How Do You Fare In Training Your Team?

Kerry Brown — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 03:30:15 +0000

Just had a very frustrating experience and it got me thinking about how important it is to have clear policies and procedures for everything, and then on top of it how important it is to train people on them.

We ordered some fabulous bedroom furniture earlier this year and for the first time in our 29 years of being married we were looking forward to a “put together” bedroom. Because this furniture is Canadian made and comes from and eastern province it took awhile to come. We were waiting in anticipation.

Delivery day came and while the furniture looked fabulous in our bedroom there were 3 different areas of damage that were very noticable. The maufacturer clearly denied it occurred in the factory so the responsibility fell on the movers. The store where we got the furniture arranged for the damaged pieces to be taken away and weeks later (after a bedroom in shambles) we were very excited to have it all back together!

So here is why I am frustrated:

One piece the repair shop had totally missed two marks! So back it went out the front door once again for repair.

Also, when rehaning the mirror which had been repaired, the young man leaned very heavily on the dresser below (which had had no damage) and his belt buckle no less damaged the edge of the dresser! Can you believe it? We can’t.

So how does this story relate to training? The first movers clearly didn’t train their staff to be very careful when using moving straps, especially with heavy, fine furniture. It is clear to me that strips of cardboard with a strip of foam underneath would have saved the edges in the first place. Today the incident shows that no one trained the young man on how to move fine furniture and what to (or not) to wear. It isn’t his fault, he was a polite, strong young man and was hired because of that. The failure was in the lack of a training process that ensures problems like this don’t happen.

How do you fare in training your team?

Ever feel guilty about working and not spending time with your kids?

Kerry Brown — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:02:44 +0000

A good friend confessed to me the other day that she has missed seeing her daughter grow up because she has been working so hard. I can tell you it is creating a lot of sadness. Do you ever wonder where the years have gone when you look at your children? Have you been working long hours and not taken the time to spend with your children? Do you ever suffer from “Mommy Guilt”?
Yesterday I drove my son to a friends house so that they could both go and play 9 holes of golf at a near by golf course. When we arrived the other boy informed us that he wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t go. The disappointment on my son’s face was very clear. So he then turned to me and asked if I could go with him. My first thought was “no way”, I have too much work to do. Then I caught myself and asked, “could I make it work? What would happen if I took a few hours and whacked the golf ball (poorly I might add) with my son? Made the decision to go with him and I am thrilled I did.
When I thought about it, one of my high values is family, yet if I had made the decision to work and not go with him I wasn’t honouring that very important value of mine.
Would love to hear your thoughts.

Kerry Brown Coach

How Do You Fare In Training Your Team?

Ever feel guilty about working and not spending time with your kids?