Creating a Culture of Listening and Service Excellence in the Midst of a Pandemic

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The pandemic and racial justice movement nationwide has created a need for park and recreation agencies to create safe, inclusive and welcoming guest experiences, both in person and online. Additionally, they face increasing competition from the private sector and technology for users' time and disposable income. With the constant busyness of life, people fail to truly listen to their staff and customers' needs and instead rely on 'this is how we've always done it.' This session will provide examples and strategies for training staff (in person and virtually) from varied agencies and highlight the example of national Gold Medal-winning Chicago Park District's efforts to create a culture that values inclusion and intentional listening, as well as focuses on customer service excellence all while going through a global pandemic.

Learning Objectives:

Understand the importance of a customer service culture based on inclusion and listening.
List tactics that can be utilized in your own agencies.
Develop a key metrics to build your own organizational culture of guest service excellence.

Neelay Bhatt (he/him)

Vice President

PROS Consulting, LLC

Neelay's career on five continents includes Disney, The Super Bowl, The Olympics, besides several years of consulting, public speaking and training. TEDx, the global platform for ideas, describes him as a business and communications visionary, and his service on the National Recreation and Park Associations Board of Directors served to ensure that no child is left indoors. As a alum of the Harvard Kennedy School and #1 ranked Sports Management Program at Ohio University, his keynotes and talks on magical customer service, trends, empathetic leadership and the art of storytelling have benefited executives, professionals, startups and students from New York State to China and from Europe to New Zealand. He champions Ideas Worth Spreading as the curator and organizer for TEDxIndianapolis, TEDxIndianapolisWomen, TEDxCollegePark (MD) and the NCAAs signature event Final Four Talks, besides leading a TED Global workshop in Canada, presenting multiple TEDx talks and coaching TEDx presenters. As the Principal at PROS Consulting INC. (headquartered in Indianapolis), he has led 130+ strategic and master planning, sports facility development, customer service training, and marketing and branding projects which have recommended facility development and infrastructure improvements totaling over $2 billion USD and are helping shape a better vision for health and wellness, conservation and social equity in communities globally.

Nikki Ginger (she/her)

Director of Workforce Development

Chicago Park District

Nikki Ginger started her career with the Chicago Park District in 2009 and has been instrumental in bringing innovative ideas to the organization such as a learning management system, professional development conferences, and a nationally recognized CPRP training program. Her team focuses on enhancing the overall employee experience from birth to retirement. She is a frequent speaker, current Chair for NRPAs Conference Program Committee and an avid inline skater and traveler.