Learn and Understand Front Line Jobs

Have you ever had a manager request or assign you a task and want it done in a time frame that was simply not realistic? This probably happened because they did not understand your job and day-to-day tasks. This generally leads to mistakes, stress and unrealistic expectations.

The more a manager knows about the day-to-day operations of your business, the easier it will be to make informed decisions. Spend some time working side-by-side with your front line employees to gain a better understanding of what they go through each day and to get a better feel for the processes they undertake. This knowledge will help when focusing on process refinement and when making operational decisions. Also, you will gain the perspective of your customers and have an opportunity to identify problems with customer service.

Respond to Customer Inquiries and Complaints Promptly

With all the talk about customer service and responsiveness, it is interesting to note how many businesses talk a good game but just don't deliver. We can all relate experiences with businesses where an appropriate sense of urgency didn't seem to exist. One area that seems to stand out is responding to customer inquiries and complaints.

When a customer, or prospective customer, takes the time to contact a business they are looking for some type of assistance. They generally want initial information, additional information, resolution of a problem or they just want to sound off about an experience they have had with your organization. Unfortunately, most businesses do a mediocre job, at best, of responding to customers in a timely manner.

Most customers will expect to have their requests responded to in a reasonable time frame. But what is reasonable? There is no standard rule of thumb to define response time. Believe it or not, responsiveness is a strategic issue and can be used to differentiate your business from your competitors. Therefore, the standards you establish for responding to all customer issues will determine the level of differentiation you achieve. And the consistency with which you are able to respond quickly will go a long ways toward determining how loyal your customers become.
It seems that many managers are afraid to press their employees too much when it comes to responding to customers. Attitude has a lot to do with how customers are treated. What attitude do you convey about customers? Is it a casual one or is it a "customer first" attitude? Your employees will pick up on your attitude quickly and will often mirror it. At the very least they will understand how serious you are about serving the customer.

A business can't afford to be casual about how it deals with its customers. The "I'm too busy" or the "you are just one of many customers" excuses are just not acceptable! We experience and hear horror stories constantly about poor responsiveness. The level of incompetency in this arena is mind boggling. We often wonder how something so obvious goes so wrong in so many companies.

Responsiveness is part of your culture. Is yours a casual, "I'll get to it when I can" kind of culture or is it a "I put my customers above all else and make their issues a priority" kind of culture? This is a key and fundamental issue that needs to be addressed.

How would your employees answer these questions?

-When a customer calls and has a problem that requires a call back, how long does it take, on average, to call them back either with an answer or to let them know the problem is still being worked on?
-If a customer leaves a message for an employee, what are the expectations in terms of how much time can elapse before calling him/her back?
-What are the policies regarding responding to customers?
-How much training have employees had with regard to responding to customers in terms of time management, prioritization of customer issues and dealing with difficult or angry customers?
-At what level does decision making occur regarding customer problems and inquiries?
-How well do employees understand the company's products/services, its policies and what the next level or step in problem resolution is?

Setting extremely clear expectations about responding to customers is critical. To some organizations it might seem like a relatively minor issue. Those organizations are bound to struggle. Those that have figured out how to respond expediently, effectively and with a caring attitude distinctly have an advantage over their competition.

Establish Productivity Standards

Because productivity has such a profound impact on profits, there must be some way of measuring performance. Setting productivity standards for a particular job is important. Whether it be processing payables or picking orders in the warehouse or some other job, it is possible to establish minimum standards in terms of output. These standards become expectations for your employees. Also, incentives can be established for performance above the minimum performance level. In order to establish standards it is essential that you understand what it takes to do the job and what a reasonable work pace is. Setting unrealistically high or low standards can be detrimental to productivity and/or morale. It is also imperative that employees are held accountable on meeting these productivity standards which can be done through performance reviews.

The Cost of Turnover

Some turnover of employees is normal and expected. When it becomes excessive, it costs a business a significant amount of money. There are tangible and intangible costs associated with employee turnover. As a general rule of thumb, we believe that the cost of turning over one employee is roughly 25% of that employee's annual wages and benefits. For an employee earning $30,000 (includes benefits), this would amount to $7,500 of "cost" associated with that employee leaving the company. For example, suppose a company employing 100 people turns over 25% of its work force annually. In this case 25 employees leave the company every year. Assuming all 25 employees were earning $30,000/year, the total approximate cost of these employees departing is $187,500. If the turnover rate is reduced to 10%, the total approximate cost would fall to $75,000. Obviously it is important to take steps to control employee turnover. Are you taking those steps?

ReviewSNAP Updates

ReviewSNAP is always willing to make changes upon the request of clients and recently we have made updates to the system. Here are this week's updates:

1. Goals will no longer automatically carry over to the next review period. All goals will be entered per review period and not carry over to the upcoming review period.

2. You can now use separate rating scales for your competencies and your goals

3. You now have the option of turning off the ability for employees to view feedback on themselves that was given by others.

4. We are now offering annual, monthly, quarterly and semi-annual anniversary review periods. This means that you will be able to have annual, monthly, quarterly or semi-annual reviews based on an employees hire date.

Employees Creating Their Own Goals

Do your employees create their own goals in your current review process or do their managers create the goals for them? Now with ReviewSNAP you have the option of creating goals either way. You can have the managers create the employee's goals and the employee will be able to view the goals, but make no additions or changes to the goals. Or, you have the option of allowing employees to create their goals, discuss them with their manager and once they agree on the goals the manager will have the ability to lock down or approve those goals. From then on the goals that have been approved can no longer be changed, but the employee will be able to create additional goals if necessary.

ReviewSNAP Announces New 360 Degree Feedback Module

In a move to offer current and future clients a comprehensive performance management system, ReviewSNAP announces the launch of the new 360 Degree Feedback module, ReviewSNAP360TM. A division of Applied Training Systems, ReviewSNAP provides a fully automated, web-based performance review solution.

ReviewSNAP360 is a complete multi-rater 360 degree feedback solution with fully automated functionality. It is designed for ease of use and efficient coordination of the actual 360 degree surveys.

The decision to add a 360 Degree Feedback Survey solution and bundle it together with the existing performance review system was an easy one according to Dave Arringdale, President of Applied Training Systems. “Rather than creating another system that our clients would have to pay for and access separately, we made the decision to incorporate the 360 tool into our existing performance review system. We have bundled them together to create one point of access, allow for sharing of common employee and company information, and to keep the annual subscription cost at an affordable rate.”

ReviewSNAP is a popular on-demand employee performance review system that can be logged into from any location at anytime using a computer that has Internet access. The bundled solutions offer a number of robust and automated features including:
·The ability to personalize the site, create custom rating scales and design review periods to the specific organization
·An automatic notification via email to reviewers and raters of pending reviews/surveys
·An option to use and modify standard templates or create completely customized review and survey forms
·The use of an e-signature feature to accommodate a completely paperless process
An option to view aggregated statistics at several levels,

For more information regarding ReviewSNAP and the new ReviewSNAP360, visit http://www.reviewsnap.com/ or call 1-800-516-5849 to talk with a company representative.

About Applied Training Systems
Applied Training Systems, founded in 1995, assists organizations of all sizes and types in learning how to better manage people and resources using seasoned business professionals that train, coach, and consult with clients. As an industry leader, Applied Training Systems has expanded into publishing and Web-based human resources software solutions. The company’s primary goal is to help organizations get better at what they do and become more efficient in the process to contribute to the overall enhancement effort.

What Makes 360 Degree Feedback Work?

The use of 360 degree feedback surveys has grown and is continuing to grow at a very fast rate. The idea of surveying employees isn’t new, but the notion of having multiple employees rate a specific “target” employee to provide as much unbiased input about that person’s performance is a relatively young concept.

But why does 360 degree feedback work and what can it do for an organization? Before answering the question of why 360 degree feedback works and what it can do for an organization, it probably makes sense to describe and define what it really is.

The term 360 degree implies a circle of raters surrounding the “target” employee providing anonymous feedback. A department manager, for example, likely has peer managers, subordinates, and superiors. Using a traditional definition of 360 degree feedback, some or all of the people “surrounding” the employee will be invited to complete a rating and comment survey form on critical competency areas for the employee.

But any employee level can be selected for receiving feedback. Even when an employee has no subordinates, peers and superiors can certainly provide sufficient feedback in most cases to help the employee better understand his or her strengths and weaknesses.

And it is not out of the realm of reason to include people outside the organization such as vendors or customers to participate in the feedback. While this is not all that common, the feedback from familiar “outsiders” can be beneficial to the process.

The raters selected should have direct experience working with the “target” employee on an ongoing basis. Certainly the biases of the individuals completing the feedback will enter into the process. This is why it is important to get enough people involved to smooth out some of the inherent bias involved in a survey scenario.

In a 360 degree feedback survey, the ultimate objective is to gain a clear understanding of how others within the organization view the performance of the “target” employee relative to specific competencies or performance factors such as those related to accountability or cooperation. The raters provide a rating (generally on a 1 to 5 scale) based on their perception of the employee’s performance for each of the competencies listed on the feedback form. And there is usually room for overall comments at the end of the survey form. Of course, all of this is done anonymously and the employee will see the average ratings for each competency as well as a compilation of the comments offered. The results are then used in the creation of a development plan for the employee that will focus on strengthening areas that may be in need of attention.

Now that we have identified the basis process involved, the real question of what makes 360 degree feedback work and how the organization will benefit remains. There are several critical factors that will help ensure successful implementation of 360 degree feedback in your organization:

-Cultural integration. 360 degree feedback must become a part of the organization’s culture. This is accomplished by very clearly communicating what it is, why it is being done, and what the intended uses of the results are. But it doesn’t end there. To truly achieve integration into the culture, there must be consistency in using the tool and development plans that address deficiencies must be put into place and then completed. Keep in mind that the objective is to provide feedback that will help the employee become more aware of his or her behavior and performance levels and then enhance performance.

-Accountability for participation. Since having enough diversity in raters is important, it is critical that the raters understand that when they are invited to provide feedback by a certain date, they must not ignore the request. Expectations must be made very clear to all employees about the importance of 360 degree feedback and the need for timely completion of the surveys.
Relevance of the competencies. Developing the survey form is not complicated. But it is important to make certain that what should be measured is actually measured when selecting competencies to include in the survey. Making the survey forms specific to each position is one way to help ensure that job-specific competencies are being evaluated.

-Simplicity. If the process is too complex, acceptance will be hard to gain. Using an automated solution is usually best since they usually include automated notifications and carry out all of the calculations and compilation of results. Manual processes can be cumbersome and time consuming and can put a damper on long-term integration into the organization.

-Positive results. Like most activities, 360 degree feedback cannot be perceived as nothing more than an exercise. It must be perceived as a viable and useful tool that helps employees get better at their jobs. If nothing happens after the feedback is obtained, employees will begin to perceive it as just another useless exercise. Make certain that the feedback is used to create sound development plans that are then implemented. Over time, incremental improvement will occur and employees will see real benefit in participating in the process.

These are just some of the factors that will help your organization implement a successful 360 degree feedback process. As with other programs, commitment and attention to detail will help cement it as a viable and beneficial tool.

On-demand, web-based solutions such as ReviewSNAP (www.reviewsnap.com) offer excellent automated 360 degree feedback tools. They offer a free trial and “live” demos so that you can see how the system might benefit your organization.

Awareness Can Be Important To Your Credibility

Competing in today's markets can be difficult. It is made even more difficult by a lack of awareness of your business, product or service on the part of prospective customers. Positioning your company properly in the minds of potential customers is a critical, yet often overlooked part of promotional strategy.

When you are faced with several competitors in a market, it is likely that the firm with the highest level of market awareness will have some level of credibility established unless it has somehow deteriorated its reputation. If that firm has credibility through a higher level of awareness in the market, it will generally have a competitive advantage. But why?

It is well known that people are swayed by awareness of a particular company. They might know very little about that organization, but a company that has done a good job of frequently putting its name out in front of the market with a subtle message about the quality of its products or services or by presenting a highly professional look and image will entrench itself in the subconscious of the prospective buyers. When the buyer is ready to buy, the fact that they already have a positive image of the company and/or its products and services will serve as a compelling reason to at least consider that company and its products or services heavily.

A well planned and executed awareness campaign can establish a real sense of quality in the minds of those who represent your market. Suppose your sales people are making calls and competing with firms that have established themselves in the minds of the prospective buyer. Your firm is a relative unknown and people know virtually nothing about you. The dilemma that the buyer faces has to do with risk. Are they willing to take a risk and purchase something from you when they can buy the same type of product or service from a company that has credibility with them. That credibility might have been established simply by using institutional ads to attack the subconscious of the buyer by putting the name and some subtle message about quality or image in front of the market on a frequent basis.

Think about many of the ads you see or hear. They could appear on television, in a newspaper or magazine or on a billboard. You might hear them on the radio. A majority of those ads are insitutional in nature by virtue of the fact that they are not selling something specific. They are positioning the product or company in the minds of the prospective buyers and creating high levels of awareness. When the buyer is approached to buy one or more of its products or services, the fact that they have awareness of the company reduces the risk of doing business with that firm.

A very bad argument against this type of campaign is that they are expensive and don't sell product. While such a campaign might be expensive, they certainly don't have to be. And the argument that they don't sell product is pure nonsense. That argument is usually used by the unenlightened as a way of covering up the, "I'm too cheap to do things right" syndrome. Awareness and image campaigns are designed to instill credibility. Therefore, they take time to work. Most business people don't have the necessary patience to see such a campaign through. And institutional campaigns are more difficult to measure in terms of direct impact on sales. But the impact of the campaigns can be measured through pre and post campaign market research efforts designed to measure awareness and credibility levels.

Budget for some sort of campaign that is designed to position your product, service or business properly in the mind of your prospective buyer. It doesn't necessarily have to be a media advertising campaign. Newsletters and direct mail can often be used effectively. But keep in mind that the best campaigns generally use a combination of mediums and methods in positioning the company. Using an advertising agency for any sort of significant promotional campaign is recommended.

Attributes Of Successful Long-Term Businesses

We believe there are attributes that are common to successful businesses. While there are probably others, we feel that the twelve attributes below represent the most important:

1. They are focused on the customer and gather feedback and input from the customer on a regular and consistent basis.

2. They understand the concept of relationship development, both internally and externally and they work hard at forming new relationships and strengthening old ones.

3. They are externally-driven (customer) rather than internally- driven (operations).

4. They have a high percentage of talented and high performing employees.

5. They understand how to apply their resources in a manner that maximizes their opportunity for success.

6. They have a high level of morale and teamwork and foster that kind of environment.

7. They do not constantly shift and change priorities.

8. They have well defined and simple, efficient processes.

9. They have a long-term mentality.

10. They have a long-range plan with goals that all employees understand.

11. They spend money wisely and are not afraid to spend money to the benefit of the organization.

12. They have strong and effective communication taking place consistently and regularly.