The Critical Role of Training

There is always an excuse for not providing employees with training opportunities. Very few people articulate these excuses to either their customers or their staff, but the net effect is still the same.

When the economy was good and employees few, the excuse was, "Why worry about customer service training? Demand is so high that if we tick-off a few customers, so what - there are more lined up at the door. Average employee tenure is so brief, why should we train them so they can go work somewhere else?"

Now that the economy is poor and training is one of the first areas most companies cut, the excuse is, "We are laying off employees - we can't justify the expense of training."

Both indicate an arrogant disregard for both the employees and the customers. I have addressed the shortcomings of the first excuse in previous articles and newsletters. Permit me to briefly address the second.

At a time when every customer has suddenly become precious and you are expecting more of the remaining employees following a downturn, how can you not justify training?

To the customer, it indicates that you care about obtaining and retaining their business. To the employee, training indicates that you are willing to make an investment in them and the future of the company. Even though you are asking them to accomplish more, you are willing to give them something in return - the training to enhance their skill set so that they can serve the customer better.

Lest you think this is totally self-serving, I will let you know why I do what I do; it is a sincere passion for the customer experience and the joy of watching an employee blossom when given the tools to do the job. Both of the excuses listed above have the same net effect - customers are poorly served and employees remain demoralized and unmotivated.

Good training produces guaranteed quantifiable benefits. If your training has not done that then you need to find a training provider that will measure effectiveness and guarantee results - WOW!