If we are in an era of services that also implies the excellence in customer service and therefore have human resources prepared to be able to provide it, it is necessary that we can review what the key competencies that should have the people in our organization.
If in the last century, for example, personnel were required to have the ability to take care of machinery, to be able to have artisanal, manual skills since we are in a world of production, today, we need a series of capabilities that can prepare our staff and our entire organization for the world of customer service.
In this article we want to review some of those competencies that will allow your organization to differentiate itself over time from others that could undoubtedly have the same machinery, the same processes, similar premises but that could not have this competitive advantage, which is that of deal with excellence to customers.
Characteristics of a company with excellence in customer service
So let's review what we believe are some of the competencies that an organization should seek to have in its staff:
Leadership ability
It is today a key advantage for organizations to go and create a kind of internal epidemic that means being at the service of our people so that they are at the service of our clients. The rule is simple, people who are mistreated will end up mistreating customers.
Ability to provide feedback with our collaborators or with the ability to give feedback
In a service organization it is important that leaders can adequately stimulate staff and also correct when there are errors that primarily affect our performance in relation to the client.
Not scaring, accusing or generating harmful defenses in people should be one of the objectives of every manager. In this sense, we must know how to find a way to draw attention to wrong processes and behaviors so that the personnel who receive them can improve them without fear or rejection. It is surprising how little capacity most managers have to give feedback. positive feedback to people so that they leave with a goal of improvement and not “scared or defensive”
Teamwork
Many believe that this is one of the most important capabilities in an era of services since most of them do not depend on the result of one person but on the cooperation of several of the organization's collaborators in the different processes that are in relation to the client.
Teamwork involves several topics:
- Know how to accept assigned roles in the team
- Have rotating leadership
- Achieve excellent communication between all members
- Seek that interpersonal relationships are synergistic for the team and not an obstacle to results
- That the processes are clear and known by everyone and accepted within the roles.
All of these issues imply that an organization seeks to ensure that its collaborators know how to work as a team, which is nothing more than knowing how to generate extraordinary results through cooperation and alignment with the organization's objectives.
Effective time management
This is a key competence in a world in which we have to develop many activities to achieve the result for our organization.
However, many people do not manage their time effectively and squander it, waste it in poorly managed and ineffective meetings, and in some cases do not even use it properly for productivity. Time is not only a scarce commodity, but it cannot be recovered and will not increase no matter how much effort we make.
We all have 24 hours a day (the richest and the poorest); Therefore, it is important to train our collaborators in the effective use of time that will result in good results and also in availability for oneself.
The meaning of self-criticism
The ability to accept mistakes and determine when the way of proceeding can be improved is key.
In many organizations, presence is valued, and not productivity, this leads to time being wasted, wasted in poorly managed and ineffective meetings and in some cases not even used adequately for productivity.
Time is a commodity that is not only scarce, but it cannot be recovered and will not increase no matter how much effort we make. We all have 24 hours a day, the richest and the poorest. Therefore, it is important to train our collaborators in the effective use of time that will result in good results and also having time available for oneself.
Responsibility and autonomy
In a teleworking economy, in which working from home is here to stay with the extension of the Home Office not only as a result of the pandemic but as a result of companies finding a way to reduce costs.
decision making
In a world of work, in which many of the tasks - as we have said - will be carried out autonomously and in homes and in which the teams will not necessarily be seeing each other permanently, the ability to take effective decisions It also becomes a key component.
Here we come across some difficulties Firstly, the lack of willingness to make decisions that entails a responsibility that many people have who actually prefer to either postpone them or find others to assume the decisions for them. And on the other hand, the general lack of disposition that human beings have to make decisions
Many times untrained and unskilled workers take random decisions or decisions of faith based on unobjective facts”. Someone said that human beings are reluctant decision-makers and that is why divination, magic and quackery exist.
In a moment of Autonomous work, it is a key competence that our collaborators know how to make decisions and have a rational and effective method to ensure that these decisions have gone through a process that, although it will not lead to them being perfect, can greatly reduce the probability of errors.
Needless to say, these skills begin to shape a different executive profile, in which these capabilities will be key; It is foreseeable that skills related to the world of production and an economy based solely on products will be sought less and less; We will give way to these “soft” competencies that for now are the ones that seem to lead people in organizations to achieve extraordinary results for themselves.
What ours collaborators know how to make decisions and have a rational and effective method to ensure that these decisions have gone through a process that, although it will not lead to them being perfect, can greatly reduce the probability of errors, it is a key competence at a time of autonomous work in our homes.
Needless to say, these skills are beginning to shape a different executive profile in which these skills are required and in which other skills related to the world of production and an economy based solely on products will be sought less and less. Moving on to these purchases makes way for these “Soft” competencies that for now are the ones that seem to lead people in organizations to achieve extraordinary results for them.
To the managers in the today's world of teleworking, we have no choice but to trust and demonstrate with results the use of our collaborators' time.
¨ Teams do not arise by spontaneous act or by orders from a manager, they arise when people find that through cooperation they can improve
and have individual profits
