Introduction
One of the primary functions of human resource management studies is facilitating the familiarization process for the new employees. Human resources present the most important aspect of the company, as the employees’ skills determine the company’s success, and the company’s survival is also translated into employees’ behavior (Sundaraya et al., 2019). In this particular case, the company requests the development of customer service training for new employees to ensure the high quality of their services and improve the company’s image. This paper will identify the necessary measures that should be addressed prior to the beginning of the training program and feature a plan of implementation of the training for new employees.
Assessment of the Company’s Needs
As the first step, developing training programs for all employees, especially new employees, requires a thorough assessment of the organization. Assessing the company’s current state and its practices can help identify performance deficiencies or other potential issues. However, depending on the company’s size, the assessment can require different resources. According to Sudaraya et al. (2019), manual assessments were previously processed by a number of employees, while through the use of digital technology and software, even one manager can complete the assessment. Moreover, the performance management results significantly influence the managerial decision-making process (Sundaraya et al., 2019). Therefore, the first step in the process of developing a customer service training program for employees will be identifying the company’s needs.
Assessment of a company’s needs is a common approach to planning activities that centers on finding possible ways of improving the company’s indicators to the desired state. There are five ways the company’s needs assessment can help determine the existing deficiencies. Firstly, the needs assessment allows the company to state desired performance goals. Next, identifying the company’s goals will provide a more specific definition of what prevents the company from growing and what difficulties the company needs to overcome to ensure its growth. Furthermore, defining the obstacles will allow the company an opportunity to reevaluate its initial priorities and set new targets in prioritized areas in accordance with the desired performance goals. Therefore, the needs assessment will indicate the most effective ways for the company to redistribute its financial, human, technical, and material resources across several tasks to acquire the desired goal and its indicators. The last way the company will benefit from the needs assessment is that the assessment data will allow the creation of a thorough action plan that will eliminate all opportunities for spontaneous or inappropriate decisions.
Training Sessions Implementation Plan
After identifying the company’s needs and determining what measures can be taken to improve the company’s productivity to the desired state, it is necessary to develop an implementation plan for customer service employees’ training sessions. Moreover, besides developing the actual training implementation plan, it is important to carefully choose the training method, as different training methods can be more or less beneficial in this specific case. For example, using presentations as a training method can be effective for experienced employees. On the other hand, a practical approach to training, such as different types of simulation, including role-plays and case studies, can be more informative for new employees. Therefore, after identifying the company’s needs, the next step will be selecting a training implementation method that is more suitable for the goal and additional forms of employee motivation.
Training Methods
Customer service presents one of the essential components of the business. Investments in employee training imply several expectations of an organization’s improved productivity, performance, and efficiency (Shen & Tang, 2018). However, according to Shen and Tang (2018), the positive effect of employee training can often be overvalued. While training focuses on conveying important information to employees, there is a low possibility that they will immediately start applying the newly acquired knowledge to their job (Shen & Tang, 2018). Therefore, it is necessary to present the employees with information in a certain way to promote the application of newly acquired knowledge. Focusing on training for new employees, in this case, can eliminate the potential barriers as training will not interfere with their professional experience.
Furthermore, combining the previous findings, one can assume that the simulation training method, in this case, could be more beneficial for the organization, as it is more suitable for new employees with little professional experience. Moreover, simulation training focuses on practical knowledge and promotes its application to real situations. Next, considering the nature of the customer service job, it can be helpful to feature some cases that will center on methods to deal with unsatisfied customers. As disputes and conflicts can adversely affect the worker’s emotional state, providing them with information necessary for conflict resolution can improve their professional skills. While there are several types of simulation training, through prioritizing first-hand knowledge, one could define that the role-play method of training for customer service can be more beneficial than others. The overall training will combine presentation method which will give employees necessary instructions and role-play simulations which will guarantee the application of newly acquired knowledge.
Motivation to Attend Training Sessions
Next, a significant step for the implementation of training for new employees is motivation. Motivation presents an essential component of employee management and a critical factor of success for all businesses. Employee motivation influences the company’s performance, job satisfaction, and staff turnover rates. However, while most research focuses on defining possible ways of raising employee motivation, in this case, the motivation is required to ensure the employees’ attendance of training sessions. In fact, without necessary motivation, new employees can potentially ignore the training sessions, which will lead to waste of the company’s budget. However, there are different types of motivation, both positive and negative, which can have different effects on the employees.
Choosing the right motivation method requires significant knowledge of management. The first obvious measure which can ensure the employees’ attendance in training sessions is making them mandatory for all employees. However, as legal policies limit employers’ capabilities, an introduction of mandatory training can cause discontent among employees. Therefore, providing a positive motivation, in this case, can be more beneficial for the training process. According to Kang (2020), customer-centric behavior can be promoted by applying motivation theories, such as Maslow’s and Herzberg’s theories. The author suggests that a customer-centered approach to services for employees can result in burnouts, emotional unavailability, and a lack of empathy (Kang, 2020). The research defines that employers should tailor motivational methods to employees’ needs (Kang, 2020). According to Kang (2020), turnover rates tend to be lower in companies that offer several wellness programs to employees. Thus, the author suggests offering employees access to fitness facilities, educational programs, and workshops (Kang, 2020). Therefore, the first proven way an organization can motivate employees to attend training sessions is to propose training graduates access to wellness activities through agreement with local fitness centers.
Next, the alternative proven way of motivating employees to attend training sessions is monetary rewards. The completion of the training itself should improve the employees’ customer service skills and provide a foundation for improving their income. However, providing them with small monetary rewards can be more beneficial to ensure the training session attendance. According to Sureephong et al. (2020), non-monetary rewards tend to be more effective in the context of motivation for employee training. The research conducted by Sureephong et al. (2020) defined that over 60% of employees exposed to non-monetary rewards completed the training courses, meaning that providing the employees with non-monetary rewards described earlier could be enough. However, as the case focuses on training new employees, small monetary rewards can be more helpful for motivation to attend training sessions, as new employees are less involved in the organizational culture. Therefore, offering a combination of monetary and non-monetary rewards for the employees who complete the training can improve their motivation and potentially result in more than 60% of employees completing the training program.
Assessment of the Training Sessions’ Results
Lastly, the final step of the employee training implementation plan is the assessment of the results. Even though the training results can be determined through detailed analysis and comparison of the organization’s productivity, organizing a short survey for the training participants can identify training issues and improve future training sessions. Furthermore, while collecting quantitative information can be beneficial for data processing in big companies, manual processing of each answer is necessary to paint an accurate picture of reality in a small company. Therefore, the survey for the training participants should include three to five questions with detailed answers. The following survey questions address the content of the training sessions, identify employees’ expectations, and explore how employees are planning to apply the acquired knowledge in their work. Thus, utilizing the information obtained through the survey will provide valuable recommendations for future training sessions.
Training Survey
- What were your expectations from the training sessions?
- What skills or techniques did you learn from the training sessions?
- Will you utilize the acquired skills/techniques in future interactions with customers? Why?
- Was there something you wanted to include in the training sessions?
- Was there any information you already knew or found unnecessary for the training sessions?
Conclusion
In conclusion, this paper explored the process of implementation of training sessions for new employees in a small retail company. The main steps of the training sessions’ implementation plan included choosing the suitable training methods, defining two ways the organization can motivate the employees to attend training sessions, and assessing training results. The developed implementation plan illustrates how important it is for Human Resource managers to determine the organization’s needs and provide necessary training recommendations. In this case, as the training sessions focused on developing skills required for high-quality customer services, the selected training method presented a combination of presentation format and role-plays. The defined ways for the organization to motivate the employees to attend training sessions also concerned the nature of customer services and their effect on employees’ needs. Finally, the assessment part featured a survey for the training participants with open-ended questions that will ensure the right picture of the training sessions’ results and provide recommendations for future training sessions.
References
Kang, E. (2020). The relationship between reinforcement of employee’s customer-centric behavior and employee motivation factors. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(7), 338-347. Web.
Shen, J., & Tang, C. (2018). How does training improve customer service quality? The roles of transfer of training and job satisfaction. European Management Journal, 36(6), 708-716. Web.
Sudarya, Y., Firmanda, V. C., Irawan, A., & Prambudhi, W. K. (2019). HR information system assessment of employee performance using the balanced scorecard method. International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology, 4(3), 357-362.
Sureephong, P., Winai, D., Chernbumroong. S., & Tongpaeng, Y. (2020). The effect of non-monetary rewards on employee performance in massive open online courses. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 15(1), 88-102.
