Discipline in the workplace sets the precedent that goals and policies matter. If your new employees can count on you, they see a stable and reliable leader and company. There will be times that training feels like a low priority, but committing to a disciplined schedule of learning promises success.
Zooming Out
The goals of NexTech Academy are to support the goals of your company. Of course, there are many levels of goals, but most businesses have a similar top-tier goal: to provide a quality service or product and exceed customer needs. Think of it like a pyramid. All other goals (being a healthy workplace for employees, having your finances in order, keeping operations running smoothly, etc.) fall under the main goal. This is because, without happy customers, the company would cease to exist. When any block of the pyramid is removed, the overall strength is compromised. Training goals are part of the foundation and must be preserved.
Choices to Make
Imagine you have several employees enrolled in the NexTech Academy’s online trade school, but your busy season is approaching. Based on their technical abilities, or lack thereof, they may not be able to run calls in the field by themselves yet. Perhaps you pair them with a senior technician in your company until they have the skills necessary to run these calls on their own. But if your call board is full, you may be tempted to make an exception to your policy in order to satisfy an on-demand call. Discipline and long-term goals say “don’t do it!” But acute pressure is stressful, and as humans, we tend to deal with what’s immediately in front of us even if it conflicts with larger picture values. We are hard-wired to want to avoid conflict with a paying customer.
Prioritizing Long-term Goals
What happens if you send one of your electricians-in-training without proper experience to your customer’s home?
Pros
- The call will be run immediately/customer will not need to re-schedule.
- The customer will be happy you have someone in the home.
Cons
- The call may take a lot longer due to the lack of experience the student electrician has/does not have.
- Your chances of having a callback on the same problem is greatly increased.
- Customers may lose faith in the company and label it as inexperienced.
- It creates a very uncomfortable situation and a lot of pressure for the student.
See how many cons there are compared to the pros? Don’t get stuck in a situation like this, because even though you got a “warm body” to the call, the end result is not worth it!
Don’t Panic and Lose Your Stride
The bottom line is that training can’t take a backseat. It’d be wise to talk through these scenarios with the management team and identify possible solutions ahead of time. There may be different amounts of pressure coming from different areas of the company. However, as we learned in a previous article, all departments need to be in alignment on training — troubleshooting and on-demand calls included. Consistency matters. If your company as a whole sees the value in prioritizing training and staying disciplined, your new employees will be great assets to the team – in time – but it will be more than worth it.
The next law of NexTech training is all about clear expectations. Just tuning in? You can find previous posts here.
