A Four-Step Approach to Training and Building a Committed Laundromat Staff
Stacy showed up to the laundromat excited for her first day on the job as an attendant.
The half-asleep manager at the counter led Stacy to a back room and handed her a pen and stack of documents – including a W-4, an I-9, a copy of the employee manual (last updated four years ago), a direct-deposit form, and other essential papers.
Alone in the back room, Stacy completed the paperwork and pored over the employee manual, signing the back page. During this time, no one came to check on her to see how she was doing or if she might have any questions. After a while, she wandered back up to the front counter and presented the materials. The manager again brought her to the back room, turned on a television, and instructed her to pay attention to the training videos.
After Stacy viewed the videos, the manager showed her the laundromat’s various workstations in a whirlwind tour, handed her a daily checklist, and went back to her position at the counter – leaving Stacy to figure out most of her job on her own.
Through trial-and-error, Stacy muddled her way through her first few days on the job. However, she soon found another business just down the road with a reputation for advancing careers, and she left her position with the laundromat within two weeks.
Does this scenario lead to positive outcomes? Certainly not.
This may not look like your onboarding and training processes as a business owner. However, on some level – through our own empirical experience or by observing others – it appears as a familiar yet cautionary tale.
Many business owners who hire employees merely go through the motions to onboard and train employees in order to quickly move them into their work, with high expectations for performance – as if they were cogs in a machine.
Science tells us that this laissez-faire style of leadership risks the psychological contract employees feel toward the organization. Studies in organizational behavior and industrial-organizational psychology demonstrate that leveraging reliable frameworks for training, offering continuous learning, and treating people as assets to the organization can foster employee engagement. By engaging employees, employers increase their ability to attract top talent, encourage organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), and retain their value-driving human capital.
Science-Based Training Evaluation
In the world of laundromat operations, store owners should make employee training and development paramount. The quest to deliver outstanding service and maintain operational efficiency hinges on the skills and competencies of their workforce. Utilizing a systematic approach to training, particularly through the lens of Kirkpatrick’s New World Model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2021), has proven to be a formidable strategy to ensure employees receive proper training and that this training aligns with the strategic objectives of the business.
Let’s explore the multi-faceted benefits of applying Kirkpatrick’s Model to laundromat employee training, highlighting the transformative impact on both individuals and the organization.
Stage 1: Reaction – The Bedrock of Effective Training Programs
For laundromat employees, training programs often involve new equipment handling, customer service protocols, and maintenance procedures. This type of training purely transfers knowledge and provides some basic skill-building to enable people to understand the requirements of their jobs and how to perform operations.
The first step to evaluating training effectiveness should include an effort to understand employees’ initial reactions to training at an early stage. This sets the tone for engagement and learning. Kirkpatrick’s first level, Reaction, assesses how employees respond to these training sessions.
When laundromat workers react positively, they likely will remain motivated to absorb the information provided. Systematically collecting feedback after each training segment enables owners to tweak and tailor subsequent training to better meet the employees’ needs and learning styles. Positive reactions often correlate with higher morale and a stronger commitment to applying new skills on the job (Mueller-Hanson & Pulakos, 2015).
Stage 2: Learning – Measuring Knowledge and Skills Acquisition
At the heart of Kirkpatrick’s Model, organizations must evaluate what participants learn from the training. In the context of laundromats, this could encompass everything from understanding the functionalities of state-of-the-art washers and dryers to mastering customer relations techniques to proper protocols in maintaining a clean store. A systematic approach to learning evaluation entails pre- and post-training assessments that quantify knowledge and skill enhancements. Such an approach not only validates the efficacy of the training program but also identifies gaps that require additional attention. By ensuring that knowledge, skills, and abilities have transferred via training, laundry owners can build competent and confident teams to deliver high-quality service.
Stage 3: Behavior – Ensuring Transfer of Training Through Reinforcement
For training to be genuinely effective, the learned skills must translate into everyday actions on the job. Kirkpatrick’s Behavior stage evaluates the application of knowledge, skills and abilities in real-life applications. Store owners and managers should monitor how employees apply their new skills when interacting with customers, managing inventory, or maintaining equipment.
In addition, laundry operators can systematically reinforce positive behavior through continuous on-the-job training, encouragement, and coaching. Incorporating rewards for demonstrating improved behaviors further incentivizes employees to apply their training consistently. This phase bridges the gap between knowledge acquired and action taken – thus, ensuring that investments in training yield tangible changes in the workplace.
Stage 4: Results – Realizing Organizational Benefits and Achieving Strategic Objectives
Owners assess the results of training in the final of the four stages of the New World Kirkpatrick Model, which measures the final impact of the training program on the organization. Leaders should tie training and human resources to strategic objectives from the start (Jiang & Messersmith, 2018).
For laundromats, the desired outcomes may include increased customer satisfaction, reduced operational costs, improved service delivery, and enhanced profitability. By systematically applying Kirkpatrick’s framework, laundromat owners can align employee training with these SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-constrained) goals.
Regularly reviewing performance metrics post-training will help in understanding the direct correlation between the upskilled workforce and the business’ bottom line. Thus, a systematic training approach not only cultivates a more competent and motivated team, but also drives the organization toward its broader goals of growth and excellence.
Benefits to the Organization
The systematic approach to training laundromat employees using Kirkpatrick’s Model can provide several benefits.
By evaluating reaction, store owners can foster a positive learning culture that enhances employee satisfaction and reduces turnover. Through the learning evaluation phase, they ensure that their team possesses proficiency in handling tasks and the most up-to-date information on the latest industry standards. The behavior phase emphasizes the importance of sustained performance improvement through on-the-job training, coaching, and reinforcement with rewards. Lastly, the results phase anchors these improvements to the strategic vision of the business, ensuring that every training dollar invested toward the company’s future has an impact on objectives.
When employees demonstrate self-efficacy and competence in their work, customers receive better service. Customer experience and job satisfaction promote the company’s brand, leading to increased loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals (Kircova & Esen, 2018). Internally, a systematic training approach contributes to a safer, more efficient, and error-free working environment. Effective training reduces the likelihood for employees to mishandle machinery or commit errors that could lead to costly damages or downtime. Furthermore, when laundromat employees have clarity with regard to their roles and have the necessary skills to perform them, they can operate more autonomously and exhibit OCBs, allowing owners to focus on business development and other growth-oriented tasks.
Implementing a systematic approach to training and development for laundromat employees doesn’t just make sense – it could strategically set your business apart from the competition. Kirkpatrick’s New World Model provides a robust framework for laundromat owners to enhance the effectiveness of their training programs. By following its structured evaluation levels, owners can foster a responsive and skilled workforce with the tools and techniques to deliver exceptional service. Ultimately, the precision and care laundry owners invest in employee development shine across all facets of the business, propelling it towards operational excellence and sustained profitability. As the laundry industry continues to evolve, those who invest wisely in their human capital will find themselves at the forefront of success while elevating the industry’s reputation.
References
Jiang, K., & Messersmith, J. (2018). On the shoulders of giants: A meta-review of strategic human resource management. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(1), 6–33. https://doi-org.libauth.purdueglobal.edu/10.1080/09585192.2017.1384930
Kircova, I., & Esen, E. (2018). The effect of corporate reputation on consumer behavior and purchase intentions. Management Research and Practice, 10(4), 21-32. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/effect-corporate-reputation-on-consumer-behaviour/docview/2154502373/se-2
Kirkpatrick, J. & Kirkpatrick, W.K. (2021). An introduction to the New World Kirkpatrick Model. Kirkpatrick Partners, LLC.
Mueller-Hanson, R.A. & Pulakos, E.D. (2015). Putting the “Performance” Back in Performance Management. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) & Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP). https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/special-reports-and-expert-views/Documents/SHRM-SIOP%20Performance%20Management.pdf
