Upskilling the staff to provide customer service

We are in highly uncertain in these challenging times. In such turbulence, the staff needs confidence to perform the given task well. Although the norm in such uncertain and challenging times is to freeze the staff training and marketing expenditure immediately, those companies that invest more time, money and effort in the training and development to upskill their people are more likely to standout from others during and even after the crisis.

Upskilling

Upskilling is all about learning new skills and competencies within the same job profile. This enables the staff to position themselves strongly to face the current crisis situation and harness any opportunities in the future as well. Developing new skills and thereby enhancing competence is one of the basic psychological needs of the most human beings. Therefore, upskilling can inspire the staff to go the ‘extra mile’ at a time when there is a feeling of depression or demotivation owing to the pandemic.

Why invest in upskilling now?

This is the best time to upskill. With staff currently going through a significant challenge owing to limited earning prospects, inability to plan their future activities and many uncertainties with regard to when this crisis will subside. During the 2001 recession in the United States, General Electricals’ Chief Executive Officer explained to his Chief Learning Officer that “This is the best time to upskill our staff because when there is less business, the staff are free to productively engage themselves for training.” “Once they learn and comeback to the floor, they will have more time to put the learning into practice purposefully. Finally, good practices that are introduced may bring about enormous benefits to all stakeholders once the economy returns to normalcy”. 

Upskilling can create value. Upskilling can help staff reimagine how their performance should be in the new era, which will in turn create value for the customer. I recently visited a pastry shop to buy a few snacks. Having bought two varieties, the salesperson insisted that I should try out another new item which I saw for the first time. 

He said that it will be an ideal snack to have in the evening with a cup of black tea. When I asked “How do you know?” He replied, “During the lockdown period since our Chef was having free time, he tried making a few more new items. Thereafter, in the food tasting process the sales staff was given the opportunity to taste and comment on his innovations.”

“We found that this particular item is an ideal snack to have with a cup of tea”. This is a very simple example of a chef and salesperson upskilling themselves to explore the possibilities of producing and marketing a new product to existing customers. 

Similarly, staff upskilling themselves, by increasing the ‘quality consciousness’ or the ‘customer convenience’ associated with a product, will eventually help provide good customer service in the future.

Continuous improvement is a ‘must’ for every profession

‘Marians’ is a musical band established in 1988 led by Nalin Perera. Their professionalism in performance has won the hearts of millions of music lovers both locally and abroad. They are a versatile band covering a wide range of music varieties such as pop, semi-rock, and western classical.  Many say their success is owing to Nalin’s leadership, every group members’ self-discipline and attention to details. 

At the onset of the pandemic, they had just returned home after a month-long foreign tour. The entire group on their own initiative decided to be on a 14-day self-quarantine. By then with the lockdown all the functions and the events for which they were booked well in advance got postponed. Having looked after the wellbeing of his group members first, Nalin then decided to upskill themselves by doing a lot of creative things during this free period. 

This was done to get themselves occupied with their profession and to use the spare time productively, whilst keeping the enthusiasm at its peak.  The old songs were given a new touch and many more song were composed. Each performer started either singing or playing their part from their own residences. All the tracks were synchronized using technology at their studio and the final products were uploaded onto YouTube. This new initiative was widely accepted by their audience who were in need of entertainment to break the boredom of the lockdown. Enormous amount of likes and comments were posted on social media appreciating their commitment. 

Moreover, he had frequently requested the sound engineer and the technical crew to service the instruments. A week prior to their first wedding event after the lockdown, he requested all his group members to be present, at the studio by following health guidelines. Then they had a full day rehearsal session to practice the new songs they had composed during the lockdown and to further finetune their ability to perform with the same spirit even after three months of a silence. 

With the upskilling they have now started performing even better despite all the challenges they faced in the last few months. A band that is known to be meticulous in everything that they do, presently had gone a further step in their events by every group member adhering to use the same type of masks that goes along with their uniform attire.

Learning outcome

Becoming number one is easy, sustaining that position is tough. Whatever the profession you are in continuous improvement is a ‘must’. In tough times, leaders have to understand the customer sentiments and he/she should take the initiative to upskill the staff to give innovative solutions to the customer. 

In the process the leader should seek ideas from all his team members and work with openness. Never be overconfident or complacent. Use the free time to find ways and means of improving yourselves. The COVID-19 pandemic has already brought significant change to the world of work, and this change is likely to continue.

Upskill capability for the new normal

BMICH (Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall), Sri Lanka’s iconic landmark convention, exhibitions and conference centre is the largest venue of its kind in the country. It provides varied facilities to the public, in 42 acres of land area with over 30 internal and external venues. 

In the recent past, prior to the pandemic, BMICH was a very busy entity with many events booked back to back throughout the year. The entire premises is managed and maintained by a staff force of nearly 350, spearheaded by a recognized personality, Sunil Dissanayake who has held senior managerial positions in the Corporate and Public sectors in Sri Lanka and abroad. Although there was a significant negative impact to the revenue volumes of the entity with the lockdown, the first thing he recommended to the Board was to retain every staff member. His presence was seen 24x7 during the lockdown period from mid-March looking after the property. This was done keeping in mind his ‘situational awareness’, which is needed for a leader, to be ‘hands-on’ and be aware of what is going around him during a crisis. 

Many staff members were given the training and technical support to ‘work from home’ and handle the customer enquiries and requests with regard to either postponement or cancellation of events. During the lockdown he got approval from the relevant authorities to get down the minimum staff numbers to work on a roster basis keeping two objectives in mind. 

Firstly, to consistently maintain the entire premises and also to provide the necessary services to tenants who were functioning even during lockdown. Secondly, to upskill the staff to provide an exceptional customer service to all its stakeholders once it recommences operations. 

The staff were educated on how to handle ‘frequently asked questions’ and to provide constructive answers. Furthermore, staff were trained to make a polite request from the guest to check the temperature, gently use the thermometer and the importance of showing the reading to the customer. Role plays were done along with the staff to upskill them for a future; where personal distancing, spaced seating, hand washing and sanitizing are the norm to ensure a healthy environment. These were carried out by following the guidelines set by relevant authorities. 

Dissanayake said that, “As Sri Lanka restarts according to the new normal, BMICH ensures a safe environment for all our guests, visitors and staff by implementing a well supervised program of measures. We have now upskilled our teams to seriously follow the health safety measures that have been implemented so our prospective clientele can safely host their events at our excellent, state of the art venues.”

“With the relaxation of the lockdown all the staff members are geared with a new skill-set to passionately commence operations to provide a ‘world class’ service to our guests”.

Learning outcome

When a brand is well known, the expectations of the customers are also high. In addition, during a crisis all stakeholders do have anxieties. The leader should understand all these circumstances and conceptualize solutions accordingly. In the process the leader has to take all possible actions to look after its assets; both hardware and software.  Upskilling the staff to fulfil the need of the hour is a ‘must’. Performing a major or minor act professionally in the ‘new normal’ matters a lot to the customer. Therefore, no matter the task that has to be performed, consistency has to be maintained to suit the given circumstances. All of these help to establish a reassurance to every stakeholder.

Conclusion

Realize the fact that disruption also creates opportunity. It is an accepted fact that COVID-19 has created significant instabilities in the corporate world. Leaders play a vital role today in strategizing how to face the challenges ahead and executing these strategies and action plans with its staff. 

The process of upskilling the staff with new skills and competencies are likely to benefit the entities both in the short and the long run. Therefore, one of the biggest requirements this year is developing a learning culture to support upskilling the staff of the entities.

(The writer is a sought after ‘Service Excellence’ specialist in Sri Lanka. Over the last 25 years he has conducted nearly 3,000 Inspirational and Educational Programs for over 750 organisations in eleven countries. His work can be seen at www.dhammikakalapuge.com)