Training is Sometimes a Laughing Matter

At a fire safety seminar, employees gathered around the live demonstration area to watch the fire officer teach the proper way to operate a fire extinguisher. Barking out instructions like a drill sergeant, the fire officer yelled, "Pull the pin like a hand grenade. Then, aiming at the base of the fire, depress the trigger to release the extinguishing agent."

The fire officer demonstrated a few times and then picked from the group an employee to extinguish a controlled fire. The employee was nervous. He fumbled with the fire extinguisher, forgetting to pull the pin. He squeezed the lever. Nothing happened.

"Like a hand grenade," the fire officer hollered. "Remember? Like a hand grenade."

The employee remembered. In a burst of confidence, he quickly pulled the pin...

And heaved the extinguisher at the fire.

[Source: Training and Leadership blog: http://www.safetyxchange.org/training-and-leadership/joke-week-3]

This is a cute story, true or not.

It reminds me of another story (only too true) that I heard many years ago when I was working at a school for developmentally disabled adults. Their sex-ed teacher (whom I was replacing) had been demonstrating the proper way to apply a condom, using a couple of fingers held together to illustrate the point to the students. Students were reportedly feeling fully protected for sexual activities by wearing condoms over their fingers. I was feeling way out of my element in trying to figure out a better way to teach basic safe sex!

The moral of both of these stories? Training must be contextual to be most useful. We can discuss concepts and give demonstrations, but until the person actually uses the concept in a real-life situation – appropriately and correctly – true learning won’t occur.

For training managers using online training resources like aQuire, the value of blended learning becomes apparent. Online learning is extremely valuable to help the person understand theories, concepts and approaches, but until he actually holds the fire extinguisher in his hands, he won’t really know how it feels (I’m going to leave the other story illustration alone here).

For best learning and retention of concepts, take the time to discuss with your team members what they’re learning online. If you have group meetings, talk about how concepts or classes apply to specific residents. Chat for just a minute or two with individual employees about their online classes and how they apply to residents or clients. Ask if they have questions, and what new ideas they’ve been learning.

Engage them in active learning as an integral part of their work – that’s how a company becomes known as a place where learning and growth is valued and meaningful.
Oh, and send me your stories. Beat mine, and I’ll buy you lunch!

Three Ideas for Creative, Low-Cost Marketing

Marketing is the global term we use to mean growing our business. Often, we’re content (and, let’s be honest, a little relieved) to let the marketing people worry about marketing. It’s their job, and, if they’re good at it, it happens without a lot of your sweat and focus.

In this economy, however, marketing is probably moving to front and center stage in your organization. And that affects everyone.

It affects you, when you don’t have the revenue to cover the expenses.

It affects your team, when hours are cut or positions eliminated.

It affects your clients, as they see a few less people on the team to serve them, and maybe even feel the stress you and your team are feeling.

That’s the problem – what’s the solution?

Experts from every corner agree: a bad economy is NOT the time to stop marketing. In fact, it’s vital that during this economy, marketing gets even more of your focus. You’ve got to really focus on what will do you the most good, in the short term as you keep your head above water, and in the longer term, as you strengthen your foundation to grow and thrive once the economy turns around.

How can you creatively grow your marketing program without spending a dime?

Focus on Customer Service. We’ve heard from many of our clients that customer service is one of their primary focus areas for this year. Making sure that every employee understands that he or she is a part of the marketing team by providing excellent customer service is an essential part of your marketing plan – and it doesn’t need to be a costly part, either. Spend time every week focusing on developing your team’s skills in this area, and you’ll see results.

Provide a service to caregiving families in your community. Many families are turning to their own family members to provide care, especially in areas with high unemployment. You can help, and establish yourself as the expert in caregiving at the same time (the one they’ll turn to when they need help). Offer classes in caregiving, a telephone advice line or articles for publication in your local paper. Provide a support group with guest speakers each month, and publicize it widely in the newspapers and on local radio (all free as public service announcements). It won’t cost much more than your time, and can give you big returns.

Look for new revenue sources. One idea a client of ours is using is to provide caregiver training for individuals in her community. This training could be offered to family caregivers or to individuals looking to become caregivers, as well as home care agencies or assisted living facilities. Use our online Personal Care Aide Certification course, add a two to six hour skills training class, and you’ll be able to provide a comprehensive program to prepare others to provide care – while you build relationships and your reputation. Bundle it carefully and you can even gain a new revenue source to help tide you over (ask us for details).

Be brave, be bold. Get out there and market your business for success!

Send me your creative marketing ideas and I’ll pass them on – sharon@aquiretraining.com.

Caring for your Caregivers

Have you visited the American Health Care Association’s webpage called Caring for our Caregivers?  It’s packed with resources to help you build a stronger team, including resources for reward and recognition, employee development, employee satisfaction, leadership, recruitment and retention.  They’re all free and readily accessible – and worth your time to give it a quick check.

Did you know that the Gallup Organization found that employees who are highly engaged yield customers who are highly engaged – and together, they have the potential to triple your bottom line results? 

And did you know that helping your employees improve their skills by offering continual opportunities for training and growth is one key component in engaging your team?

Focus on your team and you’ll see bottom line results. 

To learn how aQuire can help you build your team contact us today at info@aquiretraining.com. 

Training iPhone Style

So how’s your training going?

That’s a question that Bersin and Associates, a company with over 25 years experience in corporate solutions, training, and e-learning asked of the largest companies in America.

The answer was just a little surprising. Bersin found that organizations in the U.S. will spend around $817 million on their learning management systems (LMS) in 2009, a growth of about 115% in just the past 5 years. Especially in a challenging economy, this continuing growth is significant. According to 1,300 surveyed HR professionals, the “LMS is one of the most important software systems in a company’s HR infrastructure, ranking behind only their payroll and HRMS system.” You can read more here.

While these major companies have found that they depend on their learning management systems to help them deliver quality, consistent training throughout their entire workforce, one area most are looking for is increased collaboration and information sharing.

One solution aligns perfectly with a new program we’ve been developing right here at aQuire: a system that allows all training professionals to “upload and share any form of information or training with colleagues.” The telecommunications company currently implementing this found exactly what we’re creating: a way to have new content developed “rapidly and continuously,” while the community of users monitors the quality and provides feedback to “self-police.”

It seems to be the best of both worlds. You can gain the content our team of experts has developed to train your team, but you can also share some of the extensive in-house training programs you’ve developed with our community of learners.

This sharing of ideas, knowledge, skills and information isn’t new in our shop; lots of computer programs are now being developed as “shareware” open to the public. The iPhone app store is probably the most popular current example of this: many hundreds of free applications allow iPhone users to find their car, map their routes, check the dictionary, follow weather globally, locate a great restaurant, view movie trailers, and even check to see if a picture is level.

It’s time to start open collaboration and sharing with learning, too, especially within client groups or related organizations.

So when someone asks you, “How’s your training going?” you can answer honestly, “There’s always something new and interesting happening with our training program.”

Want to get in on the fun? Contact an aQuire Account Representative today for details.

Online Education

Several years ago my daughter took Health 11 online from Brigham Young University’s high school online program. We weren’t into home-schooling; she just didn’t want to miss her dance classes and had a scheduling conflict. I think it was the only “B” she got that term, too – the course was very rigorous.

Today, online education is one of the fastest growing segments of education in general – and education is, along with healthcare, one of the few healthy sectors in our economy.

What’s going on?

Simply this: online education makes good sense. It is increasingly accessible and affordable, and it offers individuals an opportunity to grow and achieve without the customary barriers to higher education like time and location.

Our staff here at aQuire Training Solutions is busier than ever, as new clients contact us, ready to get started – without the traditional need for a sales pitch from our team. They know that, to stay competitive, they need to offer training opportunities to their employees. They are hiring the best and brightest they can find, but realizing that to keep those people engaged and on board they’ll need to provide a competitive set of benefits, including continued learning and growth opportunities.

At the same time, companies are looking for ways to reduce any unnecessary expenses. Adding online training is helping them cut instructor time, freeing up that valuable resource for client relationship building, marketing and more efficient management.

They’re cutting down overtime and worker’s comp claims by increasing the level of employee engagement, knowledge and skills.

They’re achieving benefits that, today, are essential for business health.

In 2009, US News and World Reports (read here) noted this trend, saying:

“Time-stressed Americans fed up with commuting costs are already choosing online education. More than 4 million enrolled in at least one online course last fall, up from fewer than 2 million in 2003.”

Typical recession behavior tends to find business operators digging in; avoiding starting new programs or services.

This recession seems to be different. Successful operators are carefully examining how they run their company. They’re looking at their highest wage-earning employee’s use of time, and focusing that time on activities that bring the most benefit – short and long-term – to the company.

That’s keeping our team busier than we’ve ever been. Mind you, I’m not complaining!

Compassion Fatigue - are we losing our best and brightest to this?

Science Daily ran a news story about compassion fatigue a couple years ago, and I still think of it today (read it here).

The story details the challenges that health care professionals who care for severely ill, dying individuals experience.

The term compassion fatigue was first coined in the 1990s to describe a syndrome experienced by a healthcare provider caring for individuals facing dire consequences as a result of their disease. Going beyond empathy or "feeling bad" for the person, it effects the nurse, doctor or other member of the healthcare team in a way that he or she often develops a distance from the patient as a way of self-protection.

Symptoms of compassion fatigue include chronic tiredness and irritability, lack of joy in life, engagement in behaviors which are fine in moderation, such as drinking, at a destructive level. Like individuals who have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), those with compassion fatigue often re-experience the deaths of their patients, according to Dr. Carney Doebbeling.

Compassion fatigue can lead individuals to protect or insulate themselves by loss of compassion, cynicism, boredom, decreased productivity, more sick days and ultimately higher turnover.

In my early days training senior care staff, we used to talk about the one certainty we face as senior care professionals: every one of our clients will die. Some quickly; some after many years in our care. But they will all, eventually, die.

That fact makes us all ripe for compassion fatigue. Perhaps it explains, at least a little, the high rate of turnover that is endemic to our profession.

There are simple things we can do to support people who may be in the grip of compassion fatigue:

• Send a card or flowers to a caregiver you know.
• Volunteer your time to give a caregiver a break…Even a “How you doin’?” can lift the spirits.
• Give a hand-written card. 
• Say “hi” and “thank-you” to team members.

As leaders and decision-makers, we’re often out of the daily grind that breeds this depth of fatigue. But we’re in the perfect position to support these individuals; to recognize that caring, with compassion, takes a toll.

These simple things may be unexpected, and all the more powerful to lift the spirits and lighten the psychological load of the most important members of our team: the compassion-filled caregivers.

Help! I've run out of time! Stress reduction tips for the busy senior care manager

If you’re like me, days when your time is short – but your task list is still long – are days that add to your stress.

I’m sure you don’t get snappy and irritable, like I do. I imagine that you balance your personal stress much better – or maybe not.

The things that stress me the worst are those that are out of my control; something that stress experts find is pretty universal. We tend to feel more and more stress the less control we have over events. The best solution to these stressors is to find a way to gain control over them, or at least more control than you currently have.

Let’s consider training (I bet that surprises you)! You have a minimum required number of training hours that you need to ensure that your employees complete each year. Some training must be completed before the person can work independently; other training, like first aid, is simply one of those things that you need to get checked off as quickly as possible after hire.

Stressor #1: Requirements. You have no control over them – you can’t modify them for this person or that. They are always there, hanging over your head.

Stressor #2: Your employees. Sign them up for a first aid class. Bring in a trainer. Take precious time out of your busy week to present an inservice. And definitely make attendance mandatory. Your employees, over whom you have only a perception of control, will not all show up. Some may be sick; others won’t be able to find childcare; still others will simply say, “Oh, I forgot.”

Stressor #3: Surveyors from licensing and internal QA monitors. Yet another element you can’t control. They’ll ask you for detailed records of your training compliance, and they won’t give you a lot of time to hunt for those records. You’re either compliant – and can quickly demonstrate that – or you’re not…and you’d better think about career decisions.

You can gain control over these stressors. They don’t need to add to your stress by being things that, in your mind, you have absolutely no control over.

Here’s how:

Stressor #1: OK, you’re not going to get rid of regulations, or change them to suit your situation. But you can look at regulations, especially in the area of training, as your outline for planning the entire year’s worth of training opportunities. You can schedule them, topic by topic, onto a calendar and get a sense of mastery over the requirements.

Stressor #2: Keep holding monthly meetings, but change them from mandatory inservices to team-building, informational sessions. Bring a cake and celebrate the monthly birthday; read thank-you notes from clients or families, share what you’ve seen that month that makes you proud of your team. Then assign your team their required training topics to be completed online at a time that works for them during the month. Just make sure that they all know what topic is assigned, and when it is due. Recognize those that completed their training at your monthly team-building meetings, or those that went beyond the minimum and learned even more. But take the compliance monkey off your back, as it were, and give that responsibility to your employees. Your job, as a leader, is to assign, ensure completion and then look for ways to give personal feedback and guidance.

Stressor #3: This is an easy one if you’ve chosen an online training system with easy-to-use reports. Here’s what one of our clients emailed us the other day, “It was our first survey in four years and I was very nervous. The surveyor asked to see training records for specific employees. With just a couple of clicks I could show her exactly what she wanted. Whew! We sailed through survey; I consider the cost of this online training program worth every cent.”

The stresses in this line of work are many. Smart choices and good use of your resources can help you gain control and reduce at least a few areas of stress!

How to Break through the Wall – Creating Success in Times that Feel Impossible

On my daily walks I travel along the Willamette River.  It’s not a wide river, but just upstream is a broad, powerful falls.  The banks of the river are steep rock walls, dropping over 70 feet from the roadway to the water below.  I’ve been walking along this river nearly every day for years now.  It’s my few minutes for reflection and planning; lately I’ve found myself thinking about the power of the water.

I see how the water, when it is focused into a narrow channel, can cut through what appears to be solid rock.  The water that falls as a soft, blanketing mist much of the winter here in Oregon turns into a force that literally changes the landscape.  It cuts its way cleanly through stone, over time.

As I consider that force, I think of two key concepts that I can apply to my work: focus and tenacity.  It’s easy in any business to try something a time or two and then give up, looking for an easier way around an obstacle.

Obstacles like a poor economy, however, aren’t easy to get around.  When the primary barrier to your success is money, from the client’s perspective, it can feel like a solid rock wall.

Whether you’re talking about a community that desperately needs census building to cover payroll and other costs, or, as in my business, a product that is needed but may not be considered essential to operations, the barriers can feel rock solid and impenetrable.

That’s when I start thinking about the river.  It can’t break through a solid wall with a meandering stream.  But when the force of the river is focused into a single, powerful jet of water, it can cut through almost anything – given enough time.  That’s the second part of this principle – time and consistency.  The Grand Canyon wasn’t forged in a single season, but it created a masterpiece over time with the focus and tenacity that is, itself, a force of nature.

From my personal perspective, I was encouraged by news articles like the one out of London awhile back (http://www.trainingpressreleases.com/newsstory.asp?NewsID=4042) that reported that 78% of human resources leaders are looking to online training to reduce their costs in accessing external trainers and resources and 57% are looking for ways to reduce the amount of time staff spend out of the office on training.  This report shows a trend toward larger companies looking at custom online training as a way to reduce their training expenses while still maintaining a competitive edge during tough times.  Of course, this is exactly what our company has been promoting for years, often feeling like we were running into that solid rock wall of resistance.

The expert quoted in the article concludes, "Now, more than ever, it is imperative to have a fully trained and knowledgeable workforce on hand to see you through these tough times but not at the expense of productivity. eLearning solutions such as virtual classrooms, web based training and mobile learning not only minimise the time employees spend out of the office, but they also allow employees to carry out training at flexible times, thereby reducing impact on their day-to-day work."

Ah, a little crack in the wall is suddenly appearing.

I believe that I’ll focus and continue to be tenacious, and see if we can create a channel right through this barrier.

What’s your barrier?  Take a lesson from the river, and break through it this winter!

Help! Who Made Me the Boss? - Leadership Skills for the New Supervisor

Did you know that the number one reason people LOVE or HATE their job is because of their boss?

You can give people more money, more time off, more challenges, but if they don't like their boss, they'll be gone.

So how do you be a good boss, and gain the loyalty and respect of your employees at the same time?

You're the Boss - believe it

One of the biggest mistakes we've seen over the years is the person, newly promoted to team leadership, who is still trying to prove him or herself.

There was Delilah who would change people's schedules just to show them that she could.

There was Nancy who would talk to the people on her team in a confrontational, hostile manner.

There was Bob, who simply laughed and joked with people - he NEVER corrected anyone about anything.

Bad bosses, every single one of them.

None of them had yet accepted the true meaning of being a boss: an opportunity and a privilege.

Being the boss doesn't mean wielding power in the way someone may have done in your life.

It doesn't mean being tough - or too nice.

It DOES mean seeing your role in a totally different way. Looking at the big picture, instead of just the job. Thinking about what you want your team to become, and how you want to build higher quality in every aspect of the job.

It means having the opportunity to help the people who work on your team become better at what they do.

It means feeling gratitude and a sense of responsibility that you have the power to make people love their job - or hate it. You have the power to give someone a job - or take it away. You have the power to make work a rewarding, challenging, great place to be - or a place with constant turnover because it's boring and unrewarding.

Take the time - NOW - to build your skills to become the kind of boss people want to work for - a great boss!

One-Armed Paper Hanger

One-armed paper hanger…
Chicken with its head cut off…
Spinning out of control…
Don’t know up from down…
Can’t see the light of day…
Up to my neck in alligators…

Do any of these phrases describe how you feel about your days lately? Personally, I’ve used at least three of them to describe my own current workload. Not that it’s all making money, and we’re on the “whoo-whoo” gravy train to success, but, wow, my life is busy!!

Sometimes we’re busy-busy trying to find the solutions to problems that keep us up at night.

Sometimes we’re busy trying to be on top of too many areas of responsibility for one person to manage.

Sometimes we might be (not me – not you) poor managers of our time.

Here’s a quick look at some ideas that might be useful if any of this describes you:

It’s OK to say NO. Even to your boss. There are times to say, “I can’t really do that task justice right now – can we talk about it again in a few weeds?” There are other times to simply say, “I’d love to help, but I just can’t do it right now.” And then stand firm.

Be clear on your priorities. Take two minutes at the start of the day to prioritize your tasks. There is an unending list of busy-jobs we all need to do, but what will wake you up in the night if you don’t accomplish it? What addresses the most important things in your life or your job? Do those things, and let some less important things slip by the wayside.

Make a list. I often find myself bouncing from one task to another, answering an email or two, making a phone call, and feeling like I’m not really accomplishing anything real during the day. For me, organizing my day means making lists. I make lists on Friday before I go home for the week of what I haven’t gotten done and want to pick up Monday morning. Monday, I make my list for the week. I add to that list during the week, and get great personal satisfaction from crossing tasks off – as quickly as I can. Some days, like today, I have to stop in the middle of the day and make a list of all the things I’ve promised people I’d deliver as I walked through the office. Cross them off; move on; get things done!

Take baby steps. I have a very clear picture in my mind of what I want to achieve in my work. Each day on my way to work I have learned to fight the rising sense of anxiety of all I need to accomplish to achieve my goals, by telling myself, “Today, you only need to take one step. Just one small step toward the goal.” I feel a sense of relief – but I also know that I need to continue to map out my steps; to break down big goals into small, achievable steps, and then cross them off, one at a time.

Let me take a brief commercial break and offer you another time-saving tip: try online training. It can save you lots of time in organizing and delivering the training you need to simply stay in compliance, but even more, it can give you a way to track completed training of all your employees, with just a click of the mouse. Even better is our "incomplete assignments" feature. Assign training classes to your staff once a year, and pull up reports to tell you exactly who is missing what. What could be easier? What could be more time-efficient?!

I guess what I’m really saying is that if you’re feeling like a one-armed paper hanger these days, let us help. We’ll supply a few other hands and help you get the job done right!

Best of the Best Awards

Love those best of the best awards, don’t you? How many did you win this year?

I hope you’re not one of those people that win awards like this year after year – you won’t be able to relate at all.

I’ve never won a “best of the best” award. I’ve never even been a runner-up. But day after day, week after week, month after month I continue to do work that I believe contributes to the quality of care we provide to the today’s elderly.

Most senior care companies, I’d venture to say, are a lot like me in that regard. They do their work, every day, month and year, focusing on the area where they can improve lives. Maybe it’s just five families that they serve; maybe its 40 families, or 400.

What matters, at the end of the day, however, is not how many awards you win, but how much difference you’ve made.

Has someone finally been able to take a guilt-free, stress-free vacation because of your work?

Has someone else had “ahaa” moments that led to more joyful caregiving because of your efforts?

Many of us innovate in our care every day. We creatively solve problems while managing budgets, employee challenges and difficult clients. We see needs and we work to meet them, often by creating new programs or simply adapting existing programs to meet individual needs.

So from me to you – and me to me – here’s an award: The Quietly-going-about-our-business-while-making-a-real-difference Award.

Four Ways to Connect with Technology

Are you a Facebook addict yet? Notice I added “yet” to the question? Even my 78-year-old mom decided she had to get onto Facebook – all her grandkids, nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives keep telling her, “I put my pictures on Facebook!”

I joined a couple of years ago, after I realized it was the only way I’d be able to keep up with my kids. They travel the globe and, way before they email their mom, they post their pictures and their adventures on Facebook for all their friends to see.

So now I’m an avid Facebook user, with 82 “friends” that include my relatives, my kids’ friends and several grade- and high-school friends I’m only now reconnecting with (that’s fun!).

Technology can be a ton of fun when it fills a need we have. In case of Facebook, technology helps us fill a social need to stay connected – or get re-connected.

In business, it seems to me that we’ve used technology begrudgingly rather than with the excitement of your first Facebook page.

Maybe we’ve been off the mark. Maybe it’s time to look for ways to use technology to increase our business and social connectedness – and have some fun while we’re at it! Consider these ideas:

Your website. Does your website increase your connectedness with the public? Do you tell your story and offer ways for people to contact you? Many company websites today avoid publishing email addresses to keep out unwanted emails, but that’s a barrier to connectedness. Like Facebook, your website should be updated often, changing content and images to keep it interesting and alive. It should also connect real people (you and your team) with real people (your clients and prospects).

Email. Are you using email to stay connected with others? If you’re reading this via email, you see one of the tools we use to keep in touch with our clients and prospects: subscription emailing through Constant Contact, one of the leading providers of this service. It’s easy to use, and very affordable. It doesn’t allow you to spam people, but it does give you a very user-friendly tool for staying in touch with a large group of individuals (Clients? Prospects? You decide).

Technology in Operations. Are you using technology to help you manage operations? To track employee hours related to client needs, and to keep care plans and assignments updated? Companies like HealthMEDX are excellent resources. Used correctly, they can not only help you get a detailed picture of your operations but can actually enhance your revenue as you track service needs and staffing more closely. Rather than costing you money, they can actually make you money – something to consider closely right now.


e-Training. I’m guessing you already knew where we’d end up. Technology in training can allow you to train your team consistently and effectively in important compliance topics. You’ll still want to gather your team for regular staff meetings, but you can focus on team-building and your company culture, rather than boring repetitive compliance inservices.

I’m logging back in to Facebook now. I’ve got an early morning meeting tomorrow I’m setting up with my exercise buddy – gotta run!

Mentoring as Tool for Training and Retention

If you’ve been following the various findings about reducing turnover and increasing employee retention, especially within senior care, you’ve probably seen the term “mentoring.” Mentoring is one way to blend training and help it carry over into the day-to-day workplace, while supporting the personal and professional growth of the employee.

Maybe, like me, you’ve got a general idea of what mentoring is, but aren’t really clear how to implement a mentoring program in your work setting. I decided that I’d do a little research and see if I could answer this question – and, while I’m at it, share what I’ve found with you.

Webster’s defines a mentor as “a trusted counselor or guide.” Others define the term more in the sense of a coach. While many of us think fondly of a boss or supervisor that acted informally as a mentor, few have formal experience within a mentorship program.

MetroHealth, a large healthcare provider in Northeast Ohio, has a mentoring program that all resident physicians are required to participate in with an attending faculty member.

It gave me some ideas for starting a formal mentoring program in a senior care community:

1. Since mentoring is most important for new hires, set up a system that matches each new hire with one of more experienced workers in the same department or job title. Matching the new person with a mentor on the same shift would be important, too, wherever possible.
2. Introduce the new hire to the mentor, and explain to both individuals the purpose of the program (to coach the new person in the best way to do his or her job in your environment). Being clear about the goals and using simple words to explain the program are both important, especially in the early stages.
3. Ask the mentor to meet with the new hire at regular intervals. I’d suggest quite frequently initially, perhaps as often as every other week. Once the crucial 90 days has passed, the meetings could become monthly.
4. Be sure to allow time for the mentoring meeting to occur. Allow both individuals to take an extra long break or lunch hour, on the clock, for their meeting.
5. Give the mentor some structure to follow during the sessions. I’d suggest a list of questions you provide to the mentor to discuss with the new hire, questions like:

• What are you finding hardest about your new job?
• What are you enjoying most about your new job?
• Do you have what you need to do your job well?
• Are there any policies or procedures you don’t really understand or find confusing?

Armed with this list of questions the mentor can spend a few minutes talking about the job with the new hire, helping him/her get answers and building a stronger connection to the organization.

Do you have a mentoring program at your workplace? Have you had a mentor that really helped you out? Share your experiences with me at sharon@aquiretraining.com.

"People hate change."

“People hate change.”

Have you heard, thought or even said those words lately?

I know I have, especially when I was trying to change the way things were done during the daily routine of care.

Change shift start time? Change paydays? Change dress codes? Nope, it’s not going to be easy.

Change the culture of the way people treat each other – even tougher.

And yet we continue to strive to implement change – and we continue to run into walls.

At the same time, most of us want a little change in our lives. We crave change in our diets – eating the same foods every day would be boring, not to mention not very healthy.

We look for new TV shows, new movies, and new experiences.

We embrace new technologies that help us connect with our friends, check out new products and prices and take our favorite tunes everywhere we go.

Heck, we even vote for change in elections – and we’re very likely going to get it, ready or not!

Here’s what every good manager needs to know: to get people to embrace change, you have to market it. You have to sit in their chairs and ask, “What’s in it for me?”

Because when the changes we’re trying to make are changes that will improve the lives of our employees, they’ll embrace it.

If it’s change they can have a voice in shaping, they’ll embrace it even more.

Training Passion

In my work I have the privilege of talking with senior care providers all over the country. One theme is constant: there are not, today, enough trained and skilled workers to meet the caregiving needs in senior care.

We all know that today is the easy stuff; it's tomorrow and the coming years when we enter into the nightmare scenario for staffing. As one Administrator commented at a work group the other day, “Today’s newspaper has statistics about how many of us will live to 100 – what are we going to do, people?”

As I’m listening to people talk, one thing I hear that surprises me just a little is how many new hires don’t complete their initial training or drop out of the workforce very soon after beginning.

I think what’s been missing in some of our early approaches to training is instilling a “spark” – a seed of the passion that the very best senior care workers have. They may not have it during the first weeks or months of their work, but they may develop it over time if they give themselves that opportunity by staying in the field, and learning to love the people in their care.

I know I didn’t have that spark of passion when I first entered the field. In fact, as my parents were both in senior care, I’d been exposed to nursing homes and residential care as a child. I was determined to do anything BUT work with seniors.

I graduated with a social work degree and began working in the community mental health center in my town, enjoying my work with a variety of individuals and age groups. When our center was awarded a grant to develop mental health outreach programs in the local nursing homes, no one else wanted to do it.

I said, “I’m comfortable in nursing homes – I’ll take the job!” And I found myself, at the age of 22, developing an entirely new program with staff, policies and procedures, and organizational needs with a large group of individuals.

It was a blast. I loved not only the work but also the people. I discovered that I truly loved the residents, and found that I could make a difference in their lives, every single day.

When I headed off to graduate school a year later my career path was fixed: I was working with seniors, focusing on developing quality programs and services to meet their unique needs.

And here I am, 20+ years later, struggling with how to instill that passion in a whole new workforce of young – and not so young – individuals.

My own daughter, newly graduated from college with a passion and skill in creative photography and communication, spent time helping us add “ahhaa” moments into each of our courses – moments that are filled with music, visual images, and inspirational messages, designed not to educate the brain, but to touch the heart of the learner.

Because if we don’t touch the hearts of our newest, freshest employees and help them get a glimpse of the emotional rewards that come from caring for seniors, we may be missing out on the perfect opportunity to build a passionate, capable workforce to meet the needs of the coming years, not to mention the very real needs we have today.

Catch 'em, Reward 'em, and Build your Team

You’ve heard it before: If you want to increase a specific behavior, reward it.

This principle of human behavior actually has its roots in good old doggy behavior, demonstrated by the scientist Ivan Pavlov. Professor Pavlov’s dogs began salivating upon the stimulus that, experience told them, led to delivery of their food.

Behavioral scientists have discovered that people, too, repeat behavior that is rewarded. Rewards work best if they are immediate. Surprisingly, rewards that are random work even better than those that happen every single time – it appears that we’ll keep trying with a randomly rewarded behavior, not knowing which time it will actually yield the results we want (lottery tickets, anyone?).

Good news for managers: Rewards don’t need to be big or expensive. In fact, some of the best rewards are those that relate to our social standing. Reward someone by calling him to the front of an entire staff gathering and giving him a clear, verbal “atta-boy” and he’s likely to remember it much longer than a $10 gift card given to him in passing, with no one looking on.

What behavior makes your team stronger? Perhaps you’ve chosen to focus on improving customer service this year. What specific behaviors are you looking for? Are you modeling those behaviors within view of your team? Are you looking – hard – for people who repeat those behaviors, and then rewarding them?

Be careful, too, about too much time in team meetings spent on what NOT to do. Focus instead of what team members SHOULD do – let good behaviors gradually reduce or eliminate undesired behaviors.

Rewards? Public praise and attention, a genuine pat on the back, a meaningful gift card. These will go farther to increasing the behaviors you want than employee of the month programs ever dreamed of achieving.

Behavior that is reinforced is behavior that is repeated.

Behavior that is rewarded is behavior that is repeated. Check out this article to learn more!

It really is that simple.

Looking for a quick, affordable gift card solution? Order aQuire gift cards and give your team the gift of improving their skills and knowledge while you reinforce behaviors you want to see repeated!

Teamwork – Achieving Uncommon Results with Imperfect, Common People

In our office we talk about the team every week. We don’t have staff meetings, we have team meetings. When a problem comes across our desks, we automatically turn to other members of the team to help us solve it.

Building a team isn’t as easy as hiring a staff, every manager knows. Personalities and egos often take precedence over any sense of working to a common goal. Hard-fought turf battles can disrupt all forward movement.

But hey – it’s not a war. In fact, building a team that likes each other and that can laugh together is one key factor in achieving corporate – group – success.

We believe so strongly in team around here that we actually painted it on the wall: “Teamwork: It is the ability to work together toward a common vision. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

In the field of healthcare, effective team functioning has been shown not only to improve the work environment but also to improve resident care and safety. Good people stay where they are valued members of the team, and keeping your best people is ultimately one of the most important things you can do to improve the quality of the services you provide.

Building a good team requires leadership. If that’s your job, keep in mind that it isn’t easy to build a strong team – it takes focus and determination. There will be times for you to patiently listen, and times for you to speak up and take charge.

You’ve also got to set aside time for your team to develop that cohesive, “we’ll solve it together” mind set. Time when no work tasks are required, but food and fun are the order of the day.

Did you know that experts who study team development find four phases that groups go through – before they become cohesive teams? The first phase is the formation of the individuals into a group that has a specific goal or purpose.

The second phase is one when individuals become competitive and the group is filled with conflict. If this is where you’re at, it may give you a small measure of comfort to know that this is a natural progression – leading to the final stages of overcoming conflict and, finally, collaboration and communication.

The final ingredient into good team development? Trust. Trust that if you keep your focus, your team will come together. Trust in the individuals who are composing your team. And belief that, in the end, you can lead this group of common people to attain some pretty significant uncommon results.

Eight Rules for Great Customer Service

Great customer service is sort of like the Golden Rule.  There are many, many details you need to know to relate well to others, but at the end of the day there’s just one rule: Treat other people how you would want to be treated.

In customer service, there may be “8 Rules” but there is one underlying principle: Good Service = Good Relationships.

You’re not providing a one-time favor for someone; you’re building a long-term relationship. Treating customers like you’d treat a friend is another way to think about it. Learn (and use) names, learn life stories; treat each person like a special person. That’s the Golden Rule for customer service.

Now let’s look at eight more rules that will make your customer service stand out – and really, truly work.

1. Be there. When the phone rings, does a person answer it quickly, every time? When someone walks in the door is a person there to greet him immediately? You can’t build relationships by sending people to voice mail or running them through a five layer phone tree. Make it a priority to take the first step in customer service, and be there when they call or come in.

2. Be reliable. When you say you’ll do something, do it. Don’t promise anything you don’t know, for sure, that you can deliver. Always follow-up. If a client asks you a question (“Can you find out where my mom’s new sweater went?”), provide an answer (“I’ll look into it and let you know by the end of the week”) and then follow-up (“It’s Friday, and I thought I’d let you know that we have found her sweater…”). Ask for more, too, while you’re at it (“Is there anything else I can help you with today?”). Few things annoy clients as much as someone dropping the ball and not doing what they said they’d do.

3. Listen up. When a client is talking, be listening. The only thing worse than having someone drop the ball on follow-up is someone not listening to you, and asking you for details you’ve already provided. Oh wait, I know something worse: having to tell the full story to one person, only to have to repeat it, details and all, to another person – and another. Remember the last time you were at the doctor’s office with a nurse demanding every single detail? You know exactly what I mean. If you’re not the person to solve the problem (“I have a question about my bill”), don’t ask for any details – refer the client to the right person first.

4. Apologize. Complaints can be tough. It’s easy to say, “Oh well – can’t please all the people all the time!” In reality, complaints are often the way our clients communicate their feelings of anxiety (“I’m really worried about my mom and don’t have a clue what to do about it”) or guilt (“I should really be the one doing this – then it would be perfect”). Listen (see Rule #3) and then, before you begin defending or explaining, apologize. Say, “I’m really sorry you had that experience.” You’ll instantly defuse the situation, and allow real communication – and real problem solving – to start.

5. Be helpful. Do you remember how you felt the last time a stranger held a door for you? Even the smallest helpful gesture changes relationships from stranger to friend. As you work to build relationships, look for ways to be helpful, even if you may not profit from it. Maybe someone on the phone actually needs a completely different kind of service – recommend one you know about. Helpfulness has wings of its own and will return rich rewards to you.

6. Empower your team. Train these customer service principles to every member of your team. Give them opportunities to practice and ask them to notice each other’s great service – and share it. Public praise is one of the strongest rewards you can give and will change behaviors. Make sure, whenever possible, your team has the power to do small things for clients – offer coffee, cookies or simply pause to listen to an overwhelmed client. These are the things that build relationships – and create awesome, committed clients.

7. Go the extra mile. It might be enough to tell your client you’ll look into a problem and get back to him. But going the extra mile means not only locating the missing sweater, for example, but making sure it is correctly labeled and re-labeling it if necessary. It means taking the time to call back before the deadline you set and follow up. It means not just pointing to the activity area, but walking with the client to the area, chatting and visiting while you walk. Going the extra mile takes a few minutes of your time, but can pay big dividends when your clients start telling others about you.

8. Throw in something extra. A big smile, a certain saying (“Have a wonderful day!”), a long-stemmed rose from a big bunch on your desk – look for ways to add something extra to the service you provide. It can be something very small, but it will make a big, big difference to the perception of your clients (or future clients).

Great customer service doesn’t take a ton of new resources and effort. Little things will add a lot of polish as long as you keep in mind that one key word: relationships. Treat every client – and every prospective client – as a valued friend and you’ll automatically up the level of service you provide.

Consider it Solved

What’s your challenge?

Getting staff to finish their training? Getting people to a meeting? Keeping one group of employees from picking on another (the newbies, the night shift)?

Whatever your challenge is, try some of these simple – but effective – approaches to building a stronger team and getting it DONE!

• Communicate. If your day is like mine, you’re busy with phone calls, emails and tasks on deadline every single minute. Stopping to wander the halls and talk with staff feels like a colossal waste of time. But it’s not. It’s one of the most important things you can do to communicate your values to your team, and shape them into the team you dream about. Don’t forget that communication goes two ways, too. Listening is every bit as important as talking. A minute of praise, a thank-you for a job well done – that’s one of the most motivating things you can do. Yes, it takes time. But spending a few minutes every day on this simple task will save you hours fighting a crisis that you may not have seen coming. So shut down your email, don’t take any calls, and get out there and talk to your people!

• Spell it Out. What are your goals? That’s another way of asking how you would know when your biggest problem is solved. When I asked you the question, “What’s your challenge?” what immediately came into your mind? Write it down. Now, write down what you would see if the challenge was perfectly solved – that’s your goal. One of the first steps in solving any challenge is knowing where you want to end up. Sometimes we get so focused on the problem, we forget to focus energy and creativity on the solution. So write it down. And focus on the solution; it’s your goal.

• Be Positive. We not really talking about the “power of positive thinking” here, although that certainly has merit. What we’re talking about is spending more energy focusing on the goal than the problem. You’ll be surprised how that changes your energy level, and how it helps you begin making progress toward achieving that goal.

• Make a Plan. You started by talking more to your team and listening more to them too. You’ve written down one of your major challenges, and your ideal outcome for that challenge. Now it’s time to make a plan.

When my youngest daughter was only two we enrolled her in a neighborhood Montessori Preschool. Within the year, she learned that no task is too hard if you just break it down into individual, small steps. It was a good lesson for all of us, as we watched this tiny child learn to cook, clean, read and write – all by breaking each task down into small, easy-to-manage steps.

Learn to write out your challenge, spell out your goal, and then outline, step by step, what needs to happen to achieve that goal.

Pretty soon, you’ll be achieving your goals, one by one, and aiming for higher, more exciting goals.

You’ll be able to take those challenges and consider them solved.

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