Today’s workers require more than technical training to succeed, say panelists at the Workforce Development Roundtable on Capitol Hill in May.
PHCC members say today’s students and tomorrow’s workers also need “soft skills” — leadership, teamwork, organization and customer service.
Sam Dowdy Sr. (left) of S & D Plumbing in Taylor, Texas, says it’s important to teach young people how to shake hands, how to present themselves to a customer and how to keep their work sites clean.
“Kids aren’t being taught that like they were in my generation,” he says. “It’s a problem, but it’s also an opportunity for us to refresh our memory on what it’s like to be a mentor … what it’s like to take care of kids and teach them the soft skills.”
What are soft skills?
Admitting he’s a “fanatic” about customer service, PHCC member Gordy Noe of Pioneer Heating and Air in Knoxville, Tennessee, says “Students today don’t know what customer service is” and suggested that “schools are failing us on that.”
Noe says every high school student should be required to pass a customer service and/or communications class that offers combined employability skills. Areas of concentration, he believes, should include:
- Manners
- Appearance
- Courtesy
- Consideration (for people and their property)
- Basic communication skills (“What sounds OK in a text sounds completely different in person,” he says.)
- Public speaking
- Customer service
- Basic finance (“90 percent of your employees don’t realize what makes your business tick,” Noe says. “They just know their small role; they don’t even know what a balance sheet is.” With that, he believes employees should have some basic finance or bookkeeping skills. “Even a little bit of knowledge about finance would give them a jump start when they go out into the field.”)
“We require PE; we require home economics … and those are great things,” Noe says. “Just like those subjects, schools should require a semester on basic customer service … and by a qualified instructor … that is key.”
What can plumbers do?
- Start early. For Noe, soft skills education should start in middle school. Arrange a meeting with the local school superintendent, the local school board, or — probably most effective — the state Department of Education, Noe suggests, and press the need for courses in communication and customer service.
“In Tennessee,” he says, “our state Department of Education is very active with vocational programs, so that’s the best place to go and hope those efforts trickle down.”
- Look at your own business. At Pioneer Heating and Air, Noe brings in a customer service coach — Vincent Ivan Phipps of VIP Training and Coaching, discovered through PHCC — 1-2 times a year. New employees receive the most training, but all employees get a “refresher” each year, Noe says.
“It keeps everyone on the same page and reinforces that our mission — ultimately — is to know how to satisfy each customer.”
- Become a mentor yourself. Noe encourages business leaders to go into the schools and offer to teach a course on basic employability skills.
“Not every business person practices good customer service themselves, but — if they were asked to give a presentation on it — they might brush up their game a bit!”
Put quality in. Get quality out.
Looking to take Noe’s advice? Step up by teaching those all-important soft skills both within your company and with young people in your community (through schools, career days, scouting events, etc.). It’s a win-win for them and for the future of your workforce.
Start today by watching a free, two-part webinar from Steve Coscia of Coscia Communications. Perfect for apprentice classes or company technician meetings, these presentations reveal what customers really care about, why courtesy counts, and how techs need to really listen before they open their mouths.
