TIPS FOR THE TRAINER | System skills training

• The trainer needs to sit through training as a participant first!
• If it is a new system, use a pilot or test group before training groups of employees.
• The trainer needs to be able to complete the work as an agent.
• You need to have train the trainer and facilitation techniques.
• You need to have very good IT skills.
• You should co-tutor for all sessions at least once, but not all in the same programme.
• The trainer needs to be assessed by an experienced trainer/training manager.
• Conduct an ongoing review of evaluation sheets after each programme.

Trainer tips: don’ts

• Don’t ‘chalk and talk’: they don’t want to be bored, and return to ‘school’.
• Don’t treat participants like children: they are adult learners and you need to use learning methods suited to adult learners.
• Don’t conduct training in isolated sections: integrate the training into other core skills training: customer service, problem solving, etc.
• Don’t share computers: participants should work independently.
• Don’t train on a different version of the live system: to maximize learning, participants must be trained on exactly the same version as the live system.
• Never use ‘live data’: when training, use data that are constructed or ‘dead’ and which is not confidential.

Trainer tips: dos

• Training approach needs to be interactive.
• Trainer first needs to sit through training as a participant.
• Both content and methods should be fun and entertaining.
• Follow the profile of so -skills training.
• Best completed in small ‘bite-size chunks’.
• Allow plenty of time during the sessions to practise skills.
• Conduct a practical test after each key learning stage.
• Build in the time for the participants to understand and reflect on what they have learnt.
• Test the skills learnt as you progress through the programme content.
• Build skills one piece at a time.
• Make available an online or hard copy resource for quick reference post-training.
• Use a ratio of one trainer to eight to 12 participants if possible.
• Devote the largest proportion of time to system skills training.
• It helps if the participants understand the metrics they will be assessed against, so use these when testing skills development during the sessions.
• Maintain one pace during the sessions. Keep the group working together.

THE TRAINING CYCLE | System skills training

In order to adopt a systematic approach to your training it is helpful to use the key stages of the training cycle, and if you follow the cycle in the design and delivery of your training programme, you will create a more effective learning environment.

1. Assessing the participant’s training needs

When dealing with system skills training this is a quite straightforward stage, particularly during induction. Most organizations use customized systems, so a set of very specific learning requirements exist that are the same for all course participants. System skills training o en takes place when a modification to the system occurs or a new product is introduced and this training is essentially the same for all employees.

Once the employee is fully operational on the system, individual training requirements are normally identified through analysis of the metrics used by that department or section. This analysis indicates if training is required to raise the employee’s level of performance. When this occurs, any system skills training should be tailored to that individual’s particular learning requirement, rather than reusing the original system skills training programme. The individual may require refresher training on just one aspect of the system, or may have not understood one element of the system when trained during induction.

Unfortunately, system skills training is o en used to address deficiencies in an employee’s metrics and fails to address the individual’s actual training needs. It is important, therefore, that you have a discussion with both the individual employee and with the team leader to more closely identify the individual’s specific training needs. Remember, not all performance gaps are the result of a lack of knowledge regarding the system.

2. Designing training

During this stage you are already clear about the training needs of the participants and should use these as the basis for your training objectives for the programme. You need to now consider the techniques that you should use during the training. A key consideration at this stage is the availability of a ‘training version’ of the organization’s system. A training version will allow the trainees to practise in a safe learning environment that is as realistic as possible, while still protecting the organization’s main system and data from any errors or ‘mishaps’ that may occur with trainees practising on a live system and using live data. The choice of training techniques will depend on the training needs of the participants. Due to the nature of system skills training, the key techniques should be a combination of computer-based training, instruction and group discussion.

Each technique has advantages and disadvantages and you need to consider these when you are deciding on which techniques to include. The activities most o en used in system skills training are as follows.

Instruction

You will need to instruct and facilitate the training sessions. However, in using this approach you should remember that a lack of interaction with the participants during the instruction and input stages may result in misunderstanding occurring. Success in using this method relies on a number of key issues including:

• Providing the opportunity for participants to ask questions after each input stage. This will allow clarity to be sought where necessary.
• The length of the input will o en determine the participant’s ability to concentrate. The longer the input, the more likely the participant is to lose concentration. Bite-size learning (Black, 2004) is one way to achieve this by delivering both instruction and practical exercises in small sections.
• You need to sound enthusiastic when delivering instruction if you are to maintain the learner’s interest.
• Speak clearly and vary the tone of your voice throughout each instruction section.

Technology-based training

The majority of your training sessions will involve the participant working on computer-based training systems to simulate the real working environment. You should consider the following:

• Technology-based training needs to be horizontally and vertically integrated into other core components of the training such as customer service training and problem solving skills training. Combine the so -skills training elements (such as customer service and telephone skills) with the system skills training. This will allow you to fully train the employee by simulating real working situations.
• The technology-based training needs to be in sync with the natural customer process. For example, if a new customer is calling to enquire about car insurance, he or she will need to be asked basic questions on name, address, age, car make and model, etc. Importantly, the operating system will need to work in the same way and allow the trainee to enter the data in a logical customer process, as opposed to requiring information such as ‘How did you hear about us?, and ‘Who is your current insurance provider?’ These questions can be asked at a later stage, once the information required for the call is obtained.
• Break the job down into the core skills to build system skills training. For example, using a financial services context, there is no point in teaching a new employee how to process driver and/or car changes to an existing car insurance policy if the trainee does not know the basics of how to provide a new car insurance quote. In this example it is best to show the trainees how to respond to an initial request; how to provide an insurance quote; how to process payment for immediate cover following the quote; how to make amendments to an existing policy; and numerous other logical steps up to and including terminating insurance cover.
• Teach participants the logical steps involved in a call, then practise these steps using the phone and the system, during training. The point here is that the trainees will need to be allowed time to practise the technique of talking with customers, while at the same time operating the system. It is likely that the customer will ask questions or make requests that are not typical/logical during the course of a normal call. The trainees will need sufficient experience and knowledge, therefore, to handle these instances. In certain call centre environments there may also be a requirement to inform the customers about mandatory information, eg if your customers apply for a loan or a credit card, the agents will have to inform the customer about mandatory statements that are required from the Financial Regulator. This must also be practised during the training sessions and its position in the call determined.
• Never use live data for your training sessions. This may be both inappropriate and unethical.
• This training needs to be practice-based, using real examples. For instance, if you are putting up an insurance quote on the system, it would be best to provide the trainees with some basic details that will be required from real customers such as name, address, age, car make and model, etc and get the trainees to enter the data and provide you with the initial insurance quote. Where possible, and at key stages, the trainees should be required to practise what has been learnt.

Group discussion

By building in time for short group discussion sessions (5 to 10 minutes) after each section has been covered, participants can learn from each other. It is important that you structure each of these sessions to ensure that the discussion does not diverge too far from the topic being talked about. These sessions can be particularly useful when held after instruction sections and after practical assessments. You can also gather information from the discussion that can assist you in adapting information you might include in future training sessions, to ensure clarity of instruction and to maximize learning. Building on the previous example you could consider asking the trainees, what is the price of their insurance quote? Where the trainees have different quotes, explore why. It is also possible to explore with the trainees the importance of getting the information right and accurate, as it will impact on the insurance quote provided.

Role plays

These are particularly important learning mechanisms for developing interpersonal skills. Employees can role play with each other, one acting as the customer and the other acting as the employee.

It is useful to record these role plays and allow the participants the opportunity to listen back to their own call and then make suggestions on how they could have improved the call. You can also provide participants with the opportunity to re-enact the same call after their first attempt has been played back to them. This then consolidates the learning from their first attempt.

Video/DVD

Using videos and DVDs can be helpful in showing examples of good and poor practice to a number of people at the same time. Using short discussion sessions after showing an example will also allow you to gauge the level of understanding in the group. There is a tendency to more easily recall what not to do, so those videos/DVDs that emphasize this aspect are particularly useful.

E-learning

This is a general term used to refer to computer-enhanced learning. It has many obvious advantages for conducting system skills training. Additional advantages include increased retention and application to the job, and consistent delivery of content is possible. According to Colvin-Clarke and Mayer (2003) e-learning should promote psychological engagement between the learner and the lesson content, in ways that help learners to select, integrate and retrieve new knowledge.

A path that can be used to achieve this learning process is the use of practice exercises. Wilcock (2002) believes that one of the strengths of e-learning is its ability to provide instantaneous feedback to learners by means of online tests and quizzes. These exercises are o en referred to as ‘interactions’ in computer learning environments. Based on empirical evidence, Colvin-Clarke and Mayer (2003) recommend four principles for effective practice in e-learning:

Practice Principle 1: interactions should mirror the thinking process and environment of the job. E-learning designers should create transfer-appropriate interactions. These are activities that require learners to respond in similar ways during training as they will on the job. Therefore problem solving skills should be learnt within the context of realistic problem solving situations. For example, a hotel switchboard operator may be asked how to deal with a call from a hotel guest, saying that she has just dropped her ring down the plughole!

Practice Principle 2:critical tasks require more practice. For critical tasks, for example safety consequences, it is vital that the participants are exposed to many different practice elements prior to working with live data. An example here is that for some aspects of financial services, ie obtaining a loan, the call centre agent will be required to read a number of mandatory sentences to the customer. It is important that the agents do this and it is important that the agents practise these statements and the answers to any potential questions they may get asked during the training sessions.

Practice Principle 3: make sure that the practice exercises are specific to the instruction material being covered. There needs to be a match to assist with the transfer of learning.

Practice Principle 4: train learners to self-question by showing examples followed by practice that requires learners to self-question the instructional materials.

It is vital that your system skills training builds knowledge and skills that are needed on the job. This means you must integrate system skills training with other core activities such as so -skills training, eg customer service and reward mechanisms, so that individuals are rewarded for the right performance each time. This point cannot be over-stressed. In call centre environments it is possible to train employees in many different skills, referred to as multi-skilling. This is an important beneficial aspect of training for the employee, as multi-skilling means that you will encourage career progression and achieve retention, an area acknowledged as being problematic for call centres.

During system skills training, multi-skilling is crucial, as agents have to learn how to use the system while at the same time listening to what the customer is saying and how he or she is saying it. They also o en need to ask questions and guide the conversation, all at the same time. This is an exceptionally difficult skill to master, particularly when the line manager may also be measuring the average call duration and telling the individual to reduce the amount of time spent talking to customers. System skills training therefore needs to incorporate the development of multi-skilling, in the classroom environment. While this skill can be one that is a by-product of experience, if it is not initially included in the training programme, it will be more difficult to develop once live.

An additional aspect for inclusion here is the impact of customers buying online. Customers who buy goods and services online on a regular basis are more likely when they place a call with a contact centre to require a greater degree of knowledge and experience from the agents. Calls of this nature may require ‘second level support’ and this increases the amount of system skills training that agents require in order to solve the customer’s problems. The integration of so -skills training, such as problem solving skills, is vital in this type of situation.

3. Evaluating training

Many organizations fail to evaluate training interventions due to the difficulties involved. Evaluation of a training programme is, however, a necessity to gauge the success of the programme. This data collection and evaluation process must be planned as part of the design and development segment of lesson preparation. Otherwise, it is possible to miss an opportunity to collect data needed for the evaluation process.

The most o en used type of evaluation is what is referred to as ‘first level evaluation’. This takes place at the end of the training and focuses on the reaction level. The basic questions that it seeks to answer are: ‘Were the participants pleased with the programme? How did they feel about such things as lesson or course material, the instructors, the facilities used for the class, the methodology, etc?’ Think of reaction level evaluation as measuring your ‘customer satisfaction’. Remember though, that a positive reaction to a lesson does not ensure that a person has learnt anything, but a negative reaction to a lesson almost certainly reduces the chance for learning. There are a number of reasons why measuring reactions is important. First, it provides you with valuable feedback on the training session. Second, it provides quantitative information about the training that can be used for management review. Finally, it provides information on the session that can be used to establish standards for later classes.

In addition, a more complex type of evaluation needs to take place. Evaluation at the learning level is viewed as problematic by many trainers, but it provides vital information for the trainer and is therefore worth the effort. Learning is o en referred to as the extent to which participants change attitudes, improve knowledge, and/or increase skill as a result of a ending a training programme. To effectively evaluate the learning that has taken place, the training must have a specific objective against which evaluation can be undertaken. For example, in a sales environment it will be quite easy to measure the ability of the new agents to achieve targets. In more product and customer service areas, measures such as quality, mystery callers, errors, recalls, etc can all be used to evaluate the training.

It should be possible to obtain data from the system in relation to errors, call length, etc, which are all useful indicators and if tracked over a period of months and weeks should show a gradual improvement in a new call centre agent’s ability. Methods such as mystery callers will be able to determine the agents overall ability to handle the conversation and manage the interaction with the customer. In fact many contact centres record all calls, and these could also be used for evaluation purposes. In addition, it is also possible on most systems for the team leader to listen in on calls and provide feedback and coaching to the agent at a later time in the day.

One of the key ways in which evaluation can be conducted for those individuals who have been targeted for training by their team leader, as a result of quality or quantity metric deficiencies, is to evaluate job performance both before and after the training. Through this comparison any change can be observed and the change attributed to training.

Key points in the design and delivery process

• Delivery needs to be interactive and use participative mechanisms.
• Ensure you have clear objectives for the programme at the start.
• Design needs to follow the logical customer process.
• Ensure employees can use the phone system and give information at the same time.
• Provide information in small chunks with appropriate time allocated, eg if it takes five minutes for a customer to give the information, there is no point in allowing them to take 10 minutes to input the information during training.
• Provide an accompanying manual for both trainer and participant
• – this could be paperless and online.
• Systems training needs to be integrated with telephone skills, customer service skills, and problem solving skills training.
• If using a manual or online tutorial, it will need to have screen shots to illustrate.
• Make sure you are informed of any system changes as they will need to be incorporated in future training sessions.
• Ensure any legal requirements/considerations are included.
• Inform participants of the details of refresher training.
• Begin refresher training with a test to see where any gaps in knowledge or skills exist: your call centre stats or customer feedback should tell you where gaps are.
• Regarding how much detail to go into, work back from what is the objective of the training.
• Employees can role play with each other, one being the customer the other the employee – record these and let the participants listen back to their own call.

We have included below some tips that we hope you will find useful in the design and delivery of system skills training.

LEARNING STYLES

When you try to learn something new, you will no doubt have realized that you prefer to learn in one or two particular ways. You may prefer to learn by listening to someone talk to you about the information, or you may prefer to read about a concept in order to learn it, or you may need to see a demonstration of the concept. Learning style theory proposes that different people learn in different ways and by understanding this concept, you can improve the learning intervention. ‘Learning styles’ is a term used to describe the attitudes and behaviours that determine an individual’s preferred way of learning. Because people learn in a variety of ways, your awareness of the four learning styles will assist you in understanding the learning needs of your participants. This information will enable you to create programmes that are effective learning sessions for all your participants, rather than just some of them.

Building on Kolb’s work on the learning cycle, identified four learning styles referred to as:

1. Activist
2. Reflector
3. Theorist
4. Pragmatist

Their work complements that of Kolb, as can be seen in Figure 1, where each of the learning styles can be matched with the stages in the learning cycle. Each of these is now explained below.

 
Figure 1: Learning styles

1. Activists

Activists take a ‘trial and error’ approach. They involve themselves fully and without bias in new learning experiences. They are open-minded, not sceptical. They tend to act first and consider the consequences afterwards. They enjoy the learning experience itself. They thrive on the challenge of new experiences. When dealing with activists remember that they learn best when:

• involved in new experiences, problems and opportunities;
• working with others in business games, team tasks, role playing;
• being thrown in the deep end with a difficult task;
• chairing meetings, leading discussions.

Activists learn less when:

• listening to lectures or long explanations;
• reading, writing or thinking on their own;
• absorbing and understanding data;
• following precise instruction to the le er.

2. Reflectors

Reflectors take a ‘wait and see’ approach. They like to contemplate about experiences and observe them from many different perspectives. They spend a great deal of time and effort reflecting. They like to collect data and think about them carefully before coming to any conclusions. They enjoy observing others and will listen to their views before offering their own. When dealing with reflectors remember that they learn best when:

• observing individuals or groups at work;
• they have the opportunity to review what has happened and think about what they have learnt;
• producing analyses and reports, doing tasks without tight deadlines.

Reflectors learn less when:

• acting as leader or role playing in front of others;
• doing things with no time to prepare;
• being thrown in at the deep end;
• being rushed or worried by deadlines.

3. Theorists

Theorists take an ‘I want to understand this first’ approach. They adapt and integrate observations into complex but logically sound theories. They think problems through in a vertical, step-by-step, logical way. They are good at making connections and abstracting ideas from experience. They tend to be perfectionists who like to fit things into a rational scheme. They tend to be detached and analytical rather than subjective or emotive in their thinking. When dealing with theorists remember that they learn best when:

• they are put in complex situations where they have to use their skills and knowledge;
• they are in structured situations with clear purpose;
• they are offered interesting ideas or concepts even though they are not immediately relevant;
• they have the chance to question and probe ideas behind things.

Theorists learn less when:

• they have to participate in situations that emphasize emotion and feelings;
• the activity is unstructured or briefing is poor;
• they have to do things without knowing the principles or concepts involved;
• they feel they’re out of tune with the other participants, eg with people of very different learning styles.

4. Pragmatists

Pragmatists take an ‘I want to try this out’ approach. They are keen to try out ideas, theories and techniques to see if they work in practice. They positively search out new ideas and take the first opportunity to experiment with applications. They tend to be impatient with ruminating and open-ended discussions and enjoy the planning stage. They tend to be impatient with lengthy discussions and are practical and down to earth. When dealing with pragmatists remember that they learn best when:

• there is an obvious link between the topic and job;
• they have the chance to try out techniques with feedback, eg role-playing;
• they are shown techniques with obvious advantages, eg saving time;
• they are shown a model they can copy, eg a film or a respected boss.

Pragmatists learn less when:

• there is no obvious or immediate benefit that they can recognize;
• there is no practice or guidelines on how to do it;
• there is no apparent pay back to the learning, eg shorter meetings;
• the event or learning is ‘all theory’.

Honey and Mumford devised a questionnaire to assess an individual’s learning style, referred to as the ‘learning styles questionnaire’. Where possible and practical, allowing participants the opportunity to complete this questionnaire prior to beginning training will generate information that will enhance your ability to deliver effective training.

The third key principle relates to the age of the participants. This factor is important, as the employees you are training are adult learners; adults learn differently than children, implying a number of key factors which need to be considered when designing and delivering training programmes.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING: USING THE LEARNING CYCLE

• Concrete experience: In your role as trainer you need to provide suitable experiences for the participants from which they can learn. Practice elements within system skills training provide this type of opportunity.
• Observation and reflection: If participants are to learn from the experience, it is important that they are given the opportunity to review the experience. We are o en too busy ensuring we complete all the material to give the time for participants to reflect on what has been learnt from the experience. You can use the following as prompts to facilitate this learning, particularly when you have completed a practice element with the participants: What have you just done? Could you have handled what you just did differently? Have you been in a similar situation previously?
• Note to trainers: Consider using a camcorder for these exercises and allow the participants to critique the learning activity. If a camcorder is unavailable consider se ing up triads/small groups to reflect and discuss the activity
• Abstract conceptualization: Participants then need to be provided with the opportunity to draw some conclusions from reviewing their experiences, if learning is to occur. Questions they can ask themselves include: What have I learnt from this? What could I have done differently?
• Note to trainers: Consider conducting this as a flipchart exercise in small groups, where the group is tasked with the activity of highlighting the top three Key Learning Points that they have taken from the activity.
• Active experimentation: In order to do things better the next time, the participants need to have a plan of how to put into action what they have learnt. You should encourage them to state what they would do next time.

Plan to ‘chase’ the learner round the cycle, asking questions that encourage Reflection, Conceptualization, and ways of testing the ideas formed during the experience.

THE LEARNING CYCLE | System skills training

The idea that people learn in different ways has been explored over the last few decades, by many researchers. Kolb is one of the most influential of these. His experiential learning cycle is recognized as being one of the cornerstones of understanding how individuals learn effectively. With his colleagues, he found that individuals begin with their preferred style in the experiential learning cycle (see Figure 1). Participants can easily become bored if the training approaches used during the session only tap into one learning style. Kolb’s research found that people learn in four ways, with the likelihood that they will develop one mode of learning more than another. As shown in the experiential learning cycle model, learning occurs through four key areas:

1. concrete experience (doing);
2. observation and reflection (reviewing);
3. abstract conceptualization (concluding);
4. active experimentation (planning).
   
   
   
    
   Figure 1: Kolb’s learning cycle

This cycle suggests that there are four stages, which follow from each other. Concrete Experience, which is having an experience, is followed by a personal Reflection on that experience, or time to think about what just happened. This may then be followed by learning from the experience, or the application of known theories to it – Abstract Conceptualization. This then leads to the construction of ways of modifying the next occurrence of the experience, Active Experimentation; leading in turn to the next Concrete Experience. All this may happen in a flash or over days, weeks or months, depending on the topic, and there may be a ‘wheels within wheels’ process at the same time.

The four stages in the cycle are mutually dependent and in your role as trainer you can benefit by building time for each of the four elements into your training programme. Essentially, good learning design should ensure that each learning activity has i) an experience of some kind, ii) time for facilitated reflection, iii) time for facilitated conclusion and, iv) an opportunity to plan the use of the experience in practice.