I would say to them, don't be afraid to ask questions from the more experienced people if you don't know the answer to a question. I would also learn the statistics of the school so that you are not giving out wrong information.
Larry,
Hi! Welcome to the forum. Many schools have added "Mystery Shoppers" to their training initiatives. Mystery Shopping can be highly effective provided it is monitored closely. What I mean is that it must be monitored on both sides, shopper and school representative. Thank you for sharing your practices to avoid misrepresentation.
We can and do provide on-going training to our reps as well as contracting with outside parties to "mystery shop" our admissions to check that we are practicing what we have taught.
Patricia,
Hi! Welcome to the forum. Reading and understanding the catalog is critical. It is important that students understand that the catalog is an extension of their enrollment agreement. Thanks for sharing.
Cindy Bryant
My first suggestion for a new employee is to read and study the catalog and the website. We take pride in consistency between them and following our accrediting agency and state regulations, we edit them often. While it is true the verbal statements are also accountable, we as employees often quote our written material and when learning, staff rely on them. Also any observation of the new staff made by an experienced employee should be discussed and shared. It can be uncomfortable but when routine, makes for great consistency as well.
Take ongoing training such as this to ensure understanding of regulations. Tell them if they are unsure of an answer to a question state that fact to the candidate students and let them know you will find out. This is the optimal response. Guessing is not.
Kyle,
You are offering new employees great advice. It is apparent that you take your position and the student's future very seriously. Bravo!
Cindy Bryant
I would tell a new employee to make accurate (100%)representation of the utmost importance because this a life changing decision that you don't want students to be making unless they know all the correct facts. I would also recommend continually refreshing your knowledge on the institution so you know you are imparting the truth. Also, never be afraid to say you don't know, but I would love to find out for you/or introduce you to someone that does.
I also tell new and current employees that "I don't know, let me check into that" is acceptable. It is never ok to tell a student information that "could be true" because it may be inaccurate.
Todd,
You are on point. Encourage employees to consult the catalog, disclosures, website and/or policy manuals prior to answering a question that they are slightly unfamiliar with.
Cindy Bryant
I would advise them to never answer any question on a hunch. Even if you are relatively certain that you know the answer. Don't be afraid to say " I don't know but I will get you the information". Especially in an ever-changing environment it is easy for even an longstanding employee to miss something.
Be sure about any information you give out about the school. If you don't know, let the student know that you are unsure, but will find out for them, that way you are not on the spot feeling like you need to answer a question that you don't know they answer to.
Renee,
Thank you for sharing your opinion with the forum. You raised great points!
Cindy Bryant
The bar I set is that we do not exaggerate. The best policy is to state the facts simply. I find that the use of exaggeration is 1)unnecessary, 2) comes off as desperate (never a good thing), 3) misleading, and sets up a relationship based on premises that are not strictly true. I believe that staff must model the behaviors that we encourage our students to develop. With integrity, comes a sense of ease and empowerment. There is an innate right of the individual to NOT be coerced. We have the fiduciary responsibility of not abusing the power differential in our admissions practices.
Bryan,
Welcome! When dealing with an important topic, such as, misrepresentation you can over prepare. The first steps are knowledge and training. Once these steps have been accomplished the role playing helps reinforce what the employee has learned. Every situation may be different and having everyone involved in the process is very helpful.
Cindy Bryant
This to me is very important to address to new employees. At our institution we believe in a very detailed, week long training and onboarding. One of the most important parts of the training in my mind is the "role playing" we conduct after we provide the employee with the tools necessary to succeed. In the role play situations we have a current employee conduct different situations an advisor might run across. this really prepares the employee to better handle real life situations. I also stress to new employees to not be afraid to tell a student "I don't know, let me find that answer and i will get back to you as soon as i can."
I would always tell a new employee to not answer a question if they are unsure. It is perfectly ok to tell a student "I dont want to give you wrong information, I do not have the answer but let me check on this for you". It is always better to have a slight delay than give bad information.
Samantha,
Hi! Sounds as if you have had extensive training which is commendable. The concept of shadowing employees enhances the training and allows new employees to become familiar with a coworker making it easier to ask questions.
Cindy Bryant
Mary,
Hi, you mentioned on-going training which is the critical piece to keeping information fresh and accurate. Advocating the use of the student handbook is another good idea to reinforce in new hires.
Cindy Bryant
I am a fairly new employee so definitely have experience of this recently and first hand. Before being able to be incontact with students we not only had extensive training but we were given the opportunity to shadow coworkers to see exactly how it is and what they say to students. I would say I was definitely encouraged that if I do not know to make sure and get confirmation before giving a response. Also, working in an environment in such close quarters whenever something comes up from a potential student I have many around me to ask whenever I am unsure about something.
