Just For Schools specialises in Professional Development for ESS, which includes a strong focus on soft skills (people skills). Hard skills training (technical skills) are easier to measure the outcome of the training.

Hard Skill Training Example: Staff member doesn’t know how to operate a fork lift – goes to forklift training, gets a licence and comes back to the job and safely operates a fork lift. Competency is measured and productivity goes up, thus giving you a clear return on your investment in the training.

Soft Skill Training Example: Staff member has trouble remaining calm when interacting with angry/difficult customers – goes to soft skill training and learns a 4-step process to deal with difficult people. The new strategy can’t be tested until confronted by an annoyed or frustrated customer and unless the customers confirms it was handled well, or you witness the interaction, was the training investment worthwhile and did the learning stick?

3 ways to confirm soft skills training was worth the time and the money:

• Talk to your team member – Ask them reflective questions as soon as possible after the event, i.e.: What did you learn, and how will it help you in the future? In business terms, this type of activity is referred to as Measuring Training Impact – in team member terms, it confirms their School Business Manager wants to help them achieve professional and personal growth.

• Set a goal – Decide with your team member how and when they can put new skills into action, i.e.: present their new knowledge to the rest of the ESS team, make themselves available to help the next difficult customer, role-play their new skills with you or other team members. Research has shown that 80% of what is gained at a training event is lost if not transferred into practical work-specific tasks or actions immediately.

• Follow up – If you don’t follow up on agreed actions, training attendees are less likely to complete them. Be mindful that follow up isn’t simply asking if the actions were completed, it requires you to be deeply curious; what was done, how did the employee feel before, during and after the action, what help do they need, and where do they feel they did well?

LinkedIn research found that Manager involvement is critical for team member engagement in learning. 56% of employees said they would invest more time in their learning with their manager’s direction and support. (Source: https://learning.linkedin.com/elearning-solutions-guides/workplace-learning-report-2018)

If you and your ESS would like access to soft skill development, support, and programs, AND the steps to embed the learning into day to day actions, contact us.

By Cate Schreck – Author of “The A-Z of Service Excellence”

The post What to do Immediately After Education Support Staff Attend Soft Skill Training appeared first on Just For Schools.

Here are just a few examples of what I experienced:

• Verbal abuse and insults – too many to count.

• Having an empty beer bottle launched at me (it missed).

• A note from a customer advising a staff member to be careful when they left at the end of the day.

• A customer jump over the counter to punch a staff member. (Police were called, and the customer left with some nice new jewellery – handcuffs.).

• Pens thrown, chairs kicked, doors slammed and windows broken.

You will have your own opinion as to what type of behaviour is OK when you want to complain to a business. As an employee of the bank, who was expected to deal with those interactions, trust me when I say – none of the above is OK or helped the customer get what they wanted.

At some point in my career with the bank, myself and many of my co-workers, accepted that this was how it was going to be and most of us would come to work with an imaginary suit of armour on to handle those interactions.

The bank was diligent in providing the training on what to do in the event of a hold up, but when it came to the day to day difficult interactions, you learned by experience – your own and that of your co-workers.

Don’t get me wrong, most customers were friendly and genuinely nice people to interact with. But it would only take one customer with low emotional intelligence to ruin your day. Part of being emotionally intelligent is being able to control your emotions and understand the effect that our behaviour has on others.

With that being said, here are my Top 3 Tips for Dealing with Difficult Customers:

1. Improve your soft skills – read books, watch videos and book in for soft skill training. The better your soft skills are, the better your ability to deal with difficult people – in the moment and after the event.

2. Go easy on yourself – if you’ve never had soft skill training, then you are missing key learnings that will make difficult interactions much easier. Pat yourself on the back for surviving but…

3. Be proactive – Give your Education Support Staff access to soft skill training. Soft skills transfer to EVERY job, and School Business Managers today want ESS with great soft skills.

Who provides the soft skill training that helps your ESS embrace complaints? Just For Schools does!

Contact us for more information.

By Cate Schreck – Director of Just For Schools

The post Top 3 tips for dealing with difficult customers appeared first on Just For Schools.

Did you know that it’s possible to give customers a feeling of respect without even speaking to them? Thanks to Professor Albert Mehrabian and his book “The Silent Message”, we know that we communicate our attitudes and feelings both verbally and non-verbally.

In a face to face situation, 55% of the messages communicated to a customer about how your ESS feel and what their attitude is comes via their body language.

What is body language? It’s the non-verbal messages you communicate to those who can see you. It covers things like the following:

• Eye Contact

• Facial Expressions

• Gestures

• Proximity

• Your Attire

Regardless of the reason customers come to see your ESS, give them the best chance of gaining trust and winning the day by considering what their body language is telling your school’s customers.

Here are 5 examples of how body language impacts customers:

1. When we walk into a school that has a reception area and reception staff don’t immediately look up, customers can feel ignored. The longer a customer feels ignored, the greater the chance of them not willingly doing business with your school or considering your school for their children.

2. When ESS are on the phone, the simple act of eye contact with a genuine smile and a nod goes a long way to giving customers a feeling of respect. It also puts them at ease that staff know they’re there and will be with them soon.

3. A uniform makes it easy for customers to identify staff, BUT uniforms that are untidy, unclean or ill-fitting can leave a customer doubting the professionalism of the staff and the school.

4. Staff who look at their watches or let their attention wander whilst a customer is speaking, gives the customer the impression that they are no-longer focused on what is being said. This alone can drive a customer to complain about bad service.

5. Standing too close to a customer can make them feel uncomfortable. If the customer takes a step back, don’t follow them – they are establishing their comfort zone.

If you’re busy, annoyed, frustrated, tired, nervous or feeling anything other than focused on the needs of your customer, keep in mind that you may be sharing your feelings and attitudes via your body language.

If your ESS need to brush up on their communication skills, consider our Onsite Training or contact us to find out more about how we can deliver training customised to your team.

The post 5 ways to communicate respect without saying a word appeared first on Just For Schools.

But this blog is not for our existing schools. It’s for schools who don’t provide their ESS with soft skill development. It might be for you and your team or your school, but don’t worry, we’re not going to ‘shame’ or belittle you for not giving your staff soft skill development.

This blog is to help you by showing how easy it can be and how it can be free.

So, what are soft skills?

The two skills sets that every employee in every workplace needs are hard skills and soft skills. 

Hard skills are often referred to as technical skills. They cover things such as operating a cash register, driving a forklift, using a computer program, following safety procedures, or ordering stock. Hard skills are the tangible skills that once learned are usually set, meaning they are retained and with repetition they are typically improved. 

The word HARD in the sense of skills means set, not difficult.

Soft skills are the intangible qualities that an employee uses when they are interacting with others. They are related to self awareness, self-regulation, empathy, internal motivation and social skills. Just like hard skills they are a set of skills and with practise, we can improve, but unlike hard skills, they are difficult to measure – ‘one size does not fit all’.

The word SOFT in the sense of skills means flexible, not weak. 

Education Support Staff are made, not born, and hard and soft skill training is how you make them remarkable. Just For Schools specialises in soft skill development. Spending money on soft skills training is investing in the most important asset in any school – staff.

Bringing soft skills to your ESS does not mean you have to spend money. Read on for some ideas of what you can do without dipping into the budget.

DIY SOLUTIONS

Search online – Use the internet to find loads of free training resources – just make sure the providers/creators are reputable and the content is relevant to your goals and the needs of the team. Google: Soft skills.

Inspect what you expect – Watch, listen and provide constructive feedback on school community interactions. Feedback should be regular and balanced with compliments and suggestions on how to improve.

Ask the team – What do they want to learn? What interactions do they find difficult? Who has best practices they can share? Involving your team in their skills development and confirming you know they have valuable soft skills, can bring a sense of confidence to the team and respect for you.

Tell them your stories – Sharing your experiences of dealing with difficult customers and how you worked through times of stress is not a sign of your limitations, it’s permission for them to share and ask for help.

LET US HELP YOU

Remember that your time is money. For every coworker disagreement or customer complaint, consider the amount of time you have to spend addressing the issue and multiply that by your hourly rate – this is money that could be spent on the soft skills training that empowers your ESS to self-manage those situations.

By contacting us, we will learn more about what your ESS need to help them feel motivated, valued and respected. We are then able to customise content that best suits your ESS from an extensive range of training topics. View the entire list here.

“Our PD Day with Cate Shreck from Just For Schools was a huge success. ES Team at Hoppers Crossing Secondary College have a wide range of different roles and they felt that her content was extremely relevant and that she was communicating directly to them. Many of the ES staff have expressed their gratitude for providing such a supportive, informative and knowledgeable speaker. One who understood their roles within a large secondary college and was able to provide excellent information to improve their personal performance and increase their job satisfaction.”

Gay Torner, Hoppers Crossing Secondary College 

The post What Frontline Education Support Staff Need From You appeared first on Just For Schools.

The word ‘excellent’ is the problem.

Like the word delicious, excellent is open to interpretation. For every ESS who believes excellent customer service is completing requests quickly and with minimal chit-chat, there is another employee who believes that taking the time to talk with parents/guardians and the wider school community is just as important as completing the request. Neither of these perceptions is incorrect or correct because…

Deciding if customer service is excellent is not up to you or your team; it’s up to each customer.

Is providing excellent customer service to every school customer possible?

Not always. BUT, in the majority of interactions, the chance of excellent service being how the customer feels is greatly increased when staff have the right attitude, the right training and the right support.

To help motivate your team of ESS to consider the different service expectations of different customers, pose the below question before your next team meeting:

“If you were a customer of our School, what would you consider as excellent service?”

On paper or a whiteboard, write each individual response to the above question.

Words have more power when they are read as well as said. The written word allows time for reflection and makes it easy for the team to see that, like the customers of the School, they too may have different ideas of what is excellent service.

This activity is a great way to remind ESS that people who ask many questions, need you to repeat information, are abrupt and direct or want immediate responses, are not always trying to be difficult – they simply have different needs and expectations.

There will of course be a smattering of customers who want a level of service that is not possible or practical, but the good news is that most customers are open books.

Most customers will feel they have received excellent service when ESS learn how to read them. 

The book you and your team need is mine: “The A-Z of Service Excellence”.

You can download the First Chapter for FREE

By Cate Schreck

The post Why coriander is the key to excellent Education Support Staff appeared first on Just For Schools.

Upon arriving at the venue, I was greeted by…no-one. There was a sign directing me to the room and after poking my head into 2 other rooms first (I’m hopeless at following written directions) I arrived at the correct room to find it set up classroom style and not a window in sight.

The event started 15 minutes later than scheduled and the presenter launched straight into the content – no housekeeping, no introductions. 2 hours in, no one except the presenter had spoken.

2 hours of 25 attendees hearing a presenter, but not really listening.

I know this because when we did get a break, we all shared our thoughts and agreed that we were sitting in that room wondering…

• when and if we could ask a question

• how long before the presenter needed a break

• what the weather was like outside

• when is coffee time

• where are the toilets

• why can’t the presenter ‘read the room’ and adjust his style to engage his audience?

Over my career, I’ve attended too many professional development events like I just described. Events about as motivational as watching grass grow and some so over the top with “woo hoo-ing” and hard to consume information (death by PowerPoint) that I left with a headache and annoyed at the giant waste of my time – and as a business manager, a giant waste of my budget.

So if you want to avoid that kind of waste – hit print or grab a pen and take note of the 3 things below, so you can take your next event from ordinary to extraordinary.

1. Natural lighting

The benefits of natural lighting are no secret. Research has shown that a room with natural light (or even better, sitting outside) has a hugely positive effect on people. Natural light can help promote a sense of teamwork, create higher levels of motivation, and thus support a drive towards greater organisational attachment.

Little surprise then that providing a learning environment that includes natural light is recognised as beneficial for everyone – including the person up the front.

2. Cabaret style

Classroom style has you staring at the backs of heads and/or with someone staring at the back of your head.

Cabaret style has people sitting around a table or in smaller circles. It allows for attendees to sit in small groups, face each other and chat with ease. But don’t stop there though – get creative – consider bean bags or pillows or better still, let attendees sit where and how they feel comfortable.

We listen, learn and engage best when encouraged to relax physically, as this allows us to tune in mentally.

3. Questions

Unlike my recent experience, an engaging learning event is just that – it engages more than the attendee’s ears and eyes. It engages their creativity, and it should engage their vocal cords too. The quickest way to do this is for the trainer/facilitator to ask thought-provoking questions and let the attendees share their insights and ideas.

Questions fire up thinking engines and help to maintain attendee focus. Sharing involves everyone, and before you know it, you have vocal energy ‘pinging’ around the room that allows the trainer/facilitator to take a speaking break. It also allows them to listen and assess the attendees’ energy levels and understanding of the content.

I challenge you to break with tradition!

No more dark rooms.

No more rows of chairs.

No more death by PowerPoint.

No more only having the presenter talking.

Arrange a training event with pillows and bean bags, cushions and comfy chairs. If that’s not possible, at least add some natural energy; the type that comes from allowing everyone’s voice to be heard. Invite guest speakers, add some music, and make time for conversations and sharing.

Just For Schools provides facilitators and trainers who seek to adjust their delivery style to suit your goals and your attendees. We know this makes a positive difference because our customers tell us with words, hugs and high-fives.

We help Schools create teams of ESS professionals who love learning and happily attend professional development programs.

Your first step in creating a team of motivated Education Support Staff is to contact us today to see how we can help you.

By Cate Schreck – Author of The A – Z of Service Excellence

The post The training tradition that wastes time and money appeared first on Just For Schools.

• Staff members don’t get along or morale is low

• Customer complaints are on the rise

• Staff have become complacent about providing consistently excellent service

This gives your Education Support Staff the impression that training is only provided when they are performing poorly or doing things wrong.  It’s difficult to get positive engagement or a change in behaviour when employees enter a training environment with a negative perception of why they are there.

DIY Solutions

Mix it up

Incorporate a range of learning options under the heading of PD, i.e.:

1. There are hundreds of Podcasts dedicated to teamwork, emotional intelligence and understanding human behaviours. Go to your favourite Podcast provider (ie: Spotify is free) and search those keywords.

2. Industry conferences/events provide the opportunity for your ESS to see the bigger picture and learn from peers.

3. Confirm the value of external and informal learning your ESS undertake and how it adds skills to your team, i.e. coaching a sports team, position on a committee, household management.

Be available

Provide professional and confidential meeting options, so employees are comfortable advising issues that may or may not be work related that are making it difficult for them to meet your service standards. Asking questions may confirm that the issue does not require training – it requires listening. Allowing your ESS to vent and share can inspire positivity and eliminate many concerns.

How Just For Schools Can Help…

Our Onsite Training provides you with everything you need to educate and motivate your ESS and you as their leader.

By Cate Schreck – Author of “The A- Z of Service Excellence”

The post The Biggest Mistake School Business Managers Make (Includes DIY Solutions) appeared first on Just For Schools.

Frontline staff have a vaccine to help protect them, and although it won’t stop them from being infected by the Coronavirus, it can vaccinate against fear, anger and all the negative emotions that, if left undetected or unaddressed, can lead to serious mental health issues.

The vaccine is called Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and we can and should all access it now.

What is EQ?

Much has been written about emotional intelligence – and more specifically its value in the workplace – but the concept of emotional intelligence is not new. Years of research and testing have shown that our human brains are hardwired to give emotions the upper hand. The limbic system (the emotional brain) reacts to events first, before we have the opportunity to engage the rational brain (cortex).

Example: A parent arrives at your school in a negative mood and raises their voice and blames you for having to wait to speak to someone. Your first response will be emotional – you will feel something. You may feel shocked, annoyed or even angry, and unless you have the ability to regulate those emotions, your response to the challenging parent may be unprofessional.

Unprofessional communication leads to higher levels of anxiety and stress, and if the interaction continues with both staff and the parent communicating negatively, the parent may leave looking for somewhere to put all that negativity ie: tell others in the School community via social media.

Staff are often left having to ‘hold in’ how they feel until they get a break and a chance to vent.

To help us understand what EQ is, I’m sharing with you a definition influenced by a few theories, and mainly popularised by Daniel Goleman’s 1995 book Emotional Intelligence. Daniel Goleman, considered one of the world’s leading authorities on the subject, explains emotional intelligence as having five components:

1. Self-Awareness

The ability to recognise and understand your personal moods, emotions and motivations, as well as their effect on others. Self-awareness depends on your ability to monitor your own emotional state and to correctly identify and name your emotions.

2. Self-Regulation

The ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods, and the propensity to suspend judgement and to think before acting.

3. Internal Motivation

A passion to work for internal reasons that go beyond external rewards such as money and status.

4. Empathy

The ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people and treat people according to their emotional reactions.

5. Social Skills

The proficiency to manage relationships, build networks, find common ground, and build rapport.

As seen by Daniel’s Five Components, Emotional Intelligence is a part of us that impacts every aspect of our life.

When working on developing your EQ, remembering that your emotions are not the ‘enemy’ is important. Your emotions contain valuable information that, if used properly, can help you make sound decisions and keep you out of harm’s way. The aim is not to stop negative emotions, it’s to understand them and manage them according to the environment.

Much is still to be learned about the human brain and how it works, but for now, for frontline ESS to ride the wave of COVID-19, or for you to lead a frontline team of ESS during COVID-19, remember that emotional intelligence is the vaccine that will strengthen and protect us all from a pandemic of negativity.

By Cate Schreck – Author of “The A- Z of Service Excellence”

The post The Vaccine Your Education Support Staff Must Use Now appeared first on Just For Schools.

Customers quickly get frustrated and tire of ESS who can’t match their customer service rhythm.

Understanding our own service rhythm is the first step in adjusting to suit the rhythm of a customer.

At Just For Schools, we use tailored Training to give ESS the knowledge and skills they need to adjust to the rhythm of every customer.

Below is an example of 4 customers who have different service rhythms.

Customer A is Calm and Friendly

They have done their research and have planned enough time to listen carefully and ask questions. They prefer a quieter environment, so moving them away from other people or noise will help them to relax. They are motivated by helping others so, for example, if your school provides support to local communities/charities, make sure you take the time to explain this to them.

Their theme song is… Imagine by John Lennon

Customer B is Positive and Happy

They love to chat, they are very social and often talk and think fast. They want your attention, and they love to make people smile and will look for opportunities to engage and delight. They are motivated by positive outcomes and will use their humour, quick wit and positivity to make sure everyone around them is having a good time – which means you may have to repeat information as they can be easily distracted.

Their theme song is… Can’t Stop The Feeling by Justin Timberlake

Customer C is Careful and Concise

They have done all the research and will arrive prepared. They know what you can or can’t do, they have ideas of how you can do it better, and they want your undivided attention. They are motivated by facts and direct communication – leave the small talk out of it. They will appreciate time to think and assess before they decide.

Their theme song is… It’s Got To Be Perfect by Fair Ground Attraction

Customer D is Direct and Demanding

They have limited time and loads of confidence, so they will expect you to have all the answers otherwise, get them someone who does, They want to be treated as high priority, and they want the best you can offer – now. Their direct communication may feel abrupt, but they are busy people who don’t have time for chit-chat and are motivated by staff who get to the point, move fast and get things done – now.

Their theme song is… My Way by Frank Sinatra

If all of the above seems daunting, never fear – Just For Schools is here.

We specialise in providing Education Support Staff with the training that gives them the ability to identify customer rhythms and effortlessly sync up and sing up a storm (which translates to creating a remarkable reputation for the school). It’s a triple win.

Contact us today to tune up your customer service team.

By Cate Schreck – Author of “The A – Z of Service Excellence” 

The post How Kermit can cause customer complaints appeared first on Just For Schools.

What would happen if you empowered them to come up with and road test a new way of doing just 1 thing every week?

TWO RULES

1. The actions have to positively impact customer service

2. You have to let your team decide, implement and review the new (you have to take a step back).

And there you have it! 52 customer service improvement ideas created and tested by the people who know your customers likes, dislikes, needs and wants.

If you are already thinking of 52 reasons why this won’t or can’t work, why?

Unless you’ve done it before or in the middle of doing it, why wouldn’t you give it a go?

I’m not trying to be pushy here, I really want to know why.

Why I think you should is obvious. I know the huge benefits of empowering your ESS to come up with and road test service improvement ideas, but if you want more evidence, below are four stats that might make you rethink why letting your team do the thinking could be worth their time and not yours…

• 91% of unhappy customers will not willingly do business with you again.

Source: Lee Resources

• It can take as many as 12 positive experiences to make up for 1 negative experience.

Source: Understanding Customers by Ruby Newell – Legner

• 76% of consumers say they view customer service as the true test of how much a business values them.

Source: 2015 Aspect Consumer Experience Survey

• Customers are 2 times more likely to share their bad customer service experiences than they are to talk about positive experiences.

Source: 2012 Global Customer Service Barometer

(Schools are a business and the term customer relates to the people who use the School services ie: Students, Parents/Guardians etc) 

Go on, I challenge you to light a fire of service excellence in ESS and let it burn across your frontline. 

Want some help? My book is packed with the A – Z of customer service improvement ideas and actions.  Grab the book and you will have 26 actions ready to go – you’re welcome 🙂

By Cate Schreck – Author of “The A-Z of Service Excellence”

The post Are you brave enough to do this 52 times? appeared first on Just For Schools.

The game show I’ve been hosting is called – “What stops you … ?”

I’ve surveyed thousands of Education Support Staff from all kinds of schools across Australia; from Perth to Port Fairy, Melbourne to Mildura, Geelong to Gippsland, Brisbane to Ballarat and beyond.

When I finish the sentence as “What stops you… from providing excellent customer service to every customer at your school, every day?’ the responses come at me fast! It takes no time at all for the attendees in my Onsite Training sessions to confirm their roadblocks, and here are just a few:

• Time – So much to do and pressure to do it all as well as balancing the customer needs

• ‘Chatterboxes’ – Customers who like to chat and chat and chat

• Rudeness – Customers who speak down to staff, use offensive language, etc.

• Fatigue – Years and years of doing the same thing and not being offered new things to do at work

• Coworker conflict – It’s hard to remain positive when you don’t ‘like’ who you work with

• External Concerns – Things outside of work making it hard to concentrate and be positive

• No/Low Teamwork – Some ESS bother and some don’t, so why should I?

That’s quite a list, but I could go on and on. 

Ultimately, ESS often feel like they are the ‘bottom of the ladder’ when it comes to their needs being met. No, not all attendees feel this way, but many, many do.

It’s a feeling of being underappreciated and when given the chance, they want someone to know how they feel. The good news is, they are also quick to confirm what they feel would help them improve their service.

They often present the above roadblocks as things outside their control, things that others need to stop, start or fix for them. In reality, if you re-read the above list, all the roadblocks are within their control to stop, start or fix.

Everything on the list is related to Emotional Intelligence. Low levels of EQ is the #1 reason ESS want to give up, leave a role, stop trying, etc. etc.

EQ is related to how we recognise and manage our emotions, as well as being empathetic to the emotions of others. The roadblocks above exist because they elicit a negative/challenging feeling.

Ask your ESS, “What stops you from providing excellent customer service all day, to every customer at the school?”

Listen first, and if necessary, remind ESS that the question is what THEY can do as individuals, not what they want other people to do to remove the roadblock.

• Time – We can’t get more time, but we can learn how to spend it wisely. The first step is to note where time is spent each day and then review for ways to use it better.

• ‘Chatterboxes’ – Practice delivering this phrase with professional body language/tone of voice “It’s been so great to speak with you, but I need to move on, so none of our customers are kept waiting.”

• Rude Customers – This requires self-care. Take time every day to reflect on how well you handle those situations and share your challenges with the team, so others can learn from you and support you.

• Fatigue – Take your leave, your RDO’s, and your breaks each day. Look for new things to learn, and share your skills with new staff.

• Coworker conflict – This requires assertiveness (respecting the rights, needs and feelings of the other person as well as yourself). Speak to the staff member involved with the goal of a win-win outcome.

• External Concerns – Acknowledge your challenges to your direct School Business Manager/Leader. They are there to help. Saying nothing makes it harder for you and everyone around you.

• No Teamwork – Start the conversation with the Manager/Leader. Bring them a positive attitude and be armed with solutions, as nothing breaks a team faster than negativity and blame.

All of the above solutions require a degree of skill, and ESS without the skills of negotiation, communication, assertiveness and prioritising will struggle to implement them.

Just For Schools provides Professional Development to develop those skills.

CLICK HERE to see our full list of training topics. ESS with high levels of EQ, regularly self assess and self regulate. They start their days feeling confident, and they end their days feeling the same way. It’s EQ in action – all day.

Contact us today to help improve the EQ of your customer service staff.

By Cate Schreck – Service Excellence Coach and Author

The post The #1 Reason Education Support Staff Give Up appeared first on Just For Schools.

They tell me they recruited ESS that had the skills and the enthusiasm for providing consistently excellent service and in the first few weeks or months of them commencing in their role, they did provide that great service.

But over time, the motivated and customer-focused employee “care-factor” for providing excellent service had diminished, and their own needs started to replace that of the school and the customers – which includes everyone from students, parents, and the community.

When one, two or a few ESS are allowed to drop their standards, you risk existing service excellence-focused staff feeling taken for granted. Before you know it, you have a team of people providing inconsistent levels of service. Once the school community senses staff are losing interest in them, they will lose interest in the school.

Service excellence lights don’t go out overnight. They dim and flicker first, and this is the sign you need to do some maintenance.

If you are in this place, or you are worried it could happen, below are the 5 things you can do to re-ignite (or keep bright) the service excellence lights in your ESS.

1.     Be clear on what you expect

Don’t assume your ESS knows what service excellence is and how to do it. Too many times, employees are left to use their common sense in this area. Service excellence is not common sense or a “one size fits all” approach. To have all customers delighted and tell everyone they know about your fantasy team and school, you need service excellence standards in place. Be proactive and put time aside to create your own specific customer service standards and yes, write them down.

2.     Talk to your ESS

Once you have written standards, you need to confirm your staff understand them and have the skills to implement them. Talk to your staff – preferably face to face. Your ESS can make or break a school, so you must make time for individual Service Excellence conversations. Hearing you speak about your service standards will confirm to staff how important the standards are and how much power and value they (the staff) have at the school.

3.     Ask staff what they need

Once the team is clear on the standards, ask them what would stop them from achieving those standards consistently and what they would need to remove that stop sign. Let them share their limitations and write those down. Writing limitations on paper or a whiteboard, with a column for solutions, shows that you intend to help them solve the problem. Encourage the team to help each other with any limitations.

4.     Consider outsourcing the solution

Well, of course I would say that, I am a service specialist trainer, after all. But, there are many reasons why you should consider engaging external training support. Whether it’s the soft skills (people skills) of the role or the hard skills (technical skills), do you really have the time and skills to train your ESS? Do you understand adult learning styles, customer expectations, what motivates people to learn and how to adjust your training to suit each staff member? If you do, great, but if not, get an expert for expert results, or you could be wasting time – yours and your that of your ESS.

5.     Step back and let them try

Make it OK for staff to make mistakes – it really is a powerful learning tool. Give them feedback on interactions that were carried out well, and help your ESS review the ones that could have been better. Build their confidence by telling them you know they will do better next time.

Final Note: When creating your service standards, be specific and most importantly, ask your school community for input. After all, it’s your community who determines if your school provides excellent service, not you and not your staff.

To create a culture of service excellence, ESS need to feel valued and motivated. The best way to do that is with practical, relevant and motivational professional development. Find out how you can keep those service excellence lights of your team on full power with The Zone and Onsite Training services.

By Cate Schreck – Author of “The A-Z of Service Excellence”. 

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