A wide cross-section of our clients across Europe have highlighted a major business challenge - a shortage of staff with the requisite skills to provide effective customer support (front or back office). The shortage has been caused by two years of slashed training budgets, forced head reductions and minimal recruitment. Our work has shown that as economies experience the shaky steps of recovery, successful companies are utilising their best staff to provide cost-controlled growth necessary to take advantage of the recovery.
Key criteria for success:
- Developing staff in a constructive consistent way through an effective career structure or internal academy
- Retaining capable staff by fulfilling their requirements
- A cost-effective recruitment process
Essential skill requirements of staff:
- Relationship builders inside and outside the business
- Confidence and capability in delivering customer satisfaction and acting as a trusted advisor
- Mutual respect across all staff, company and customers
- Respect given by all to a business that provides an environment that encourages and sustains personnel to continually grow and perform
Recently a group of senior executives and directors gathered together at the Service & Maintenance Congress 2011, in the Netherlands, where they had the opportunity to debate key challenges around staff and powerful people performance.
As Marco van Duijnhoven, Director, SSCD Europe Cisco said:
"Having a strong brand is a good start to attract talent, but competing for talent in the current market place will require more than that. What is it you have to offer as a company that will help you Attract, Retain and Develop the talent for the future?"
As Jos Bulter, Service Manager Consumer Production Miele said:
"The personal properties (such as communication and attitude) that suits our Brand have become more critical than the technical skills. Nevertheless the level of their technical skills are still the same."
Their best staff are: Trusted Advisors - because they can provide customers, colleagues and managers with good advice and powerful support; they know their customers, they are commercially aware and are very good communicators.
Take a look at some of YOUR challenges, to see whether they match up to your needs and concerns. How does your top team measure up with other best-in-class organisations? Complete your own sample assessment and see how simply it demonstrates your areas of strength, and areas for development.
The url link will then be sent to your email address. The results of the assessment will give you a clear indication of how your team fairs with other top teams. Noventum will be happy to discuss your people performance needs and can work with you to raise the calibre of your teams.
Next steps - how we can help raise the calibre of the rest:
- Responsible and successful businesses are focusing on the enormous challenges of developing and retaining existing staff as well as trying to recruit quality new staff.
- Development - Establishing on-going training programmes when the quality of technical and personal skills required is continually more demanding
- Retention - Providing valuable long-term career opportunities
- Recruitment - Attracting the right staff from the start
For further information on performance challenges and solutions please refer to our webpage on Powerful People Performance
Noventum Service Management Consultants has established a reputation for providing effective business advice within the Services Sector specialising in guiding senior management teams and supporting service operations both large and small to improve their performance profitability and deliver service excellence.
© Noventum Service Management Consultants Ltd 2011
