Building a Customer-Centered Approach Coaching Model- Fall 2025
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) is transitioning to a new case management reporting system. As a part of this transformation, we are introducing a new system designed to empower frontline staff and ensure more effective, personalized service delivery to participants. DCEO is committed to helping local workforce programs shift their services to a Customer-Centered approach.
This training is part of a “train-the-trainer” initiative to prepare key stakeholders to support their teams and implement these strategies confidently and consistently. It’s important to note that this training is a time commitment and full participation across all sessions is essential to ensure a thorough understanding of the new system and methodologies.
Almost all programs talk the talk of “customer comes first,” but many struggle when it comes to walking the walk. It’s because becoming customer-centered requires changing perspectives and, often, culture. A “customer-centered approach” prioritizes customer needs and desires at every stage of interaction and aims to create a positive customer experience by focusing on understanding their wants and pain points and providing solutions that align with their expectations, essentially putting the customer at the core of all program decisions and actions.
While there is no clear roadmap to a successful culture change, proven approaches and strategies put the customer first. We will map the customer’s experience in the program as a guide. Creating a customer journey map is essential to building a customer-centered approach as it tracks all the services and touch points from the participant’s perspective.
This training will be an in-depth, hands-on experience designed to provide you with both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to support the roll-out of this new system. As a trainer, you’ll be expected to fully engage with the content, practice the techniques, and be ready to guide your team through this transformation. Your active participation will be key in ensuring the success of this shift to a more customer-centered workforce system.
- Overall Philosophy of a customer-centered approach.
- Change: how people change, why they change, stages of change, what strategy to use as people are in various stages of change, and how to elicit change talk.
- Techniques for motivational goal setting.
- How to avoid traps and roadblocks in formatting an engaging relationship with the participant.
- Five techniques that build motivation and participation.
- How to use a customer-centered approach in assessment, career decision-making, ongoing case management, job search, and job retention.
- How to use customer-centered techniques and strategies to re-engage participants.
Course Format:
Beginning Session: Introduction to the Motivational Interviewing Course and Customer Journey Mapping
- September 24, 2025, 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM CST.
- In-Person Moraine Valley Community College – Palos Hills, IL
- September 25, 2025, 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM CST
- In-Person Illinois State University – Normal, IL
Four Live Webinars: 1-2:30 PM CST.
1. October 1, 2025 2. October 15, 2025, 3. October 29, 2025, 4. November 12, 2025.
- All participants will get an invitation and link to the recording.
- All participants will get a module for each live session, including all PowerPoints and learning activities.
- Homework exercises will help participants practice the skills they are learning.
Ending Session:
- November 19, 2025, 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM CST.
- In-Person Moraine Valley Community College – Palos Hills, IL
- November 20, 2025, 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM CST
- In-Person Illinois State University – Normal, IL
Presenter: Jodie Su Kelly – Employment Training Program Provider
- In over four decades of work in this field, Jodie Sue Kelly has won wide recognition for her innovative, practical, and entertaining workshops and webinars. As an employment and training program provider, she doubled enrollments in an award-winning program she directed for dropout youth. She co-founded Cygnet Associates in 1984 to help agencies devise more effective strategies for recruitment, placement, advertising, retention, and motivation. In 2004, she was awarded the NAWDP Professional Development Award for Advancement in the Profession. In 2013, she was recognized with the Commitment in Action Award by the Oregon Employment and Training Association. She is a frequent speaker at NAWDP, Southeast Employment Training Association, and other regional and national conferences. She has a master’s degree from George Mason University and a bachelor’s degree from California University of Pennsylvania.
