Hand out duties and follow up. I could go to a manager that runs, hypothetically, our customer service department and I will give her a goal and say, ‘At the end of the month, I want these two people to know these two people’s jobs.’
I have to go back at the end of the month and ask if that was accomplished. I set myself up to where I give my people a lot of room to make their own decisions and their own scheduling, but at the end of the day, I am going to expect what I expect about giving her a month to do it.
If I go back at the end of the month, and she says she didn’t get it done, (then it is up to) me to make a judgment on that management person, not to make the judgment on the people.
Make sure the training is done properly. It has to be brought to a cycle that basically is no different than managing raise reviews or whatever cycle of management you’re doing, but it has to be something that you think is important enough that you literally schedule it.
When I say manage it, you have to make sure it’s done, and it’s done properly, and maybe even to the point where you interview the two people. You find out the person that was teaching and you ask them a few questions. You find out from the person that was learning, ask them a few questions and see if they really got it. Or what the other person thought of the other person. What’s their opinion of their ability to absorb the information? Were they really interested in learning or were they just sitting their twiddling their thumbs? That tells me a lot about people.
It gives me a way to spread out who’s here just taking a paycheck and who is here really to further their knowledge base and their understanding of the industry.
How to reach: TAMCO, (813) 472-1600 or www.tamcocorp.com
