Title: ASSIGNMENT - HR TRAINING CLASS
Reasons For Using A Needs Review (Assessment) For Customer Service Training
A needs review or assessment shows evidence of how effective the customer service training activity will be before it takes place, that’s according to Kusek(1). It will build credibility for the training program among all stakeholders of the retail store, It will also justify the need for a training budget for employees who are important to the store.
A needs assessment will lead to training the Right Employees, at the right time and, with the right approach – With the needs assessment, we shall find out if we are meeting the industrial standards (the retail industry).
We shall identify the relevant training content for employees. This will increase employee engagement in learning and in turn it will lead to achieving the set overall business goals; not to mention how staff will also be engaged when it is time for the training sessions.
That is why once we figure out whom (of the employees) need to go through the training, it will help to better design the customer service training to meet the learning needs of trainees.
- Helps determine what needs to be trained-A Training Needs Assessment identifies the specific knowledge and skills that employees need to become more productive, efficient, and innovative in their jobs.
It will help us identify the skill gap affecting our retail store. It will help us determine whether or not training is necessary based on the results from the questionnaire that we conduct. And, If training is necessary, the needs assessment will reveal what areas of the employee training objectives to target. For example, Surveys (with relevant questions ) will reveal to us the exact areas in which employees believe training would be most helpful.
It Helps in distributing resources to areas of greatest priority
We shall save time and resources once we know exactly what areas of training to concentrate on. This will help us know which training is urgent and which one is not. For instance, when they are no gaps in knowledge or skills in a particular area, then running further training on it could be a waste of time and money!
Improves the productivity of employees
Roush had a view, that the needs assessment will reveal to us which areas need training most (2), we shall then apply the appropriate training to those areas to increase the skills and competencies of each and every employee. And, in turn, employees will feel more confident when it comes to carrying out their duties, thus it increasing their productivity. The employees will be taught how to properly use the tools and communication channels at the store to perform their work effectively.
Once the training needs are known and implemented, it increases the return on investment. This is when the training pays off as it solves the skill gap identified by the training needs assessment. Once employees are trained, the retail store will get more customers and make more money, pay for all upcoming activities.
The training needs assessment will make the employees feel valued by the retail store, through the contribution they make when answering questions in the survey. Willis has also noted that Staff who feel their employees listen to them and acknowledge their input is almost 5 times more likely to feel encouraged to do their best work (3).
What Are The Drawbacks For Using A Needs Review (Assessment) For Customer Service Training
Many believe that the activity of developing surveys, completing surveys, and evaluating them is time-consuming and the time used on them could have been used on more important business activities: marketing the store, promotions, finance, and operations.
The training needs assessment can be costly if the store has larger size employees who need training and cannot afford to have any delays. It can also be costly if a third party is hired to conduct the training.
Another drawback is the business needs may change before implementing the training program
if the process (from needs assessment to evaluation) takes too long to be implemented, the need of the business may change, leaving the whole process ineffective.
Data collected may be used to punish employees
Some employees have zero confidence in management and fear providing their information during the surveying stage, simply because the top management is willing to use it against them. so they will decide to be less honest with their feedback and self-assessment.
How To Overcome The Drawbacks
To overcome most of the drawbacks of needs assessment, the whole process can be done using an eLearning platform “which allows for it” so that the process is less time-consuming.
With an LMS, employees can instantly access training materials like readings notes, survey questions, and feedback; they will be able to work on them on their own time.
That is why Bramble assured us that Investing in an eLearning platform is less expensive compared to most methods (4) that require traveling and logistical activity, which are costly. It also has a faster processing power to make sure that results are got instantly and reports given before any other needs arrises.
We shall ensure that results are kept confidential and/or anonymous. In the needs assessment, employees can be identified by a number, and be comfortable providing the necessary information during an assessment.
Five(5) Ways A Needs Assessment Would Expose Performance Deficiencies
A proactive approach to solving customer needs
The training needs assessment will allow us to have a proactive approach to solving issues before they get out of hand, which is better than waiting for something to go wrong before reacting. We shall identify the knowledge and skills gaps in time and our store will always be viewed as a strong brand with a learning culture.
It highlights training that we might have not realized
The needs assessment will show us training that we never thought about until the time when employees pointed them out. This will allow us to see exactly what we need to put our focus on.
The Retail store will identify training needed as required by law
We shall be legally compliant because the training needs assessment will show us any training required legally (i.e., by federal, state, or industry laws) our employees will obtain required licenses or certifications.
Customer Service Training Implementation Plan And Method Of Training
The customer service plan will look like this:
Name of learners...
Time frame: Start date
end date
General Comment: This training is designed to first identify the goals of the retail store(with regards to customer service), the training objectives of the employees to satisfy the goals set, The type of training, The method of delivering the training, execution plan, budget and evaluation of the training (ensure that the goals and objectives are being met)
Overall goals of the retail store:
1. customer to have a meaningful experience with our brand
2. build a memorable relationship in the customer’s mind and perception
3. improve the perception of our brand (what customers want and expect)
Employee Learning objectives
1. New capabilities needed to achieve the goals
2. get the skills, knowledge, and abilities needed to achieve goals
Learning Method
1. Role-play (90%)
The training method we shall use mostly 90% of the time is Role-play Other training methods like presentation, discussion, and on-the-job be used at a minimal (10 %)
Execution
Training platform
Using Learning management systems (LMS) to deliver some of the training, these systems have the capabilities to add role-play methods, and have teleconference tools. They also allow the trainer to schedule classes, distribute learning content to all employees at once, no matter where they are located, and be able to eventuate and write reports by tracking the progress and engagement of each employee.
The importance of Including soft skills in the customer service training
Encouraging employees to acquire soft skills will make a big difference in improving our retail store brand because these skills will make customers happy as opposed to being frustrated by employees.
These kinds of skills include Empathy, active listening, persuasion, talking in a positive tone, and clear communication.
Evaluation of learning
The evaluation process is ongoing and feedback to the system is also online
The trainer takes points and gives a balance of both negative and positive feedback
actionable feedback is also encouraged
Where will find out how employees have performed for example:
- how long it took them to solve a problem or to respond
- abandon rates
- number of customer returns and feedback
Find out the evidence of achieving both the goals and objectives which were sitting
Budget for the training
Income $ ____________
Expenses $ _____________
Why Choose Role Play Over Other Methods Of Training
As a member of the HR department, I have chosen the role-play method as the most efficient to train employees who require customer service training because of the following reasons:
• It quickly builds a customer-responsive relationship culture in a business.
•it allows employees to know the customer’s problems and how to respond to them in the most effective way and within the required time, making sure that customers are never frustrated.
In addition, they ensure that the customer is never angry because of the customer experience created by employees (who are trained)
• most people learn best when most of their training (70%) is experiential. This is when they are practicing what they are learning at the same time. It triggers both short and long-term memory, therefore employees will always remember what they learn from the scenarios they played.
• It immediately shows to both the instructor and employee (unbiased) feedback from the training and the exact areas to improve
• employees are well prepared before they face the customers in real life, This means role play is better than on-the-job training in this regard. With on-the-job training, There is the possibility that the customer will never come back after meeting an untrained employee.
• Employees respond to the needs of a customer. It stimulates real conversations that employees will be having with customers, and they are taught how to respond to a variety of customer behaviors.
Proven Ways To Motivate Employees To Attend Training Sessions
To encourage employees at our retail store, we shall make sure that the following proven ways of keeping employees motivated to attend training sections are included in our management practices and policies.
1. Connect training sessions to the promotion and career advancement opportunities. This involves creating advancement opportunities for all employees who train and achieve exceptional results and great feedback from customers. Once employees know how valuable a training session is, they will be encouraged to always train and have chances to get promoted and opportunities to be rewarded for their efforts. For this to work, we need to know exactly what drives our employees.
2. Providing the right training, at the right time and the right place. As retail employees, they spend most of their time on the job, they require the right type of training, using the right method and at the right time. When this is done, they will feel that the training is relevant to their jobs. For example, An eLearning on the laptop will seem irrelevant for retail employees since they are not always on personal computers to train.
3. Consider the employee’s opinions when designing the training. We will make sure that employees are asked about what they need to be able to perform their jobs better in this regard to satisfy customers better. What method would they like for the training? All these questions are asked in the survey. This is great for making employees feel like the business’s partners.
4. Reward everyone. This includes giving every employee who attends some incentives such as food, certificates of attendance, and teachings (diary, t-shirts, and calendar) with the company logo. |employees will be interested in the training because they will know that every single person is entitled to gifts or rewards that they can afford to miss out on. This can only be achieved once we know and confirm the link between motivation and the performance of employees.
5. Make learning easy, fun, and engaging. This is making sure that employees don't have to struggle to complete the training
6. Personalizing the training. This is first studying the needs assessment for the training so that each employee’s needs are known. And then tailor the training according to what each employee needs. This will ensure that time is not worsted on activities that employees are already good at doing.
7. Make the training flexible for all employees. This usually involves making the training available for all who need it to participate, at their own time and wherever they are at. This involves updating all employees (on what is happing) using the company’s internal communication system and applications, This leaves no employee with any excuses for not having the time to participate, or to physically attend the training.
For example, let’s imagine that a survey reveals that classroom-based workshops take too much time out of the workday, and employees are falling behind on their responsibilities. As a result, employees feel stressed and negative toward training. This insight might lead the company to choose an LMS so that employees can learn anywhere, anytime, and at their own pace.
Training Survey Form
For Participants in the Employee customer service Training program
Date
Location
Trainer
Instructions: Please show your level of agreement with the statements shown below with 0 = irrelevant and 5 = highly relevant.
1. the objectives of the customer service training were clearly defined
2. I was encouraged to participate and interact with others
3. The training content and material meet my expectations
4. The topics covered were relevant to improving the way to handle customers
5. The training was relevant to my needs of improving my performance
6. The content was organized and easy to follow
7. I learn something new
8. The trainer was knowledgeable about the training topics
9. The time allotted for training was sufficient
Please give shot answers to the next questions
1. what did you like most in this training
2. what aspects of this training would you like to be improved
3. What new thing (s) have you learned as a result of this training?
4. what additional training would you like to be included in the future?
Kindly return this questionnaire to the instructor
Thank you for your feedback
Sources
name. year. title. p. 1. link
Jody Zall Kusek, 2004. Ten Steps to a Results-based Monitoring and Evaluation System: A Handbook for Development Practitioners. 1. https://books.google.co.ug/books?id=AN1_UBu0k1cC&lpg=PP1
David Walter Roush, 2011. Juvenile Detention Training Needs Assessment: OJJDP report
2.https://books.google.co.ug/books?id=ldL_dqxbTxEC&dq=
Judy Willis, 2007. Brain-Friendly Strategies for the Inclusion Classroom. 3
https://books.google.co.ug/books?id=TwtRBAAAQBAJ&lpg
William J. Bramble, 2008. Economics of Distance and Online Learning: Theory, Practice, and Research. 4.https://books.google.co.ug/books?id=yEOSAgAAQBAJ&lpg=