28 Feb 2023

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5 essential points to ethics-based leadership training

Ethics-based leadership training is necessary for managers because it guides their actions. It can enable them to take correct choices.

Leaders are often caught in complicated situations which require them to think morally. Their decisions can impact behaviors and force employees to even quit the companies. Furthermore, they have to take altering decisions like what should be the actions and who should take them. Leadership training based on ethics can teach the following things:

Taking tough decisions:

For example, leaders often have to take hard decisions to fire people. This can impact the livelihood of these people, and they may often have trouble finding jobs in other companies. So, what should a leader do in such a situation? Even promoting an employee because of his good performance or distributing bonuses are controversial decisions that can land a leader in trouble. When a leader fires people, it affects his image in the company and makes people wary of him. People can become scared of the leader and become sycophants.

Being rational:

See, a leader as to decide based on facts, not on his emotions, whether he likes an employee or not. He has to calculate the risk before firing someone. When ethical training is, imparted, leaders get an insight into justifiable behavior. It helps them modify their behavior in the right direction.

Leaders must get more rationality from ethical leadership training rather than just knowledge.

Inspiring ideal behavior:

A leader has to become a role model for others and always make correct decisions. People emulate the personality of leaders to get ahead. As such, he can’t display wrong behavior in being loud or hiding things.

The leader has to set the correct example for others, which is why he should value transparency. Hence, employees should be encouraged to talk so they can be open about them if they are facing a problem. But the leader should know where to stop as far as the transparency thing is concerned because employees don’t need to know everything.

That is also another ethical dilemma that leaders can learn to resolve after leadership training.

The leaders have to ensure that employees give their best to the company, but it’s also their job to create the right atmosphere in the company. As far as setting the tone of behavior in the organization is concerned, the leaders have to think about the organizational values and their own values too. A leader should be creating a paradigm before people take their work ethically. This can be done when the leader performs sincerely and respects his work.

Reacting to necessary situations:

Such training can help dealers navigate through critical situations with ease which is crucial for them:

First of all, they have to prepare in advance for such situations. When they have already thought about a situation, they know how to react to it. Sometimes, reacting to a situation at the spur of the moment is not helpful. Leaders don’t act impulsively when they know what’s to be done in such a situation. For example, they have to think before whats to be one when someone is about to be fired, should the situation be disclosed to him so he can start looking for a job.

When leaders act rightly in such situations, they also prep up other people on how to face such scenarios.

When decisions like firing up someone have to be taken, a leader has to evaluate all the evidence against him. They must gather as much information as possible and judge whether firing someone is right.

Leaders can also consult others before taking a decision. When deciding, a leader must consider whether it will be taken easily. If it isn’t, then they must ask other people for advice who are in senior positions in the company before taking such decisions. People in the senior management have often taken such decisions before and can guide the leader about such unpopular but necessary decisions.

A leader must be bold because sometimes he has to make decisions that place other people in trouble, like losing jobs. But that does not mean he refrains from taking such decisions. But a leader has to do what is in the organization’s best interests. Leadership training teaches a leader to base their actions on logic than emotions. Only then can they keep calm about such decisions rather than bothering about their growing unpopularity due to such decisions.

Being ethical and not crossing the legal limits:

Leadership training should train such people about a company’s core values, and every business decision must be aligned with them. It teaches leaders not to ignore such values and to have a herd mentality that if everyone makes such choices, why should they not?

Ethical leadership training is all about making the correct decisions and not always thinking about the profits. It’s because making any wrong decision just considering the bottom line can affect the company’s image when it gets mired in controversy.

10 Feb 2023

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Why is leadership training important to prevent burnout?

Leadership training is essential in today’s world, where employees suffer from burnout.

The leaders are the only ones who can prevent employees from losing interest in the job. Burnout was not only a factor of the pandemic but also has been there afterwards.

The leaders can detect when an employee starts losing interest in the job. They also start making mistakes at work because they are no longer keen to work. The employees in such situations need support from the leader, who must understand their condition. He must give them sick leaves, so they spend some required family time and bounce back from this stage.

Leaders should be emphatic:

It is traditionally regarded immature to express emotions anywhere except at home.

However, in the office, it’s the leader’s job to see that the organization creates the right culture, which includes providing emotional support to employees.

A good leader asks about the well-being of employees every day or as frequently as he can. This includes that employees are made to talk whenever required. When leaders listen to employees, they must show empathy and take decisions as if they were in those situations.

Due to leadership training, when employees have compassionate leaders in the organization, they have the courage to talk about their feelings, preventing burnout. Whenever an employee faces a problem, instead of scolding him for having a negative attitude, the leader should listen to him compassionately.

When the problem is rectified, the employee feels like he is part of a company.

Employees must be encouraged to open up with colleagues also about their emotions.

Encourage employees to share knowledge:

Employees should not be called after work hours when they are at home. That is their personal space, and it should not be disturbed. An employee might not always have to work overtime, but this situation can’t be avoided when there are deadlines.

Hence realistic workload goals must be set for them. The workload should be distributed evenly among employees, which is an easier way to handle work. Some employees also might be facing difficulty in doing their work, which is better to train them.

However, for that, a culture of jealousy should be avoided because it’s the senior’s job to train the juniors.

Have a reasonable number of working hours:

Leaders must also ensure that they can have a healthy workplace in the company. Employees must be given leaves. Their working hours must be normal also, and they should not be asked to work overtime. Analytics has proven that employees who work at least 50 hours per week suffer from burnout. But these problems can be avoided when employees are not called to offices but have remote work.

Remote working is the best way to prevent burnout because employees get access to family hours. If a company does not have a stringent need to is employees work from offices, remote work must be allowed or at least hybrid work.

As a result, their commuting time is avoided, and they don’t get burnout.

A company must prefer quality over prefer quality to quantity. If an employee’s work quality is deteriorating because he is handling too many projects simultaneously, that means limiting the workload. Employees must know what is expected of them and perform accordingly rather than overworking. The risk of not knowing their goals increases with the number of hours employees work in a week.

Employees could be asked how they could complete tasks because they have better knowledge of their work. They might have creative ideas to complete work on time without getting overworked.

The companies must also avoid rigid work schedules:

It’s because every day working 9-5 can prove to be monotonous for employees. They should have flexible working hours when they control the number of hours worked.

The company’s focus should be on the advancement of employees; hence they should be encouraged to use learning apps. These apps could be for learning new skills useful at the workplace.

Have a learning culture in the company

Work should not be boring for employees, which happens when they cannot understand it. When managers understand employees’ problems and their difficulties, the employees feel supported. Such managers can help employees handle tough jobs by helping them get apt training. Hence, every big organization has a learning academy today which prepares elearning courses for employees to upskill them.

Leadership training can help employees cope better when a manager continuously checks with his employees. When a manager is oblivious to how employees feel, the latter feel isolated and can quit.

27 Jan 2023

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Which type of restaurant training is most important for 2023?

Restaurants have been facing a hard time ever since the pandemic. Things have started looking up for them in the year 2022. But in 2023 they must focus on restaurant training to get the best business. Customers have started preferring Quick-Service Restaurants and now rely on them for dine-outs rather than fine dining. There is always a fear of Covid-19 getting resurged, which can be a problem. Hence, customers are now unwilling to spend on fine dining mode. This is so because of the increase in unemployment caused to the recession, which has led consumers to have lower spending power. But there are still guests who are willing to come to fine dining restaurants because they believe in the concept of luxurious dining rooms. The restaurant business is facing the current scenario now:

Impact of pandemic : Lesser use of humans

Now, fine dining consists of more automation than ever before. The restaurant owners can’t hire much labor due to a shortage of manpower. They now use kiosks to help the customers place orders rather than someone coming to their table to take the order. Due to Covid-19, many restaurants started adopting QR codes, menu apps, etc., eliminating the need for human waiters. Most restaurants have also removed many items from the tables, like the ketchup bottles, not to spread any infection and customers get the sachets from a counter.

The employees also feel relieved when their owners rely on robots because it means faster customer service. Robots are doing the checkouts, reducing the need for human managers.

Ongoing recession

More importantly, in the current year, economies all over the world are suffering from a recession. Hence even when the pandemic was there, the restaurants could still cope due to Delivery Apps. The restaurants could pass the buck charged by these delivery apps to the consumers. But in 2023, this won’t be possible because consumers are unwilling to pay so much due to the recession. Customers prefer to pick up the order or eat at the restaurant. That’s where restaurants have to work hard to give a reason to the customers to come and savor the meal at their place.

Use of Digital Marketing to attract Gen Z

The restaurants have to invest more in digital marketing due to attract customers. Moreover, they must also try to control labor costs by using technology and training the manpower to handle it. The restaurant service will have to become customer-centric to retain them. Restaurants can also use loyalty programs to ensure customers don’t choose a different option. The restaurant training hence needs to include the following characteristics:

Training people to use technology: In full-service restaurants, there is also a need to cut down on manpower due to the absence of labor. Hence it will be effective if the waiting staff has POS machines in their hands so that the customers pay the bill at the time of placing the order only. There will be no need for the waiter to visit the table again to present the bill and collect the payment. The service time of the customers will also be reduced because the waiters can help in the kitchen.
TechSavvy digital marketing: The restaurant training in 2023 will consist of digital marketing trends. The restaurants must have a mobile-based website so that customers can easily access it on their Smartphones and even place orders. Today, customers are using their Smartphones more than before. If a customer is not opting for a delivery, he should be able to make reservations on the phone. Your address should be easily located on Google Maps. If any celebrity visits your place or you have added something to the menu, it’s better to post it on Facebook to reach the largest number of customers. The Instagram page should include snaps of all your culinary delights.

Target the right customer: Personalization is also an important part of finding the right customer. You can send a customer birthday and anniversary emails, so he chooses your diner for his birthday treat.The occasion can be even made more special for him with a discount voucher.

Using an email list for target based marketing is important. When segmentation is used, you can ensure that specific emails are sent to certain customers only. For example, a kid celebrating his birthday in your restaurant should be sent to someone who has a child of similar age. Influencer marketing should also be a part of restaurant training so that the staff knows how to treat the influencers with a huge following after they are invited to the place to write a review.

To wrap it all:

Restaurant training is not easy now because apart from providing the customers with impeccable service, the owners also need to ensure that the customer leaves positive reviews on websites.

If therein is a negative review, ensure that the customer is helped at the right me so that he holds no grudge against the company. We live in an age of digital literacy, and any unfavorable experience is posted on the internet.

21 Dec 2022

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3 mistakes to avoid while designing a sales training program

Sales training is a game changer for so many companies these days. But this needs to be done properly. Otherwise, the company cannot get the desired numbers.

The three mistakes a company should avoid while designing a sales training program are not teaching about sales targeting, having the same program for different employees, and not including senior sales employees in such programs.

Then, what should the sales training include?

Sales targeting:

Sales targeting included in sales training is teaching the sales personnel how to find the correct prospects and then convincing them to buy.

Therefore, Sales training is different from product training because every buyer has different needs. You can’t just make him buy the product by telling him about its extraordinary features or how it’s better than the competitors. A person might not need them or have the budget for them.

The employees not only need to be elucidated about product features but also have to know how to recognize the right leads(sales targeting).

They should not be wasting their time on someone with no requirements. Hence they should be given a detailed description of the buyer demographics in the sales training program. A proper process should also be included in such programs so that the trainees learn how to select the right prospects and how to solicit them. If the wrong prospect is selected, a salesperson can squander time.

Such prospects also have to be canvassed in the right ways; e.g. someone might need the product, but he has not been contacted at the right time, and a competitor scores with him. There’s also the problem of who makes the buying decision in a household or a company, whether the salesperson has approached that person.

Experience based training:

Similarly, all the employees can’t be given the same training because some have different needs as per their jobs and previous experience. The needs of the salespeople should be evaluated before training programs are prepared for them. This will help the company determine what skills are essential rather than serve them with a general sales training course.

The sales training modules also have to be designed in short modules. The sales guys just can’t digest the information in one long session. Just like Rome was not built in a day, nobody can make someone learn a new skill in a day.

Indeed, salespeople don’t have much time on their hands, but they can be asked to attend micro-learning sessions twice a week.

It’s also crucial that the salespeople are given knowledge checks to continuously make them remember what they learned in their last sessions. For this, they can be sent quizzes, and once they fail those tests, they can be given videos to supplement their knowledge. This way, the company can ensure that the salespeople perform just at the time when they are required to.

Knowledge of the senior sales persons:

The sales managers should also be made to participate in these sessions to provide effective mentoring to the trainees.

The new team members must know how the company’s sales veterans have attained their targets year after year. They must have some tricks up their sleeves.

A company has to include the sales managers in such training programs because they can solve the sales trainees’ problems when they cannot understand the process. They also act as relevant subject matter experts for the program. The course content of the sales training programs must meet their approval before it is scheduled for elearning so that the program has the desired effect.

Finally, designing a program as per the current market scenario

The company also has to evaluate their expectations from a program. If the company has not based its ambition on reality, then the sales training program is definitely going to backfire, which no company wants.

The company won’t invest its money in a sales training program knowing that its employees can’t meet unrealistic targets; hence, research about the market conditions is necessary before launching the sales training program.

Last, but not the least, selecting the right candidates for such programs

It’s also important that the company chooses the right candidates for the sales training program. During the hiring process only, if it does not find any candidate suitable for a sales process, it must refrain from selecting him. Also, if some of the employees can only count in average numbers, it’s better not to include them in any training program. A sales manager knows which employees can be groomed to get better numbers and who can’t. That’s why it’s important to judiciously select the trainees of such programs.

15 Sep 2022

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What should be included in fraud awareness web training?

Retail companies must be quite observant about preventing fraud involving money loss. The companies must ensure that they have proper controls in place to prevent the skimming of funds by employees.

Hence, all Employees should know the basic accounting principles and how to enter transactions into the computer so that the company can reduce dependence on a single person, which increases the scope for fraud.

The companies should also see that instead of a single approving authority, there should be multiple authorities to ensure proper vigilance before any expenses are approved.

In fact, there should also be a reconciliation of accounts, including bank statements, and multiple employees should be trained, so that any fraud can be detected in time.

Handling internal frauds through web training

Any employee who is handling the company’s expenses and is responsible for issuing checks must be monitored so that he is not doing the fraudulent activity. They should not use credit cards for making payments without the knowledge of higher-level personnel.

In a retail company, invoicing requires a lot of supervision because employees might be issuing checks when the goods have never been properly received.

The companies, therefore, must have web training to ensure that invoicing is done properly, and the payments are only issued once the stock has been counted as per the bill.

There should be proper controls so that the payments are not released for damaged goods. If any employee suspects that fraud invoicing is being done, that payments are being made for goods or services not supplied, then it’s his job to notify the management.

But sometimes, the whistleblower might be accusing someone because of his malice against the alleged perpetrator. Also, anyone who wants to report something wrong happening within the premises should be promised confidentiality so that he knows his identity will be concealed. 2D simulations in web training are the best way to teach employees how to respond in situations where they detect something unacceptable is happening in an organization.

The seller can also provide the buyer with inflated bills. Then it’s the job of the employees to check the company is incurring the right expenses and not paying more than the actual prices.

Kickbacks:

Sometimes, when a single person is involved in approving the invoices, it can cause him to get some kickback (bribe) so that he consents to the wrong bill provided by the seller and pockets in some of his profits. Kickback is a common practice in government organizations, where a person in a position to approve the winner of tenders and government contracts receives kickbacks so that he chooses one contestant over another

Handling external frauds: Transactions done through identity thefts

But when it comes to external fraud, the companies must be more watchful. The company should also be judicious about payments from the buyers because the cashier should verify the credit card at the point of sales transactions.

Many companies are victims of fraud when someone takes credit using identity fraud, and the company is left with staggering bills with nobody to hold responsible. An employee should ask for proof of identity verification before accepting customer payments. However, a customer wants to make payments through a credit card but has no way to prove that it’s his card, then an employee should inform the management.

There are some red flags which the employees of retail companies can use to discover identity theft. Retail companies have been extending credit to customers to facilitate sales for customers who don’t have the available cash with them. But the businesses also face a risk when customers don’t pay their credit card bills, causing them to lose their sales receipts. This can happen to retail stores where such identity thieves use credit cards.

The stores suffer when the genuine owners of such stolen cards refuse to pay the sales bills. There should be systems to check the identity of such customers because the liability lies with the merchant when the customer is making a cardless payment in an online retail store. Hence, the employees who conduct ecommerce transactions must ensure that the customers using their credit card numbers must be verifiable.

Only web training can empower the employees of such companies to use the systems in place. There can be geolocation systems embedded in the ecommerce websites which ensure that the customer’s location is tracked when he is using the credit card.

Such systems allow the company to know whether a real credit card owner is using the instrument to make a payment and not someone who has stolen his identity.

The retailers must have web training so that employees at the point of sales terminals also use chip card reading machines for reading cards with the anti-fraud microchip. Credit cards started getting embedded with such security chips in 2015. The customer liability is not more than 50 dollars in such transactions.

If the business is not using that machine and somehow comes across a stolen credit card, then the fraudulent transaction is the business’s liability, not the bank’s.

Gift card fraud happen when someone uses unauthorized gift card details. It can cause problems because the one whose gift card has been used can ask for a chargeback from the company. That’s why; store clerks must ensure that they verify the physical copy of the gift card before accepting it. A customer who just has the gift card details can’t be allowed to use it.

Wardrobing:

In the retail industry, a very common problem called Wardrobing is faced by employees when customers return used products. It can happen when an employee fails to recognize that the item has already been used because it has a tag and approves it for a refund. Hence, the stores can ensure that this problem is eradicated when the store clerks are trained to recognize the signs of usage and don’t accept returns for such items. Once trained about the return policy, including how returns are to be accepted, employees can prevent losses to a retail store because such used items can’t be resold.

Hence, web training for using such card reading machines is essential for retail stores to avoid identity theft-based transactions.

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