money, they can actually make you money – something to consider closely right now.

e-Training. I’m guessing you already knew where we’d end up. Technology in training can allow you to train your team consistently and effectively in important compliance topics. You’ll still want to gather your team for regular staff meetings, but you can focus on team-building and your company culture, rather than boring repetitive compliance inservices.

Well, I’m logging back in to Facebook now. I’ve got an early morning meeting tomorrow I’m setting up with my exercise buddy – gotta run!

3 ideas for creative, low-cost marketing

I know I usually talk about training and building your team in these newsletters, but today I want to talk about marketing. Interested? Let’s talk!

Marketing is the global term we use to mean growing our business. Often, we’re content (and, let’s be honest, a little relieved) to let the marketing people worry about marketing. It’s their job, and, if they’re good at it, it happens without a lot of your sweat and focus.

In this economy, however, marketing is probably moving to front and center stage in your organization. And that affects everyone.

It affects you, when you don’t have the revenue to cover the expenses.

It affects your team, when hours are cut or positions eliminated.

It affects your clients, as they see a few less people on the team to serve them, and maybe even feel the stress you and your team are feeling.

That’s the problem – what’s the solution?

Experts from every corner agree: a bad economy is NOT the time to stop marketing. In fact, it’s vital that during this economy, marketing gets even more of your focus. You’ve got to really focus on what will do you the most good, in the short term as you keep your head above water, and in the longer term, as you strengthen your foundation to grow and thrive once the economy turns around.

How can you creatively grow your marketing program without spending a dime?

• Focus on Customer Service. We’ve heard from many of our clients that customer service is one of their primary focus areas for this year. Making sure that every employee understands that he or she is a part of the marketing team by providing excellent customer service is an essential part of your marketing plan – and it doesn’t need to be a costly part, either. Spend time every week focusing on developing your team’s skills in this area, and you’ll see results. For our part, we’re developing a series of 5 courses on customer service for your staff. Those enrolled in the full subscription program will get access to these courses, hopefully within a few weeks, at no additional charge. Others on select programs can add these for a very small fee, or purchase them separately as you need them. (Watch for upcoming announcements.)
• Provide a service to caregiving families in your community. Many families are turning to their own family members to provide care, especially in areas with high unemployment. You can help, and establish yourself as the expert in caregiving at the same time (the one they’ll turn to when they need help). Offer classes in caregiving, a telephone advice line or articles for publication in your local paper. Provide a support group with guest speakers each month, and publicize it widely in the newspapers and on local radio (all free as public service announcements). It won’t cost much more than your time, and can give you big returns.
• Look for new revenue sources. One idea a client of ours is using is to provide caregiver training for individuals in her community. This training could be offered to family caregivers or to individuals looking to become caregivers, as well as home care agencies or assisted living facilities. Use our online Caregiver Certification course (soon to be re-released as the enhanced Personal Care Aide Certification course), add a two to six hour skills training class, and you’ll be able to provide a comprehensive program to prepare others to provide care – while you build relationships and your reputation. Bundle it carefully and you can even gain a new revenue source to help tide you over (ask us for details).

Be brave, be bold. Get out there and market your business for success!

Send me your creative marketing ideas and I’ll pass them on – sharon@aquiretraining.com.

A conversation about turnover

I had a great conversation last week with Tris Legacy, the Administrator of Regency Park Place at Corvallis. Tris is a relatively new assisted living Administrator, and he’s frequently frustrated with a problem that often seems to be accepted as fact in senior care: caregiver turnover.

Tris points out that many times caregivers don’t leave to go to another type of job – they simply move from one caregiving job to another; from one facility to another. Sometimes, it’s because they’ll get an extra quarter per hour in pay. Many administrators, it seems, accept a certain level of turnover as normal and don’t really do much about it.

Tris believe that we can – and should – do better. I agree.

Turnover is not only a pain in the hiring/staffing department, it causes serious problems in delivering a superior level of quality care. When a caregiver who truly knows your clients leaves, that knowledge leaves, too. The relationship – the “people part” of what we do – is gone, both for the client and for the family.

Many of you are experiencing census problems recently. If you remember back to “Marketing 101” what’s the most important element that will lead to “getting the sale?” It’s the relationship.

With our clients and their families, building relationships is one of our strongest tools to build word-of-mouth referrals in the community at large. When a family member sees, month after month, year after year, the same group of caregivers, they WILL be impressed and they WILL tell others.

Many of you know that fighting – and winning – the battle of turnover means looking closely at wages and benefits. You also know that this can be a hard sell to management. But sometime, especially if you’re talking about filling those units or increasing the number of clients, the investment begins to look more appealing to management; the payoff a little clearer.

What else helps reduce turnover? One of the most significant things that a recent survey found, next to money, was that people who stay feel their boss – the person they perceive as their immediate supervisor – listens to them and cares about them. What else? Giving every employee the opportunity to learn and grow in his or her job.

What have you found to be effective in reducing the turnover of your staff? Share your thoughts, your questions or concerns – I’ll pass them on. Maybe we’ll even discover a new approach or two that can make a meaningful difference in this most challenging problem.

Marketing in tough times

Is your client count down? Do you have vacancies or a lower census than you’d like?

We’ve been hearing from a number of clients that, with the high unemployment rate, families are stepping in to provide care, or are deferring the decision for outside care due to financial concerns.

If you’re looking for creative ways to enhance your marketing efforts, you’re not alone. You may be getting pressure from partners, owners or others to increase revenue; you certainly don’t want to cut staff or services.

Here are some ideas we’ve discovered that might spark some creativity – and results:

Get out the door. If your phone isn’t ringing off the hook with prospective new clients, use this time to get out and get networking. Does your community have networking groups of senior providers? Join in and attend. Go introduce yourself to anyone and everyone in your community that might be referral sources – and be creative. Pharmacists, medical equipment providers, area support groups – these are all potential referral sources.

Publish articles in the local newspaper. Let’s face it – news today is a tough business. However, if many of your prospective clients are being cared for by family members, they may be in need of information and tips on caregiving. Can you write brief articles and send them to your local neighborhood paper or senior newspaper? Call the editor and ask. If you need help with the content, email me. We have a number of articles, ready for publication, which we’d be happy to send to you. You can add some information about your company and note that you’re sponsoring the series of articles, and get a little free publicity. Being known as the local expert in senior care is a great marketing tool. You may not see the benefits immediately, but over the long haul, you’ll reap rich rewards.

Be creative with pricing. Can you offer any aspect of your service at an introductory price? How about free? We’re trying a new Pilot Program offering individual communities a chance to try our online staff training program absolutely free for 90 days.* We want people to try our product, love our product and then determine that they simply can’t live without our product. We’re willing to go out on a limb to make that happen, because we know that money is a very tight commodity right now. Can you do something similar with your product?

Educate yourself. Watch your local newspaper for free training courses on marketing in tough times. Many communities are offering courses or networking groups to support businesses that are struggling. Don’t be shy – sign up. If time is tight, consider online classes in marketing, too, including ours.

Educate your team. This is not the time to cut into your services. You can’t afford to jeopardize your reputation by providing anything less than exceptional customer service. That means everyone on your team needs to be sharp. Take this time to train them, reward them, and repeat the process. Get everyone on your team working smarter and avoid the common pitfalls of a reduced staff.

Keep your chin up. In a tough economy, especially if you’d have to lay off some employees, other staff members might be feeling anxious or threatened. They may be experiencing outside stressors, too, that this economy has brought to their home or family. A good leader promotes a positive attitude even when times are the bleakest. Save your own anxieties for times outside of work; don’t share them even with your closest employees. Your job as a leader is to stand up tall and say to the world, “We’re here to provide a service people need, and to do it in a way no one else can do.” Even during tough times people need your services. Stay focused and positive!

It’s tough, but you can still grow your business and stay positive even during hard economic times. Use this time to strengthen your base and watch your business absolutely boom when the economy turns, too.

Catch ‘em, reward ‘em and build your team

You’ve heard it before: if you want to increase a specific behavior, reward it.

This principle of human behavior actually has its roots in good old doggy behavior, demonstrated by the scientist Ivan Pavlov. Professor Pavlov’s dogs began salivating upon the stimulus that, experience told them, led to delivery of their food.

Behavioral scientists have discovered that people, too, repeat behavior that is rewarded. Rewards work best if they are immediate. Surprisingly, rewards that are random work even better than those that happen every single time – it appears that we’ll keep trying with a randomly rewarded behavior, not knowing which time it will actually yield the results we want (lottery tickets, anyone?).

Good news for managers: rewards don’t need to be big or expensive. In fact, some of the best rewards are those that relate to our social standing. Reward someone by calling him to the front of an entire staff gathering and giving him a clear, verbal “atta-boy” and he’s likely to remember it much longer than a $10 gift card given to him in passing, with no one looking on.

What behavior makes your team stronger? Perhaps you’ve chosen to focus on improving customer service this year. What specific behaviors are you looking for? Are you modeling those behaviors within view of your team? Are you looking – hard – for people who repeat those behaviors, and then rewarding them?

Be careful, too, about too much time in team meetings spent on what NOT to do. Focus instead of what team members SHOULD do – let good behaviors gradually reduce or eliminate undesired behaviors.

Rewards? Public praise and attention, a genuine pat on the back, a meaningful gift card. These will go farther to increasing the behaviors you want than employee of the month programs ever dreamed of achieving.

Behavior that is reinforced is behavior that is repeated.

Behavior that is rewarded is behavior that is repeated.

It really is that simple.

Looking for a quick, affordable gift card solution? Order aQuire gift cards and give your team the gift of improving their skills and knowledge while you reinforce behaviors you want to see repeated!

5 principles for using competition in training and management

How many people attend typical sports events in your community?

If you’re in a city with a major league sports team, the answer is probably in the tens of thousands for every event. I frequently marvel at sporting arenas that attract and hold as many people as live in my entire home town.

Now think about the last time you went to a community lecture. I see announcements about visiting lecturers at colleges nearby that are free and open to the public on a regular basis. They look interesting – but I’ve rarely attended.

On the other hand, we held season tickets to the Portland Trailblazers for several years, even after the tickets had become ridiculously expensive.

I’m guessing that most of our employees are in the same boat. They’d rather play a competitive game than listen to a lecture or watch a video. And let’s face it: when we’re having fun, we’re more inclined to repeat the activity and to remember it.

Our aQuire Training team has built learning games into many of our courses with this very idea in mind – we learn better when we’re having fun with the learning process.

So as a trainer and manager, let’s look at ways you can incorporate competition – healthy, fun competition – into your workplace to motivate and energize your team:

1. Don’t end up with losers. If you’ve got a winner, you’ve also got losers, right? Think this through carefully when you’re creating situations where someone can become a winner. Structure any competitive event in such a way that everyone can win, if at all possible. For example, set up a winner’s category for anyone who scores over 95% in the quiz at the end of a course. Let people re-take their quizzes as often as they need to until they score 95%. Everyone can be winners (unless they simply don’t care or aren’t trying). If you pit one team against another, think about how the losing team will feel. Set up parameters in advance for the losing team to also get a reward, or set up multiple “winner” categories. Remember a guiding principle of good business: the win/win situation. It works in training and management, too.
2. Keep the playing field level. In one of our continuing ed courses for administrators on empowering employees to become the best they can be an example is given of a manager who set up a competition for the best customer service delivery. Of course, night shift didn’t really have a chance; even evenings had a tough time meeting the number of positive comments day shift staffers got. But the contest completely went wrong when one very competitive staff person went out of his way to get noticed by residents, and followed up that help with a request that they fill out a comment card about his excellent customer service. As the story turns out, the one employee won the contest; the other employees simply felt that the contest “wasn’t fair.” In reality, it didn’t set up a good, healthy competition or encourage genuine behavior change among employees.
3. Remember the whole team. In setting up a competition, even in training, you may be inadvertently doing the exact opposite of what you’re really trying to do: build a stronger, more effective team overall. You may, in fact, be breaking down your team, especially if the competition results in one group trying to undermine another group. A better approach is to create an environment where you encourage collaboration and cooperation, perhaps to beat an arbitrary rival (like a time goal, for example). Perhaps you play a “beat the clock” game where each person needs to complete a quiz in a certain amount of time for the entire team to beat the clock and win a prize. Stronger team members can help those who struggle a bit, and together reach the goal. Perhaps the goal can be greater for everyone when more individuals achieve it, encouraging everyone to seek out others to encourage or help. You can set up a competition that allows everyone to work together to build a stronger team overall, and that’s a win in anyone’s book!
4. Reward creativity. I’ve long believed that the best managers – and the best caregivers – are some of the most creative individuals I know. Certainly parts of our job don’t allow creativity (record-keeping and numbers, for example); other parts of our jobs require creativity to resolve problems, overcome resistance to change and other frequently-encountered situations. Look for ways to reward creativity when you’re setting up competition, rather than rewarding just those that do it “by the book.” One example I hear frequently from experienced managers is their practice of rewarding behavior “on the fly.” After focusing on a particular behavior in their training assignment or presentation, they keep a quiet watch to observe for this behavior. They work hard to catch someone doing it exactly right – and then they reward the person, publicly and clearly, with a lottery ticket, movie ticket or some other tangible token of appreciation. It works, it’s cheap and it is appreciated by the person being noticed. Just be sure to watch those who work quietly in the background even more closely than those who easily gain the attention of everyone around them.

Another technique to try is to set up a scenario, based on a topic you’ve assigned for training, and divide your team into groups with the task to come up with the most creative solution to the problem scenario. Give each group a few minutes to brainstorm their solution, then share it will the entire team. After all teams have shared, open the discussion up to everyone to equally contribute more ideas, based on what has been shared. Remember to create an environment that doesn’t set up losers and that encourages collaboration and cooperation – everyone wins.

Competition can be a powerful tool. In the workplace, it can set up a team for division and distrust or, in the hands of a skilled manager, it can help build a stronger, more effective team. Try these ideas and let me know how they work for you!

Training alert on publicity

As a trainer, you probably know that you want to teach all employees one very important thing: Keep us off the front page of the paper.

Publicity is great, but clearly we’re in a service sector that needs to be very fussy about the type of publicity we get.

Here’s an example: Last week, apparently someone checked actress Brooke Shields’ mom out of an assisted living community to take her to lunch. Sounds harmless, and why not let an “old friend” take a resident out to lunch?

The problem was this: the “old friend” was a National Enquirer reporter; Brooke Shields’ mom has dementia.

The other problem was that, according to the reporter, she asked permission to take the resident out and the staff gave it to her.

So what if, for the purposes of training, you decided to play act this scenario? Can you imagine that all of your clients are parents of famous people? What should you do, in terms of protecting the privacy of your clients, while at the same time ensuring that their rights are not violated?

A great topic for a staff training session, in my opinion. Have fun with this; let me know what you discover!

Keys to customer service – test yourself

Just in case you wonder if anyone is really listening to you, let me assure you: We’ve heard your requests for more customer service training! In fact, I’ve just hired a new course developer to help us create a series of interesting, engaging customer service courses.

I thought you might like a sneak peek, just to get an idea of what’s coming. Don’t get too excited, though; creating new courses is a time-consuming process that doesn’t happen overnight.

Here’s a quiz from one of the first courses, just to give you a taste. Feel free to share this with your team and see how they score!

1. Your shift starts at 10:00 a.m. You arrive at:
a. 9:55 a.m. Correct! Arrive a little early so you can be ready for action right at start-time. You’re on your way to rock-star status.
b. As close to 10:00 as possible. (You never know with traffic.) Incorrect. Traffic is no excuse, and trying doesn’t get you any bonus points.
c. Whenever. Incorrect. You can do better!

2. The lobby is crowded when you arrive. You:
a. Push your way through. Hello? You have work to do. Incorrect. Pushing people is never polite, even when you’re in a hurry.
b. Squeeze through while pausing to smile and say hello to each person. Correct! Even before you’ve clocked in, you represent your company. But you already knew that.
c. Wait outside until they leave. Incorrect. You can do better, I know it!

3. Someone asks you to page their mother and let her know they’ve arrived. You reply:
a. Her room is right down the hall, you can go get her yourself. Incorrect. Even if you don’t like the request, it’s up to you to please the customer.
b. In a minute, first I have to go check in with my supervisor. Incorrect. Your supervisor will be glad that you hit the ground running on a busy morning. She may even reward you with candy.
c. No problem. Correct! You are a winner and deserve to be rewarded with candy.

4. You notice a phone line on hold. When you ask around, none of your co-workers know who is on the line. You:
a. Assume someone is helping them and ignore it. Incorrect. It’s always better to ask and be wrong than to not ask if someone needs help.
b. Pick up the line and ask if anyone is helping them. Correct! You are a phone-line genius.
c. Go tell a manager. Incorrect. Fix the problem, rather than focus on tattle-tail-ing.

5. Ben hurries by with an empty tray and whispers that he dropped an entire bowl of oatmeal in the hallway. You:
a. Laugh at him. Incorrect. Laugh on the inside, but on the outside, grab a roll of paper towels.
b. Tell him about the time you dropped an entire egg-white omelet on the owner’s wife. Incorrect. Swap stories later. For now, grab a mop.
c. Grab the nearest mop, a wet-floor safety sign, and direct guests around the area while you help clean up. Correct! You didn’t even need this training module, did you?

6. Time for your break. No one is around, and the lobby is as quiet as a mouse. You:
a. Announce loudly “I’m going on a break!” even though there is no one to hear you. Incorrect. You’re a comedian, aren’t you?
b. Find your supervisor and tell him you need someone to cover. Correct. You deserve a raise.
c. Stay where you are and skip your break. Incorrect. Sure, you’re a dedicated employee, but it’s against the law to skip breaks. Go sit down and relax! You’ve earned it.

7. You answer the phone. It’s a potential client, asking for details on availability and pricing. You aren’t sure what the answers are. You say:
a. “I don’t know, but I can go find someone who does.” Then ask if she would mind being put on hold. Correct! You’ve been paying attention, haven’t you?
b. “This is a really bad time. Can you call back?” Incorrect. Always offer to help them, or find someone who can.
c. “I don’t know,” and hang up. Incorrect. People first!

8. Let’s imagine that you asked the woman from the last question if she would mind being put on hold. The woman says no, don’t put her on hold. Now what?
a. Hang up on her. She’s obviously not willing to cooperate. Incorrect. Come on, now. That’s just not polite.
b. Say “too bad, I have to get my manager, so you’ll have to wait.” Incorrect. I know, she seems difficult, but smile and be nice. Try again.
c. Offer to take her phone number and have someone call her back. Correct! You have great talent!

9. Let’s imagine the same woman instead says she doesn’t mind being put on hold. You page your manager Monica to pick up the call. A minute later you notice that Monica still hasn’t answered it. You:
a. Leave it alone. It’s Monica’s problem now. Incorrect. We have to help each other, remember?
b. Page Monica repeatedly until she picks up the phone. Incorrect. Getting her attention is important, but she’s probably not just ignoring you. She’s busy. Give her a break.
c. Pick up the line, tell the customer that you’re still waiting on an answer, and ask if she would mind continuing to hold, or if she would rather have someone call her back. Correct! Phew, that was complicated. If you mastered that, you are truly a genius.

10. You’re helping a client in her home, and she needs to go to the bathroom. But you’re already in the middle of feeding her cat! You:
a. Finish feeding the cat. Incorrect. A visit to the bathroom probably can’t wait. The cat can.
b. Put down the cat food and help her to the bathroom. Correct! People first.
c. Ask if she can wait. Incorrect. People first.

Only 3 days left until Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is this Sunday, as I’m sure you’re well aware. You’re probably planned something for your own mom and the other significant moms in your life (if not, get busy!); you may even have planned an event for your clients who are mothers.

But what about your team? Especially those moms who are spending the better part of their day working – are you remembering to honor them?

Many of our employees are moms, struggling to raise their own children in the face of incredible odds. Some work two jobs; balance their own education and careers, and then travel long distances back to their homes to try to be the best moms they can be.

You’ve seen the glow that appears on the faces of your employee-moms as they talk about their sons and daughter, grandsons and granddaughters. You’ve seen them bring a child to work with obvious pride and a sense of accomplishment. You may have held baby showers, invited children to attend Easter egg hunts, and, in other ways included their children in your community.

On Mother’s Day, find a way to honor these individuals in your organization. Here are some ideas - just a few, but maybe they’ll help you creatively find a way to honor your team members:

• Create a bulletin board and invite each employee-mom to bring in pictures of her children. You can do it simply and quickly so it’s in place in time for Mother’s Day. Guests and clients alike will enjoy seeing pictures of children; employees will feel honored and proud to share them. You can also invite employees to bring in their children and take digital or Polaroid pictures and instantly display them.
  
  
• Order flowers for each employee-mom for Mother’s Day. Maybe a simple corsage or a single flower for them to pin on their work tops; maybe a long-stemmed rose or a small bouquet for each mom. Flowers, especially ones we can wear, show the world that we’re remembered and loved.
  
  
• Write a personal note to each employee-mom, thanking them for their contribution to your work community. “Being a mother takes guts, hard work and a whole lot of love,” says author Judy Blume. Let each mom on your team know that you recognize this effort on her special day.

Top ways to build your team with fun

Do your staff meetings go something like this?

“Could everyone please sit down now and stop talking? We’ve got a lot to cover today and you guys need to get back out there as quickly as possible, so let’s get going.

“We’re having problems getting laundry to the right person. Mr. Marcus’s family is complaining again that his sweater is missing – has anyone seen it?”

And on and on…not really a whole lot of fun, is it?

What if, instead of lecturing on the need to be more careful with residents’ clothing, you pulled two people aside ahead of time and planned a little skit:

Actor #1 (playing the part of the family member): “Darn it, my dad’s sweater is missing AGAIN. Can’t you guys EVER get the clothes straight around here?”

Actor #2 (playing the part of the manager): “I’ll be happy to try to find your dad’s sweater. Let me ask around and see if we can get it back to him today.”

Actor #1: “I’m just sick and tired of my dad’s clothes missing. What kind of place are you running, anyway?”

Actor #2, gathering a group of employees together): “OK you guys, we’ve GOT to find Mr. Marcus’s sweater RIGHT NOW. His family is throwing a fit and yelling at me. GET BUSY – and FIND THAT SWEATER!!”

Actor #1, standing by the front door when a visitor (Actor #3) walks in: “I hope you’re not thinking of moving someone here – they can’t keep track of anything!”

Actor #3 to manager: “I think I’ll come back another time. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea for my mom…”

Do you think your team would remember this better than the monthly lecture? Try it – I’d bet you’ll be surprised!

If you'd like some more ideas for fun team-building activities (modify them to fit your needs, obviously), check out this great resource-packed website: http://wilderdom.com/games/InitiativeGames.html

Have fun – and build your team!

Blended training key to culture change and success

You may have heard the aQuire team talk about “blended learning” or “blended training” in the past. It’s a concept we believe in, and the reason we created the 2 Minute Trainer newsletter.

We’re thrilled that you’re using the aQuire online staff training program to provide your team members with opportunities for ongoing learning and professional growth. You know, obviously, that this is one foundational principle for building a culture that reflects your philosophy and values, and builds a team that stays and grows with you.

You know that reducing staff turnover is one of the key things you can do to build client loyalty, reputation, and quality care.

You’ve taken a big step to making that a reality in your community with the addition of significant training opportunities.

But you’ve got to back it up with your actions and the actions of other people in your organization that provide leadership roles.

Look, for example, at the experience of the new caregiver in your organization. You screen carefully, check references and get the appropriate clearances, and then you bring the new team member on board. You enroll them into their initial training courses, and give them time to complete those courses.

Then, most likely, you team that new person up with a current caregiver and ask them to provide on-the-job orientation or training.

That’s a typical approach to bringing a new person on board. It’s a good way, too, to quickly bring the new person up to speed on your culture, your expectations and your daily procedures.

But is the person providing the on-the-job leadership trained as a trainer? Does he or she realize how important it is to follow some basic training steps: demonstrate, explain, observe, give feedback? Does he realize that each step offers an opportunity to reinforce your values and principles of care?

We know that building a strong, long-lasting team means focusing on these first few days. We know that helping new employees build the skills and approaches that add to your organization means focusing on these skills right from Day 1.

We’re working on some new “train the trainer” resources for our clients, since we know that’s how you’ll best build the kind of team you really need.

But for now, that’s your department. Focus on creating an environment where blended learning really happens and you’ll significantly leverage your current investment in staff training many times over.