STEP 2
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO TRAIN?
'Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.'
- Benjamin Franklin
We kick off Step 2 with the most important training determiner: What do you want to train?
It is a simple question, but therein lies the critical aspect in terms of content development. Look again at the big picture - in this instance, the information. What information do you want a person to know after their training is complete?
In H.E.S.S Training (Health Environment Safety Security) in the cruise ship and airline industry - the aim is for people to learn, then follow the laid-out behavior and standards in terms of safety (human life is as stake) and hygiene (to prevent contamination or infection).
In H.A.C.C.P Training (Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Points), you must ensure a complete flow of information: from the food processing and manufacturing stage to the delivery stage (when served to guests). Storage, reheating, refrigeration steps and procedures must be followed to the letter. This is where the safety mentality introduced in Step 1 is invaluable. Training varies in other areas, and is trickier when it comes to Sales, Customer Complaints Handling and Service Trainings. Here, standards and procedures are not as critical in the sense of lifesaving and hygiene.
People must be given more room to judge a situation independently and not blindly follow laid-out behavior. You provide the tools they might need in each situation and develop characteristics such as values or determination - completely different training techniques apply.
Let's look at how you would train the Spa Department on a cruise ship for example.
You might encounter a trainee who is excellent at her job, but reluctant to sell products or services to passengers during their relaxing zen massage. Her hesitation to sell add-ons will cost the spa in terms of revenue, so the key would be to change her mentality and create an openness to selling in the first place. This way, she can accept that sales is a crucial part of her job description and master the techniques required to sell confidently.
In the service industry, the 'Guest is King.' You need to equip trainees with the tools and techniques required to provide individualized service. But remember, what one person considers to be good service is not necessarily good service for another, so we are back to opinions. More on this topic later.
In Step 2, I am going to break it down in terms of understanding WHAT you want to train, and how you need to adapt the training content accordingly. You may have all seven of the Step 1 Training Terminologies under control, but you need to be able to tweak them to your training content.
We are back to the outcome versus result factor again - which is always tricky.
For the purposes of this step let's define outcome versus result in terms of content:
Outcome: what you want to achieve.
Result: What you get.
You might discover in your trainings that the result you are aiming for and the outcome you're getting differ. This could be because of variances in your training content, or that the material is not suited to the type of training you are presenting.
In Step 2 we will investigate all the procedures, steps, and terminologies in Customer Complaints Handling, Service Training, Sales Training, Safety Training, and any form of training you are presenting.
Training Terminologies
Let's touch briefly on how words and phrases apply to training content.
There is a sizeable difference in the vernacular used in different types of training scenarios. As the trainer you must understand the distinction between the types of training and corresponding terminologies.
For example: H.E.S.S. Training (Health Environment Safety and Security) requires that every person in the chain follows specific instructions and rules. The procedures are outlined and written in logical, orderly steps. Compliance is mandatory, ensuring that the safety system functions as a whole and lives are protected.
Relevant terminology: have or must - words that leave no options or room for negotiation, clearly stating that compliance is mandatory.
Service Training and Sales Training are the exact opposite. In this situation, have or must are negative words, leaving people with no options to decide for themselves. People always need to feel that they have options - to purchase things or to avail themselves of a service for example.
Using have or must in this context comes across as an order or command.
When selling merchandise consider this: the price is the price marked on the item. How people feel in terms of it being the sale of the century or a cheap bargain is their opinion. It has nothing to do with the person on the opposite side of the counter! Don't assume that because the salesperson can't afford the item, it is automatically an expensive item! That is an assumption.
Let's look at a training example: a trainee must sell a TAG Heuer watch to a potential customer. In lieu of having Chris Hemsworth in store to personally endorse it, the trainee might be tempted to pitch the sale with 'loaded' words. Absolutely not! Steer them away from 'it's an expensive watch' into the direction of 'this is a high quality or fashionable watch.'
Yes, I hear you - quality can also be considered an opinion, but the point here is go with positive words and avoid loading your pitch with gaudy adjectives.
That is why it is critical to introduce consciously the right words early in your trainings, so that the trainees become familiar with them and use them confidently in future work situations. Again, the applicable jargon and vernacular must correspond with the training - be it Sales, Safety, I.T. Training or Customer Satisfaction Training.
Relevant terminology: high quality, advanced, efficient - positive words that provide people with options to decide for themselves.
Try Versus Do
A little word I do not like . try. It is a commonly used word our society has adopted to cover a multitude of sins and failures; one I would personally like to see struck from training sessions altogether.
Reason being? I see it as a negative word. Negative words create negative thoughts, which in turn lead to negative actions. Positive words on the other hand, create positive thoughts and positive thoughts? You got it - lead to positive actions!
If you are using the word, try - I consider that you have already failed - failed in that your efforts are devoid of success at this point. By evoking the word try, you are implying that it is OK to lose or fall short of a certain goal. It is a nice, comfortable safety net to fall back on.
To endorse it personally my sports mentality does not indulge in this thinking. If you are in the gym doing a bench press, you are either lifting the weight or you are not. It's either moving because you are lifting it, or it's resting comfortably in the stand because you aren't.
So, in this instance 'trying' to me, means not lifting.
I always use my go-to example: lifting a pen. If I am going to show you how to try to lift a pen, you are going to fail every time. Either you are lifting the pen, or you aren't. You cannot be between these two actions in a state of trying. What you are doing is failing - failing in that you are not lifting the pen at all!
Consider try to be the blanket word that people cling to when they have failed and pluck out all the old excuses: 'I tried to save money', 'I tried to pass the examination' or 'I tried to diet'. Try, try, try, try, try - a word used when avoiding the simple truth - you failed. Let's face it: failure is a hard thing to admit to, plain and simple.
I prefer the POSITIVE energy of the word do. I encourage people to go for it and do something! Even if you don't automatically succeed or achieve your goal on the first attempt. Don't try to do it differently - do it differently! Still no success? Re-assess, change, tweak and re-set your mind on a trajectory that moves you forward . along the way you will see if your outcome was successful or not.
Those weights at the gym you couldn't lift last session. No problem! Ask yourself what you can do differently - train other muscles harder, use lighter weights for now, change your diet or technique - do whatever it takes to conquer them.
So, the ideal mindset we are after in trainings is:
A DO-ing mindset. Not a trying one!
THE GUEST IS KING
This is a familiar phrase in the tourism and hospitality Industry, whereby cruise ship companies, resorts or hotels strive to provide the best individualized service imaginable to patrons and guests.
Noble intentions indeed, but in my opinion, begs the question: is this assumed knowledge attained from knowing precisely what the king wants? If so, the focus of the humble subjects is regimented, as there is usually only one king in a kingdom to satisfy!
In the cruise ship industry, the 'kings' stay on board for long periods of time. In hotels too. The challenge intensifies when the royal treatment must be sustained for many people, who all require undivided attention and...
