What Frontline Education Support Staff Fear Most About 2022

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Well before we heard the word COVID, Education Support Staff were seeking help.

The #1 concern, and the concern of School Business Managers, was how to professionally interact with rude, angry or upset customers at your school.

We know this because since 2012 (when Just For Schools commenced), it has been the most requested training topic for Education Support Staff.

Professional skill development in the area of difficult customer interactions is not a one dimensional, one session, or one time activity. The art of professionally interacting with challenging humans has many layers of soft skills (people skills) and below gives you an overview of just some of the sessions we deliver at Just For Schools to build confident and professional frontline ESS:

  • After Shock – Managing stress after difficult customer interactions.

  • Staying Positive. Team harmony in times of customer outrage.

  • Am I making it worse? Self awareness for frontline Education Support Staff.

  • The fuel of bad behaviours. Understanding and using empathy with challenging customers.

  • Taking The LEAD. A 4-step process to lead customers from emotional to rational.

  • The Power of Stopping. 3-min daily activities to create a culture of confident communicators.

  • I can’t hear you! What stops us all from active listening and how to turn it on.

  • When customers are rude. How to gain respect face to face and over the phone.

So, as you can see from above, there are loads of professional and personal development sessions we deliver to help frontline ESS arrive and leave work feeling confident. It’s what we specialise in, and it’s what frontline ESS have needed since customer service began.

And here we are today, the start of 2022. We have been riding the COVID rollercoaster for 2 years, and frontline ESS are being asked to manage more and more difficult and demanding customers.

Sadly, a post on Instagram last week of a supermarket employee sitting in their car taking deep breaths before they started their shift, was not surprising. The comment read:

“Getting ready to answer the same questions over and over and over regarding RATs, product shortages, masks and no staff etc. I’m preparing to be abused. I can handle it, but not sure for how much longer.”

So, that’s the greatest fear – the fear of the unknown. The comments of support and shared feelings on the post were not just from supermarket staff – this kind of fear and fatigue impacts all industries. Even highly experienced and skilled customer service staff have limits.

There are of course polite and caring customers who greatly appreciate and support frontline ESS, but that doesn’t stop the anxiety fatigue that comes from an uncertain future; who or what will I have to deal with next?

What can you do about this?

Call us to discover the option that best fits your team, your time frame and your budget. 

Maybe you won’t learn anything new, but knowing that you are doing the right things now and putting in place a plan for the future will alleviate stress – yours and the stress of your frontline ESS.

By Cate Schreck – Author of “The A- Z of Service Excellence” Download the First Chapter for FREE