Did you know? January 17th 2023

Did you know? January 17th 2023

SAAR CONFERENCE FEBRUARY 10TH & 11TH 2023

It appears that the Temple Gardens Hotel is totally sold out – I had a block of 48 rooms and we currently have 52 rooms booked! Many of our guests are booking at the Grant Hotel, one block away from Temple Gardens, you can try and book there by calling this number 306-691-2113.

Tickets to the event can be purchased here:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/saar-2023-spring-conference-tickets-485579921617

Our SAAR Executive is actively pursuing some training for Estimators and we are committed to developing a comprehensive program in the coming year. One of the tools that we are encouraging shops to utilize is the Estimate Scrubber program that acts as a second set of eyes to review your estimate before committing them to SGI. The Scrubber will do two things:

1. Make sure that you get paid for all labor functions that you are entitled to.

2. Make sure that you do not add labor functions that the Image Desk will reject.

Currently we have a team of people working on updating and fine tuning the Scrubber software, the key thing is that all users have the ability to make suggestions to improve the functionality of software. We plan to have a webinar in february after our Spring Conference so stay tuned and join us to learn more about this amazing tool.

In the meantime check out this list of Forgettables and use it as a final check on your estimates.

On friday February 10th SGI will be hosting an in person meeting at the Temple Gardens to discuss plans for the Certification of the PDR Industry in Saskatchewan. If you are a PDR company you won’t want to miss this meeting because it directly affects your industry especially in the area of Hail Repair.

The meeting is free to attend, it starts with lunch at 12 noon and is scheduled to run until 3;30 pm to register select tickets to the PDR Discussion with SGI Friday February 10th. at

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/saar-2023-spring-conference-tickets-485579921617

The many faces of training…and a bonus idea you’ve likely not thought of: Donald Cooper

There’s much talk in business today about the importance of initial and on-going training, coaching and employee development…and so there should be. You can’t grow your business without growing your people.

To truly embrace a program of ongoing employee education and development, keep in mind that there are many different kinds of training. Below is a partial list. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being excellent, how are you doing at each of these…and which of these 11 types of training need to be improved in your business in 2023?

1. ‘Who we are’ training. Learning our history, culture, values, standards, vision, achievements and commitments This is most important for effectively on-boarding new employees…but should be reinforced on a regular basis.

2. ‘How we do business’ training. Learning our systems, processes, terms, customer policies and internal policies.

3. ‘Product knowledge’ training. Learning the features and benefits of what we sell and our total compelling value proposition. This would typically be for those in sales and marketing…but all employees should have an understanding of this. It’s part of their being proud of what we do and their role in it.

4. ‘Skills and knowledge’ training. How to do their current job more effectively and more safely…and why their job is important to the rest of the Team, to the customer and to the bottom line.

5. ‘Learning new stuff’ training. Learning new technologies, machinery, processes, systems or policies, as they’re introduced.

6. ‘Growth & development’ training and coaching. This occurs in two time frames:

   1. Preparing employees ahead of time for subsequent promotion or increased responsibility. This would include training in managing people, projects, processes and budgets.

   2. Training and coaching employees after a promotion or addition of responsibility. No one should ever be promoted or transferred to a different responsibility without a specific training / coaching package. Otherwise, we’re just setting them up to fail.

7. Health & Safety’ and ‘Emotionally Safe Workplace’ training. If a business is not a physically and emotionally healthy and safe place to be, nothing else matters. Everyone on our team needs to be aware of, knowledgeable about and constantly reminded of smart health & safety policies and practices and our commitment to an emotionally safe workplace. And, they need to be encouraged to report any physically or emotionally unsafe practices or behavior.

8. ‘Attitude adjustment’ training. This is generally for employees who are exhibiting some kind of inappropriate or toxic behavior. Topics could include diversity & inclusion, bullying, gender respect, anger management or the importance of our standards of performance, appearance and behavior.

9. Ongoing communication re, ‘How we’re doing and where we’re going as a business …and why their particular job is important’. This is one of the most important aspects of employee engagement.

10. Training to do another job (cross-training) to create a more flexible and efficient workforce, or because their current job will soon become redundant.

11. Daily ongoing informal coaching on how to do any aspect of their job more effectively or more safely in a way that instructs, grows, encourages and engages employees to be more effective and to prepare for more or different responsibility.

Bonus note: There’s one more type of ‘staff training’ that nobody talks about. That’s the one where you give your staff the opportunity to ‘train’ top management about what’s really going on in the company, from their perspective.

This can be done by asking individual employees at all levels for their honest insight as to:

1. What do we not do as well as we should? What’s not working so well in the business …and what they suggest we could do to fix it?

2. What frustrates them or prevents them from getting their job done effectively…and what they suggest we could do to fix it?

3. What frustrates or alienates our customers…and what they think we could do to fix it?

4. What can we do to help make you more excited to come to work each day?

A second approach to giving your staff (especially front-line staff) an opportunity to ‘train’ top management about what’s really going on in the company, from their perspective, is to give them an opportunity to put together and deliver a presentation on what they believe could be improved in the areas of the customer experience, employee safety, staff engagement, efficiency, communication, policies and processes, facilities and working conditions.

Select a few of your top front-line and front-line supervisory people and give them time to put together a one-hour Session in which they will give you the wisdom of ‘their truth’ about what’s really going on. Do you have guts to give this one a try? You’ll be amazed at what you learn and what needs fixing.

So, there you have it. ‘The 11 faces of training’ and a gutsy bonus suggestion. How will you use these insights to improve your understanding of and commitment to training, learning and people development in your business…and when will you start?