IMBRACE CEO Jacqueline Louis, facilitator Wendy Carrington and GEBE employees.
PHILIPSBURG--Over the past two weeks several members of management and front-line teams of utilities company GEBE participated in a “Legendary Customer Service” retreat.
The retreat included a series of workshops focused on self-development and social skills. Unlike the standard customer service trainings, the workshops delved deeper into the knowledge, skills and behaviours of staffers through emotional intelligence.
“This wasn't a normal customer service training,” GEBE quoted staff as saying in a press release. “It was truly an extraordinary experience and the best one yet. People and the media are always beating down on us and not realising that we are human. We sacrifice and go through a lot to provide services, sometimes under dire circumstances. This helps me to understand myself, my colleagues and the customers better. We are grateful for this time spent and looking forward to more.”
These sentiments were further substantiated by the positive results from the post-training evaluation surveys which were conducted by participants, GEBE said in the release.
The workshops were organised by Jacqueline Louis of IMBRACE Group and facilitated by Wendy Carrington, whose expertise garnered “heartfelt and tear-jerking” moments of truth.
Carrington said, “As the facilitator of the ‘Legendary Customer Service’ programme, I must conclude that NV GEBE’s retreat was a resounding success. At the start employees seemed a little reluctant to participate because they felt that they had completed several training programmes before and felt this was just another run of the mill programme. Once we got going the employees demonstrated a hunger to learn more about themselves, how their past life experiences impact their present behaviours and were extremely open to learning and growing more.
“The programme focused on emotional intelligence and emphasised the importance of effective communication, empathy, active listening, creating ‘moments of magic’ and all
the competencies associated with emotional intelligence; which are crucial in creating a positive, productive and supportive customer experience. I am confident that as a we continue to roll out more programmes, customers can look forward to improved customer satisfaction, a positive attitude and magical moments from NV GEBE’s employees. The employees who participated are now equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to handle customer inquiries and challenges with enhanced communication, empathy, professionalism, efficiency and expertise."
Participants were presented with certificates.
“NV GEBE’s employees are our most valuable asset, which forms the bloodline of our operations. Therefore, it is essential that we equip them with the care, support and tools to better serve our customers. The retreat was a fundamental stepping stone for several community and customer-centric initiatives that we will be announcing in the coming days,” said GEBE Temporary Manager Troy Washington.
