Elmhurst Partners, the corporate training arm of Elmhurst College, worked with the City of Elmhurst recently to hold customer-service training workshops for City employees.

On Monday, October 12, City Hall was closed to the public while more than 60 employees took part in the in-service training day, which focused on advancing skills in customer service.

The Customer Service Excellence Workshop, facilitated by an Elmhurst Partners content specialist, focused on key customer service elements, including the importance of external and internal customers and enlightening the customer’s experience. The training session was attended by City employees from departments including Administration, Public Works, Human Resources, IT, Community Development, Finance and the Historical Museum.

A separate session, Supervisory Skills to Reinforce Customer Service Excellence, was held for the City’s management team. It focused on advancing supervisory skills to reinforce the City staff’s service excellence skills. The topics discussed included the principles and steps for giving praise, coaching with constructive feedback, and handling challenging reactions to constructive feedback.

The training was developed with the assistance of Elmhurst Partners to give employees the tools necessary to provide the best customer service possible.

“We received wonderful feedback from the participants, who said they enjoyed learning about positive word choices, active listening and other aspects of the training,” said Tracy Tomasetti, of Elmhurst Partners.

“The collaborative relationship between Elmhurst College and the City of Elmhurst has been growing in a significant way,” she added, noting that besides the customer service workshops, many City employees have participated throughout the year in Elmhurst Partners’ Professional Development Series and other programs.