Post-training Coaching Tips

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Post-training Coaching Tips lthough coaching is always an important part of the management function, there are times

when it’s particularly crucial to be doing it, doing it well, and doing it often. As you may have

already experienced, the period right after agents are trained is one of these critical times.

In this article, you’ll learn several tips for keeping the learning alive through careful, purposeful coaching

during the days and weeks just after training. Additional tips can be found in Managing & Motivating

Contact Center Employees (McGraw-Hill, December 2002), authored by the Impact Learning Systems

team.

Two Important Questions Firstly, when planning your training, anticipate that at the end of it you will need to answer two

important questions:

1. So what?

2. Now what?

The first question addresses the transfer of learning from the training room to the real-time work

environment. The learners have acquired new information and skills. So what? What are they expected

to do with them? How does what they’ve learned relate to specific aspects of their job and/or to the

overall objectives of the organization?

The second question—Now what?—relates to the issue of coaching. In what ways will the manager and

supervisors reinforce what was learned so that the learning will stick? What changes can learners expect

to see after they return to the real-time environment? How will monitoring (or other forms of

performance review) be altered to reflect the new learning?

Tips for Positively Impacting the Post-training Work Environment In addition to asking—and answering these two questions, there are a number of things you can do to

positively impact the post-training work environment. Following are some tips.

Make it easy for learners to use their new skills. Make sure they have whatever job aids,

equipment, or resources they need to succeed.

Start immediately with “the new way.” Learners should be expected to use their new skills as

soon as the training is over. There will naturally be a period of adjustment during which your

coaching should be compassionate, but there’s no point in postponing the start date for using

what they’ve learned.

Position training as a process, not an event. Make sure agents know that in the first few days

and weeks after a training session they are still, to a great extent, in learning mode. Naturally, it

takes time for the learning to be fully assimilated.

A

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Talk about what they learned in training on a continual basis. Remind them about the success

they had practicing the new skills in the training, or the great idea they came up with for a new

way of doing some job-related task. This will help to keep employees motivated.

Praise, praise, praise but don’t forget to correct when necessary.

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Order a copy of our 296-page book, Managing & Motivating Contact Center Employees

for even more tips improving morale and motivation.

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