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It doesn’t matter how great your product is: If your customer service is poor, people will complain about it, and you will lose customers.

But the good news is, it is possible to turn things around. Transforming your customer service from mediocre to great won’t happen overnight. A serious commitment to meaningful change, a team of rockstar support professionals, and work across the entire organization are necessary to achieve this.

1. Empathy techniques 

Last December, during the school break, my family and I visited Bali and checked into the Ritz-Carlton. I had brought along specialized eggs and milk for my son, who had food allergies. Unfortunately, upon arrival, I noticed that the eggs had broken and the milk had gone bad. Despite the Ritz-Carlton staff’s efforts to locate the items in their kitchen, they were unable to find them.

However, the executive chef at the resort went above and beyond to assist us. He recalled a store in town that stocked the products we needed, and he contacted his daughter to purchase them and deliver them to the hotel. We were thrilled by this exceptional service. It’s no surprise that so many of the Ritz-Carlton’s customers remain loyal to the resort after experiencing such remarkable hospitality. Needless to say, we wouldn’t even consider staying anywhere else after that.

This story showcases exceptional customer service that exceeds expectations. The service provided by the Ritz-Carlton team highlights how businesses can cultivate customer loyalty and satisfaction by prioritizing their customers’ needs and going the extra mile to meet them. It’s a powerful example of how outstanding customer service can create lasting impressions and keep customers coming back.

2. Explanation techniques

I can still remember the bittersweet memories as I embarked on motherhood back in 2015. My son used to have sensitive skin besides food allergies. As a new parent, I found that buying skin care products for babies can sometimes be a nightmare. There are so many products out there in the market claiming to be the best for baby skin that you will have a hard time settling for one. 

After days of searching for the right product online, I stumbled upon an online shop that offered exceptional customer service unlike any I had ever experienced before! The representative addressed all of my queries with a straightforward explanation structure, which was exactly what I needed.

She talked about the problem: “Your baby’s gentle skin may not be tolerant of some chemicals.” Then the solution: “Look for signs of allergies in your baby whenever you apply a new lotion or other baby product on him.” Then the benefit: “This way, your baby’s skin will stay soft, and you won’t have to worry about allergies.” Very simple, very powerful.

3. Name memorization techniques

Do you ever feel annoyed when someone forgets your name? Despite our own tendency to forget names, we all appreciate when someone remembers us. Remembering someone’s name can help make a positive impression, but unfortunately, many of us struggle to recall the names of people we have met, even shortly after being introduced. Luckily, there are some techniques that can help. 

Firstly, meet and repeat. Repeat the name of the person. Not only echoing after they mentioned it, but try to use it throughout the rest of your conversation. “So, Ain, did you see our tutorial section?”

This technique reminded me of Dr. Zainal. An owner of a clinic in my neighborhood who always addresses us by our names whenever we visit. His attention to detail and personalized approach makes us feel valued and taken care of. Consequently, despite having to endure long queues, we never sought medical attention elsewhere.

4. The happy-to-see-you technique

Have you ever received a telemarketing call that made you feel as if you were speaking with a friend? This technique, as described in The Charisma Myth, is not centered around memorization, but rather focuses on using a person’s name to create a positive experience. 

While most phone representatives are trained to answer calls with a warm and enthusiastic tone, author Olivia Fox Cabane suggests using a neutral tone initially, and then responding with warmth and enthusiasm once the person’s name is recognized. This approach can make the individual feel valued and appreciated. 

5. Listening technique

Careful listening is one of the fastest tools to make other people feel important. Some of the active listening techniques that are useful for customer service include body language. Your posture strongly influences your ability to listen — even when you’re not meeting face to face. 

Secondly, closing your eyes while on the phone. This will increase your presence, and make it easier to focus solely on what’s being said.

Thirdly, say “Okay”, “Yes”, “I see”. These small inferences show the speaker that you are still with him, and it is especially important in a real-time conversation in which you don’t see each other.

In summary, taking care of customers is not only the right thing to do, but it’s also a smart business strategy. When customers feel valued and appreciated, they are more likely to continue doing business with a company, provide positive feedback and reviews, and recommend the business to their friends and family. That can lead to increased profits and success. Interested to know what else it takes for you to provide exceptional customer service experiences? Click on this link to find out more about creating a positive, hassle-free customer experience for everyone who deals with your company. 

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In today’s rapidly evolving business and talent landscape, the reskilling imperative has taken center stage. The World Economic Forum’s prediction that 50% of all employees will require reskilling by 2025 has sent ripples across industries, highlighting the urgency of staying abreast with the shifting skills landscape.

Skills obsolescence poses a grave risk, not only to individual careers but also to business sustainability. To combat this, initiatives like the National Training Week play a pivotal role in talent development. National Training Week is scheduled from 22nd to 28th May, providing an opportune moment for professionals to level up their skills and reclaim their place in the talent game. The question is – how to choose the right upskilling program among the 5000 programs offered during this period of time? 

As a learning addict myself, there is a danger of ending up learning “nice to have” programs, instead of the programs that can provide a transformative turning point for our career and personal life. Therefore, I would like to share a few tips before you jump into the sea of programs offered by National Training Week. This could prevent us from procrastinating the learning journey and make this self-investment worthwhile. 

Step 1: Consider what are your current skill gaps that are stopping you from moving to the next level? Self-assessment and feedback from colleagues or superiors can provide valuable insights into the areas requiring development.

Step 2: Write down why is it important for you to take up this program? This will create a commitment and promise to be determined throughout the whole learning process. Once you have established a meaningful purpose, it will be prioritized and treated as a non-negotiable task in your daily work plan or activity. 

Step 3: Determine the NEW action that you will take on, once you obtain the NEW knowledge or skills. This will help you align your professional aspirations with the skill you intend to work on. The relevance of skills relating to the future of how you see your career is vital. Being able to see yourself apply the newly acquired skills in your daily work routine is a critical step in reinforcing your learning and making the most of your upskilling endeavors.

National Training Week targets RM250 million training value in total, in which you would need to be skillful in researching the quality and credibility of the program, as all of the programs are listed as FREE. Look for programs with a proven track record, positive reviews, and recognition in the industry. While technical skills are crucial, the value of soft skills cannot be overstated. NLP communication skill, leadership, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence are just a few of the many soft skills that are increasingly sought after by employers. Soft skills enable employees to adapt to new situations, learn quickly, navigate complex situations and come up with effective solutions. In a fast-paced, ever-evolving work environment, these skills are invaluable.

Last but not least, active participation is key to maximizing learning during this week. Engage in discussions, ask questions, and take notes. Remember, the more you put in, the more you get out. Upskilling is a journey, not a destination. There will always be new skills to learn and ways to improve. Stay open to learning and embrace the opportunities that come your way. By doing so, you’ll not only enhance your career prospects but also stay relevant in the rapidly evolving world of work.

Register today for the SH Retail Academy’s complimentary program and take the first step towards upskilling yourself and your team as we will be offering free e-learning programs, physical and virtual training stated in the poster below, click here to secure your spots now! Other than that, we offer customized programs that cater your business needs and also offer a wide variety of retail training, including customer service, retail operations and new retailing landscape training. If you’d like to know more about these programs, feel free to click here.

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Different retail stores offer different experiences to shoppers. This is not a new phenomenon, especially since the transformation in retailing, which has led to many changes in the customer experience. Due to this transformation, most buyers have started to use technology to make their shopping experiences.

The best way to assess a retail shop’s atmosphere “Qi” and customer shopping experience is to look from the customer’s point of view. So, I did a mystery shopping visit last week. 

What were my expectations when I visited the shops?

When I first learned about the transformation in the retail industry, I was fascinated by the idea of improving the customer experience for shoppers. This included providing new retail experiences that would make shopping more enjoyable and helpful. My expectation of physical stores was that they would introduce themselves and increase their exposure, helping customers decide on which products to purchase. Based on the new retail concept, I looked into the concepts they implemented to help customers understand the existence of the new retail concept and how it assists them when shopping in physical stores.

Experience With First Shop

The first store I visited was more traditional in terms of retailing. As I entered the store, a salesperson greeted me and put her phone down from her desk. And, I told her that I was looking for a television with multiple functions for use in the office. The explanation was informative as she gave me a recommendation which is the best product for me. Overall, the experience was considered ok, however I found little information about their online shop. I could not find any Point of Presentation (POP) that shows me that I can buy stuff online from them. There is no explanation regarding their online store from the employee of that first store.

If I was a genuine customer, after testing the products in an offline shop, I may want to do further research or get a 2nd opinion from my family or friends. Most likely I may want to refer to more information from an online website or even purchase online. However, I didn’t feel like I had that option or convenience to purchase online.

Experience With Second Shop

The next store I visited was more in line with the new style of retailing compared to the first store. The salesperson greeted me at the door and was ready to assist me with anything I needed. When I entered the shop, I felt more comfortable because the lights were brighter, there were more products or brands to choose from, and there was ample space for me to walk around the shop.

Not only am I able to get information for different products, I liked how the salesperson pinpoints the strengths and shortcomings of different brands, which could help me to decide better without comparing between different websites on my own (so it saves my time!). Also, I get to  know the benefits of the shop’s loyalty program, which entices me with a lot of rewards. After seeing many POPs about online shop, the salesperson even showed me how easy it was to buy products from their online store using their app, which was really helpful for customers who wanted to shop from the comfort of their own homes, like me who just like to laze around and shop within my fingertips.

If I were to choose which shop to visit again, the second shop is definitely where I would go, as I have better shopping experience here. That’s my point of view as a customer. In order to manage a retail shop, having retail knowledge is not enough. One of the good practices every retailer must practise is to think and feel like a customer. How would they feel when they shop inside the retail shop? What could we do to improve such an experience? So, this is where the training for the employee comes in clutch. 

In SH Retail Academy, we help employers and employees to understand the importance of new retail concepts and how to incorporate this concept to run retail operations. If you would like to improve managing different aspects of retail operations, improve customer experience or boost your store sales, check out our Retail Operation program.

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Written by Amir Ashraff

SHRA Corporate Trainer

Amir has a strong passion for teaching and business handling gives him a lot of experience in teaching, training, retailing, business management, and operation management. He loves to learn new skills and gaming.

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My experience of quitting my corporate job to focus on my newly started a brownie business back in 2014 was not an easy decision to make but was definitely something that I did not regret. I surely had given a deep thought about it with a flaming desire to become an entrepreneur, and so I did.

With the challenges I had to go through as a new entrepreneur, having to put a lot of my daily lives on pause for a little while, it has been difficult to keep focused at times. I find that setting goals for myself always helps me get back on track.

Setting long and short-term goals

Like everyone else, I have days where I’m not feeling productive or the motivation to get big things done. But, I remind myself that that’s OK! On days like these, the goals that I set are much smaller, but they are just what I need. I might set myself the goal of spending the afternoon baking only 1 batch of brownies or doing research about the latest market trend for an hour.

These smaller goals help me stay on track and remind that goals don’t always have to be ones that take months or years to achieve. The small ones are just as much of an accomplishment!

How goal setting empowered me to break my fear

Throughout my journey managing my business alone, I realized that I have to break out of fear to accomplish my goals. I begin with introducing my products to my family members and friends. I had to face a few rejection along the way. It was frustrating but I kept reminding myself to trust the process. At that time I did not have the confidence to advertise my products online. I needed more reassurance from my customers to be able to do that. Soon, there were more and more demands from my mother’s friends and from my close friends and I was ready to set a new goal. I wanted to reach a bigger audience on social media and hit 5000 followers on Instagram. Next thing I knew, I hit 6000 followers within a month! From preparing 1 batch of brownies a day, I started to bake 10 batches of brownies a day as orders kept on increasing.

The past is often what keeps us in a fearful state and paralyzed. I kept going despite being criticized and rejected. I approach criticism with a growth mindset and used it as an opportunity to learn and develop. By concentrating on a goal in the future, we have to let go of the past. Letting go of the past means giving something up to get to your new future. And the future is one of the most powerful motivating forces there is.

How to decide on a goal?

When you start something new, you can’t do everything all at once and then expect the journey to be over, we do one thing at a time. I always begin with the why before the what. You can try to ask yourself why you want to change? This usually takes a bit of quiet time with yourself, so do not try to do this in five minutes; you need to know and understand what is going on inside.

Regrets can come up in the early part of brainstorming. You have to give up the hope that your past could have been any different, so do not dwell on it.

Also, remember to state your goals in the positive, I want or I will over I don’t want. Next, write your goal down, so you make it real. Once you have that one goal, you need to lay out a plan, then allocate time and resources to achieve it.

Finally, there is no shame in pursuing a goal no matter how little or how insignificant you think it is. Realize that the original goal may change as you get educated, look for inspiration, and work on your plan.

Setting self-care goals

Besides the achievement we get from achieving our goals, looking after your mental health at all times is also really important, so I make sure to plan something self-care related for each evening. I make sure to write a self-care activity in my to-do list along with all my work-related things.

It’s nice to see that at the end of a long list of things I have to do, there’s something at the end of the day to look forward to and make time for, like a video call with my parents, or watching some random series for an hour or so with my husband and my son.

Lesson learnt

I’ve learnt that having a support system and an objective set of eyes is invaluable and a huge asset!

You need to surround yourself with like-minded people who can call you out while encouraging you, as opposed to those who just want to drown your dreams in cold water.

It can also get a little lonely. As you grow in focus and self-awareness, you start to realize that there are actually few people who walk this path. Don’t let this discourage you. The fulfilment you’ll get from living out your desires will more than make up for the lost company.

My goal setting and achievement journey is far from over and I consider myself a mere infant in this life changing process. Just as a baby desires to grow and crawl, walk and ultimately run, I too constantly seek to improve myself. I now view every single interaction as an opportunity to grow while positively impacting those around me.

In sum

Goal setting is the process of identifying specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives that individuals or organizations want to achieve. Goals can be short-term or long-term, and they should align with the overall vision and mission of the individual or organization. The goal-setting process involves setting clear objectives, breaking them down into actionable steps, monitoring progress, and making adjustments as necessary. Goals should be challenging but realistic and should be reviewed regularly to track progress and make necessary adjustments. Effective goal setting can help you achieve success by providing a clear direction, motivation, and focus. Click this link to find more information about our ELITE program to learn about IKIGAI and set your effective goals.

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Written by Fatin Syazanna,SHRA Corporate Trainer

Anna is a member of the SHRA trainer team. She has a major in Education with experience working in retail. She has a deep passion for sharing knowledge and personal development. You can catch her singing and acting in advertisements, movies and TV shows.

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Fun fact, did you know that divorce is considered by managers to be the most stressful thing to happen and 60% of them agree that being a first time boss or manager is the second most stressful thing? Does this statistic speak to you too? In more ways than one, most people who are promoted to management excel at doing what they do best, executing with excellence. As such we often feel confident in our abilities and skills when we are promoted, thinking we are ready. However, being a manager is a start of something completely different that requires a vastly different set of skills. This comes as a shock to many where the skills we have before may not be relevant to our roles now.

It’s not all gloom and doom however, becoming an excellent manager is definitely achievable and attainable! So if you are a first time manager or aspiring to be one, don’t worry, it is a passing phase and you too would eventually adapt and become a successful manager too. In order to speed up that process and to save you the time of falling unnecessarily into pitfalls to learn matters the hard way, here are 3 challenges of every first time manager!

3 Challenges Of Every First Time Manager

• Transitioning from “I” To “We”
• From “Peer-peer” to “Manager-team member”
• From “You do this” to “How can you do this?”

Transitioning from “I” To “We”

Before being promoted, the way we measure our capability and performance comes from our own individual work contribution. In other words, our performance is in our own hands. However, as a manager, it’s essential for us to begin monitoring and managing the whole team’s performance instead! My manager once shared with me an analogy, the company and the team are like cogs in a machine. As an individual contributor, we are focused on performing to the best of our functions within our department. A manager on the other hand needs to make sure that the whole team is functioning smoothly as a whole and everyone is performing. Beyond that, a manager needs to understand what their team members are focusing on too.

As such, many of us may start out focusing on our own tasks at hand only without taking note of what other team members are doing. I remember a time when I had to oversee part of a project and the only thing I focused on was preparing materials that I was in charge of previously. Was it done excellently? Yes. Did the project go smoothly, no. That was because I have overlooked what other team members have been contributing. This is one of the challenges that many first time managers face and it helps to be aware that we need to begin transitioning from what “I” am doing to what “we” are doing.

From “Peer-peer” to “Manager-team member”

Most first time managers would feel a little bit of awkwardness as they are required to lead their peers now with a different authority. Some feel the need to cut off ties as friends for fear of preferential treatment while others feel the need to remain friends for fear of insubordination. The actual fact is, from the moment we are promoted as first time managers, this awkwardness will definitely exist. It is how we acknowledge this awkwardness and stop giving it power over us that helps us to excel and become a better manager.

In my previous company, a close friend of mine came in much earlier than me and became my area supervisor. All was well as both of us understood and didn’t push each other. However, there was a time where my direct manager was being unreasonable and assumed I disobeyed procedures. I was furious at the thought of being misunderstood so I confronted him and there was an argument. My friend stepped in and told me this “As your area supervisor, it is out of line for you to directly confront your direct manager publicly. Secondly, do you have proof that you are following procedure?” When I heard those words I was shocked and that was when I felt his authority. I provided proof from the CCTV footage and my direct manager was sent into question. However, at that point in time I admittedly expected my friend to be there to support me instead of using his authority.

It was awkward when I bumped into him after that incident but we managed to sit down and discuss the incident when he was finally free. We talked about it and I remembered the words that melted the awkwardness away “I may be your area supervisor but I am also your friend too. I do understand how awkward it is but I want you to know I am treating you professionally because I trust you as a friend to understand I mean no superiority in terms of our friendship. I hope you can trust me as a friend too”. After that we had a few more incidents but we often laughed over it after the incident. The key as first time managers is not to exercise your authority to the max or to not hold your team members accountable, it is to treat them with respect, talk to them and trust that they are professional and capable of understanding the reasoning behind your decisions.

From “You do this” to “How can you do this?”

Transitioning from an executive to a manager, one of the key skills that needs to be acquired is coaching skills.  Usually, an executive just focuses on completing work in the shortest amount of time while making sure the work is of the best possible quality. However, in order to be a good manager, you have to develop your team members to achieve the same level of performance as you. It means that, beyond completing the task given to your team, you have to identify your team members’ skills gaps and find ways to close them, helping them to improve and to get closer to where you are. This is because the main focus of a manager is no longer about individual productivity but more about team productivity.
For instance, you should delegate your team task wisely based on the current capabilities of your team members and their current skill gaps that you are assisting them to close. When it comes to task assignment, instead of just assigning tasks to every team member randomly, one question you have to consider is “how would the task help the team member to develop?”.  Moreover, you should also ask more questions that could elicit learning from them instead of just giving out answers and instructions whenever they ask you questions. As such, your team members can only then grow together with you and bring your whole team to greater heights.

In short, there are indeed a lot of challenges a first time manager has to face when they transition from an executive who has an entirely different focus. Of course there are a lot more skills that first time managers have to equip themselves with. Interested to know what else it takes for you to smoothly transition to a manager role? Wondering how you could upskill yourself to be a better manager? Fret not! You can check out our Leadership For New Managers training program. If you’d like to check out our other programs, feel free to click here. Feel free to drop us a message if you have questions through this link.

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Work life balance is the big dream and desire for most people, except for workaholics who enjoy working regardless what time or where they are (perhaps, even during holiday). This voice of Malaysians wanting work life balance is substantiated with survey results from AIA survey and KISI studies, that Malaysia is ranked the 3rd most overworked countries (we surpassed Singapore, can you believe?). On average, Malaysians work 15 hours extra per week. 

And, our government also has put in effort to promote work life balance with the new EA implementation to reduce maximum working hours per week (from 48 to 45) and introduce flexible work arrangement to meet the needs of different working individuals.

This seems we make good progress to achieve work life balance, isn’t it? But, what is stopping us, really?

When I started my first job, I went into a fast track management trainee program. From there onwards, I immerse myself in my career (wake up> work> lunch> work> dinner> work/learning>sleep (dream about work). Did I overwork? Yes! Did I have work life balance? Not really. But, I was young and I want career progression. So, I think it is still fine.

Even after getting married, I still work very hard, as a career woman. And, I forgot that I have additional family commitment, where my life could not just revolve around work. I started to struggle and juggle between work, family commitment and health. Since then, I set my new year resolutions every year in attempt to achieve work life balance.

But, I did not succeed. And, after much reflections, I came with these realizations that, we can never achieve work life balance unless….

• We overcome hurdles and potential mind blocks
• We work on improving our productivity level
• We choose to be the architect for our life 

Overcome hurdles and potential mind blocks

Everything starts with the right belief. If you do not believe it, you won’t do it wholeheartedly. I am a workaholic, I consistently think about work, whenever I am not learning or working, I feel like I am slower than my peers. So, I believe that work life balance = slower progress in life. That’s why I did not take it seriously, even though I came up with many plans.

Question for you:

• Do you truly believe in what you want to achieve? 
• What are your potential mind blocks that stop you from achieving your goals?

Improving productivity level

How to do more with less? The faster we finish our work, the earlier we can go home, right? It is pretty simple. 

“I can never finish my work”

Do you feel so? Sometimes I have to put aside my fitness plans or family gatherings in order for ad-hoc or urgent work. This is always my top excuse.

So, if we can never finish our work, means we can either choose to work overtime or choose to leave it to next day. Sometimes, work is urgent, so we need to complete it by the deadline. If this situation persist through a long time, you need to think: Is it productivity or workload issue? Sometimes, it is not the workload problem, but we are just not productive enough, especially you see your other colleagues could have a life but you cannot. You need to seriously consider about ways to make us to be more productive, if you want to have a life.

Imagine if we could do more with less:

• Automate process instead of manual process
• Use 1 hour to complete the task, instead of 3 hours (more focused, less distractions)
• Less re-work

When we focus on improving our productivity level, we still can become a ELITE in our company and not affecting our work life balance. 

Ask yourself these questions:

• What are the tasks that bring me better work outcome?
• How can I automate this task, with minimal manual process?
• What are the goals I want to achieve today?

Focus on the right thing, and be productive every single day!

Become the architect for our life 

Last but not least, remember: You are the architect of your life. You decide how your life is going to be, not your parents, your teachers, your partners. If you ever think “I have no choice”, you are wrong. You choose to breathe, you choose to eat McD, you choose to listen to others’ opinions, you choose not to leave the party. Even thinking that you have no choice is also your choice. If you want to live your life, start thinking about what kind of life you want, and create your own life blueprint. When you truly live, this is where you really achieve your work life balance. 

To sum it up, whether its achieving work life balance or living a purposeful life, remember these 3 key points: Choose the right belief, Be productive, Decide your life.

If you are serious to achieve your goals, want to know how to remove your roadblocks to success, interested to learn to boost your productivity levels, wonder how to start to create your life blueprint, come explore all these in our ELITE program. Why not spend 3 hours to kickstart a good 2023? PM us.

Written by Choon Ee May,

SHRA Training Manager

Ee May is a psychology graduate with HR and training experience.  She is passionate in retail training (obviously) and Excel and process automation. She loves to seek for new achievements, like dipping in the ice pool in negative temperature. 

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The fact that you are reading this now means you want to become part of that 20% to maintain and achieve your new year’s resolution! However before we begin, I’d like you to take out your resolution list and take a look at those goals! Much like Marie Kondo, we’re going to look through these goals and identify which one of these resolutions spark joy when achieved and which one sparks little to no joy at all when achieved. Let’s take a moment to really focus on the goals that truly spark joy within us before we continue on.

Done? Now that we have a list of goals that we truly want to achieve and truly spark joy in us in both the end result and the process, we can begin to take a look at how to achieve these resolutions! Allow me to share with you how I managed to achieve my new year’s resolution with the help of E-Learning!

How I Achieved My New Year’s Resolution With E-Learning! 

• Build Your New Year’s Resolution Like A Habit!
• Instead Of All Or Nothing, Try A Little Bit To Something!
• Don’t Keep It In Our Dreams, Practice It In Reality!

Build Your New Year’s Resolution Like A Habit!

I used to belong to that 80% of people that gave up on my new year’s resolution by February. In my mind, when I first started it was smooth and for a purpose, but as time went by, it became clear to me that achieving this goal requires much more than what I initially thought so I gave up. If you are like me, worry not because we can overcome this together! The secret behind it is to not think of achieving the goal but to think of achieving the habit that leads to the goal! Recently I came across this course that talks about goal setting and habit formation on e-learning, and it really put things into perspective for me. So I sat down and began thinking of what habit I needed to have in order to hit the dream body I want! 

If you are curious about what habit I set, well it is to wake up at 5:15am sharp every morning! You might be thinking this is not related to building my dream body. To that I say, I have been consistently working out till this day when I would normally give up after 3 days. My goal of getting a dream body which seemed far away became having the habit of waking up every morning for my own good! I would sometimes get out of bed without fully opening my eyes, before I knew it, I was already at my family hall, ready to workout. So instead of setting a goal that’s far away, we can begin by focusing on developing a single habit that leads to the process of achieving that goal!

Instead Of All Or Nothing, Try A Little Bit To Something

Controversy alert, we don’t have to always go all out to achieve something! There I said it, we really don’t have to make this into an all or nothing scenario! Most of us tend to focus on going all out to achieve our goals or resolutions that we tend to burn our motivation, perseverance and ourselves out! What’s more we might have the tendency to give up on our 20 day streak just because we missed 1 day that ruined the whole plan if we have this mindset! As you have suspected, listening to e-learning courses whenever I drive made me realize this point! The idea is to start small and pick up where we left off or restart when something affects our plan!

One of my new year’s resolutions is to make sure I spend a balanced amount of time between my friends, family, loved ones, work and myself. In the past, I would catch up with this friend during new year’s and because I missed one reply, I would stop talking to this friend all together until the new year only to reply “OMG it has been soooo long since we talked”. In this new year, my goal remains the same but the difference is the mindset I have now. It’s alright if I miss a day or two and it’s alright if I have to make certain sacrifices to my schedule due to last minute things. What is most important for me is to continue and never stop. No matter how little progress it is or how much I have to restart, as long as I don’t stop, it will go somewhere!

Don’t Keep It In Our Dreams, Practice It In Reality

Admittedly one of my goals is to get better at cooking and preparing balanced diet meals for my weight, and to prepare for a special future someone. Yet somehow after 4 years, I never managed to get any better at cooking. Sure I know more recipes now and told myself I would practice during the weekends but it never happened! So what changed? I decided it was time to turn dreams into reality, I decided instead of cooking “when I have free time” I would practice it every Thursday night at 9pm and watch an e-learning course on how to cook better! Whenever I had something that takes up that time, I would compromise, but the next night I would get back to it because I now have a clear picture of how practice cooking looks like in my actual day to day life!

Every Thursday night I would whip out my phone and look at the culinary courses and look at them while getting my ingredients and tools ready in hand. What I found hard to fit even 30 minutes in the past became something I could do every Thursday night for 1 hour consistently! The reason as mentioned is actually putting it into my day to day schedule. Most of us would think of doing this or doing that when we have free time, but the truth is, we are never going to have free time unless we set the intention to create a free time for us to do the things we want to! It may even be as easy as looking up simple bite size e-learning courses on the topic you are interested in before you head to bed! All it takes is for us to set the intention and the time to do it in the first place and the rest is history!

In short, it was thanks to e-learning that made me realize the gaps I had when it came to making new year’s resolutions and it even helped me to set up a schedule to achieve one of my longest goals! Of course there are many more tips and tricks for us to achieve our new year goal or even attain a better quality of life within E-learning. After all, it is a site filled with bite size hidden gems for the busy life! Interested in looking up e-learning platforms or courses but don’t know where to start? Fret not, you can check out our SHRA E-Learning Platform by contacting us here where you can have access to over 13,000 courses to improve your quality of life! Beware though, for starting your E-learning journey means you will achieve your goals, so are you ready to achieve them?

Written by Bryan Law Chu Zheng,

SHRA Corporate Trainer

Bryan is a member of the SHRA trainer team. He is a major in Psychology with a retail background. He has a deep passion for human interaction and personal development.

You can catch him dancing or playing the uke on a lazy Sunday afternoon. 

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Chances are you are reading this article on your mobile phone, laptop or even tablet (don’t worry desktop users, we know you’re reading this too!) These wonderful devices take convenience to a whole new level and it is also one of the most crucial tools to help us on our journey to learn and become better ourselves!

The pandemic has sped up the advancement of our technology and has given us the freedom to choose where we work, how we work and when we work. This has also given us the chance to choose where we learn, how we learn and when we learn! If you’re curious to find out how you can incorporate your upskilling journey into your busy schedule, look no further as we will be sharing how you can make on demand learning a lifestyle for you!

On Demand Learning: E-Learning As A Lifestyle

1. Filling up awkward timings!
2. Making things interesting anytime, anywhere!
3. A staple for starting the day or ending the night!

Filling Up Awkward Timings!

Have you ever had the experience of arriving a little too early to a meet up and are unsure of what to do to fill up the time? Or even arriving on time but having to wait for your acquaintance? If so you are definitely not alone as many of us have friends that often run late, yet this is actually a golden opportunity for us to learn and upskill! Just last week I had to wait for a friend who was running late due to a slight issue with his car insurance. In hindsight, if I had chosen to just sit there and wait, I would have wasted a total of 45 minutes just waiting for him to arrive!

Fortunately, I whipped out my phone and began looking at some bite size videos and courses rather than just sitting and waiting! By the time he arrived, I had already earned two certificates in new retail and the Netflix experience from SHRA E-Learning platform. We then proceeded to discuss what to do next instead of the usual bickering of how late he was and how I had to find things to fill up my own time. Anytime we have an awkward amount of time in our hands is a good time for us to learn something new and upskill ourselves! No extra time required from our packed schedule!

Making Things Interesting Anytime, Anywhere!

Did you know that people all around the globe lose an average of 26 days to wasted time? 44% of this wasted time is due to sitting in traffic! Many of us understand the boredom of driving through high traffic areas or the boredom of sitting through a 30 minute packed ride on the commute. Although we can’t do much as we are on the go either in the car or commuting, there is one thing we can do! That my dear readers, is upskilling and learning! Rest assured, this act does not involve phubbing and driving.

Take my experience in a 5-hour drive back from Johor to Kuala Lumpur last week thanks to traffic, I learnt how to become better in delivering messages by using the right words, learnt some techniques in digital marketing to attract viewer attention as well as the secrets to convey difficult concepts through simple images! Besides making a boring drive more interesting, I am also taking a positive step in my career with these videos! How does it help you ask? Before I started my journey, I submitted my resume and my targeted position onto the platform! It then provided me with suggested learning courses based on the skills I lacked! So you won’t need to pick the relevant courses from thousands of courses while driving and you definitely won’t need to sit through the time-wasting traffic while feeling bored! Two birds with one stone!

A Staple For Starting The Day Or Ending The Night!

Thanks to the pandemic, many of us revisited our lifestyle and put a huge emphasis on both our physical health and our mental health. The same goes for me as I began to work out early in the morning before heading to work! And what better way to start the day off by listening to inspiring speakers such as Simon Sinek before beginning my workout session or listening to insightful sharings by Elon Musk before heading to bed for the night? If that sounds like life for you, it can be! Take my general experience with on demand learning as an example.

The SHRA E-Learning platform gives me the option to personalize my learning pathway and options to go for other courses as well. So I can pick motivational videos and inspirational sharings in the morning to fill my work out sessions with energy to keep my body healthy yet still have the option to pick insightful sharings and techniques to better manage my emotional well being at the end of the day for a reflection on my mental well being! Jogging in the park, hitting the gym and doing yoga now has that additional ohm factor. Moreover, we even have better directions in terms of reflections and maintaining our mental wellbeing! 

Adopting On Demand Learning into our busy schedule and lifestyle is actually as easy as ABC! Rather than taking out more time, it helps us maximize time that would otherwise be wasted! Furthermore you can take your E-learning journey further with SHRA E-Learning platform! Beyond the skill gap analysis from your resume and the personalized learning pathway, it contains over 13,000 courses and many other benefits for you! Check out our page or sign up for our e-learning platform here to begin your upskilling journey today! If you’d like to check out our other programs, feel free to check out our HRDF Training.

Redeem Your FREE 3 MONTHS ACCESS here

Written by Bryan Law Chu Zheng,

SHRA Corporate Trainer

Bryan is a member of the SHRA trainer team. He is a major in Psychology with a retail background. He has a deep passion for human interaction and personal development.

You can catch him dancing or playing the uke on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

 4,042 total views,  8 views today

Let’s do a mental exercise, I’d like you to think about an image or a concept when you see the word “Upskilling”. Got it? What picture or idea came out? Chances are like most of us, we picture an image of a classroom or see ourselves sitting at our work desk afterwork looking at our screen for hours to listen to a lecture in order to up-skill.

That mental image we have is the very opposite of what learning and upskilling is supposed to be! The very foundation for our learning is for us to want it and are motivated to do it in the first place. If the image we had is one that gives us dread or makes us feel demotivated, then it is not beneficial at all. This is the very reason why On-Demand Learning has been introduced in the first place, it is because we can learn anytime and anywhere! Instead of taking up our time, it allows us to integrate with our lives to make learning both a fun and exciting journey!

On Demand Learning: A Growing Lifestyle Trend!

1. Learning LITERALLY at the tip of our fingers!
2. Duration is no longer fixed but rather a suggestion!
3. Learning done in a car, in the gym, on a bus, in your home ……

Learning LITERALLY At The Tip Of Our Fingers!

On-demand learning does not require us to head over to the office of a training provider or engage in a call with them to provide them details and schedule a meet or time for the upskilling session. All of this can be done just by taking out our devices, keying our details in at once and selecting whichever course we are interested in straight away, hassle-free. Take myself for example, all I did was take my phone out, grab the Senheng App and press SHRA E-Learning and I am immediately guided to tons of courses immediately!

Hassle-free, easy and most importantly literally at the tip of my fingers! It took me only a short 1 minute to straight away jump into a course I’d like to learn (including scrolling and waiting times!) Instead of spending a 20 minute drive, a 5 minute introduction, a 15 minute explanation of courses and 10 minutes of choosing the right course (which takes up an hour by the way!) why not use 1 minute to filter out all the hassle and immediately feed that hunger to learn just by pressing a few buttons! 

Duration Is No Longer Fixed But Rather A Suggestion!

Ever looked at training and upskilling courses? Then you’d probably be familiar with the time required and needed to complete an upskilling course. The duration there, fixed. We can discuss and adjust but the upskilling and training duration is still fixed to a minimum of 4 hours at one go. On-Demand Learning on the other hand, is broken down into small bite sized chunks that can be consumed in one go (few hours straight) or taken in small intervals (5 – 15 minutes) Even if you are watching a 10 minute video about the principles of marketing, you can always pause it and come back to it if you have something urgent to attend to!

I have gone for both 4 hours straight training and On-Demand Learning courses up to 4 hours. The 4 hours straight training is certainly completed in one day, but I realized I could only remember the first 30 minutes and the last 15 minutes of the session, anything in between is gone! On the other hand, I was able to remember and apply up to 80% of knowledge I gained through on-demand learning! The reason? I was not required to watch through the full 10 minutes of a video when I only had the capacity to watch a 2 minute video! At times when I could watch more, I could watch more courses and stop anytime I felt I was getting close to being overwhelmed! That is the true beauty of a suggested but not fixed duration!

Learning Done In A Car, In The Gym, On A Bus, In Your Home ……

Remember how I mentioned on-demand learning gave us the freedom to start, pause and stop at any given time? Well, this can be applied to anywhere we are as well! I would catch myself watching a short 2 – 3 minute snippet of courses in between my workout sets! By the time I was done with my workout I was also done with about 1 session of the course too! Besides, I believe we are all very familiar with our traffic-prone Malaysian roads. I would whip out my phone and listen through courses while I am stuck in a jam so I don’t get bored out of my mind! 

Much like my personal experiences, I believe many of us occasionally have an awkward amount of time in our hands that we are not sure how to use effectively! Sometimes, we may not even be at places that are conducive for us to do other things but wait. Thanks to on-demand learning, we can actually fill up these times with something productive literally anywhere! So the next time you ever get caught in a jam or have to wait for your friends’ “OTW” sessions, you can use the time to upskill and grow yourself and your career! 

As most of us have seen above, on-demand learning does not require us to take out more time, rather, it helps us fill up our empty spaces, becoming a part of our lifestyle naturally. What’s that? All this talk about On-Demand Learning has got you excited and gearing to try it out? I’ve got the perfect news for you as we have our very own SHRA E-learning Platform. It comes with a career and skill gap analysis to guide you through which courses to take to get that dream job you want! Check out our page or sign up for our e-learning platform here! If you’d like to check out our other programs, feel free to click here.

Written by Bryan Law Chu Zheng,

SHRA Corporate Trainer

Bryan is a member of the SHRA trainer team. He is a major in Psychology with a retail background. He has a deep passion for human interaction and personal development.

You can catch him dancing or playing the uke on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

 4,431 total views,  8 views today

SHRA E-Learning Platform? Is this another platform like LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, AirAsia Academy?

It is an e-learning platform, but offers much more than that!

SHRA E-Learning Platform Is….

• Offering 13,000 high quality courses with instructors such as Elon Musk, Simon Sinek etc.
• Using Artificial Intelligence to identify skills gap based on industry benchmark
• Giving freedom and convenience for every learner to personalize their learning path
• A platform that allows you to learn and earn

Want to understand more about SHRA E-Learning Platform? Want to try out 13,000 programs for FREE?

Sure, no problem. Read our article to find out more! 

We will talk about these topics in this article.

• Challenges In Human Capital Development

• What is SHRA E-Learning Platform
• Redeem 3 month free access of SHRA-E-Leaning platform

Challenges In Human Capital Development

When we want to do something, offer a new product or make a business decisions, there is always a reason, there is always a pain point to solve. 

Before sharing with you on our platform, I will share with you on the WHY, and pain points of current challenges in human capital development for retailers. 

These are the common concerns we hear from the retailers, and it goes like this. 

“We would like to train our staff BUT…….”

BUT…not enough manpower in the shop

BUT…the training hours are too long

BUT…I don’t have enough staff to organize an in-house program

BUT…it is expensive

BUT…need a lot of effort to persuade them to join training

BUT…I don’t know where to start

These struggles are real. And, we hear you. In this article, I won’t address each pain point, perhaps in the future article I will consider to do so. 

To simplify, these challenges are categorized into 3 things: time, money, motivation.

• How can we allow our employees to upskill themselves without taking away too much of their time and minimizing impact to manpower management in the shop?
• How can we register for a more cost effective training, utilizing technology and at the same time enjoying human touch?
• How can we motivate our staff to learn, without forcing them?

A life without growth is just like a dead plant just waiting to be cut off. On the other hand, learning can give the ‘dead’ plant to re-live so its life is full of knowledge and growth, to lift up the value of the plant.

Let’s find out how SHRA E-Learning platform can overcome these challenges and lift up each of our human capital’s value.

What is SHRA E-Learning Platform?

To answer these 3 questions, this is where SHRA E-Learning Platform is born.

i) TIME

Learners have the freedom to choose what to learn, when to learn and how to learn, as you can access to the courses ANYTIME, ANYWHERE. You just need a phone and internet. Easy right?

If you would like to learn during off peak hours in the shop, you CAN! If you would like to learn during your off day, you CAN! If you would like to learn while your kids are sleeping, you CAN!

So, bosses, you don’t have to worry, that training WILL NOT take away a lot of your employees’ time to do sales or complete their work, as they can learn with their own pace.

ii) MONEY

We offer more than 13,000 courses for you to choose from, and these are good quality courses from instructors all over the world such as Simon Sinek, Elon Musk, and of course with SHRA instructors for retail-based courses. 

Compared to other live classes out there, which may cost you hundreds or thousands to attend 1 session, now you get 13,000 courses, it is like you buy 1 and free 12,999. 

We also understand you want some human touch and learn through experiential learning, we do offer live classes within the subscription plan. Interested to know more? Drop us an enquiry!

The deal sounds attractive? Want to test it? NOW YOU CAN, for FREE! 

Now we are offering 3 MONTHS FREE ACCESS to all these 13,000 courses and other tools, which I will explain later on. Continue reading this article, and we will share with you how to redeem 3 months free access.

iii) MOTIVATION

If we want to protect ourselves against COVID virus, we take Vitamin C and boost our immune system. 

What do we do if we want to protect our staff from burning out, protect them against  joining the Great Resignation force?

TRAIN THEM!

Training is like Vitamin C, help to boost immunity for the company to retain and engage staff. When we train, we feel refreshed, recharged and re-energized. 

• Refreshed with the knowledge that we may have forgotten.
• Recharged with the new knowledge and skills.
• Re-energized to connect with people and exchange ideas. 

What motivates people the most is when we learn what interests us, what is relevant to us and what helps us to advance in our career. With our AI-driven skills gap analysis, we can instantly know what we need to upskill ourselves to meet market demands, and kickstart our personalized learning pathway.

The best part is as we learn, we earn. 10% S-Coin cashback will be given as rewards, so we can shop products we love and need in Senheng/senQ outlets.

Redeem 3 Month FREE access of SHRA-E-Learning platform

To try out this amazing platform? To redeem your 3 months free access, click here: https://shappp.onelink.me/uUns/8zus40jp and follow these steps.

Want to share out with your family and friends on this good deal of 3 Months Free Access? You are very welcomed to do so, the more the merrier! Please share this article, so more people can enjoy the 3 Months Free Access!

If you are interested to find out more about SHRA E-Learning platform, you could drop us a message or schedule a demo session with us here.

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Written by Choon Ee May,

SHRA Training Manger

Ee May leads the training team to create high quality retail-based courses and provide impactful trainings. She is passionate in retail operations, where she loves to visit different retail shops even during her off day. Also, she loves data analysis, visualization and storytelling.

In her free time, she loves to explore vegetarian food and do volunteering work.

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