Understanding How Internal Customers Learn

Those who work within the company (internal customers) need to have a clear understanding of their roles, and how their actions affect operations and external customers.  Without this clear understanding, they will view their actions as isolated incidents, which have little or no affect on the big picture.  Finding what it takes to effectively communicate the importance of company roles is paramount to an organization’s success with its staff and its external customers.  However, the mode of communication that works for one staff member, may not work for others.  Discovering how to recognize individual learning styles, and uncovering personal motivations, requires time.  Is your company taking the time to both communicate and listen to internal customers?  They are the strength of your company. Getting To Know You

As a kid, my class had to learn “the friendship song”, Getting To Know You.  It begins with the words, “Getting to know you, getting to know all about you.  Getting to like you, getting to hope you like me.”  The singer expresses how their life is better, as a result of a new friendship.  Building cooperative and friendly relationships with fellow staff should be encouraged in all companies. 

Too often, day-to-day work inhibits relationship building.   Even though staff may spend hours together at the office, in meetings, on sales calls, or doing other company business, they often know little about each other’s lives, hopes, and dreams.  Organizations cannot expect to train and motivate people toward consistent, quality service, if they never take the time to personalize the relationship.  Find out what drives individuals to learn, strive for excellence, or reach higher levels of success.

It’s About the Learning

It all comes down to learning.  Managers must learn about company expectations, products, and staff.  Then, information about expectations and products must be shared with staff.  Most importantly, the information communicated needs to be comprehended by everyone.  The one person, who doesn’t understand, may be the person who provides incorrect information to your best customer.  Learning effective communications styles requires understanding differences in learning, and motivation stimuli.

Learning what motivates people to learn and excel is the basis for developing training methods, goal setting, and motivating staff to succeed.  Experiential learning (a learning and training method) is one training/learning method used in the workplace.  It is based on the idea that comes from the work, and the people with whom the work is performed.  Through workplace projects, teams, and goal setting, a staff development strategy can be established with a process known as Action Learning.  It uses critical questions to test the knowledge gained from the experiences of the learner and trainer.

What Motivates?

The success of any organization (and the individuals who work for it) is also about motivation.  Those who help others to learn and grow must take the time to discover what motivates individuals to excel.  No amount of training will get an unmotivated staff member to learn.  With a clear understanding of individual learning styles and aspirations, managers will be able to design communications, organizational improvements, training, work teams, and goal setting that produce motivating and successful outcomes.  When staff are motivated to achieve and excel, everyone benefits.