Boost Your Sales Team Performance via Refreshed Training

Posted on April 19, 2019 by

The sales department of a company keeps the organization thriving. It’s worth training sales personnel to prime them for success.

How long has it been since your sales team received refreshed or updated training?

A businessman pointing to a "sales training" graphic.

Sales training is a major way to improve departmental effectiveness.

Improving sales representatives’ performance through targeted and focused employee education may provide your business with a much-needed infusion of momentum. Reps’ ability to sell effectively – making use of the latest and most relevant tactics and techniques – can determine whether a company meets or misses business targets for a quarter or year.

Sales ability isn’t an intrinsic or fixed trait. Improving related skills through the deployment of timely and effective training is a potentially valuable boost for the representatives, the department and the organization. Continue reading →

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Meet HR Compliance Requirements – Then Go Beyond Them

Posted on March 25, 2019 by

While there are rules regarding HR training, these should be seen as a starting point – there’s plenty of room for extra value to come from these programs.

A key made of the words "human resources."

Regulatory compliance is just the start of great HR training.

Compliance training sessions overseen by human resources have a clear mission statement embedded in their name: They exist to ensure companies comply with regulations demanding they maintain fair, equitable and welcoming workplaces. This shouldn’t be where the lessons end, however. HR training that obeys the letter of the law, but does no more, may not adequately prepare employees to deal with issues such as harassment. Rather than just creating compliant workplaces, leaders should treat their legal requirements as a baseline and strive to create exemplary office cultures.

Numerous training options are available on essential HR topics, divided up by subject, workplace type and content format. Managers and HR team members should select educational resources to take employees beyond the basics and set a positive tone for all interactions within the business, with clear mechanisms in place to handle complaints and drive real resolution to problems. Selecting the right resources calls for an extra period of research, but the resulting professional environment is worth the effort. Continue reading →

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Safe Forklift Operations: Essential in Any Warehouse

Posted on March 14, 2019 by

What does it take to keep your forklift operators safe and prepared for any potential problems?

An employee uses a forklift.

What should all forklift operators know?

No matter what kind of products, supplies or raw materials your company stores in its warehouses and distribution centers, it’s essential to put comprehensive strategies in place to move those goods safely and effectively. Moving large pallets is typically a job for forklift vehicles, which puts forklift operators at the center of any workplace safety plan for warehouses.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has specific rules for the safe use of forklift equipment, with operators subject to strict requirements. This careful management of forklift driving is due to the potential for serious injury around such heavy machinery. The strategies for your warehouse should go beyond OSHA’s baselines and ensure every employee in the environment knows the proper procedures. Both forklift operators and all other employees who work around these vehicles should be aware of the possible danger they’re in and understand how to stay safe. Continue reading →

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Excelling in Enterprise Safety Leadership

Posted on February 20, 2019 by

Leaders in the workplace bear much of the responsibility for employee safety.

Safety in the workplace begins at the top. Whether a leader is specifically assigned safety duties or directs a team in a more general capacity, he or she should be looking for opportunities to encourage good practices while keeping employees healthy and happy.

Managers both set the rules for their workers to follow and create a behavior example through their own attitude toward work practices. This ongoing influence makes it worthwhile to give safety training to leaders at various levels within companies, reminding them of their responsibilities and the potential they have to improve the workplace for everyone. Continue reading →

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Better Interpersonal Skills in the Workplace: Internal and External Benefits

Posted on February 13, 2019 by

Better communication, increased empathy and other interpersonal abilities can be taught, and may have a positive impact on the modern workplace. 

Two employees collaborate.

Interpersonal skills improve teamwork and enhance customer service.

Workplace training sometimes focuses exclusively on the “hard” skills required to use essential technology and perform role-specific duties. This view of employee education is unnecessarily narrow, due to the continuing importance of “soft” skills. Employees who are expert communicators and empathetic teammates are well-suited to both cooperating internally and interacting with customers. Some workers emerge from college without fully developed soft skills, further increasing the importance of learning these abilities on the job.

No matter the industry in question, professional roles involve interacting constantly with other people. The more smoothly these interactions go, the more value the employee will generate for the company. This value may mean that meetings reach satisfactory conclusions, customers receive helpful answers to their questions, or partner organizations get great results from their own interactions with the business. Across industries and cases, soft skills can represent increased effectiveness. Continue reading →

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