At what point, if at all, should people re-take a class that was part of their initial training? That’s a question that comes up again and again. Not just here at Zingerman’s, but in every organization that I’ve worked with that offers customer service training for new hires. We all know that longer-term employees can benefit from being reminded of the basics, but very few of us (in my experience) have established expectations for how to stay “current.” Should we have something like the Red Cross has for CPR and First Aid certifications, where you have to go back and do some additional training and re-take the tests every once in a while to stay “current?”

Zingerman’s internal “Art of Giving Great Service” (AGGS) class is required for all staff during their initial orientation, and we do not currently require anyone to take it again after a certain length of time. On an ad hoc basis, some managers will include re-taking the class as part of someone’s annual performance expectations and re-taking it is part of the certification process for anyone who wants to become certified to teach the class.

At a recent Great Service Group meeting (this is our ZCoB-wide service committee), we were talking about how to get more people to take our newly developed, more advanced service class, “Turning Greens into Evergreens.” Which also got us talking about whether we should have a requirement to re-take the basic AGGS class after a couple of years. The conversation then turned to the importance of getting everyone’s customer service “tuned up” for the upcoming holiday season – when we (like most retailers) will be serving more customers than at any other time of the year. And we realized that getting people into those classes was the best way to ensure that their service was at its best during the holidays.

So we decided to run a game to get people to the service classes. In order to tune up us old-timers, we are targeting people who have worked here at least 3 years, and the game runs for the months of November and December. It’s a time of year when managers are often reluctant to send staff to classes because they’re needed on the floor – but we also know that it’s exactly when it’s so busy that people can use a service pick-me-up. In addition to focusing on how to provide great service, these classes give us the opportunity to provide great service to the staff who attend. In addition, attending a class gives them the opportunity to connect with co-workers, enjoy some great food (we always provide something to eat), and sit down for a couple of hours.

We’re offering $25ZingDollars (our internal gift certificate) for attending one of the classes, $60ZingDollars for attending both. Everyone who attends at least one class and submits their entry form also has a chance for additional prizes that will be awarded through a random drawing. Our target is to have at least 50 people participate in the game, and we are budgeting $3,000 in prizes.

The game is just kicking off on November 1, so I don’t have any results to report, but the initial buzz is very positive. And, of course, we’ve been sure to schedule lots of Art of Giving Great Service and Turning Greens to Evergreens classes in November and December. I’ll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, let me know if you have a requirement for people in your organization to retake classes after a certain length of time. If so, which classes and after how long? And/or do you have other ways that you help people re-learn or get re-energized about the basics? We’d love to know so that we can learn and share.

Thanks in advance and happy holidays!