To survive in today’s economy, business leaders must understand the needs and attitudes of their customers. Having a successful business is contingent upon selling what the customer wants to buy. It depends upon knowing the customer’s needs, wants, attitudes and buying tendencies. It is also dependent upon the service management, the total organizational approach to making superior service the driving force of the business.

A successful business requires excellent service from employees. Employees are the link in any company’s endeavor towards achieving customer satisfaction and loyalty. Therefore employee development is critical in terms of efficiency, customer satisfaction and organizational effectiveness. It is important that successful training programs are implemented which prepares employees in customer service satisfaction and customer retention.

The Role of Training

In the article, “Design an Effective Model for Training the Trainers” the author Suhong Hu defines training as “a systematic process to foster the acquisition of skills, rules, concepts or attitudes that result in an improved match between employee characteristics and employment requirements.” Training is important in terms of acquiring organizational effectiveness within a company.

It supplies the specific skills and knowledge needed to meet the goals of an organization. Several reasons for systematic training of employees: improved quality of workmanship, increased production, decreased amount of supervision and diminished labor turnover, to name a few. Economic progress demands a focus on the individual needs of employees and services of the company.

Training Methods

Once a company has identified its goals, a training method should be implemented. This is the learning situation for an employee. Depending upon the industry, there are a variety of training methods companies utilize to promote an employee’s skills and knowledge while indirectly establishing customer loyalty. Yet all training methods should suit the employees, the consumer environment, the learning objective and the business.

Companies can choose a technique that best meets the goals and objectives established by the organization. Below are a list of training methods and descriptions.

7 training methods

1. Brainstorming

When brainstorming for ideas, you are getting the suggestions of the group. A positive factor of brainstorming is that the managers are listening and valuing the employees’ opinions. A negative aspect is that it could generate opposing viewpoints, which could generate judgmental comments thus preventing future input.

2. Case Studies

In a case study, you evaluate a situation. You can propose solutions based on the content provided. The employees act as critical decision makers.

3. Conference

This is when employees meet together under a common goal. They could either meet with the purpose of engaging in the latest trends within their field or with the purpose of analyzing a topic and planning a course of action.

4. Demonstration

In a demonstration, some form of visual aids is usually implemented. As a result, the training can be interpersonal and utilize other learning/sensory modalities.

4. Job Instruction Training

This teaches employees how to perform on the job. Managers can watch the employees perform, noting their correct behaviors and fixing any incorrect procedures. It is the most highly practical of all the various training methods.

5. Lecture

Usually a speaker addresses the group of employees with key concepts pertaining to the objectives of the company.

6. Seminars

Seminars are similar to workshops. It emphasizes free discussions, practical methods, skills and application of principles.

7. Multimedia Resources

These are various forms of media to further strengthen the proposed objectives.

By implementing any of these techniques, the employees will be well-prepared and able to handle the tasks and objectives at hand.

Conclusion

Overall today’s service economy must understand that training is essential in order to increase production, develop employee’s skills while improving worker morale and consumer loyalty. Trained employees must become the most powerful component of a company’s image. The end result will be superior service, customer satisfaction and greater profits for the company.