In the workplace, there’s a clear-cut difference between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills. Hard skills are the technical, tangible ones: knowing a foreign language, graphic design, bookkeeping etc. Soft skills are abilities that combine interpersonal strengths, common sense, personality and people skills. Although harder to define, measure, quantify, and assess,…

Where do your suppliers rank in your customer experience pecking order? Do they receive the same level of TLC as you shower upon those who purchase your products/services? Do you respond to their emails as promptly and politely as you would to an email sent to you by your…

Welcome back to our three-part series on communication. In our last blog post, we talked about how our poor conversational habits (e.g. judging, sending solutions and avoidance) can create communication ‘roadblocks’.  This time, we’ll discuss how you can improve communication by using active and reflective listening. Let’s dive into…

What are the skills and characteristics of a fantastic customer service employee? What does it take to survive and thrive in the role? It’s certainly not an easy gig – dealing with an increasingly demanding public, day in, day out. But it’s a role that’s valuable and highly rewarding…

In our previous two blog posts we looked at the power of habits. We now understand why we’re creatures of habit and how habits can play a significant role in shaping organisational culture. In both articles we looked at Charles Duhigg’s habit loop involving the cue, the routine and…

The power of a crisis The global pandemic has created turmoil for many organisations. Undoubtedly, this is one of the most challenging periods in recent history. But it also presents an opportunity – crises can actually be valuable.  “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,” said…

‘All our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits.’ – William James, 1892 Our habits are fascinating. Even more so, when times are uncertain and ever-changing.  In the Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg defines habits as: “The choices that all of us deliberately…

Even before we knew what a ‘lockdown’ was, people were talking about loneliness. In 2019, before the world was hit by the global pandemic, there were reports of a loneliness epidemic. In 2019, almost half of adults surveyed by YouGov reported feeling lonely at least a few times a…

Are the employees in your organisation ‘emotionally aware’? If they aren’t, then it’s time for a bit of an emotional education.  Professor Marc Brackett, a leading expert in emotional intelligence, explains: ‘Our emotions are an important source of information about what’s going on inside us’. From an evolutionary perspective, emotions…

There’s always a need for training. Because there’s always a need for employees to be learning new skills or information. The quality of  your training content is critical – it needs to be relevant, effective and engaging. But it’s the quality (and qualities) of the trainer that can make…