Background With approximately 475 direct employees, this maritime shipping and receiving organization is a "critical hub" for international commerce, is a major transportation center, and facilitates international trade with a strong commitment to environmental sustainability and community responsiveness. Challenges/Goals The organization desired training and development for its administrative support staff with a key goal being to strengthen relationships between the administrative support staff and their client groups. The program was to be presented as voluntary and as a positive and supportive option, leaving no room to be perceived as a "punishment" of any kind. Participation in the "soft skills" program was encouraged among secretaries, administrative support staff, and executive support staff as ongoing personal and professional development, which is strongly encouraged for all employees at this client.
Key training points to address:
- Communication challenges between support personnel and management
- Need for improved planning skills
- Struggles with time management
- Strategies for prioritization
- Development of increased professionalism in communication, demeanor, and dress
Solution In collaboration with Human Resources, a nine-module series was developed offering one 4-hour class per week. A session was offered in the morning and one in the afternoon to suit varied scheduling needs. Participants chose which time of day worked best for them and then attended all nine classes as either a morning or afternoon attendee. The nine modules included content on Time Management, Adapting to Your Supervisor, Business Ethics, Professional Presentation, Effective Communication Skills, Appreciative Inquiry, and Stress Management.  To encourage voluntary registration, two informational sessions were held where both internal Human Resources and Ascend Training Solutions presented on what attendees could expect during the training program, as well as on the career benefits of participating. Management was also strongly encouraged to support program attendance by their administrative support staff. At the start of the program, each attendee received a co-branded binder to store the workbooks from each session. A quiz was given at the end of each session to ensure retention and a "homework" assignment was also provided, which challenged participants to either use one or more of the skills learned in the class, or to discuss with their manager one of the class topics. The managerial discussions were to open dialogue around the manager's preference for communication format, style, frequency, and structure, as well as preferences for travel, meeting organization and management, gatekeeping, and levels of authority/responsibility. Outcome Of the 85 potential attendees, 40 registered for and completed the series. The average participant survey score per week was 4.7 out of 5. The series will be offered again in the fall for remaining interested participants. Feedback! "This is going really well, I'm hearing people say they're happy they signed up, they're really learning new things and they love hearing from others with similar responsibilities...they like you, you make them feel good about the work they do and why they should strive to be even better." ~ Administrator "I love the information about Appreciative Inquiry - we are so much more effective when we use a positive approach!" ~ Participant "This class has been so helpful: you are making me think about the way I feel about my job and I'm learning so much about how other people operate!" ~ Participant "This is so helpful, even for me having been a secretary for over 20 years. You can always learn new things and we have never had the opportunity to learn about things like communication, appreciative inquiry and time management like the managers do!" ~ Participant | 
