What videos should I watch and in what sequence?
Our philosophy to learning and development for both frontline staff and their managers is simple.
Start at the most important point. In other words, start where staff interact with customers. Identifying all the external customer service touch points is relatively easy. But it’s also vital to consider the internal customer service interactions. Every staff member, irrespective of their role, provides service to a “customer”, whether they’re an internal customer or an external customer.
For example a Financial Controller’s customers will be all those who rely on the Finance Department’s management reports. The HR Manager’s customers are those who rely on the advice and support of the HR team in relation to people issues. And the Marketing Manager supports the Sales teams with smart and innovative advertising campaigns.
Once you know who your customers are, then ask yourself two simple questions:
- What are the two or three most critical activities that your staff need to execute to a high degree of capability every day, week or month?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do your staff execute these key activities?
Now match the relevant video modules within the SalesDNA content library to the above critical activities – where there is most need for improvement. Even if someone is rated highly in a role, it doesn’t mean that they cannot benefit from refresher learning. And what better way to offer this learning than via interactive content they can watch in their own time – and at their own pace?
What about learning for the manager?
The core role of any manager is to ensure that they can lead, manage and coach the key activities of their staff. So again, it’s worth asking yourself some key questions:
- What are the two or three most critical activities that the managers must perform to a high degree of capability to lead, manage and coach the activities of their frontline staff?
- On a scale of 1 to 10 how well do your managers actually do this?
- And how well do you personally lead, coach and manage your staff?
For almost every manager, the key activities will start with being able to create a clear vision for the team, setting goals and creating plans to meet those goals. They will then need to underpin this with the ability to run great meetings at the start of each week; the ability to coach for both skills and performance; and the ability to hold staff accountable by following up with regular one-on-ones.
Once you’ve thought through this, the next step is to select the right content to align to your needs.
Here’s a key tip. Many companies provide frontline training to frontline staff only – and management training to management staff only. We believe there is a better way. Give staff access to the same video modules that you give to your managers. This allows staff the opportunity to understand how their manager is seeking to lead them. For example teams will understand how their leader is aiming to run an effective sales meeting. The more the staff understand what the manager is trying to do and why, the more likely they will be to put in the effort to support the manager.
Ultimately everyone needs a clear context for their work. We believe the best way to do this is by providing staff with access to learning content they can watch and learn from in their own time and at their own pace.
Happy learning !