Ep. 21 Becoming a Top Certified Trainer Against All Odds

Helping Others Succeed Motivates Top Certified Training Certification

This episode features Stephon Griffin, a certified trainer who has shown remarkable initiative and results in his four years at iQor. In his first role, Stephon proposed a solution that was approved and implemented under his leadership. It is still delivering phenomenal results. In this episode, we discuss what inspired him to propose this solution, how he got it approved and implemented, and how he became a Top Certified Trainer at iQor.

Stephon is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2018 Stephon was employed at another company, and he was ready for a new challenge in his young career. He noticed an ad on Facebook posted by iQor. After applying, he met his future manager over a phone interview, who made a quick impression on him. On the second interview, he was shown the facility in person and was offered the position on the spot. He later learned that his manager was exploring Stephon’s potential to grow and develop as a leader.

Stephon’s new manager taught him how to be an effective leader of customer care employees. He learned how to develop people who can grow in his absence. This approach to leadership changed his mindset about modern leadership practices. He came to understand that career development comes in many different forms.

Helping People Be Their Best

As an Operations Supervisor, Stephon reviewed the current processes used to measure the client customer experience program’s success. He studied key performance indicators (KPIs) and recognized room for improvement. He came up with the idea that would become a program called the Agent Mentor Program. He worked on his new idea over an entire weekend. Stephon is that type. When he gets excited about an idea that he believes can impact many people, he dives in with both feet.

While devoting a weekend to writing the business plan for his program idea, he anticipated the questions he could receive from his leadership team. He presented his plan on a Monday morning to his manager. The response was an overwhelming approval to go ahead with the program under his leadership. This vote of confidence helped to skyrocket Stephon’s own confidence. He appreciated the belief demonstrated in him by his leadership team. His leaders never micromanaged him, giving Stephon full authority to roll out the program from A to Z.  With the go-ahead to roll out this Agent Mentor Program, Stephon extended many opportunities to his coworkers.

The Path to Trainer Certification

One day, a training manager asked Stephon to run a seven-day training program in her absence. He enjoyed the experience so much that at the end of the week, he learned more about the journey to becoming a certified trainer at iQor.

Stephon approached his manager to ask for guidance on how to embark on the path to trainer certification. As previously shown, Stephon desires to impact many people at iQor and now as a trainer. He embarked on the trainer certification program, which has four levels. He was certified on Level 1 and Level 2. When the time came to consider getting certified on Level 3, he learned that it requires curriculum development. That’s when he asked for advice. A supervisor told him that getting Level 3 certified is itself a significant accomplishment. However, to achieve Top Trainer Certification is a tall mountain to climb. In fact, many trainers who earned Top Trainer in Level 3 were previously corporate trainers, which Stephon was not.

This challenge inspired Stephon. The fact that his journey to Top Training in Level 3 would be somewhat of a unicorn motivated him to go after it.

The Level 3 trainer certification is a four-day program. At the end of three days, he stayed up all night to develop a new training curriculum. During his all-nighter, he went through four drafts of his new curriculum until he was satisfied it was good enough to earn Top Trainer Certification. He presented it to Tarisse Grant-Shelton, Lead Trainer. He waited to hear back from her with great anticipation. When Tarisse contacted him the same day with the good news that he was to be awarded Top Certification in his class, he was thrilled. He achieved a massive milestone by aiming high, working tirelessly with a can-do attitude. He slept well after getting the good news.

Stephon’s Advice for iQorians on their Career Journey

Stephon is currently the Assistant Manager of Quality and manager of a sales program for a client supported at the Charlotte facility. His career advice is to take advantage of all the resources available at iQor. Anyone who wants to grow has access to valuable resources through iQor University. Leaders want to help employees learn and grow to develop their careers in different roles. His advice is to let your manager know that you want to grow, and they will guide and coach you. Stephon’s drive and tenacity are very inspiring. You’ll notice his enthusiasm and the smile in his voice, as well as the smile on his face. It’s downright contagious!

Stephon’s Fun

Stephon is a gamer. He enjoys relaxing and playing games on his computer. I have a hunch he wins many games that he plays – his can-do attitude never seems to fail him!

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