If your institution has a May 1 deposit deadline, you likely dread April and the high volume of calls and high emotion it brings. Of course, employees need to be trained in the technical aspects of financial aid to be able to do their jobs. But, if you want them to do their jobs well, don’t leave out the soft skills. Mastering time management, organization/prioritization, and customer service results in happier workers who deliver better service to your students. The nice thing is you don’t need to shut down your office and have a ‘training day’ to develop these skills. It can be done over time while the work is still being done. You may even recognize some of the key behaviors below in your own staff. We’ll provide some tips for helping staff members that display these traits.
The BFF: This staff member gets along great with students to the extent that they develop their own fan club. Students ask for them by name and refuse to work with anyone else. Meetings and phone calls held by this worker often run over time and require calling in another staff member to keep the line moving. They also have trouble saying no to their pals and that can lead to inconsistency with others on staff. Once word gets out that the BFF is a big softy, they will be overwhelmed by students who only want to talk to them. The BFF needs to be coached to create more professional relationships with the students they serve. If you have one or more of these workers on your team, you may need to have a policy where students see the next available representative instead of being able to request appointments with a specific team member.
The Bubble Worker: This is most likely a staff member on the frontline helping students either in person or on the phone where their primary role is to triage. We call them Bubble Workers because they manage to ignore the environment around them in their focus on a single student — like they are in a bubble. That doesn’t sound bad unless you’re another student waiting in line or on hold on the phone. Workers in a triage role who don’t know when to let go need help to develop better judgment to be able to understand when it is okay to spend a few extra minutes with one student and when it starts to bog down the operation.
The Passer: This staff member is the opposite of the Bubble Worker. They operate in one of two ways. One is to refer all students to someone else who ‘handles that area.’ The other way will help the student, but they need to talk to someone else to get the answer. In both cases, it is most often done when the worker thinks the student or parent will not like the answer. This one is more difficult to coach because it isn’t initially clear whether the worker doesn’t have the knowledge they need for their role or if it’s a case of literally passing the buck. Offering additional technical training is a good first step in case there are knowledge gaps, but if that doesn’t solve the problem, there should be ramifications for the behavior, like a write-up to Human Resources or a negative comment in a formal review. The Passer creates more work for their colleagues by not doing their job and can negatively affect team morale.
The Defender: This could be a staff member at any level of your organization who takes complaints personally. Let’s face it; no one ever calls the Financial Aid Office because they are happy. This worker makes unhappy students or parents irate by pointing out the errors they made or errors made by a different office, which resulted in the bad experience they are having rather than focusing on how to fix the problem. It never ends well. These workers need to be coached to get past the blame game and focus on the solutions instead.
Run Around Sue/Sam: This staff member believes that the only way to get things done with other campus departments is to talk to them face-to-face. This isn’t always a bad idea if you need to get information or collaborate about a student issue. It becomes a problem when done too often and at inappropriate times. If done while ‘on call’ to be available for students, someone else is going to have to pick up the slack. If done in lieu of reviewing applications or other paperwork, someone else will have to pick up the slack there too. It’s hard to say whether it is poor judgment or intentional shirking of responsibilities, so take the high road, and provide the guidance needed for the worker to make better decisions, and if the behavior continues, corrective action may be needed.
The Volunteer: This person is the first to volunteer for special projects, particularly if they are interdepartmental. Having staff members willing to put in extra time to represent the Financial Aid Office in campus initiatives is generally a positive thing, but the Volunteer does so at the expense of their regular work and thus at the expense of your office’s productivity. The best way to manage this issue is to a) require your direct reports to get approval to participate in these extracurricular activities and b) make their continued participation contingent on getting the rest of their work done.
The Over-Promiser: This staff member has the best intentions but lacks the ability to prioritize their work or negotiate deadlines. So, when asked to do something right now, they say yes over and over again. Of course, these workers never deliver anything on time because the most recent request becomes a priority every time. While they are not the only workers that may have a messy desk, they are very likely to have one as they continue to collect new work without clearing the old. This worker needs help thinking through how long promised tasks may take, being able to prioritize requests, and how to negotiate deadlines if ‘right now’ isn’t feasible.
Workers in their first ‘real’ job all have the potential to develop into one of these types because all are functions of human nature. Who doesn’t want to avoid conflict, be popular, or have less work? So, it is up to managers to identify and correct inappropriate behavior. But that’s easier said than done, isn’t it? You have your own work to deliver, and particularly if your team is large, it’s not possible to observe each person long enough to uncover what coaching they need. Start by making the time for a regular team meeting. Have your student workers sit at the front desk or hang a sign and put an outgoing message on your phone for one hour every week or every other week. Spend the time listening to your team members discuss the challenges they’ve been facing and what is needed to overcome them. This will be good for your team even without any behavioral issues. After all, your main job is to give your team the resources they need to do their best work. A side benefit is the ability to spot trends based on this feedback. These behaviors often result in an unequal division of labor and if only some of your staff members are complaining about workload, it may be because they have more than their fair share. Holding regular one-on-one meetings with all staff members is a luxury most financial aid managers can’t afford, but inviting staff members who have provided negative feedback in staff meetings to discuss the situation in more detail can often uncover concerning behavior. Workers need to be told when their work isn’t up to expectations and what they need to do to get there. This can only be done one-on-one. Your message will lose its punch if it is delivered to the group. The person who needs development may not even realize it is directed at them.
Adjusting your focus as you maneuver through your day will help to identify behavioral problems more quickly. If you are usually thinking about something else as you walk through your office, instead, be present and take note of things like the tone of voice someone is using on a telephone call or an in-person interaction. Assess whether there are more calls on hold or slower moving lines at the front desk when certain staff members are assigned there. Consider when students ask to see a manager. Is it topical like getting more scholarships or is it when a certain employee interacts with them?
And don’t discount feedback from other departments. Students don’t necessarily differentiate offices, so if they can’t get what they need from your office, they’ll often go to another. When your colleagues are complaining about getting financial aid calls or visits, that is a sign of an accessibility problem in your department.
Let’s recap. Some of your employees may be displaying behavior that is detrimental to your office’s productivity and morale. Generally, this behavior is the result of normal human feelings such as a lack of confidence, poor time management skills, or conflict avoidance as opposed to a lack of technical knowledge and ability. As such, employees who want to be better at their jobs will benefit from coaching. Your primary job as a manager is to give your team the tools they need to succeed, but it is a challenge to fit in with your other responsibilities. To get the best output from your team, it is worth the effort to prioritize correcting this behavior.
Being a good coach as well as a manager is tough, but it will feel like an insurmountable challenge when you have unfilled positions on your team. Don’t let staffing issues get in the way of being the best manager you can be. The Higher Education Assistance Group has interim staffing solutions to fill any role in the Financial Aid Office. You may also be interested in outsourcing certain processes to alleviate the workload on your office. Email us at info@heag.us for more information about these services.