This
week another workforce development professional was case conferencing with me
about a customer she had in her job readiness class for TANF customers. She was
frustrated because the customer was disrupting the flow of the class with her
flow of comments about her personal issues, therefore sucking up the time of
and energy out of the class. As a result
of our conversation, the customer was referred for additional support services
for barrier resolution.
I
could sense the frustration on her face. As a facilitator, you expect everyone
to be open, willing, and ready to accept the information we are presenting, but
the truth is that very little of the people that we work with are at that
point.
So
why are we frustrated? We are expecting
miracles from people. We are expecting people to Climb Mount Everest in bare
feet. We are expecting people to have one conversation with us and the light
bulb goes off in our head and they can do it. Sounds like a workforce
development fairy tale!
§ Negativity- This is
something that many people, employed or not have an issue with. It is hard for
people to look at their lives, even when they have jobs, homes, and stability
and find that everything will be ok. It is so easy to find that you should have
something bigger and better. Many people have a big case of this. So, why do we expect that our customers, that
are unemployed to be positive. It’s hard and takes work to be positive when
your life is unstable. Maybe they are homeless or in unsafe housing? Maybe
their children are in danger? How can
you be positive when you do not have food security or your mental and physical
health care needs are not being met? This is a tall order. Although being
positive will help anyone get through a difficult time, the greater the
barriers, the higher the mountain is.
§ People will do
things because we said so. – If that was true, we could eliminate
One Stop Career Centers and replace them with online videos on what people need
to do to get employed. Although the videos may help some people, most of the
time, they do not. That’s why the One Stop Career Centers exist and why we see
the same people over and over again. Truth is some people need to hear the
message more than once. Some people need to hear the message from different
people. Some people will hear the message, not believe it, and then come back
to wonder why they are still unemployed. Some people will hear the message and
never take any action or do the opposite action.
So
what as workforce development professionals should we do to ease our frustrations
and help our customers. It all starts
with us. Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes for a
moment. We need put everything in
perspective. So the next time you hear a coworker say “I am so upset, Jane
always misses her appointments and then walks in whenever she feels like it.” You can remind that coworker that Jane is a
single mother trying to find affordable and safe childcare and a job at the
same time. In the big picture, Jane may not be able to handle all these tasks
and the appointment time may not be the priority. In perspective, do the behaviors of others really
frustrate us if we put it in perspective? Hopefully by understanding the
perspective of another we can achieve peace within ourselves. Another result
will be better customer service and ultimately customer satisfaction.
Questions
and comments are welcome. Feel free to email me at kcirincione@gmail.com. I would like to
wish all the Veterans a Happy Veteran’s Day and thank you for your service.
Certainly I would not have my 1st Amendment freedom and this blog if
it were not for the men and women of the armed services fighting for our
country. THANK YOU! ~Karen Cirincione
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