TrainingABC Blog

Behavioral interviewing is the most effective way to hire a qualified employee. It takes gut feelings, stereotypes and biases out of the process and allows you to look at candidates in more scientific terms. The process is called behavioral because it uses behaviors presented in the past to predict future behaviors. The process sounds easy but it takes practice and persistence.

The world is a colorfully diverse place and so are our workplaces. Diversity is an economic and legal priority in business. It increases the bottom line, jump starts innovation and keeps businesses out of legal jeopardy. Managers, supervisors and employees at every level of a company need to find ways to embrace and respect diversity in their departments and the organization as a whole. Here are ten ways to get started.

Sexual Harassment. Everyone seems to know what it is and yet the stories in the media of its occurrence seem to be unending. The latest high profile alleged perpetrator is Herman Cain, but Mr. Cain is in a long line of men and women who have had their careers jeopardized by sexual harassment charges. So why does it still occur if most people are educated on it. There are many reasons, but the most prevalent are a sense of invincibility due to power, the belief that by the perpetrator that he or she is different than others and simple ignorance. The effect of all three of these reasons can be mitigated by organization-wide sexual harassment training.

Recently, I went shopping for dog food and went to a local pet store in my neighborhood.  This particular store obviously does a large amount of customer service training.  They always welcome me into the store and always ask if they can help me find something.  There seems to be a well-trained system of working with customers in the store.  Sounds great, doesn't it?  A well-oiled customer service machine dedicated to providing optimal service to the customer.  However, there is a problem mixed into this brand of service - not every customer is the same and not every customer appreciates the same type of customer service.

Workplace bullying is a problem in nearly every workplace in the world.  Some organizations face greater challenges with bullying than others, but it rears it's ugly head in most organizations today.  Workplace bullying is essentially treating others with hostility.  Bullying happens every day peer-to-peer, however bullying by managers towards their subordinates is an even greater problem.  Most studies show that workplace bullies are managers nearly 75% of the time.

Workplace bullying has been around for generations, however only just recently has the cost of this unfortunate tradition been quantified. Some experts estimate the cost of downtime and employee turnover as a result of bullying to run into the billions. In fact, most studies show that 50% of employees have either witnessed or been a victim of bullying at work.

Sexual harassment videos are one of the most effective tools available to a trainer when educating employees on this sensitive topic. The visual aspect of video training makes the training more memorable and therefore the learning sticks. Sexual harassment training can be uncomfortable for both trainers and participants. Videos do the "heavy lifting" so to speak and make the training less difficult and uncomfortable. In addition, sexual harassment videos are thoroughly researched and developed. They save the trainer time and effort. Here are the most popular/best-selling programs of 2011.

Developing a comprehensive customer service training program is the most important business decision an organization can make. Customer service isn't just about please and thank you. It's about all the processes in your organization that affect the customer. In the world we live in today information is disseminated at breakneck speed. With Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and other social networking sites at your customer's fingertips a bad customer service experience can be broadcast and spread like a forest fire in a matter of hours. And this type of bad publicity can destroy your business just as sure as a fire will destroy a forest. The surest way to prevent a fire in the first place is through customer service training and the first step is a clearly defined customer service policy and procedures handbook that is given to every member of your team.

In the workplace we all have labels - manager, supervisor, line-worker, assistant, electrician, engineer. We accept these labels without much thought because they help define our roles in our work life, however there are other labels that unfortunately crop up in the workplace. These other labels are dangerous and in some case bring sexual harassment. Every organization's sexual harassment training should encompass this topic.
 

Using an ethics training video can be an effective way to teach your employees proper ethical behavior in the workplace. Ethics is more than about compliance. (although this is the ultimate goal) It needs to start with core values and standards of behavior expected by an organizations. The ethics videos available on the market attack this important aspect of employee training from both perspectives.