When we think about customer service, do we consider that we may be in danger of over-automating activity? Many of us will have talked to a customer service rep mechanically reading off of a script, without pausing to genuinely ask how we are?
If you train customer service representatives for your company or if you’re a solopreneur running the customer service yourself, you’ll also need this advice for how not to become a customer service robot.
1. Start with a Script…Then Throw it Away
There is value in using a template of sorts to help anyone in customer service understand the key points to hit in a phone call. But relying on that script too much leads to an unfeeling and unpleasant experience for the customer. If you’re training, run through plenty of scenarios until your staff feels comfortable winging it. This should be common sense:
Hello, Ms. Smith. How are you today? How can I help you?
You can include prompts in your software to help reps deal with specific types of situations, but encourage them to extrapolate what they need to say, rather than reading it verbatim.
2. Engage in Chitchat
While starting a casual conversation with a customer might cost your business money in call-time, not doing so could cost you as well. Remember, your customers are human, and they like being asked how their day is going. There’s ample opportunity to talk about the weather, kids and other generic topics and doing so can help keep a distraught customer calm, providing better results.
3. Invest in Culture Training
The biggest complaint customers have about brands that outsource their customer service is that they can’t connect emotionally with the reps. That’s usually due to different culture sets. Imagine how you’d fare if you were hired to address customer service issues for Chinese customers. Where would you begin? What would be okay to talk about and what would be crossing a cultural line?
4. Simplify the Call Process
One of the complaints we customers have is the number of buttons we have to push to reach a human, only to be transferred repeatedly to someone else. One well known Software giant listened to their customers on this point and a year later, reported that they’d reduced the number of transfers a person experiences on a call by 40%. That’s significant.
5. Expand Your Customer Service Connect Points
There’s nothing worse than emailing a customer service department only to never get a response. Invest in more ways your customers can reach you and utilise them. Email and social are easy to implement and they don’t have to be responded to in real time, but do respond in a reasonable amount of time (same day or less).
6. Define Your Company Culture
Customer service is a high-turnover industry. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t invest in identifying what you want your company culture to be. Make customer service a priority and provide the ressources to be able to do this effectively.
7. Look at the Right Numbers
Move away from stressing the importance of your call-time numbers to save money and instead focus on the bigger picture: How many calls are you getting with customer issues? How can you reduce that? How many satisfied customers do you have?
8. Examine Your Efforts
Just like with marketing, it’s important to look at what’s working and what’s not. Listen in on your reps’ calls to see their interactions with customers and how customers are responding. Try new things and measure results, implementing the outputs and actions.
9. Respond Quickly
Customers want answers now. Taking too long to respond to a customer may trigger an unwanted response but this shouldn’t be your motivation for responding quickly. Simply aiming to exceed customer expectations should be.
10. Underpromise and Overdeliver
If you’ve ever received something sooner than expected, or if a company did a better job than promised, you were probably delighted. Similarly, if a company told you it would do something and didn’t, you were probably peeved. Try to promise what you know that you can absolutely deliver, and then some. You’ll consistently impress customers and they’ll tell their friends.
We’re all human, whichever side of the customer service equation we fall on. It’s time we act like it.
http://smallbiztrends.com/2013/04/avoid-becoming-customer-service-robot.html
A colleague has just sent you an email relating to a meeting in one hour’s time. The email is supposed to contain key information to present, as part of the business case for an important project.
Here’s the problem: The email is so poorly written that you can’t find the data you need. There are misspellings and incomplete sentences, with paragraphs so long and confusing that it takes you three times more than it should to find what you need. As a result, you’re under-prepared for the meeting, and it doesn’t go as well.
Have you ever faced a situation similar to this? In today’s information overload world, it’s vital to communicate clearly, concisely and effectively. People don’t have time to read book-length emails, and don’t have patience to scour badly-constructed emails for “buried” points. The better your writing skills are, the better the impression you’ll make on the people around you. You never know how far these good impressions will take you!
Audience and Format
The first step to writing clearly is choosing the appropriate format. Informal email, detailed report, formal letter – which is best for what you need?
The format, as well as your audience, will define your “writing voice” – that is, how formal or relaxed the tone should be. For example, if you write an email to a prospective client, should it have the same tone as an email to a friend? Definitely not!
Start by identifying who will read your message. Is it targeted at senior managers or a lower grade? Is it to a whole team or a small group of people? Your intended recipients will define your tone and content.
Composition and Style
Once you know what you’re writing and for whom, it’s time to begin.
A blank, white computer screen is often intimidating. It’s easy to get stuck because you don’t know how to start. Consider the following for composing and styling your document:
- Start with your audience – Remember, your readers may know nothing about what you’re telling them. What’s the first thing they need to know?
- Create an outline – This is especially useful if you’re writing a longer document such as a report, presentation, or speech. Outlines help identify which steps to take in which order, and help you break the task up into manageable pieces.
- Use AIDA – If you’re writing something that requires an action of the reader, follow the Attention-Interest-Desire-Action (AIDA) formula. These four steps can help guide you through the writing process.
- Try some empathy – If you’re writing a sales letter for prospective clients, why should they care about your product or sales pitch? What’s the benefit for them? Remember your audience’s needs at all times.
- Use rational, be coherent – If you’re trying to persuade someone to do something, make sure that you communicate the reason why people should listen to you. Pitch your message to engage your audience, and present information logically and clearly.
- Identify your main theme – If you’re having trouble defining the main theme of your message, pretend that you have 15 seconds to outline your position. What do you say? This is likely to be your main theme.
- Use simple language – Unless writing an academic piece, stick to plain, simple and direct language. Don’t use long words just to impress.
Structure
Your document should be as “reader friendly” as possible. Use headings, subheadings, bullet points, and numbering to break up the text. A document that’s easy to scan will get read more often than one with long, dense paragraphs of text.
Headers should grab the reader’s attention. Using questions can be beneficial, especially in advertising copy or reports, because they keep the reader engaged and curious. In emails and proposals, use short, factual headings and subheadings.
Adding graphs and charts is also a smart way to break up your text. Visual aids not only keep the reader’s eye engaged, but they can communicate important information much more quickly than text.
Grammatical Errors
You probably don’t need us to tell you that errors in your document will make you look unprofessional. It’s essential to learn grammar properly, and to avoid common mistakes that your spell checker won’t find.
Here are some examples of commonly misused words:
- Affect/effect
- “Affect” is a verb meaning to influence. (Example: The economic forecast will affect our projected income.)
- “Effect” is a noun meaning the result or outcome. (Example: What is the effect of the proposal?)
- Then/than
- “Then” is typically an adverb indicating a sequence in time. (Example: We went to dinner, then we saw a movie.)
- “Than” is a conjunction used for comparison. (Example: The dinner was more expensive than the movie.)
- Your/you’re
- “Your” is a possessive. (Example: Is that your file?)
- “You’re” is a contraction of “you are.” (Example: You’re the new manager.)
- Note: Also watch out for other common homophones (words that sound alike but have different spellings and meanings) – such as their/they’re/there, to/too/two, and so on.
- Its/it’s
- “Its” is a possessive. (Example: Is that its motor?)
- “It’s” is a contraction of “It is.” (Example: It’s often that heavy.) (Yes, it is this way around!)
- Company’s/companies(and other possessives versus plurals)
- “Company’s” indicates possession. (Example: The company’s trucks hadn’t been maintained properly.)
- “Companies” is plural. (Example: The companies in this industry are suffering.)
Tip:
Some of your readers – arguably an increasing number – won’t be perfect at spelling and grammar. They may not notice if you make these errors. But don’t use this as an excuse: there will usually be people, senior managers in particular, who WILL notice!
Proofing
The enemy of good proofreading is speed. Many people rush through their documents, but this is how mistakes are missed. Follow these guidelines to check what you’ve written:
- Proof your headers and subheaders – People often skip these and focus on the text alone. Just because headers are big and bold doesn’t mean they’re error free!
- Read the document out loud – This forces you to go slower so that you’re more likely to catch mistakes.
- Use your finger to follow text as you read – Another trick that helps you slow down.
- Start at the end of your document – Proofread one sentence at a time, working your way from the end to the beginning. This helps you focus on errors, not on content.
Key Points
More than ever, it’s important to know how to communicate your point quickly and professionally. Many people spend a lot of time writing and reading, so the better you are at this form of communication, the more successful you’re likely to be.
Identify your audience before you start creating your document. And if you feel that there’s too much information to include, create an outline to help organize your thoughts. Learning grammatical and stylistic techniques will also help you write more clearly; and be sure to proof the final document. Like most things, the more you write, the better you’re going to be!
http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/WritingSkills.htm
Even if you are experienced in giving presentations, there’s always room for improvement. Once the speech is written and slides created, it’s time for you to become your own public speaking coach and make a good speech into a dynamic, engaging presentation.
Firstly, create a checklist and use this to review each element of your presentation. For example, you’ll listen to how you sound first, and then go back and watch your expressions and body language. You’ll make improvements to each element and move on.
Here are 3 steps to follow:
Step 1: How Do I Sound?
Start with an audio recording, then go back and listen. Do you sound conversational or like you’re reading? Do you sound excited about what you’re saying?
Listen for the construction of your speech. Take notes and create an outline to see if it follows the original. If it doesn’t, look at both again and decide which works best.
Go back and re-listen to the first 2-5 minutes. Do your opening words grab attention? Does the key thrust of your talk come directly after your attention-getter? Finally, did you concisely preview each of your main ideas?
Now listen to just the body of your talk. Each main point should be stated clearly and supported with examples, stories, or evidence. Check to make sure you’re mixing up the types of support for each point. Listen for examples on logic and facts, and others on stories that invoke emotion.
Time how long you spend in each sections. You should spend roughly the same amount of time on each main point. If not, make changes that will create balance.
Step 2: How Do I Look?
Now record yourself on video. Focus on body language and other nonverbal cues. For the first round of video review, turn off your sound and just focus on the visuals.
Watch your facial expressions first. Are you smiling naturally? Do you look like you’re enjoying yourself? You want to see a variety of expressions and natural transitions. Work on any areas where you look nervous.
Next, focus on body language with the sound still off. Gestures should look and feel natural. If you see that you’re rigid, work on matching gestures to your words. If you’re gesturing so much that you look out of control, work on making only meaningful gestures. You should “see” the point you’re making, even without the words. Your body language can display confidence or give away that you’re nervous. Are you behind a podium, hugging it for dear life? If so, step out in front of it. Walk around and make eye contact with confidence, but don’t pace like a caged tiger.
In your final round of video review, turn the sound on and pay careful attention to the feelings you get when you watch, especially when something is not quite right. If your gut tells you there’s a weakness, pay attention and adjust. Look for places where your message could be clearer or more precise. Listen and watch to see if your verbal and nonverbal communications are co-ordinated. Are you smiling when you shouldn’t be? Do your gestures emphasize the right words? Your body language should agree with your words, not contradict them.
Step 3: Review Your Slides
On your first review, check the overall appearance of your slides. You want a nice mix of images and text. A few slides can have text only or images only, but space them out appropriately in your presentation.
Look for consistency. Fonts and formatting should be the same or similar in each slide. If you’re using colour charts and graphs, use a small number of colours, and make sure they mean the same thing from slide to slide.
Now match your presentation to your messages. Read each title in order. Does the presentation tell a story? Does each slide have a clear title? Do the slides have too much detail? Make your points clear and concise.
Then, carefully review each slide individually. Every slide should be connected to your main message and include only enough information to make your point. Does each slide make only one point? If not, split them up. Does the slide include information that you don’t plan to talk about? Remove it! If you’re doing a technical presentation, carefully review your charts and graphs to make sure each is accurate and clear.
For each slide, ask yourself how you can make your point clearer. What can you add or delete? Do the images and text support each other? Are the points easy to understand? Are key takeaways included in the slides both visually and in text?
Your presentations will improve if you take time to review your checklist and make the necessary amedments. Self-coaching, one element at time, is one way to ensure you deliver a simple, clear, and dynamic presentation.
Click here for the full article:
http://publicspeaker.quickanddirtytips.com/be-your-own-public-speaking-coach.aspx
One of the biggest challenges in gathering 360 degree feedback is a self-consciousness and anxiety about giving genuine responses. How can you assist 360-degree feedback respondents to overcome their anxiety and give their honest opinion?
Anonymity
The most common solution is to emphasise that the survey is completely anonymous. This should give respondents the empowerment to answer truthfully. However, many individuals still find it a struggle to criticise managers because they are afraid of a potential loophole that will get them into trouble. So, anonymity is a good starting point but some employees will probably require more.
In the opening instructions, providing clear guidance about how to answer the questions is essential. Check box questions are completely anonymous and so the only real “loophole” is that a manager might identify a commentator from a verbatim comment in the free text answer section. Advice should be given about considering this point when responding so the point can be made without being too specific. Of course, not all respondents are nervous about being identified, especially in cultures which are more open and honest and they are comfortable to be more specific to assist their manager’s understanding. There may be times, where required, that reassurance can be given by using a third party consultant provider rather than one’s own brand. People will be more confidant that individual data will not be disclosed.
Workshops
Some employees need to see that they’re not alone in being unsure of how to respond. A workshop and open discussion between respondents of all levels can be really effective in building confidence at the beginning of the process. Clear communication about the overall purpose and approach of this type of appraisal is critical. The more we communicate about the appraisals and the process, and talk about how performance will be assessed and the reports used, the more confident and comfortable everyone will become.
Establish the Process
The most effective way to instill the process is to repeat the exercise annually or twice a year. The more often staff participate in the process, the more established and incorporated it will become in the culture and the more comfortable and honest employees will become.
This develops the trust and belief in the process and this will become complete once the feedback is provided to the individuals. Then, it is seen to be received in a positive light and used to drive actions for personal development and real changes in behaviour, without any of the initial fears of unrest or suspicion being realised.
Read more at http://www.business2community.com/strategy/360-degree-feedback-and-the-self-consciousness-problem-0458328#qtkx1b8rYlLbDKMS.99
Building strong relationships with partners inside and outside of your organisation has become a business necessity. What is required to be successful is a collaborative manifesto.
Many of the people who help make you and your business successful don’t work for you – in fact they probably don’t even work within your organisation.
Historically, it was widely thought that a strong leader could deliver results through their own intellect and ability to inspire the staff under them.
Not anymore. Today’s leaders know they must work with outsourcing partners, negotiate joint ventures, develop new products together with suppliers or customers, whilst keeping investors, regulators and the media on their side too. Possessing the skills of collaborative leadership is rapidly becoming a pre-requisite.
This isn’t new of course. You only have to watch Daniel Day-Lewis’s Oscar winning performance in Lincoln, or read the book Team of Rivals on which it is based, to see a great model of collaborative leadership in action.
Despite being a newly elected second-term president, Abraham Lincoln knew that he couldn’t get his historic 13th amendment to ban slavery passed through the constitution without developing relationships right across the political divides. His success demonstrated many attributes of a collaborative leader that are so important in today’s business world.
Successes and failures
Take a look at situations such as the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, where leadership failures and a lack of collaboration between BP, Transocean and Halliburton were identified as the key causes of a tragedy that cost 11 lives and many billions of dollars in clean-up costs and fines. The recent horsemeat scandal, which caused several major retail leaders to investigate the quality of their supply chain relationships, paints a similar sorry picture.
The ability to lead effectively across multiple organisational boundaries is now a business necessity. All those involved in London 2012 showed the success of such an approach. When collaborative leadership works, it can lead to fantastic results.
While most fundamental leadership lessons have remained the same over time, the context in which these lessons are applied is changing rapidly.
Clearly, there is more interdependence in the world than in Lincoln’s day but, perhaps more significantly, the nature of that interdependence is becoming more strategic and the speed of its effects is becoming ever quicker.
Meantime, leaders are under more and more pressure to deliver and are judged harshly by their shareholders, customers or electorate if they are seen to be falling short.
As a result, there is a risk that they turn to tribal behaviour – acting to serve the interests of their own whilst trying to isolate themselves from, or defeat, everyone on the outside. But if the interdependence is true, this tribal approach is unworkable.
You know how some people are always late, then end up spending more time in a meeting than you think is really required? Or, how some people always manage to be punctual? An easy way to recognize someone’s personality style is looking at how they spend their time. Take a look at these descriptions and see if you recognize yourself and any colleagues.
People with a Direct style don’t waste time. They are almost always in a rush and get impatient if you aren’t. They are action-oriented, make quick decisions and implement them rapidly. They stay focused on their goals and stay on track.
If you are working with someone who says, “I want it yesterday!” you are probably working with someone with a Direct style. To work effectively with this style, be punctual for meetings and appointments. Stick to the topic and get to the point quickly. Timescales are set so make sure you can meet any deadline agreed.
People with a Spirited style are multitaskers. They enjoy handling multiple tasks and projects all at once, although doing so doesn’t necessarily make them any more productive. They are easily distracted, finding it easier to start a new project than to finish current tasks. They favour spending time brainstorming rather than implementing ideas.
If you are working with someone who says, “While we’re at it, let’s consider…” then you’re probably working with someone with a Spirited style. To work well with this style, allow extra time for meetings so you’re not surprised or frustrated when they go long. Be ready to stray off topic and guide this person back to making a decision. Anticipate extra time for projects because this style doesn’t always stick to deadlines.
People with a Considerate style put people before time. They will interrupt their own work to help others complete theirs. They often take on more than they can handle in the interest of helping others. Ultimately, they can’t say no! They may jeopardize their deadlines by not being forceful enough in asking for what they require.
If you’re working with someone like this, you’re probably working with someone with a Considerate style. To get on with this style, be aware of their tendency to overcommit, and make sure they haven’t taken on so much that they can’t complete what they need to. Agree a way for them to share their concerns before they become a problem that has an impact on the project and its deadlines.
People with a Systematic style are deadline-driven. You can rely on them to meet their deadlines, as long as you give them enough lead time. They often deliberate before making decisions, and they can get bogged down in details. They prefer to spend their time analyzing and evaluating rather than diving in and taking action on a project.
If you’re working with someone who seems preoccupied with the detail and insists on having enough time to do the job right, then you are probably working with a person with a Systematic style. To work effectively with this style, give them the time they need. They will do an excellent job when not under time constraints. If they seem stuck and are not making progress on a project, be prepared to help them make decisions to move forward.
Click to read more:
http://www.chron.com/jobs/salary/article/What-is-Your-Time-Management-Style-4334048.php
You can recruit great talent into your organisiation, but the key is retaining and motivating this talent to building an exceptional business. Equally important is implementing a post-recession strategy for talent retention to avoid staff leaving once the economy improves. This can be framed around the internal customer experience.
Businesses that focus on employee engagement benefit with their bottom line. It goes without saying – you keep the best people and improve your profitability. The trick is where to focus. Consider these four key areas:
1. Build the right leadership team: Invest in leaders via external training, or by focusing internal training on hard and soft skills as well as emotional and intellectual intelligence. Work with them to build a good employee experience and empower them to deliver.
2. Make the team’s career progression clear: Create personal development plans with achievable targets for promotion. Give employees responsibility for their own professional path and discover how they want to develop. Tap into the mind of ambitious employees who think of the exchange,“if you add value to my CV, I will add value to my workplace”.
3. Have a good reward structure: Set clear expectations and let staff know when rewards are given. Link financial bonuses to sales targets or achieving task & project objectives, have instant recognition systems in place, and always be consistent.
4. Strive to be innovative: The best people want to work somewhere that is dynamic and young talent particularly wants to break new ground. Being an innovative organisation does not necessarily mean having an innovative proposition but it does mean your business practices and treatment of staff should be. Collaborate across all areas, embrace new technologies, break down the norm and tap into staff creativity.
By focusing on your people, building a caring and empowered culture, you will give staff the skills and intelligence they need to focus on customers. They will be trained to make each customer count and create loyal advocates.
This is the secret to a long, successful, financially rewarding business – and it all starts with your people. So, plan now, before they look elsewhere.
Click to read more http://www.catererandhotelkeeper.co.uk/articles/15/2/2013/347465/employee-engagement-is-key.htm
What are the qualities you need to be a successful chief executive? Being a visionary? Having a strong personality? Possessing business acumen?
Recently, 46 chief executives and business leaders were asked by the Marketing Society to come up with a definitive list of attributes. Interestingly, none of the above were ranked as critical. Instead, they rated strategic thinking as the single most critical skill for a chief executive, followed by customer focus and ability to communicate clearly.
Bringing the customer into the boardroom was seen as one of the current top leadership skills. Organisations need to work harder to understand customer needs and deliver on brand promise, chief executives said, as “surprisingly” not all companies are customer-focused.
Other leadership attributes highlighted by the executives includes being “flexible not floppy”, with successful bosses needing to know when to be resolute and pragmatic.
Alan Brown, chief executive of Rentokil, said:
“Being flexible is vital and the only way for a business to succeed, but sometimes a little rigidity and inertia can stop an organisation lurching off on a short-lived fad.”
Mr Berkett also believes that partnerships with appropriate companies offer a better way of being more customer-centred.
Surrounding yourself with great people is also seen as a key skill, as opposed to having a dominant “personality”. Just a third of bosses felt their role was to be “visionary”.
Julian Metcalfe, founder of Pret A Manger and itsu, said:
“The only essential skill of any entrepreneur is to know who’s got fire in their belly and who hasn’t, [who’s got] a shared goal to build businesses.”
Building a sense of trust and credibility is also key for chief executives operating in a transparent world.
Sir Paul Judge, chairman of various organisations, said:
“[Leaders] must understand and foster positive engagement with employees, customers, suppliers, financiers, government and local communities, as if these are not supportive then it is very unlikely that the key objectives will be achieved.”
In summary, the 8 essential skills identified were:
1. Give a clear sense of direction
2. Bring the customer into the boardroom
3. Communicate clearly – inside and out
4. Be flexible but not floppy
5. Take risks but don’t bet the company
6. Build the team around you
7. Listen with humility, act with courage
8. Earn your reward through building trust
Click to read more:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/9920854/Leadership-The-eight-essential-skills.html
The more we involve the brain during learning, the more we tend to remember the learning.
Examining the different learning styles and figuring out which works best for you can help you capitalise on your strengths.
Learning is an essential part of our lives. It helps us make informed choices about our future, stimulates growth and covers the whole life cycle.
Learning though isn’t easy. Effort and a willingness to learn from others is essential. It also requires a willingness to leave our comfort zones. We must try new things, and not be afraid of failure.
If we are willing to give it a go and reflect on the outcomes, there will be opportunities to expand our abilities. The pursuit for knowledge is one of the most important investments we can ever make.
Learning Styles
People differ in their learning styles and techniques, and they might use a mix of different styles depending on the situation, environment or circumstances.
Your preferred learning style guides the way you learn. It impacts how you look at things, how you recall information and the actions you take as a result.
There are different categories of learning styles, and research has proven that each one is connected to a specific part of the brain. The more we involve the brain during learning, the more we tend to remember what we have learned.
Dr. Mirna Safi, Professor in Business Management, states that:
“Through identifying your learning style, you will be able to capitalise on your strengths and
improve your self-advocacy skills.”
Researchers who have used brain-imaging technologies have identified the key areas of the brain responsible for each learning style as follows:
• Visual (spatial): These learners prefer using pictures, images and spatial understanding. The occipital lobes at the back of the brain manage the visual sense. Both the occipital and parietal lobes manage spatial orientation.
• Aural (auditory-musical): Learners with aural learning style prefer using sound and music. The temporal lobes handle aural content; the right temporal lobe is particularly important for music.
• Verbal (linguistic): These learners prefer using words, both in speech and writing. The temporal and frontal lobes of the brain are responsible for verbal communication.
• Physical (kinesthetic): These learners prefer using their body, hands and sense of touch. The cerebellum and the motor cortex (at the back of the frontal lobe) are responsible for much of our physical movement.
• Logical (mathematical): Logical learners prefer using logic, reasoning and systems. The parietal lobes, especially the left side, drive our logical thinking.
• Social (interpersonal): Social learners prefer to learn in groups or with other people. The frontal and temporal lobes handle much of our social activities. The limbic system also influences both the social and solitary styles. The limbic system deals with emotions, moods, and aggression.
• Solitary (intrapersonal): These learners prefer to work alone and use self-study. The frontal and parietal lobes, and the limbic system, are also active with this style.
Let your learning style work for you
There are many tests you can complete to identify your learning style. Once you are aware of yours, you will need to use specific strategies to fit your way of learning.
For example, if you are a visual learner, you could use a highlighter when reading or studying. The bright colour would appeal to your artistic sense and help you focus on the words.
It is important that you become aware of your own learning styles so you can use techniques better suited to you. By identifying your learning style, you will be able to maximise your strengths and improve your self-advocacy skills. This can improve the speed and quality of your learning, which is a continuous process.
Click to read more:
http://www.i-l-m.com/edge/Managing_your_learning_styles.aspx
The results of a global survey by talent data firm SHL of 592 HR professionals, suggest HR is overwhelmed with staff information and struggles to gain meaningful insights from it to grow the business.
However, the survey also revealed that this insight is a priority for employers as many restructure and cut costs within their organisations in the current economic climate.
More than half of HR professionals said ‘engaging talent’ (55 per cent) and ‘cultivating strong leaders’ (52 per cent) were priorities for driving change.
Respondents also emphasised the importance of measuring the effectiveness of performance management (49 per cent), workforce planning and talent analytics (43 per cent), and training (42 per cent).
The Global Assessment Trends Report 2013 found that despite workforce planning and talent analytics being among the top five HR priorities, less than half of respondents (44 per cent) said their organisations use objective data on employees’ competencies and skills to make workforce decisions.
And only 18 per cent of HR professionals are currently happy with the way their organisation manages talent data, the survey found.
The report highlights two major challenges, data quality and accessibility, that HR must address before it can really harness the power of ‘big data’.
Despite 88 per cent of employers claiming a lack of confidence in the quality of candidate data from social media sites, 20 per cent still use that information to make hiring decisions and 30 per cent believe the data is useful in determining candidate fit.
To view further details, read the article on the CIPD website
