Evaluating Soft Skills Training's Impact on Customer Handling at ASDA

This project presents a comprehensive study evaluating the significance of soft-skills training for employees in the retail sector, specifically focusing on ASDA in the United Kingdom. The research aims to understand how soft skills acquisition, such as communication, time management, and teamwork, can enhance customer handling abilities and thereby contribute to the firm's growth and profitability. The study, divided into five chapters, employs a secondary data collection process and qualitative analysis to investigate factors influencing soft skill acquisition and the impact of these skills on customer service and loyalty. The findings highlight the importance of organizational culture, teaching methods, and self-motivation in soft skill development. The project concludes with recommendations for integrating soft skill training programs, organizing workshops, and raising employee awareness to improve customer handling skills and ultimately boost ASDA's profitability. The project also includes an introduction, literature review, research methodology, findings and discussion, and conclusion and recommendations.

0Running head: SOFT SKILL TRAINING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
A STUDY TO EVALUATE THE IMPORTANCE OF SOFT-SKILLS TRAINING TO
THE EMPLOYEES AS ONE OF THE IMPORTANT FACTORS TO IMPROVE
CUSTOMER HANDLING SKILLS IN THE RETAIL SECTOR OF UNITED
KINGDOM: A CASE STUDY OF ASDA
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1Running head: SOFT SKILL TRAINING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to understand the manner in which the acquisition of soft skills can
help the employees of a retail firm to improve their customer handling abilities and thereby
contribute in an effective manner towards the growth of the concerned firm. This is important
because of the fact that the majority of the business firms even in the present times primarily
focus on the development of the hard skills of their employees and thereby completely
relegate the acquisition of soft skills and the benefits that they offer to the background. This
becomes even more important because of the fact that the options or the choices that are
available to the contemporary customers had increased in an exponential manner and thereby
rather than merely focusing on the attributes of cost, quality and others they also take into
account the manner in which they are being offered services at the retail firms. It is on the
score of this aspect that the researcher had selected the topic “A study to evaluate the
importance of soft-skills training to the employees as one of the most important factors to
improve customer handling skills in the retail sector of United Kingdom, a case study of
ASDA” for the conduct of the study since the concerned firm in the recent times had faced a
significant decline in its profitability and also on the score of the fact that the different
training programs of the concerned firm primarily focus on the hard skill development of the
employees.
The researcher had divided the entire study into five chapter, namely, introduction, literature
review, research methodology, findings and discussion and conclusion and recommendations.
More importantly, for the effective completion of the study the researcher had taken the help
of secondary data collection process and qualitative analysis. As a matter of fact, the
researcher had found that organisational culture, self-motivation, teaching methods and others
are some of the major factors which affect the acquisition of soft skills by the employees of
an organisation. Furthermore, the researcher had also found the fact that the soft skills of the

2Running head: SOFT SKILL TRAINING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
employees are one of the most important factors which influences the customer handling
abilities of the employees of an organisation. As a matter of fact, it is seen that the effective
acquisition as well as usage of different kinds of soft skills helps the employees to not only
offer high-quality services to the customers but at the same time earn their loyalty or
satisfaction as well and this in turn can significantly enhance the profitability of the
concerned firm as well. Lastly, the researcher recommends the integration of soft skill
training within the training programs which are being offered by the firm Asda to the
employees, organisation of seminars or workshops, spreading awareness among the
employees regarding the benefits offered by soft skills so as to help the employees acquire
different kinds of soft skills which in turn would enable them to improve their customer
handling abilities.

3Running head: SOFT SKILL TRAINING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would firstly like to thank my professor for giving me the opportunity to complete my
dissertation on the topic “A study to evaluate the importance of soft-skills training to the
employees as one of the most important factors to improve customer handling skills in the
retail sector of United Kingdom, a case study of ASDA”. I would also like to thank my
supervisor Mr…………… for guiding me during each of the steps of the study and without
whom I would never have been able to complete my research work.
I would also thank my friends and family members for the constant support that they have
given me and also for constantly standing by my side.
Thank you,
……………………………………..
(Signature of the Researcher)

4Running head: SOFT SKILL TRAINING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................6
1.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................6
1.2 Background of the Study..................................................................................................7
1.3 Overview of the organisation ASDA...............................................................................7
1.4 Problem Statement...........................................................................................................8
1.5 Rationale of the Study......................................................................................................9
1.6 Research Aim.................................................................................................................10
1.7 Research Objectives.......................................................................................................10
1.8 Research Questions........................................................................................................10
1.9 Significance of the Study...............................................................................................11
1.10 Structure of the Dissertation.........................................................................................11
Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................................13
2.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................13
2.2 Employee training in the Retail sector...........................................................................13
2.3 Importance of Soft skill Training Programs...................................................................15
2.4 Theories and models related to soft skill training programs..........................................17
2.5 Factors affecting the acquisition of soft skills................................................................19
2.5.1 Awareness and preference.......................................................................................19
2.5.2 Impact of society.....................................................................................................20
2.5.3 Teaching methods and classroom activities............................................................20
2.5.4 Observation and self-motivation.............................................................................20

5Running head: SOFT SKILL TRAINING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
2.5.5 Infrastructure and technology.................................................................................21
2.6 Customer handling skills and its importance.................................................................21
2.7 Impact of soft skill training programs on customer handling skills of the employees. .23
2.8 Summary........................................................................................................................23
Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...........................................................................25
3.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................25
3.2 Research Philosophy......................................................................................................25
3.3 Research Approach........................................................................................................26
3.4 Research Design.............................................................................................................27
3.5 Data Collection Method.................................................................................................27
3.6 Data Analysis Method....................................................................................................28
3.7 Ethical Considerations...................................................................................................28
3.8 Research Limitations......................................................................................................28
3.9 Summary........................................................................................................................29
Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION...........................................................................30
4.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................30
4.2 Findings..........................................................................................................................30
4.3 Discussion of the Findings.............................................................................................35
4.4 Summary........................................................................................................................39
Chapter 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................41
5.1 Conclusion......................................................................................................................41

6Running head: SOFT SKILL TRAINING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
5.2 Linking with Objectives.................................................................................................42
5.3 Recommendations..........................................................................................................43
5.4 Future Scope of the Study..............................................................................................43
References................................................................................................................................45

7Running head: SOFT SKILL TRAINING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
In this chapter, the researcher offers an overview of the topic which is being researched,
namely, “A study to evaluate the importance of soft-skills training to the employees as one of
the most important factors to improve customer handling skills in the retail sector of United
Kingdom, a case study of ASDA”. Furthermore, the researcher also discusses the correlation
between the different soft skills trainings and the customer handling abilities of the
employees. More importantly, the researcher also outlines the different important facets of
the research work which is being conducted, namely, research aim, objectives, questions,
problem statement and others. Lastly, the chapter concludes with a brief discussion of the
entire structure of the dissertation itself.
As opined by Nickson et al. (2017), soft skills are the complimentary or additional skills
that the employees are required to possess so as effectively completely the different kinds of
job roles that they are being assigned to do within the framework of the diverse organisations.
In this regard, it needs to be said that some of the most important soft skills that the
contemporary employees are required to have are effective communication skills, technical
skills, time management abilities, positive attitude, team working abilities and others. The
different kinds of soft skills become important from the perspective of the retail industry
because of the direct interaction that the employees related to this are required to have with
the customers. More importantly, as suggested by Larivière et al. (2017), within the
framework of the contemporary retail industry it is seen that the prospects of the retail firms
greatly depend on the aspect of customer loyalty or customer satisfaction and this in turn is
directly related to the quality of services not only in terms of products or commodities but
also in terms of customer experience which is being offered to them. On the other hand, the

8Running head: SOFT SKILL TRAINING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
different soft skills of the employees significantly equip them to offer effective services to the
customers and also manage their concerns, complaints and others in an adequate manner.
1.2 Background of the Study
Faed et al. (2016) are of the viewpoint that the loyalty of the customers in the retail sector
depends greatly on the kind of customer handling skills which are being employed by the
workers or the employees who are related to these retail organisations. As opined by Hurrell
(2016), this is important not only from the perspective of the profitability of these
organisations but at the same time perspective of the long-term growth of these organisations.
The net result of this is that different organisations like Tesco, Asda, John Lewis and others
are increasingly focusing on different kinds of training programs for the improvement in the
manner in which the customers are being dealt with or for that matter in which an effective
relationship is being managed with them (Chakraborty, Gupta and Saha 2017). In this regard,
it needs to be said that along with the different kinds of trainings like on-job training,
advanced training and others different retail organisations are actively offering various kinds
of soft skill trainings to the workers like effective communication, emotional intelligence,
social intelligence and others (McFarlane, Giannikas and Lu 2016). More importantly,
Freiman et al. (2016) have articulated the viewpoint that the primary objective of the
organisations behind the conduct of these training programs is to improve the customer
handling abilities or skills of the workers which in turn is likely to enhance the loyalty of the
customers and thereby the revenue earned by them.
1.3 Overview of the organisation ASDA
The organisation Asda, founded in 1949 by Peter Asquith, Fred Asquith and Sir Noel
Stockdale, is a British supermarket retailer (Asda.com 2019). The organisation became a
subsidiary of the American supermarket chain Walmart in 1999 and between the years 2003
and 2014 was the 2nd largest supermarket of the UK in terms of the market share as well as

9Running head: SOFT SKILL TRAINING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
the annual revenue generated by it (Asda.com 2019). Furthermore, the organisation offers a
plethora of services or products to the customers starting from grocery products to financial
and mobile phone services (Asda.com 2019). More importantly, the organisation so as to
enhance the revenue earned by it is currently taking the help of the media slogan of “Save
Money. Live Better” (Asda.com 2019). In addition to these, it is seen that the organisation for
the attainment of a unique position in the retail industry of UK is currently taking the help of
the cost leadership strategy so as to gain competitive advantage over its rivals in the retail
business market of UK (Wood 2019). The organisation currently offers employment to more
than 170,000 individuals and the net revenue generated by it for the year 2016 was more than
21,666 million (Asda.com 2019). Moreover, for the effective performance of this large
workforce, the concerned firm offers different kinds of training programs to the employees so
that they are being able to offer adequate services to the customers and thereby help in the
enhancement of the profitability of the firm. However, the major problem arises because of
the fact that the majority of these training programs are intended to enhance the hard skills of
the employees and relatively little focus is being placed on the soft skills (The Independent
2019).
1.4 Problem Statement
The volume of sales registered by the organisation Asda for the year 2018 declined to an
all-time low percentage of -5.8% and the net result of this was that the profit earned by the
organisation declined by more than 10% for the same year (The Independent 2019). More
importantly, the organisation currently is facing a high rate of customer attrition which is
directly affecting the amount of revenue earned by it (Wood 2019). This can be explained on
the basis of the fact that the concerned firm relies primarily on different kinds of hard skill
training programs and relatively less emphasis is being placed on the soft skill development.
This in turn had significantly limited the ability of the employees to handle the complaints or

10Running head: SOFT SKILL TRAINING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
the concerns of the customers or sale products through understanding the needs of the
customers which in turn had contributed towards the decline in the revenue as well as the
volume of sale of the retail firm under discussion here. It is precisely here that the importance
of the notion of effective customer handling skills comes into play since it will enable the
organisation to retain the customers who are switching over to its rivals.
1.5 Rationale of the Study
According to Hurrell (2016), the number of options or choices that are available to the
contemporary customers had increased in a significantly manner because of the large number
of organisations which are operational in the retail sector of UK. The net result of this is that
the attribute of customer relationship management or customer handling had emerged as one
of the most important factors which influence the buying behaviour of the customers
(Freiman et al. 2016). Furthermore, it is seen that the financial prospects or the profitability of
an organisation depends greatly on the number of customers that it boasts of and thus the
different organisations are taking into effective consideration the entity of customer handling
skills (McFarlane, Giannikas and Lu 2016). In addition to this, it is seen that the aspect of
customer loyalty or satisfaction is an important one within the retail industry because of the
large number of options that are available to them and the customers develop loyalty towards
the firms not only on the basis of the quality of the products or services which are being
offered to them but also on the basis of customer experience (Daugherty, Bolumole and
Grawe 2018). More importantly, it is seen that the entity of customer experience is directly
related to the manner in which the customers are being treated at the retail stores, the way in
which their concerns or problems are being handled and others which in turn depends on the
customer handling abilities of the employees of the concerned firm (Wood 2019). Thus, the
researcher had conducted this study with the rationale that the improvement of the soft skills
of the workers or the employees can equip them to handle the different customers of the

11Running head: SOFT SKILL TRAINING AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
organisation in a much better manner. More importantly, this is likely to help the
organisations to reduce the high rate of customer attrition that they facing which in turn is
directly affecting the amount of annual revenue earned by them. Thus, the researcher in this
study had tried to emphasise on the soft skill training programs as a way to improve the
customer handling abilities or skills of the workers related to the retail organisations.
1.6 Research Aim
The aim of this dissertation is to evaluate the importance of soft-skills training to the
employees to improve customer handling skills in the retail sector of United Kingdom, a case
study of ASDA.
1.7 Research Objectives
1. To evaluate the factors that helps to enhance the soft-skills of employees to improve
customer handling skills in the retail sector of United Kingdom
2. To understand the impact of improved soft-skills on customer handling in the retail
sector of United Kingdom
3. To recommend few ways to improve the soft-skills of employees that will improve
customer handling skills in the retail sector of United Kingdom
1.8 Research Questions
1. What are the factors which help in the enhancement of soft-skills of employees to
improve customer handling skills in the retail sector of United Kingdom?
2. What is the impact of improved soft-skills on customer handling in the retail sector of
United Kingdom?
3. What are the ways through which the soft-skills of employees can be improved that
will enhance customer handling skills in the retail sector of United Kingdom?