Teaching Softskills on the Job

It’s fun to see what types of businesses are created to support employment skills. A unique but practical idea for supported employment was created as part of a day service for adults with disabilities: The Bookworm Bookstore in Ramona, California.

Softskills are Crucial for Job Success

If your community has created a business as a way to provide supported employment and to teach essential skills, that’s wonderful. Not only do employees need to learn jobskills such as making change, they also need to learn softskills in interacting with customers, co-workers, and supervisors. How can employee training sessions provide the softskills that employees need to be successful in a bookstore or at other businesses?

For example, often the employer will see a need for support in softskills, such as how to answer a customer’s question when they don’t know the answer. If an employee’s first reaction is to say “I don’t know” and walk away, that is a perfect teachable moment, and the Smart Steps Mobile app can help!

Role Play During Employee Training Sessions

During employee initiation, have your employees download the Smart Steps Mobile app. Then during ongoing staff training sessions, access the various decision trees provided in the app for role plays.  Have employees pretend to be customers, employees, and support staff. Practice how to respond. A free decision tree in the Smart Steps Mobile app was created for customer questions. In the download, click on the button “A Customer Has a Question”.

Customize the Content? Sure! 

If you find that you’d like for your employees to use slightly different wording, you can edit the content. If you have an idea for another decision tree, you can create your own. This requires an upgrade. You can upgrade for an individual, but grab it now to take advantage of the discounted introductory price.

Learn More:

If you would like to purchase a block of licenses, you can create decision trees that all of the employees can use. Contact Smart Steps for more information at connect@smartsteps4me.com or 913-298-2779.

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