When we asked individuals to rate 20 work skills, it came as no surprise to us that “customer service” ranked number one. Ninety-two percent of the respondents rated it as “essential” and the other 8 percent felt it was important. The next highest “essential” score was 79 percent for “decision making.”
Customer service is a generic term that involves several subset skills that come together to create an excellent service experience for customers. Some organizations focus their efforts on a primary skill to position themselves as the number one service provider in their industry. For example, when Tom Monaghan perfected delivery speed for his fledgling pizza business, Dominos rocketed to success. The “one thing” for Monaghan was better customer service, but more specifically, his guarantee for fast, home delivery in 30 minutes or less.
What are your thoughts? Could excellent customer service to internal and external customers be the panacea that cures many of the ills in the workplace and in business generally? What would happen if the government adopted the customer service mantra? Could it transform their business-as-usual attitude to help their customers –businesses and the community – to experience more life?
Summary of the Work Skills Survey - 4 Mar 2008
Here are the current results from the recent survey that was emailed less than a week ago. Forty-four percent of the individuals have training at least once per quarter. Forty percent of them work in organizations ranging in size from 10 to 49 employees. Live training workshops (27.2%) appear to be the most popular. Even though most of the individuals have some type of training, 60% responded that they are either neutral or somewhat dissatisfied with their organization’s training.
The type of training that is considered the most essential is “customer service,” followed by “decision making,” and “interpersonal communication”. The least needed skills are “speed reading” and “stress management.”
Thanks to those who took the survey. The full results are below:
How would you rate the following personal growth/professional development work skill?
...................Essential ....Important ....Good
Customer service ...92% ...8% ...0%
Decision making ...79% ...21% ...0%
Communication – Interpersonal ...76% ...20% ...4%
Time management ...72% ...24% ...4%
Goal setting & achieving ...68% ...32% ...0%
Motivation ...68% ...32% ...0%
Problem solving ...60% ...32% ...8%
Team building ...52% ...36% ...12%
Written communication ...52% ...36% ...12%
Continuous quality improvement ...52% ...40% ...8%
Conflict management ...40% ...56% ...4%
Project management ...40% ...52% ...8%
Delegating ...36% ...56% ...8%
Cost improvement ...33% ...58% ...8%
Meeting effectiveness ...32% ...52% ...16%
Negotiation ...24% ...68% ... 8%
Persuasion/influence ...24% ...64% ...12%
Stress management ...28% ...52% ..20%
Public speaking ...20% ...56% ...24%
Speed reading/learning ...4% ...48% ...48%
How often, on average, does your organization offer training or professional development for its staff?
Monthly or more often ...20%
Every two months ...8%
Once per quarter ...16%
Two times per year ...12%
Once per year ...8%
Never ...12%
Other ...20%
No response(s) ...4%
What types of training/professional development programs are offered by your organization? Select all that apply.
Workshop/seminar w/ trainer ...27.2%
Video/DVD ...12.1%
Audio tape/CD ...4.5%
Internet-based ...16.6%
Teleconference ...10.6%
Books/written materials ...19.6%
Experiential training ...7.5%
Other ...1.5%
What is your overall level of satisfaction with your organization’s training or professional development programs?
Highly satisfied ...12%
Somewhat satisfied ...24%
Neutral ...40%
Somewhat dissatisfied ...20%
Highly dissatisfied ...0%
No response(s) ...4%
How many people are in your organization?
1 ...12%
2-4 ...16%
5-9 ...8%
10-24 ...24%
25-49 ...16%
50-99 ...0%
100-249 ...4%
250-499 ...0%
500-999 ...4%
1,000 or more ...12%
No response(s) ...4%
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