Background
SBB is the largest railway company in Switzerland, with more than 28,000 employees and transports 366 million passengers and 50 million tons of freight annually. Around 2,000 employees who work in the Traffic Management section of the Passenger Traffic Division have direct contact with passengers.
Training
In 2003 SBB started PCM training for its train managers and the training has spread across the organisation since. Between 2003 and 2012 more than 2,000 staff have undergone PCM training.
SBB applies PCM in the following contexts:
- In basic training for employees who have direct contact with SBB customers.
- In management training courses at all levels.
- In team building and team development.
SBB points out the following benefits of PCM training:
- It helps people understand their own behaviour.
- It fosters an understanding of the fact that people are different and can show different types of behaviour at times.
- It helps us recognise how our own behaviour affects communication with other people (customers) and equips us to respond accordingly.
- It helps us recognise our own behaviour patterns under stress, notice when our stressed behaviour is affecting how we communicate with other people (customers) and respond appropriately.
- It contributes to resolving potential conflict situations with customers through good communication and has a deescalating effect.
- It fosters better understanding of people who are different from us and of behaviour that is different from our own.
- It improves relationships between managers and staff.
- In teams, PCM fosters mutual understanding and helps staff to contribute based on their strengths.
- It assists staff to communicate positively both in their professional life and in their personal life.
Results
“My personal experience as a certified PCM trainer, from the minute I was introduced to it, PCM fascinated me. It adds a valuable dimension to the way I manage myself and helps me pick up indications of stress as they arise. PCM has become part of my daily life and is easy to implement. For example, it may simply be a matter of taking a moment to think how best to start or sign off an email or letter. Every day, PCM helps me exercise understanding of the way other people act and respond constructively. I highly recommend it.”
– Reinhold Dänzer Manager, Training and Continuing Education, Swiss Federal Railways