Staff Skill Development: Soft Skills, Firm Results by Mary Carmen CHimato and Colleen S. Harris

Staff Development: Soft Skills, Firm Results

Colleen S. HarrisMary Carmen Chimato

Access & Delivery ServicesNCSU Libraries

Raleigh, NC

Who are we?

Why are you listening to us?

ADS at NCSU Libraries:

• 33 full time staff

• 24/5 during the academic year

• 362 days a year

• circulation, course reserves, ILL, document delivery, stacks maintenance, media/microforms, & offsite collections

• 14,000 visits per day 2008/09

• textbook collection and technology device lending

A Radical Idea: Talk to your people!!!!!!

Organizational Clarity: identifying and agreeing to the fundamental concepts that drive it.

***Providing all employees, at all levels with a common vocabulary and a set of assumptions about what is

important and what is not.***

Reinforce this clarity through Human Systems: hiring, performance management, rewards & recognition, employee dismissal.

The First Annual ADS Staff RetreatAugust 5, 2009

What values are fundamental to our department?

Why does the library exist and what difference does it make in our world?

How/Where does ADS fit?

What are our goals for the next year/5 years/10 years?

Who has to do what in order for us to meet them?

Access & Delivery Services Department, NCSU Libraries

What We Learned After Being Locked in a Room Together

• More Feedback at EVERY LEVEL!

• DELEGATE!

• Allow Risk Taking

• Training & Development

• Generate HIGHER Expectations

• Acknowledge Achievement

All of our Levels of Immeasurability are different, but very similar!!!!

WHAT DOES EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE LOOK LIKE?

AND…CAN YOU MEASURE IT?John Pommerich, library

technician & NCSU Provost’s Award for Excellence nominee,

hands student an iPad

o Error rate in response topatron communication

o Satisfaction surveyso Compliments vs

Complaints (and thetrouble with this)

o Service desk demeanoro Claims returned rateo Note: What’s in the annual

evaluation? Is it useful?o Base measures on actual

work & department needs

CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEARNING

A MANAGER’S JOB IS TO LOCATE RESOURCES!

o RETREATSo CLASSESo UNI, IT, 3RD PARTYo PEER-TO-PEER

TRAININGo SOFTWAREo CROSS-DEPARTMENTo INVITED SPEAKERS

DO YOUR STAFF OWN THEIR WORK?

EMPOWERING STAFFOWNERSHIP OF PROJECTS

Tina Adams, LJ 2009 Parapro of the Year& Tripp Reade, media Resources Librarian

Challenges

Learning & Empowerment Issues

Basic Responsibility as a Leader:

Development of productive, creative, inspired, determined, focused, energized, and well disciplined individuals.

Three Types of Personnel Problems

Performance

Attendance

Behavior/Conduct

Punishment FAIL!

Uncertainty

Inconsistent

Long-term disaster

Solving Performance Problems

Two causes: lack of knowledge or lack of execution.

Deficiencies in knowledge are cured by training.

Deficiencies in execution are approached differently:

1. Clarify expectations: can they explain what is expected?

2. Remove obstacles: resources to do the work are available.3. Provide feedback: regular, accurate and timely.4. Arrange appropriate consequences.

Performance Improvement Discussions

Know your organization’s process

Serious and planned discussion

Specific goals

Structured

Actual versus Desired Performance

Which type of problem is it?If there are multiple problems, limit the discussion to the highest priority issue.

Be specific about the issueEffectively describe what you want versus what you are actuallygetting from the person’s performance.

What is the desired performance? (What do I want?)

What is the actual performance? (What do I get?)

Why the Problem Must be Solved

What is the goal of this meeting?To get the employee to agree to change.

Avoids the rollercoaster of employee performance.

Gaining Agreement:Offer the good business reasons for why there needs to be

change.

List the problem’s effects.

Determining Consequences

Generate a consequence list

Tool to help the manager feel more confident while having the discussion.

Disciplinary action, but what else?

Logical consequences of actions:Having an office or cube movedChange in supervision Change in workflow

Determining the Course of Action

The first 3 steps inform course of action.

Disciplinary action versus performance discussion

Conducting a Performance Discussion

Who, What, Where, When, How Long & Why?

Opening statement: put the employee at ease by getting straight the to the point.

“There’s something that’s concerning me and I need to talk to you about it.”

“I’m dealing with a situation that is troubling me and I need your help to resolve it.”

Go into a specific/detailed discussion of issue.

Conducting a Performance Discussion

Hand the ball to the employee:“Tell me about it.”“What can you tell me about this?”“Is there something I should know?”

Practice active listening

Gain agreement:Review statement of actual versus desired performance.Ask employee to agree.Use logical consequencesPersonal responsibility and locus of control

End on a positive expectation of changeFollow-up in writing (email or formal memo)

Three ways to make a fundamental change in a person’s attitude:

psychotherapy

religious conversion

brain surgery

Solving Attitude Problems

Thank You!