Tara Augustine

The facts that you need a high level of energy to maintain a positive attitude, but that you also need a positive attitude to maintain a high level of energy is a chicken and the egg scenario. It all starts from within!

To learn that almost half of new employees fail because "they can’t accept feedback, they’re unable to understand and manage emotions, they lack the necessary motivation to excel, and they have the wrong temperament for the job" is interesting. These are all things that are under their personal control. 

The idea that energy management is more important that time management is an interesting one. The fact that energy actually impacts the amount of work you get done, while time spent doing work does not necessarily impact the amount of work you get done. This is important to understand and I think at a larger perspective, the idea of salary vs. hourly comes into play. Paying for an employee's time versus an employee's work. 

I saved the image demonstrating the puzzle of the four elements of a successful sales person. I am going to utilize this image and information on my weekly wrap-up email with my team next week. It really does take all four elements to perform the best at their jobs.

Many of the areas covered in this section warn us to stay away from using absolutes or guarantees. This is true in regards to employment, financial aid, and even facilities. You also want to avoid any verbiage in which you are creating comparisons with other schools. Misrepresentation is what you want to steer clear of, and also implying something that may be inaccurate.

I strongly believe that by commiting to always being truthful, transparent and helpful you create the culture of stellar student service. In the reading, when it mentioned that the best way to overcome mistakes with students is in the delivery, attitude, and positive interactions with the student it rang true. "Mistakes happen: we’re only human, at the end of the day. So if you find that the customer is indeed right in whatever complaint they’re making or issue they raise, the best thing you can do is face up to it. This is a much more effective way of getting… >>>

Institutions must stay compliant not only with what is being said to actual prospective students, but they must also be compliant with their marketing and advertising to all individuals who might see their ad.  In recent years, I know marketing through social media has become increasingly impactful, but I was surprised to find from the learning that around 50% of the over 750 million people that use Facebook do so on a daily basis. So, it is very important for our posts to be accurate.

All staff should read through their institution Catalog and have a copy readily accessible. Catalogs are updated and revised from time to time, and it is important to review and understand those updates as they occur. Additionally Student Handbooks are sources of information that staff members should familiarize themselves with to help understand the rules and policies of your institution.

One of the regulations is that employment predictions, or salary projections must be factual and based upon reliable statistical data. A good resource for this is the BLS, or Bureau of Labor and Statistics.  Encourage students to do their own research in this area and to utilize the BLS as a supporting resource.

Admissions personnel are to provide prospective students with truthful and honest information to make an informed decision before enrolling. In order to accomplish this, staff members need to have on-going, continuing education to ensure they are apprised of all the rules and regulations within their state and school.