Episode Transcription

#50: 5 Essential Leadership Skills When Onboarding New Tutors, with Michael Gibben

0:00:03 - (Kirsty Gibbs): Welcome. Today, I am super excited to be joined by Michael Gibbon all the way from America. With a background in education and business, Michael uses his 15 plus year career to now lead anxious and or introverted entrepreneurs like himself to find their path to success. A TEDx speaker and keynote presenter at global business events, Michael's approach champions entrepreneurs to overcome their mindset barriers and achieve their utmost business potential.

0:00:35 - (Kirsty Gibbs): Michael is also an author, podcast and coach for tutors. Welcome, Michael. It is really wonderful to have you here.

0:00:44 - (Michael Gibben): Thank you, Christy, for having me here. And hello, everybody.

0:00:50 - (Kirsty Gibbs): So, Michael, I wanted to start, start by asking if you can tell us a little bit about your onboarding journey, because I know that you've got quite a bit of experience, so I thought that it might be interesting for our listeners to hear a little bit about your journey. Any advice that you can share there?

0:01:11 - (Michael Gibben): Well, sure thing, Kristi. So with my onboarding journey, I had founded my tutoring company in 2011. And by early 2012, I was ready to onboard my first tutor because I was reaching my capacity and I was like, okay, well, now, next up, I'm going to onboard. And I had some of those key pieces in place, but I had a lot of struggles because I was really trying to just bring on a team quickly, quickly hire somebody, get them in the door and start working with families. And I think the biggest lessons are, you know, a tortoise, not a hare. When you're hiring and you're building a relationship, it's not a financial transaction.

0:01:51 - (Michael Gibben): You're really wanting to build that wonderful relationship with a tutor that you're onboarding and then continue on from there. But I was more concerned about filling spots as families were coming in. And that was a major struggle. And I was having difficulty with long term retention and all those pieces there. And it wasn't until 2014, after a couple of years of struggle, I brought a business coach on to help. I was really. And they were like, well, you know, first of all, you know, what are you doing to help motivate your team? What are you doing to build connections with your team? What are you doing to continue to find that they're the just right fit for your families? Like, what are some things you're putting in place? And it got me thinking of ways to motivate a team and build that really empowerment where it is a community instead of your contractor. Here's a student.

0:02:44 - (Michael Gibben): And that was a huge, huge learning curve. And from then on, it just grew into something where there was long term retention and a company culture was being established where everybody had a say and it really created something really that was great. And obviously always learning and always growing. It was really neat to see that evolution where there was just such struggle at the beginning to where it was. And I'm very grateful for that journey.

0:03:14 - (Kirsty Gibbs): I love that. And I know that a lot of the ladies that I work with, they do struggle with that retention of finding the right staff members. And I know that I experienced that as well. Where it was for a little bit, it was almost like a revolving door. And business is going really well until it's not. And usually the time when it's not is when you've got a staff member telling you, I'm leaving in two weeks or I can't do these days anymore. So I love that you were able to learn how to build, like you said, that culture. So you had that higher retention rate.

0:03:51 - (Kirsty Gibbs): That's so cool. What was some of the biggest pitfalls you found when you were onboarding your tutors?

0:03:58 - (Michael Gibben): Yeah. So the biggest pitfalls, I think, again, I think with, with. And something that I've seen with, with other tutors as well that I've connected with is it's a bit of a chicken and the egg syndrome. When we're ready to onboard tutors, am I going to have enough students to keep these tutors? Should I bring them on after students? Our requests are coming up. And that was a real struggle. I felt I went more towards bringing on as many, you know, bringing on tutors as students were coming in. And it resulted in, like I said earlier, rapid hiring of tutors, you know, doing responsible things you need to do when bringing them on. But it was just, but it was missing some of those key steps that you really should do when you're bringing on a tutor, like mock sessions and really doing the deeper dive, you know, second interview or whatever little things you want to do to really make sure that the just right fit personality and get, you know, assessment or whatever it needs to be when they're working with students.

0:04:56 - (Michael Gibben): And that was a big mistake. And so what I found, I give advice and say is, like, when you're doing that hire, look at your trajectory, see what's happening in terms of hiring tutors. Sorry, student. Student gains. Hire a couple of tutors on and you should have the students there for them if your trajectory is going in the right direction where that's happening, because it gives you that beautiful opportunity to really connect higher, the best possible fits for your company because they are ultimately representing your company.

0:05:31 - (Michael Gibben): But you also want to make sure you're bringing the best people you can and you're taking the time to properly assess, learn and what are they going to bring to your organization and what can. And you're fostering that trust during those initial, during those initial stages. You can really foster trust before they go out to the families. And how amazing is that to have to tutors feeling empowered, heard, seen so they can go out there and make that appreciable difference.

0:05:58 - (Michael Gibben): Another thing that was really a pitfall when I started and it's, and whenever I hear a tutor say this, I always think, oh, yeah, that resonates because that was me. I really want to make sure the tutor does exactly teaches it how I do because, I mean, I know I do a good job. I've got families, they're staying with me. So I want to make sure my tutors do it how I do it as well. And that kind of micromanaging can really create.

0:06:29 - (Michael Gibben): They are people. They will have their own, you know, they're going to have their own personalities, their own spice that they bring to working with families. That's amazing. And it's, it's really about building that culture. I was saying earlier where you, where you incorporate ask and you provide some specific praise or some, or say, I love what you did with such and such. I'd love to hear more about how you did that.

0:06:55 - (Michael Gibben): Bring the tutors into your company. Don't give them what you want them to do all the time because curve for me, because I was so concerned about all the little nuances instead of allowing the tutor, the breathing room to create their own piece. And that's really important to help that, to create that community. Also the short life cycle of tutors, again, it's like, okay, if you're having a short life cycle of tutors, it's easy for you to say, well, it must be because, you know, these tutors just, is there anything we could have done differently to turn this around? Ask, ask and don't be afraid to do that. And so that's really the critical, I think some of the biggest pitfalls I learned is really the rapid hire micromanaging and not taking the time to assess why there was that turnover at the start.

0:08:18 - (Kirsty Gibbs): The rapid turnover, I love that, especially the micromanaging. I think we are all guilty of doing that at some point and we do it out of best intentions. We do it because we think we're helping. But I will never forget the moment where I realized, oh, I'm actually not the best in the world. So I, the way that I do it isn't necessarily the best way. So, yeah, I love that and thank you for sharing those.

0:08:48 - (Kirsty Gibbs): So what have you found then? So obviously, you know, you've got quite a bit of experience. You've managed to work your way through these challenges and these pitfalls. What have you found are the five key leadership skills for effective onboarding and retention of tutors that you could share with our listeners.

0:09:11 - (Michael Gibben): Well, thanks for that question, Christy. First one that's really, I think the most critical element is your method of communication and making sure that it's two way and it's transparent. And really, again, having that dialogue with your team of tutors that you're bringing on, whether it's one or 100, do your best to have a dialogue. Actively listen to what they're saying. Just really listen, ask questions and make sure your tutors are feeling, again, seen, heard.

0:09:43 - (Michael Gibben): I had a small office brick and mortar for the last few years of my company and I made sure it was open door policy. It was open email call previously that it was open door. Like, yeah, like, come on in. If you have questions, concerns, things you want to share, positive updates, whatever it is, like, let's create this connection and if there were any changes happening, letting the tutors know and involving them in that change, if that's possible, that's really important. So having that really, that communication piece is vital.

0:10:13 - (Michael Gibben): Own your errors. Like that's. You're not infallible. Like you were saying, Kirsten, maybe we're not the best at how we do things because, yeah, I was like, well, you know, I know families love that. Well, other tutors are going to have again, their own pieces, their own things they're going to share. And if you make a mistake or if you missed misguided something, own it. It's great. You know, if you're apologizing, that's, you know, show that. Be humble and show that apology and really mean it and it create, again, you're fostering that.

0:10:42 - (Michael Gibben): You're not, you're not creating a, I'm here. You're here because that's, that's, that creates, again, a lot of mistrust and a lot of, you know, suspicion and doesn't create a positive culture. You want tutors to recognize that you're fallible and that's really great to have. Reward successful tutors. If your tutors are shining, they're doing that. That's a five star experience. They're providing that great experience with your families.

0:11:09 - (Michael Gibben): And again, as we're part of it, you're the Nexus point liaison between these tutors and the families. You really are in that position. Connect with all of them. See how things are going. And if tutors are doing well, reward them. And it doesn't necessarily have to be a monetary raise. That is nice, but monetary raise can be one piece. But think about talking to your tutors. Like, when I had a couple of tutors that were really taking off, and it was like, okay, let's talk about where do you see yourself in six months, you know, or I had a couple of them be lead mentor tutors, and they were given additional responsibilities based on. We had a talk, we had a meeting.

0:11:42 - (Michael Gibben): Where do you see yourself? What would you like to do? How can. Do you want to, what would you like to bring further to the organization and just give them the chance to have that say? And it was great. And it's building, again, further trust, further relationship building, further loyalty because you're involving them in that process. Something that is really important, too, is reflect on your struggling tutors.

0:12:06 - (Michael Gibben): Not every tutor who struggles is. I mean, you never want to paint it as a brush up. Well, that tutor is bad or terrible. If they're struggling, it's as a leader, you want to involve yourself to a point. You don't want to get into all of the nuances necessarily, because people have the right to privacy, but have that dialogue with a tutor. Example, I had a tutor that I was working with for. They'd been with me for just over a year.

0:12:35 - (Michael Gibben): They called me one day in tears because they had to leave. They weren't able to work with a student any longer. I could have dismissed that. I could have said, okay, well, all right, fine, yeah, we'll find someone else. Thank you. But if you do that now, you're not letting them be seen and heard. So instead, it was like, okay, well, let's talk about it if you're comfortable. What's you want to tell? We can talk elaborate further what's going on and how can I help you? How can I help support you?

0:13:00 - (Michael Gibben): And they just couldn't do the commute anymore because they were moving. So we said, well, what about an online option? This was pre pandemic, but it's kind of like, what about an online option? And they were like, oh, yeah, we could. And I said, well, let's talk to the family. Let's see if the family would be interested in online. And so we worked together of how we would propose that to the family.

0:13:21 - (Michael Gibben): And then they were able to continue on and they were able to finish out the year and it was like, that was really great to have happen because it taught me at least like, you know, don't dismiss, engage and really figure out what's going on because you never know what wonderful solution could be around the door. And it's great to be able to retain those tutors that are truly doing great things. And if they're having those struggles, and sometimes if they're struggling, it could be something like they're having difficulty with.

0:13:50 - (Michael Gibben): I had a tutor, for example, that would come to classes a little bit, not fully, as fully prepared as they could be. And they were brand new. And so we talked about it and they were like, well, I just don't have a printer at home. I can't print things off. I said, okay, well, what could work for you? And they were like, well, can you print stuff off and leave it at the office? Envelope for the mailbox for me? I said, sure, we can do that.

0:14:11 - (Michael Gibben): And so it's just, again, just think of little ways you can help. But it's, the biggest thing is keeping your ears open and ask those questions and simply say, how can I help? And that goes a long way. And the last one is know when to let go. Letting a tutor go is, you know, they're always so dramatic. Kirsty, in the movies with your fire, you know, it's always such a dramatic scene. It is hard to let somebody go is a very hard and sometimes emotional process to do.

0:14:40 - (Michael Gibben): But you have to think about at the end of the day, you know, unless it's something major. And like, thankfully we never had anything major with our organization. But, but if it's something where a tutor, an example I brought a tutor on and they hit all the onboarding, you know, check, check, check, check. Everything was wonderful. Glowing recommendations. They went to the first lesson. The parents and student loved them.

0:15:01 - (Michael Gibben): Then they were late for the second one and then they canceled the third one and then they no showed for the fourth one. And we had to have that talk and say, okay, what's happening? And, and they said, oh, they'll stop, I'm going to turn it around. I said, okay, well, this is kind of like the last, the last stop. And the fifth time they were early and they did a big lesson. Family was happy again. And then they no showed the next time. And it was like, okay, I had to let them go.

0:15:28 - (Michael Gibben): They were like, please, please, please, I'm really serious about it. It's like, well, that's not quite congruent with what we're seeing. And you did mention there wasn't a. A major reason for these attendance issues. And we've given you that room to grow. And I'm sorry, we're going to have to let you go. So you have to be able to put those personal feelings of, oh, they're a nice person or, oh, they're this aside sometimes because you have to benefit your company, and if somebody's not able to grow with your company, sometimes it's okay to let them go and know you're not a bad person for having to do that.

0:15:55 - (Michael Gibben): They're not necessarily a bad person either. They just not. Are not, you know, not in the head the space to do that. And. Yeah, and that's. And that's okay to be able to do that because at the end of the day, you have a family that you want to make sure that they're happy, that they're. They're being taken care of and getting that five star experience and you have somebody ready to do that for you as well.

0:16:16 - (Michael Gibben): Yeah.

0:16:17 - (Kirsty Gibbs): Wonderful that. They were amazing. I was writing lots of notes as you were speaking. Then I think a lot of what came through while you were talking. Yes. I mean, obviously letting somebody go is extremely hard, and, you know, you do it because you have to, obviously. But a lot of what you were saying when you were talking. Sorry. I was hearing a lot that it's about compassion and it's about empathy and actually taking the time to get to know your staff and understand them and then problem solving. Like, I just. I love that because I think we focus on that a lot with the students we work with.

0:17:01 - (Kirsty Gibbs): But sometimes when we employ staff, we just think, oh, well, they're another adult, you know, and we often haven't been in those roles as leaders before, where we have had to help somebody work through problems and where we have had to show a bit more compassion or empathy. So I think, yeah, those. Those key leadership skills that you shared were amazing and so important and I think really inspiring, actually, to sort of take on board as, yes, I can. I can definitely do better. You know, as you were talking, I was thinking, how do I act in these sorts of situations? So it was really good to sort of just help me reflect as well. So thank you.

0:17:46 - (Michael Gibben): No problem. And just as a couple other notes of just a couple other pieces for people who are watching, when you're getting feedback from tutors, that's a great thing to do as well. It can be just having check ins with your team. Some people may not be comfortable. I know I used to be in sometimes in meetings where my boss would say, okay, what does everybody think of me? And it was like, what do you say?

0:18:16 - (Michael Gibben): You're only going to say positive, wonderful, glowing things. You're not going to necessarily, you might, but most people are going to clam up and not give, you know, the full picture. It is 100% okay to ask your, I would send my tutors every, every six months. I would send them a, like, we would discuss like, how they're doing. I would also ask them to do an anonymous survey and say, I just would send it out to all my tutors and say, keep it anonymous because they want to make sure you feel 100% comfortable. If you want to put your name on it, go ahead. But it's anonymous and I'd like to get your unfiltered feedback on what's working. What do we need to, what do I need to work on? Because you're not at the apex. You're always climbing to the top and you got to keep growing and keep learning and never be afraid to receive feedback. And sometimes the best feedback is going to be that really critical criticism because then you're like, okay, what can I do? Reflect on it. We're teachers. We reflect, think about what can you do differently? And it's great to be able to do that and think how can you pivot to better enriched your tutors? And also depending on where you live, because, you know, obviously tutoring is global.

0:19:20 - (Michael Gibben): Depending on where you live. You want to also do your due diligence when you're, when you're in the process of onboarding to see, you know, check with your lawyers, check with government agencies, check with insurance about employees, independent contractors. What can you do? What can you not do? Get those pieces out of the way before you start hiring so you're not stressing about it in the midst of it.

0:19:39 - (Michael Gibben): And yeah, that's everything for now.

0:19:44 - (Kirsty Gibbs): Beautiful. No, that was awesome. Thank you. That's so good. So, okay, so if people would like to follow along with, because you've got a fantastic Facebook group that I'm a part of, but where else do you want to share that? But also, where else can people find you?

0:20:06 - (Michael Gibben): Well, thanks, Kirsty. So you can go to www.coachfortutors.com to subscribe. You get ten tips to hiring your dream tutors, which aligns with what we were talking about today. Also, there's a special offer for all of our viewers here. So if you go to the shop here and I'll send you the link for that. Kirsty, it's 25 plus leadership scenarios for tutors to create a successful tutoring team. And it goes through, yeah, 25 plus different situations that could come up when you're onboarding tutors, hiring tutors, how do you navigate client tutor relationships, soft skills and some of those pieces. And it gives you some, just some tips, tricks and strategies for that piece as well.

0:20:50 - (Michael Gibben): So the link to that will be also available. And I'm also on LinkedIn as well.

0:20:55 - (Kirsty Gibbs): Beautiful. Thank you so much and thank you for your time. It's been really, really wonderful chatting to you. The other thing that when you're talking, then I know I'm reversing here, but a sense of belonging was something that you. That was coming through when you were talking. And here in Australia, especially in the early years, talking about a sense of belonging is huge for our students. And I think everything that you portrayed and talked about in this episode carries that through.

0:21:25 - (Kirsty Gibbs): So I feel like that overarching theme towards everything you said is just compassion and sense of belong. Yes, sense of belonging and giving people part of an ownership. And because at the end of the day, making sure you've got the right people and that they're happy and they're committed reflects positively on you, on your business and ensures that you get the best outcomes for your students. So thank you so much for everything that you've shared today. It's been really insightful and it's been so good to have you here.

0:21:56 - (Michael Gibben): Well, likewise, thank you so much again for having me on your program, Kirsty, and make it a great day. It.