Shemika Carter
HRM530-Strayer University
Dr. Fontaine
Justify the use of a needs assessment of your company’s proposed employee customer service training, stressing five (5) ways in which such an assessment would expose any existing performance deficiencies.
Considering the scenario of a retail industry, the process of employee needs assessment is a crucial aspect of a company. For this industry to prosper, it is quintessential that the employees are able to perform their designated task efficiently as well as effectively. The needs assessment enables the company to understand the intensity of the existing problems. It highlights the gap present in the services rendered by the company. It also provides an overview of the deficiencies prevalent in the existing period of an employee and helps to understand an employee's need. It helps to discover the need of potential employees to the company.
The employee needs assessment is favorable for the employees in order to design a personalized and specific kind of training in order to fulfill the need of the employee. It can also showcase the deficiencies in the current performance through the overall organizational performance. It provides a basis to determine the key skill and knowledge required to perform well in an organization. It can also support in recruiting and selecting potential employees for the growth of the company.
In another way, the employee needs assessment can also be done to determine deficiencies in performance through an occupational needs assessment. It evaluates skills, knowledge, as well as abilities that are needed in an occupational group. Furthermore, it suggests the existence of occupational discrepancies or gaps. It also analyzes the individual job performance of the employees.
After the assessment is made, there can be new or different work designated and implemented by the employees. It also provides evidence of performance deficiencies with the help of personality test. There are people who face difficulty in working for retail. They might also face the challenge of working with other people.
Finally, the needs assessment would also analyze the deficiencies in the existing performance through the assessment of individual's mental stability and capacity. It is a demanding and stressful job to work in the retail sector. The employees could be overwhelmed by the level of demand as well as the difficulty in handling the attitude of the customers. The employees must have the ability to handle the aggression and stress related to the retail position while dealing with the consumers.
Develop a customer service training implementation plan and determine how the method of training (i.e., presentation, discussion, case study, discovery, role play, simulation, modeling, or on the job training).
In order to implement customer service training, it becomes quintessential to understand the needs and expectation of the target customers. Moreover, the employees must be able to fulfill and exceed the needs of the customers through consistent and positively implemented training.
Firstly, to implement the training for customer service, the employees must access the customer needs, analyze the existing skill of the employee, design the training vehicle, implement the training and reevaluate the changes and improvements in the customer service.
In the case of new recruits, these employees could be trained in several ways to adapt to the working environment of retail customer service. The methods can be a presentation, case study, role play, model and on the job training. However, the type of training for new recruits also depends on the number of people being trained.
The presentation method of training is beneficial to a group of employees while the modeling is only applicable to a small and large number of the training group. So, the method to train the employees must be selected wisely.
Justify why you selected the training method that you did.
The method that I chose in order to render the training for customer service is modeling/ hands-on method. This method emphasizes on actual experience to learn rather than providing mere information visually or verbally through other methods. Modeling/hands-on method helps employees to practice and learn simultaneously with the actual customers or similar customer service experience. Even with the modeling/hands-on, there is the use of visually represented materials. The visual presentation may also be vital as the employee not only hears the information but also views the information and follow through it visually.
Additionally, role-playing is also a beneficial tool to help understand the scenarios presented in the case. It helps employees understand the actual experiences. It can be helpful for new recruits to evaluate how things work in the retail industry. It also enables to put the learned information into practice. It can help in segregating what is right and wrong to be done in the work.
Additionally, modeling provides background knowledge for the employees to experience the scenarios if the situation is handled properly by them. It also suggests that the right behavior for the position is taught to the new recruits to ensure that they were taught properly by other members of the company or expert of the industry who knows how things are to be done. The learning process is fast and efficient.
Moreover, it would be beneficial if the organization keep on the job training for the new hires as the employee can learn by actually doing it in their job and understand how the company must work. These methods are helpful as well as efficient to be adopted in the retail industry. These different methods are intertwined with other methods to provide a better learning experience.
Propose two (2) ways to motivate an employee who has no interest in attending a training class.
The training classes are helpful to any new employees to have a firsthand experience about the functioning of the organization. There might be people who will not be motivated to attend a training session. Such employees who present no motivation or little motivation to attend the training can be encouraged with the help of incentive such as paid time off, early leave, compensation, etc. There can also be an arrangement of banquet when the training ends. The employees might be motivated through certificates of successful completion as well as through competition among the employees who received the training. Such types of incentives might motivate them to attend the training.
Furthermore, the new employees can be forced to attend the training by making it mandatory if they wish to work for the company. It is crucial for the employees to understand how to work correctly and efficiently in the new job. The condition can be presented in such a way that any employee who does not attend the training will be asked to leave the company. This method will not only increase the number of participation in the training but will also emphasize about the requirements and expectation of the organization.
Develop a survey to collect feedback from the employees who attend the training.
The survey questions will follow the sequences as enlisted below:
1. In general, how would you rate the effectiveness of the training and the learning you received from it?
Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor
2. Please rate the following aspects of the trainer in terms of the following remarks:
Remarks: Excellent, Good, Fair and Poor
Did your trainer have a profound knowledge on the subject of the training?
Did your trainer requested for more interaction and questions?
Did your trainer respond well to the forwarded questions?
Did your trainer provide individual help whenever needed?
Was your trainer fully prepared for training class?
Did your trainer have a professional conduct?
Did the trainer provide time for follow-ups?
How would you rate the overall skills of the trainer?
3. Please rate the following aspects of the training class in terms of: Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor
Did the training meet your initial expectation?
Was the instructions provided to you adequate to understand the subject?
Was the length of training appropriate?
Did the class begin on time?
Was all of the equipment required for the training working properly?
5. Based on your experience at this training class, how likely are you to attend future training class with us?
Very likely
Somewhat likely
Not likely
6. Additional Comments:
It is important to take a training survey not only for the employee but also for the employer. For the employee, it helps to recollect the learning gained from the training session. It helps in the reflection of the subject learned. For the employer and trainer, it enables them to relate to the things that can be incorporated and revised for future training. It shows the other's viewpoint on the same matter. It helps to revise the training for future sessions and measures the effectiveness from the understanding of the trainees.
References
Customer Service Tips. (2009.). 21 for Better Customer Relations. Retrieved May 30, 2015,
Muller, M. (2009). The manager's guide to HR: Hiring, firing, performance evaluations, documentation, benefits, and everything else you need to know. New York: AMACOM.
Retail Customer Service Training. (2011) Retrieved May 28, 2015,
Stewart, G. L., & Brown, K. G. (2012). Human resource management. (2nd ed.)
Danvers, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
