We know that strong employee training and development is key to a company’s success and growth.

However, when a business expands its operations across multiple countries, maintaining consistent training standards can be challenging.

With global teams, you need to have an effective global training strategy, to make sure the learning needs of your employees are consistent and in line with the company’s specific needs. This is why it’s a good idea to standardise employee learning and development through consistent global training.

How can this be achieved? By investing in one training provider, instead of various learning tools and courses across the market.

These days, technology has made this a whole lot easier for employers, allowing training to be effectively coordinated and deployed for global teams. Let’s look at this now.

When we refer to ‘global training’ it’s likely that your company’s training content and strategies have been created for a diverse audience, rather than a small and specific demographic of workers.

After all, your learners probably speak different languages, come from different cultures, and live in different time zones.

eLearning professional Nikos Andriotis, says that when designing training materials for a global workforce, it’s important to make sure the content and development strategies are “attuned to address the learning needs of all learners.”

“This is the point where issues arise – designing effective training and development approaches for a diverse workforce,” he says.

Andriotis believes that the first thing you need to do is implement one learning approach for all topics that will apply to all regions. This means your course delivery and design will follow one standard method – online learning, for example. Moreover, all courses will use one language and will all have the same content.

“This approach makes content creation easier and less costly because a team from global headquarters can take care of the entire training process,” Andriotis explains.

The benefits of consistent global training

Companies that employ a multinational workforce need global training and development strategies to be an integral part of the business.

One of the key benefits of consistent global training is that it helps employers to build up and engage with a solid talent pool that stretches right across the world. Implementing a global training strategy also allows organisations to address the key development needs of the business while still remaining sensitive to the specific learning needs and challenges of the local markets.

And with the same training program in place worldwide, you can be sure that your company is achieving consistent standards in management, service, customer experience, and employee development.

Susan Bowles, Director of Client Strategies for Local Concept, has helped hundreds of clients launch global initiatives smoothly.

“Developing training for global audiences should not be painful. It should be a smooth process,” she says.

“A global training initiative can be developed smoothly and successfully with the right information, good planning, smart resourcing, and making informed decisions.”

Using online learning for global training

As said above, using one learning approach will greatly help to simplify course delivery and design for a global workforce. And online training is a great example of this.

“When it comes to global training and development strategies, an LMS solves issues on location, time, and even language,” Andriotis says.

Using an LMS such as the Go1 platform will help you save huge amounts on employee training costs, moving all your learning content online instead of spending a fortune on different trainers, venue hires, catering and transport worldwide.

If you’ve recently expanded your company’s operations across multiple countries, and are looking for consistent training for your global workforce, take a look at Go1’s online training courses today.

For more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

False

Staff training is one of the most important aspects of running a business. Learn how to effectively train your global workforce using e-learning!

How to achieve consistent global training

When it comes to online versus classroom training, it is important to recognize each has a unique environment. There are many additional differences you should know before you select the right option for your organization and employees. As far as which learning opportunity is better, they both have advantages and disadvantages although the consensus among businesses is that e-learning has a competitive edge.

Most people know what to expect from in-person training, whereas that is not always the case with individuals who participate in e-learning. After all, the experience of a classroom setting starts in preschool. Especially if your company has never offered online training, you can anticipate your employees having a significant number of questions. The best way to prepare them for e-learning and to help them feel excited about the online opportunity is to put together information and instructions that address their questions and concerns.

If you have a large organization, consider holding an orientation for new hires and existing employees to go over the benefits of taking online training courses. At that time, you can also discuss the required technology, provide examples of the topics available, give them information on resources they can turn to for support, and so on.

Another difference between classroom and online training has to do with support. People who train in a classroom setting have someone they can turn to immediately when they need help. With online courses, your employees may have to wait a few days for support. As an example, if you have workers using e-learning at home, and they complete a course on Friday, they would need to wait until Monday to get answers or assistance with a problem.

You can address this issue in two ways. First, make sure someone on your leadership team staffs an on-call support line. Second, choose a method of e-learning on a platform that includes support as part of the overall pricing structure. The same goes for receiving feedback. You need a well-designed online training source that includes instructor feedback or provides reporting to the participant’s manager.

Compared to a classroom environment, online learning is more student-driven. In other words, people who take courses online as a way of developing or honing skills and knowledge want to learn. Before taking the e-learning route, it would help to conduct an analysis of each department within your organization to identify the level of interest and needs. Make sure you choose workers who are willing to better themselves and their careers for online training.

Between the two options, online training requires more self-discipline from participants. Although most courses take an hour or less to complete, your employees must still manage their time correctly. If you have a staff eager to learn and willing to dedicate a portion of their day to learning, online training is an outstanding option.

On the other hand, if the people within your organization you want to put through training tend to procrastinate or show zero interest, a classroom setting might be the better choice. Of course, if your organization consists of both types of employees, you could develop a program that includes classroom and online training.

When providing employees with in-person training, most companies cram as much information as possible into a single session. Although some participants will sail through with no problem, others may feel overloaded with details, making it difficult if not impossible to digest the training material.

With online training, you can select one or two courses at a time, giving your staff time to absorb the lesson before moving on. Because the top e-learning platform has many training courses lasting no more than an hour on average, they work great for everyone, including those with short attention spans.

Between home and work, people have little extra time. For that reason, they look for ways to make life more convenient. When using classroom training alone, you could run into two problems First, by taking your employees away from their work responsibilities, they could become even more stressed. Second, because classroom style education typically occurs during business hours, it could impact your revenues.

When you use the online delivery method, your employees could complete the required courses from anywhere and at any time. You would pay them for going through training off the clock. The next business day, they would return to work with improved knowledge and skill. Without worrying about training, they could focus better on their jobs.

Many people think classroom training is better for collaboration since a group of participants can go through the same session at the same time. However, you can coordinate online courses for groups as well as individuals. For instance, if the entire human resource department needs compliance training, you could have the group complete the courses together in a classroom-type setting.

Offering both options ensures your entire staff receives the training required to work more efficiently while preparing themselves for a more rewarding career. With classroom and online courses, you offer your employees valuable and practical training they can apply to the work they perform.

As the demand for online training courses continues to increase, you will find an abundance of available services. However, not all offer the same calibre of material as Go1. Not only do we have tons of articles and videos on virtually every topic imaginable, but we also keep our pricing competitive. For your online training needs, we offer incredible solutions for employees on all levels.

Which is better? Online or classroom training. Why?

Reading or listening to the news is all you need to understand why sexual harassment training in the workplace is so critical. Without proper education, many people will continue doing and saying things inappropriately because either they do not understand the consequences or do not recognize their actions as being wrong. With the right education, everyone in your organization can get on the same page as to what sexual harassment is, how to prevent it, and who to report to should an incident happen.

Making sexual favors a part of staying employed or promotions within the organization

Any unwanted physical contact or touching

Talking about or being within hear shot of one or more people sharing stories or fantasies about sex, telling off-colored sex-related jokes, or passing around explicit emails, text messages, or photographs

Because sexual harassment covers so many different things, it is essential that you select the right forum and content for training. Also, instead of having your employees take one course, mandate they continue taking courses as a stipulation of employment.

The environment in your organization is only as good as the training you provide your workers. You could have the best talent available and even employees dedicated to doing an excellent job for your company. However, unless they receive proper training on critical issues like sexual harassment, seemingly innocent actions could prove disastrous for them and your business as a whole.

According to numerous experts, many sexual harassment training courses are ineffective. For your company, not only do you need to have every employee complete the correct training courses but also have a system in place for enforcement. As part of that, your staff needs to know that the company will terminate anyone who violates the established policies. Also, your workers need the names of key individuals they can trust should a sexual harassment incident occur.

When researching different training courses to provide to your employees, choose those developed by experts in this area and training that falls in line with the current laws and regulations.

While some training reaches across all departments, not every member of your organization needs to complete the same courses. For instance, your leadership teams would take more in-depth training, helping them to identify a potential problem and deal with an issue in a professional yet compassionate manner.

Regardless of which online training courses you select, they should accommodate specific needs and meet explicit goals. After recognizing areas of weakness with most programs, experts recommend several ways to make sexual harassment training more effective.

Knowledge – Courses should enhance your employees’ understanding of what sexual harassment is, how to avoid it, and who to report to.

Leadership Endorsement – Choose training courses that your leadership team can endorse and participate in along with their staff. That gives workers the support they need during and after training.

Company-Wide Strategy – For any online training on sexual harassment to work, it has to be part of your company-wide strategy of preventing problems at work. In other words, every department in your organization must understand, support, and act when it comes to sexual harassment.

Types of Courses – Because sexual harassment is now such a huge topic, when you select the right platform for online training, you will discover thousands of articles, podcasts, videos, and more on a broad range of related topics. Take advantage of as much as you can, including courses on witness harassment, intervention, and so on. While you need to select the right training for the different staff members of your company, you also want to avoid limiting the scope of what they can learn regardless of level.

How to get the most out of your sexual harassment training

If you’ve invested a lot of time and money into employee training, it’s worthwhile thinking about how you’re tracking skill development.

Tracking skill development is really important for the benefit of both your employees and your business. How so?

Well, first of all, tracking the skill development of your employees is the best way to help them build the skill sets they need to succeed. By monitoring professional development for each team member, you can identify any skills gaps that need to be addressed and improve the gap between the skills your business needs and the skills your employees currently have.

Secondly, tracking skill development will also allow you to continually re-evaluate employee training programs as needed, to ensure you’re providing staff with the best possible development opportunities and getting a good ROI on your training investment.

Ready to get started? Here’s everything you need to know about tracking employee skill development and how you can use your Learning Management System to achieve this.

The importance of tracking professional development

First, let’s look at why it’s so important to monitor professional development in your employees. If you’re an employer or manager, you should be taking the time to sit down with each team member, to come up with a personalised action plan that will help them plan for their career.

Having a professional development program in place is the best way to help employees identify the skills they want to build on. These can be role-specific skills, for example graphic design, or skills that are focused more on personal development, such as becoming more resilient to change, responding well to feedback or dealing with challenging situations or people.

Each team member’s professional development program should aim to improve their skills and competencies, helping them to perform well for the business and establish career goals for the future.

Are you already using a Learning Management System for training across your organisation? Did you know you can also use your LMS to monitor and track skill development?

Your LMS platform is most likely full of insightful data that you can be tracking, to really start improving the performance of your team. This data is invaluable when it comes to interpreting the learning habits of your employees, while also showing whether or not the LMS is delivering value to your organisation.

Soon, you’ll be able to build a comprehensive profile of your employee’s learning habits, which you can use to personalise your eLearning materials and create far more effective training courses.

Okay, so you’re ready to start tracking learning data from your LMS. The first thing you need to do is figure out which data is worth looking at.

Learning Management Systems contain a huge amount of data, so you need to know what’s worthwhile. Here are some of the key areas you should be reporting on.

Look to see just how many team members are completing the online training courses – your LMS should be able to track completion rates for each staff member.

Use the data you obtain from your employees’ online assessments to see how they’re tracking – if the majority of your staff are passing the training courses, and getting high scores in online tests, your eLearning courses are likely to be both effective and successful.

Review employee feedback on the course – here, your LMS is giving you really clear and valuable data that you can use to further improve your courses.

Christopher Pappas, founder of eLearning Industry, believes that the most important feature to look for in a new LMS is reporting and analytics. Pappas suggests inviting online learners to take a pre-assessment before the eLearning course, then using your findings to choose specific activities and modules that best suit their needs.

“eLearning assessment data also gives you the power to identify online learners’ strengths and weaknesses, which you can then use to create personal learning paths,” explains Pappas.

Tracking and interpreting data from your LMS should be a regular and ongoing process. By making constant adjustments to your eLearning courses, you can start getting the best possible results from your training materials and your employees.

Here’s everything you need to know about tracking employee skill development and how you can use your Learning Management System to achieve this.

The best way to track skill development

Most people see a leader as someone who gives direction and guidance, not a person who asks a lot of questions. However, as you are about to learn, the best leaders do ask questions — and for good reason. Whether you want to move into management or are already part of the leadership team within your organization, this information will create positive change.

There are stark differences between today’s work environment and even 10 years ago. With the advancement of technology, greater customer demand, more complex products and services, compliance issues, and a significant amount of disruption, leaders can no longer rely on their experiences alone. Great leaders have to ask questions to get the right answers and, therefore, identify better solutions.

Successful companies recognize the need to develop curious leaders. Leading a discussion with a question opens a dialog, which encourages debate and engagement. Questions also drive employees to want to learn more. In response to a question, a team will work more cohesively to produce an appropriate answer. That requires them to research, investigate, and delve into things they may have never considered or perhaps overlooked.

Especially now that we live in a digital era, it is critical to ask questions that build connections and promote innovation. The best leaders know the value of creative thinking. To encourage that among their teams, they need to use questions as a way of not just stimulating the mind but also changing it.

According to Medium, questions trigger the brain to respond in specific ways. “Questions hijack our thoughts and our unconscious mind goes to work. Before we know it, someone’s question has conjured new thoughts and ideas. We might imagine something related to the question itself or we might imagine possible solutions.”

Pause – After posing a question, there should be a moment of pause. That helps quiet your mind, so you can objectively listen to the answers your staff gives. A pause also gives your team time to formulate a creative response. As a result, you can expect a more impactful conversation.

Quality – Work on the questions you ask, ensuring they will prompt your staff to find innovative and inclusive solutions.

Listen – If you ask the right questions, you will receive multiple points of view. A great leader is not only an excellent speaker but also a listener. Keep in mind that you do not always have to agree with every answer received, but you should be receptive to hearing what your team has to say. That way, you learn from your employees, which makes you an even better leader.

Overall, your team will change for the better. As mentioned, your employees will start to work as a cohesive unit, striving to resolve problems and develop innovation. Something else to consider is the change you will see in your customers. Because you ask questions that draw on your team’s creativity and inclusive thinking, they produce unique ways to improve operations. In response to that, you will start to see measurable results in sales and customer satisfaction.

The great leaders of today have one particular thing in common: Their teams highly respect them and their position of authority. Leading with questions and giving your staff time to respond does several things. First, as mentioned, it allows them time to think, so they respond with better answers. Second, your employees will develop more respect for you as their leader.

Interacting and collaborating with your staff shows that you value their input. That alone makes a significant difference in the loyalty they have for you and the company as a whole. The fact is that people want to feel both valued and challenged. Asking questions and giving your employees time to answer will accomplish both. It will also enhance engagement and promote accountability.

The questions you present to your team will depend on the situation, as well as the person or persons you address. As one example, if you ask a question like “What can I do to help you perform better,” your staff recognizes that instead of trying to figure something out themselves, they have your support and guidance for coming up with a viable solution. This question also shows them that you want their opinions and suggestions.

To learn more about using questions to become a great leader, check out some of the incredible online training courses offered by Go1. You can also develop a training program that will encourage creative thinking among your team members.

With the right resources, your leadership team can develop an online training program that gets your staff excited about learning. Whether employees need new or additional skills and knowledge, an LMS helps your administrators and managers prepare their teams for a successful career.

An LMS (or Learning Management System) prepares your company to move from the more traditional classroom or in-person teaching method to online learning. Although companies use this system for a variety of reasons, the primary objective is to give your administrators and managers quick and easy access to a wealth of courses that benefit their teams.

An LMS has two distinct roles. First, it serves as the source where employees go to complete online training. Second, it is the resource for your leadership teams to select appropriate topics for their staff. For each course that an employee finishes, the individual’s direct supervisor or manager can maintain a log of accomplishments.

The great thing about a reputable LMS platform is that it benefits employees and leaders alike. Used by a multitude of industries, this system gives anyone who completes courses a definite advantage. Keep in mind that along with workers who perform various tasks on-site, an LMS is excellent for anyone who travels for business or telecommutes.

For your company to get the most from an LMS, it is essential for your managers and administrators to identify the training needs on a department-by-department basis. Whether for HR, sales, marketing, customer support, technical support, or another department, each member of your leadership team would start by outlining the objectives for eLearning. From there, they would choose the appropriate courses and then formulate a plan for scheduling.

Cloud-Based – The cloud hosts some LMS platforms. In this case, both your leadership team and their staff would have a username and password. Because there is no software to download and the fact that authorized people can access the system from virtually anywhere, this platform has several unique benefits.

Self-Hosted – A self-hosted LMS is what it sounds like, meaning your company would download the required software and then access it from within the organization. While this type of system provides more customization and creative control, the downside is that you would likely have to pay for updates.

Desktop and Mobile Applications – While a desktop LMS installs on standard computers, a mobile LMS comes in the form of an app downloaded and is accessed from a smartphone or tablet.

Small, Medium, and Large LMS – There are also LMS platforms designed specifically for certain sizes of companies. For instance, if you have a large organization that consists of hundreds, if not thousands, of employees, you could go with a large LMS platform that would streamline the monitoring aspect of eLearning.

Freelance Work – An LMS platform for freelancers is also available. With collaboration tools built in, this system is ideal for individuals who work with many different customers and provide a broad range of deliverables.

Safe Data Storage – If you offer a lot of training opportunities for your employees, there is an excellent chance that your managers and administrators struggle to keep all the course records organized. Storing a significant volume of data safely is another viable concern. With the right LMS platform, you do not have to worry about either one. Instead, everything that your leadership team organizes for its staff remains on one encrypted site.

Monitoring – A top-rated LMS has both analytics and reporting built into the system. With that, your managers and administrators can keep track of the training courses completed, as well as how each team member did on any given topic. Your leaders can use the progress and performance information generated to identify teams or individuals that require more or perhaps different training.

Resource Allocation – Another reason for using an LMS platform is that your managers and administrators can allocate eLearning more effectively. As an example, if one aspect of the current online training program does not meet expectations, they can make the necessary changes. If your company has employees working in more than one city, state, or country, your leaders can deploy online courses to ensure that everyone receives the same training.

Personalization – Although your managers and administrators can choose several courses for everyone across the board to take, with so many topics, they can also personalize the eLearning experience. In other words, if just one employee feels challenged in a specific area, that person’s manager can select a course specifically for that individual. If the sales department struggles to meet goals, the manager of that department can choose courses for the entire staff.

How to increase staff interaction with their online training

Prioritising is more than just an act; it is an art. However, many people question whether it is merely important or actually urgent. Without question, prioritising work is critical. In fact, this is something that could make the difference between accomplishing goals and failing.

As to the question about the importance or urgency of prioritising, the answer depends. If you follow Pareto’s Principle, you make the decision using a unique 4D formula.

Do – Urgent/Important –These activities are critical. For instance, calling 911 to report a house fire or rushing a pregnant woman going into labor to the hospital takes priority.

Decide When – Urgent/Not Important – Along with priorities, tasks in this category are also goals. While these things need attention, they are not dire. For example, you have a project that needs scrutiny, but there is no hard deadline to complete the task.

 Delegate – Not Urgent/Important – While critical, things in this category are not urgent specifically to you. For that reason, you can delegate. As an example, you might have a co-worker rushing to finish a presentation within the next hour. Although urgent to that person, the work has no impact on you.

Dump – Not Urgent/Not Important – As implied, things in this category do nothing but waste time. If you have a task at work that is neither important nor urgent, either set it aside or eliminate it.

There is a fine line between procrastinating and prioritising. If you know or believe prioritisation is an issue for you, it is essential to learn the difference. With clarity, you can take the appropriate action to correct the problem. In simple terms, procrastination is when you purposely avoid doing something, while prioritisation is determining what is most important or urgent to you and putting tasks in the correct order.

There are three primary reasons a person procrastinates, including perfectionism, a fear of success, and a fear of failure. Do any of those sound familiar? If not, perhaps the issue has more to do with a lack of prioritisation rather than procrastination. When you combine everyone’s expectations of you at work and home, it is easy to understand why you struggle with prioritisation.

The good news is you have viable solutions for improving prioritisation. Take advantage of help when offered or reach out to someone at work to ask for help. Develop a strategy that will help you become and stay prioritised. You also can benefit from thousands of online training courses that cost little and take an hour or less to complete.

Along with those three solutions for improving prioritisation, consider the following suggestions.

Recognize and Accept the Need to Compromise – If you have a list of 30 tasks you need to complete by the end of the day, you will likely fail. Instead of setting yourself up for defeat, narrow your projects to no more than five if possible. Not only will that make it easier for you to tackle urgent requests when they arise, but it will also allow you to develop better prioritisation strategies. As your skills improve, you can add one or more tasks to your daily list.

Stop Compartmentalizing – When something urgent comes up, like most people, you probably spend more time dwelling on it than you should. Instead of compartmentalizing, use the 4D model to determine their level of importance versus urgency, followed by taking the proper action.

Learn to Delegate – Delegation is hard for a lot of people. Rather than fix an urgent problem yourself, which creates the risk of making a mistake, learn to delegate. You need to change the mindset that you can finish the task faster yourself. Identify people on your team who are qualified to handle an urgent matter, and then pass it on.

To-Do List – As mentioned, make sure you keep a daily “to-do” list. Even if you have a fantastic memory, you can expect to forget something significant when under stress. Remember, time management skills are a critical component of prioritising. Although you may find a system that works better for you, one option is to use coding. For instance, give urgent tasks an “A” or “1” and important tasks an “F” or “5.”

Personal Goals – You may wonder what setting personal goals and prioritisation have to do with each other. As you become more organized outside of work, you will find that your business life improves. Instead of arriving at work with your mind jumbled with all the things you need to do after work or on the weekend, you can focus solely on job responsibilities. A clear mind helps tremendously with prioritisation.

Distractions – If you have a high-stress job or work for a bustling company, it is essential to manage distractions. Even seemingly innocent things, like chatting with someone in the break room, answering a few personal emails, or taking phone calls from friends, can easily account for up to two hours of your workday. When on the job, dedicate yourself to your responsibilities.

For more insights, be sure to subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

Prioritising is more than just an act; it's an art. We take a closer look at the significance of prioritising in the workplace and offer strategies for prioritising tasks.

The art of prioritising: is it important or is it urgent?

The International Ergonomics Association defines ergonomics as “the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data, and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance.” In other words, ergonomics is a combination of systems, processes, and products that enhance employee safety.

Regardless of the size of your company or its industry, whether agriculture, construction, healthcare, manufacturing, mining, transportation, retail, or something entirely different, if you have employees who handle materials, it is essential you provide them with viable ergonomic solutions. Otherwise, you could easily see a rise in the number of injured workers, which negatively impacts productivity and employee morale, not to mention the increasing number of worker’s compensation claims.

Multiple studies performed by highly respected organizations show a direct link between injuries, especially musculoskeletal ones, and a lack of ergonomics. For you to run a successful business, you need healthy employees and no risk of insurance claims or personal injury lawsuits. One change can achieve those goals.

The current statistics will help you understand the magnitude of ergonomics for material handlers. For instance, the 25 million people over the age of 55 working today will jump to 32 million by 2025. Also, roughly 33 percent of Americans are obese, carrying over 30 pounds of excess fat. That means there is a lot of aging and overweight material handlers on the job. Another statistic shows manual labor, specifically material handling, accounts for 65 percent of all worker’s compensation claims filed.

An increase in customer demand only compounds the problem. As consumers want more products delivered faster, the already hard job performed by material handlers becomes even more challenging. In response, many companies extend their employees’ hours to meet those growing demands. The harder and longer material handlers work, the higher the risk of sustaining an injury.

It is also essential for you to put work practice controls in place. In other words, material handlers need specific training on how to perform their job effectively, yet safely. You might even rotate them, so they do more than one type of task. That way, your workers avoid prolonged periods of repetitive work. Changing movement to be more ergonomically sound will make a significant difference.

Depending on the material moved, some handlers use excessive force as part of the task. As expected, using the muscles with great force is a recipe for injury. Some of the ergonomic solutions to consider include teaching counterbalancing methods, providing your workers with mechanical assists, and giving them dollies and carts to use.

Repeating or Sustaining Awkward Positions

You may not realize it, but repetitive or sustained awkward positions put an extreme amount of force on muscles, tendons, and joints. Again, ergonomics can eliminate this stress on your material handlers. The goal is to select ergonomic tools that allow your employees to keep optimal joint positions and avoid vulnerability. Along with beneficial online training courses to teach them proper work techniques, job rotation is another viable solution.

While the safety and health of your employees is your number one priority, it is crucial to understand how poor or non-ergonomics in the workplace can lead to other devastating results.

When a material handler sustains an injury, he or she must take time off from work as ordered by a doctor. Because of that, you end up short staffed. In response, you would likely see production decline, which has a direct effect on customer satisfaction and employee morale. Your customers do not care why their orders are late, damaged, or missing components. All they want is the stellar product they ordered.

As the number of customer complaints rises, you can expect to see frustration, hopelessness, and even anger among your team of material handlers. In their eyes, they are working as hard and diligently as possible, yet not making customers happy. One injury due to poor or a lack of ergonomics in the workplace starts a vicious cycle that is hard to stop.

If you employ material handlers and worry about an existing or developing ergonomics situation in your business, act now. Consider the solutions mentioned. As for training, take advantage of superior-quality courses designed by industry experts, medical professionals, business executives, ergonomic specialists, and more.

In order to be effective, ergonomic design must take into account the physical characteristics of workers and their work environment.

The importance of ergonomics for material handling

Got an important job interview coming up? It’s normal to feel a bit anxious before (and during!) an interview.

But while nerves are certainly a normal part of the interview process, you don’t want anxiety to get in the way of you getting the job.

After all, there’s nothing more frustrating than knowing that you have the right skills and experience to do the job, only to have things fall apart during the interview.

If you get super nervous at the thought of attending an interview, these tips can help you feel more relaxed and confident, so you can deliver your best performance on the day.

Preparation is key to nailing any interview.

When should you start your preparation? As soon as you find out your application has been successful!

Scott Wagstaff, Managing Director of Audrey Page & Associates, is full of insightful advice when it comes to knowing what employers are looking for and how interviewees can make a good impression.

Wagstaff’s first piece of advice is to make sure you tailor your CV or resume for the particular job.

“There is no ‘one size fits all’ resume these days,” explains Wagstaff. “You have to look specifically at what the job entails and try and put yourself in the seat of your future employer about what they are looking for in an employee.”

“Be really clear about what you’re good at and what you’re passionate about, because those are the things that the employer is interested in. If you love something you’re going to do a much better job than if you’re just ho-hum about it!”

In the preparation stage, Wagstaff recommends going to the employer’s website, looking at their ‘Careers’ page, and becoming familiar with the company’s vision, values and strategic intent. You can even have a look at their Annual Report.

“All that information helps you to build up a picture as to whether it’s the right job for you and also shows the employer that you have the motivation and curiosity they’re looking for. It’s a dating game, at the end of the day, in that both parties are happy with what’s happening moving forward.”

You can also use your preparation time to learn how to take charge of your nerves.

Luckily, there are some well-known strategies that many people use to help feel more calm, confident and collected during a job interview.

One of the best things you can do to feel more prepared on the day is to know about the STAR technique – a strategy that can help a lot with answering job interview questions.

The STAR method helps you create well-articulated, clear responses to interview questions that are based on competencies. The method is quite invisible to the listener, coming across as natural, but demonstrating to interviewers how you meet the criteria for each competency.

Situation – a brief description of the situation and context of the story (who, what, where, when, how)

Task – explain the task you had to complete, highlighting any challenges or constraints (e.g. deadlines, costs, other issues)

Action – describe the specific actions you took to complete the task

Result – close with the result of your efforts, including clear stats or figures to quantify the result if possible.

(Note: Wagstaff refers to this method as CAR, where the first point relates to Context.)

As part of your interview prep, create a pre-prepared list of responses that you can use when questioned on possible competencies or skills.

Our nerves tend to play up when we are caught unaware or have to think quickly on our feet. When you’ve already played over possible questions and scenarios in your head, you’ll be more able to respond in a calm and collected way.

You might also like to check out our previous article on how storytelling can be a powerful secret weapon when it comes to job interviews.

Engaging the interviewer by telling relevant stories that demonstrate your strengths can be a great way to make your interview more memorable and stand out from the competition.

Storytelling also shows employers your values. While having the necessary qualifications and experience are certainly important, employers are also interested in finding employees whose values are aligned with that of the business.

In an interview, you’re being given a wonderful opportunity to tell potential employers first-hand how your personal values can support the organisation’s mission and vision. Storytelling allows you to go into a lot more depth in this area, with personal or work-related stories giving insight into the core values that are uniquely important to you.

For example, you may be able to describe how overcoming a particular challenge helped you build greater resilience in the workplace, and how you can successfully apply that quality to the potential role. In this way, you can effectively demonstrate your values while building a stronger emotional connection with your interviewers.

Do all of the above and you’ll be feeling cool, calm, collected and ready to show hiring managers why you’re a valuable asset to their team and organisation. Good luck!

Tips you need to read before your next interview

When talking about customer retention, this refers to actions and activities that your company takes to prevent customers from going to a different source to make a purchase. In other words, you want to build a base of as many viable customers as you can so that when interested in buying a product or service you sell, they visit your business first.

The number one reason that customer retention is essential for your business is that it builds loyal customers who return to your company time-after-time when interested in what you offer. The goal is to keep the existing customers you have or those you’ve already invested in through various marketing strategies.

When you consider that it costs five times more to acquire a prospect than it does to hang on to your current customers, you can see there is a significant cost-saving factor. In fact, for some industries, the cost to acquire a new customer jumps to a whopping 30 percent compared to focusing on existing customers. Think of it this way, for every 5 percent increase in customer retention, your profits rise between 25 and 95 percent.

Instead of making the mistake of thinking that you need to invest more money and time on prospects, recognize how vital customer retention is to your business growth. That doesn’t mean you should give up on trying to sway prospective customers. It’s just that you should give the majority of your attention to the ones you have.

There is a substantial cost difference between going after prospects and keeping your current customers. Because of that, you can scale back your marketing efforts, which saves you money. Something else to consider is that since your existing customer base is already familiar with the product or service you sell, you would not need as many people to provide customer support, which results in additional cost savings.

With customer retention, you will see an increase in repeat business, which equates to more generated profit. Not only do loyal customers return to a company they trust, but over time, they typically increase the amount they spend, up to 33 percent compared to newly acquired customers. Also, your existing customers are 50 percent more inclined to buy a new product or service from you.

A loyal customer is someone satisfied with your company, including your service, support, price, policy, and product or service offered. In their minds, your business cares about them and what they want. For that reason, it is essential that you conduct research and generate reports that indicate what it is your faithful customers buy. It is just as important to gather information periodically about what new offerings they would have an interest in purchasing.

When your customers buy something and feel completely satisfied, they will quickly share their experience with family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and almost anyone who will listen. For instance, a company that sells trendy and comfortable women’s shoes at a competitive price will attract people. Before long, you will see the same women coming back to buy more.

When happy with a purchase, women will tell everyone that your company is the place to go for incredible shoes at affordable prices. As a result, you benefit from word of mouth advertising without spending a dime. Look at recent statistics that show just how significant the impact of existing customers to your business.

Of all consumers in the United States, 49 percent say that family members and friends are their primary source of brand information.

When someone refers a friend to your business, that individual is four times more likely to purchase something from you.

As high as 92 percent of people trust a recommendation offered by a family member or friend.

Just one person spreading the news by mouth about your business is enough to drive sales up five times compared to paying for advertisements.

Retained customers who feel satisfied with your company are likely to refer other customers. That means spending less on marketing to acquire prospects.

People who become customers due to a referral have a higher lifetime value than prospects acquired using other methods.

As mentioned, loyal customers have no problem spending more on things you sell. Over time, they become less focused on money and more on ending up with a superior product or service. To them, the combination of outstanding support and quality offering is more important than saving a few dollars.

Social media is more than just a way for people to connect on a personal level. Retained customers often post comments on various platforms in response to having a positive buying experience. Studies show that as much as 97 percent of consumers say the chance of them becoming a loyal customer would increase if the company used their feedback. That statistic shows how critical is to have a place on your website and social media sites for customer comments.

At the same time, 55 percent of consumers in the U.S. say that if a company ignores their feedback, they will not likely make an additional purchase. When focusing on your existing customers, make sure that everyone who leaves a comment, good or bad, receives a response.

In looking over the information provided, you should feel ecstatic that you have a way to build your company and achieve higher business success with very little financial investment.

The best way to accomplish that goal is by increasing brand and customer loyalty, but how do you do that? It all comes down to how well your employees engage with the customers they serve. That does not mean working robotically to make a sale but genuinely taking an interest in the customer and what he or she wants to buy.

For that, you need a way to teach your employees the right way to engage with customers, which comes from superior online training courses. Through that, you will notice a marked improvement, not only in customer loyalty but also to your employees’ attitude while at work.

When it comes to improving customer retention, employee engagement is crucial. At Go1, we offer a broad range of online training courses on this very topic, created and presented by experts with a ton of experience. Incorporate eLearning into your company and watch what happens.

Why employee engagement is important for improving customer retention

Welcome to the Go1 blog. Helping you to achieve your L&D goals through the latest learning and development insights, trends, and technology.

Blog

petrol_green

Have you caught the latest episode of L&D in 20? Don't miss an episode. Subscribe now!