THINK. THANK. THUNK.

Almost every client and colleague, no matter the size of the company or type of department, agrees on their biggest talent issue:  The lack of critical thinking among young professionals.

Statistics, of course, back them up:  When Harris Interactive last year polled employers and about-to-enter-the-workforce employees about the state of preparedness of grads, the disconnect was drastic.  Nearly 70 percent of millennials said they were ready to work, while fewer than half of employers concurred.

The next obvious question (and its add-ons):  How do you teach critical thinking – and how can you identify and measure it?

No easy answers:  Recruiters rely on take-home exercises and behavioral interviewing to assess a candidate’s capabilities.  So, too, managers might opt for a series of conversations about process and open-mindedness, two attributes so important to making good decisions.  Or simply by learning on the job, with practicums and examples pulled from everyday challenges.

Another option from our across-the-ocean counterparts:  U.K. students can select “resolution of dilemmas” and “critical reasoning” courses.

All well and good.  Yet it still leaves many of us needing to train staff on thoughtful and reasoned considerations, the art of good decision making. 

What’s your solution?  Hand out books?  Walk through workshops?  Assign case histories?  Or announce, as did U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, that “you know it when you see it.”

ONE BRAND, NO BLAME

Pity today’s customer service agent.

 We do.  Regardless of the industry or the nature of the complaint, whether we’re in an IVR system or face to face, many of us now routinely game the system by “zeroing out,” asking to “escalate, please,” and following up with nasty-grams to media ombudspersons and even the CEO.  [Yes, we’ll admit to grumbling rather loudly about product and service and billing issues.]

 In other words, those on the corporate frontlines must have the patience of a Job, as well as continual training and reinforcement. 

 It’s the reinforcement that intrigues us.  Delta Air Lines, for instance, is sending its 11,000 agents back to school to counter a very bad year in ratings, arrivals, and baggage handling.  Their five ways to wow customers range from being present to listening and empathy exercises.  “It’s all in how you say it,” explains one of the company’s training facilitators.

 That’s a great start.  How much more powerful would the learning (and reinforcement) be if those lessons were linked to the brand?  At its ultimate, customer service expresses the brand, resulting in well-defined behaviors, engaged customers, and emotionally-connected employees.    [Not to mention increased brand equity and higher profits.] 

 No doubt, branding frontline service requires time, both in its creation and execution.  To work well, it must also be integrated holistically into everything every employee says and does, not just those handling customers. 

In addition to educating all on branding abcs, there are champions to identify, teams to assemble, and, most critical, foundations to put into place:  goals, strategies, tasks, behaviors, measurement, and compliance.   That process needn’t be filled with jargon or too many steps.  Nor overly complicated in words and design.   Or burdened with a ton of rules and regulations.  After all, the best customer service is about doing the right things in the right ways for the right reasons.

 Hmmm:  Common sense and customer service share more than a number of letters.  Adding the brand to that mix equals success for businesses today – and tomorrow.