A few weeks ago, I was killing a lazy Saturday afternoon at home by settling down on the couch for a mid-afternoon nap.
My wife was enjoying the sunny day by puttering in the garden with our 18-month-old daughter. Up to her elbows in potting soil, she detected the unmistakable scent of a diaper badly in need of changing. Assuming I was watching college football on the couch (generally a safe bet), she called out to our daughter to 'go inside and get a fresh diaper, then give it to Daddy.' The reasonable assumption would be that I would see the adorable cherub toddling toward me with a clean diaper and take a time-out from the game on TV and do the dirty deed.
As I mentioned, however, I was asleep on the couch, not actually watching the game. Our daughter is a very bright toddler with command of several concepts that are important to her young life, 'diaper' and 'daddy' being two biggies. As instructed, she walked in to the living room, grabbed a fresh diaper from the basket we keep there, laid it gently beside her snoring Daddy on the couch, and returned to the garden play with Mom.
An hour or so later, my wife came in from the garden to find me (still snoozing) on the couch with a diaper lying next to my face. In that moment, my wife realized that our poor daughter had been suffering with a dirty diaper for more than an hour... and that she'd done exactly what she'd been asked.
When doing business, I frequently encounter a similar situation, a front-line employee who has been expertly trained in the execution of a task and who performs it faithfully, even when it doesn't accomplish the purpose for which it was intended (or even goes counter to it). Consider the cashier who tells you 'thank-you-have-a-nice-day' in a rapid-fire monotone voice while staring at the cash register. Ostensibly, this task was designed to accomplish the greater purpose of delivering friendly customer service, but by its very execution has done quite the opposite.
Very often when training a new teammate, it's far too easy to focus solely on the task or function being taught without providing information as to the overarching purpose or goal it serves. The practice can result in situations where the task is effectively executed, but is done in such a way that it fails to achieve its greater purpose. Further, it can create a culture in which the process is served, leaving out the all-important people component of the business...resulting in, at best, mechanical service and, at worst, frustrated former customers.
As we continue to onboard large numbers of the emerging, 'Generation i' workforce, training concepts such as purpose, context and motivation are becoming as vital to the training environment as the task itself. In order to reach their maximum potential in any position, today's front-line employee must not only understand exactly how to perform a given task, but how it fits in with other tasks and goals, and - most importantly - why.
Previous generations have been more likely to accept the successful completion of a task as reason itself for doing it. On the rare occasion someone had the nerve to ask 'why,' the standard responses 'because it's your job' and 'because I/they said so' were accepted without question. Today, however, our teams are accustomed to accessing background and support information on whatever they desire in an instant, and don't readily accept non-answers or delays. Curious about why your street is named as it is? Google it. Need to settle a bet about who the 7th man on the moon was? Pull it up with your cell phone. The new generation demands answers, and 'that's just the way we do it' no longer suffices.
To attain optimum results from training and results from trainees, reassess your approach and consider the following order:
1. Purpose - When beginning to train a particular set of skills or functions, begin by painting the big picture. Detail how the results of the task contribute to a greater team or organizational goal. If you are teaching someone how to sell, share the financial goals of the company. If you are training someone to conserve resources, paint a picture of the company's profitability status and challenges. When training service tactics, be sure to communicate that happy customers are the goal, and that the task itself is but one of many means of attaining it. By giving priority to the greater goals of your organization, you give permission to your teams to pursue them when the execution of the task itself falls flat. In effect, you empower them to go above and beyond. The task of mopping the floor at the end of the shift becomes mopping when a spill is sighted if the purpose of safety - rather than the task of closing sidework - has been well communicated.
2. Task - Next train the nuts-and-bolts of the task itself. Be sure to let the trainee co-pilot the experience and provide plenty of opportunities for hands-on, guided participation. Leave room for questions regarding the task itself. When confronted with the inevitable 'why do we do it that way?' question, be prepared to give a meaningful answer that holds water. If you are unsure as to the reasons or benefits of doing a task exactly the way you're training it, make room for suggestions on how to improve the process. Asking 'why' something is done a particular way is often a trainee's way of communicating that they see a better or more direct path to the solution. Members of this emerging workforce are extremely intuitive (thanks to the myriad of menu-driven information systems they operate daily), and can immediately see shortcuts and time-savers. Use their skill to improve your processes.
3. Context - Once the task is mastered, let the trainee know exactly how it fits in with the rest of the system. Show them not only how the task relates to the other tasks they are asked to perform in priority and function, but how the work they do affects and is affected by the work being done by others to achieve the company's greater goals. Training context is the best way to make sure one task leads effectively to the next, constantly building more effective execution. It is also a crucial part of building teamwork into your culture.
4. Motivation - The old-style management philosophy of 'I shouldn't have to motivate or reward people to do the job they're getting paid to do' is the hallmark of a dated leader that can look forward to nothing but diminishing returns from his or her team. Effective, modern leaders and trainers understand that people today work for a number of reasons, and money is only one. If you are relying solely on a paycheck to motivate your team, you'd better pay better than everyone else does, or become accustomed to employees abandoning you for the next best offer. 'Carrots,' or a simple system of rewards and recognition, are the best way to make sure today's what's-in-it-for-me workforce continue to execute long after training is finished.
By adding these few steps, you will produce a front-line team that is more likely to succeed, more committed to the success and continued growth of the team, and who will work harder, smarter and longer for your company.
By impossibly complicating her instructions to our toddler and saying, 'You need your diaper changed (purpose), go inside and give Daddy a diaper (task), so that he can change you (context) and we can continue playing (motivation),' my wife would have ended up with a dry kid, and I with a more productive Saturday afternoon.
Tim Kirkland is the author of the best-selling book on service, The Renegade Server and CEO of Renegade Hospitality Group, a professional advisory resource for the customer service industry.
What does it look like when teams are focused on the what rather than the why? How does it adversely affect business/service?
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