An Essay on Human Resource Management: Training and Development

This essay delves into the multifaceted realm of Human Resource Management (HRM), with a specific focus on training and development within business organizations. It begins by defining HRM as a strategic approach to effectively manage employees, aiming for a competitive advantage. The essay then defines customer service and differentiates between training and development, highlighting their distinct objectives and focuses. It explores the benefits of training and development, such as improved employee skills and enhanced customer service, while also acknowledging potential disadvantages, like associated costs and employee stress. The essay further examines the crucial role employees play in shaping a company's brand image and discusses key performance indicators (KPIs), such as CSAT and NPS, used to measure customer service levels, providing real-world examples. The essay concludes by emphasizing the importance of training and development in HRM, the impact of employees on brand image, and the use of KPIs to assess customer service.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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Introduction
Human Resource Management (HRM) is considered as an approach of strategic
management that the managers of the companies use for the effective management of the
employees and staffs of the businesses so that they can the help the companies in gaining the
necessary competitive advantage (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). Under the process of HRM, the
managers are needed to consider the training and development of the employees so that the
companies become beneficial from providing quality and superior services to customers. The
main aim of this essay is the analysis and evaluation of different aspects of training and
development in the business organizations.
Definition of Customer Services
As per the definition, Customer Service can be considered as a procedure to take care of
the needs of the customers by delivering as well as providing superior quality of services and
assistance during and after the meeting of their requirements (Jüttner et al. 2013).
Difference between Training and Development
Training Development
o Training is considered as a process of
learning that provides the employees
with the opportunities for developing
skills, competency and knowledge as
per the requirement of job (Chelladurai
and Kerwin 2017)
o Companies arrange training program
for the employees for short-term basis
o Development can be considered as an
educational process that is concerned
with the overall growth of the
employees
o Long term development of the
employees is the aim of development
programs

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o The focus of training programs is on
present and it is job oriented of the
employees
o The main aim of the training programs
is to bring improvements in the work
performance of the employees
o The main aim of development
programs is future development of the
employee and it is career oriented of
the employees
o The main objective of the development
programs is to prepare the employees
for the future challenges (Chelladurai
and Kerwin 2017)
Benefits of Training and Development
Training and development helps the employees in gaining superior skills and knowledge
as compared to the competitors and it provides the companies with the competitive advantage.
After that, the employees get the opportunity to learn new aspects for their roles through training
and development (Falola, Osibanjo and Ojo 2014). It increases the self confidence of the
employees and employees can put their best effort for achieving the objectives and goals of the
companies. Effective training and development program helps the employees in gaining positive
attitude that assists them in tackling challenging situations of their job responsibilities. Most
importantly, employees become able in handling the customers in better manner in the presence
of effective skills and knowledge acquired from training and development programs. This whole
aspect increases the morale of the employees as they become satisfied with their jobs and
responsibilities. It also needs to be mentioned that the highly trained employees requires minimal
supervision that helps in saving the resources of the companies (Falola, Osibanjo and Ojo 2014).

3HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Disadvantages of Training and Development
Training and development programs lead to the wastage of time and money of the
organizations as the organizations have to spend money on trainers and other aspects (Katou
2013). In addition, excessive training and development programs can create stress on the
employees as they have to keep themselves up with the recent trends. For these reasons,
employees sometimes lose interest in the total process. It also needs to be mentioned that
employees sometimes do not get enough time for training and development. For this reason,
training and development hampers the real work of the employees. It affects the employees and
they may opt for new job opportunities (Katou 2013).
Contribution of the Employees towards the Brand Image of the Organizations
It needs to be mentioned that there is a universal relation between the employee
contribution and the brand image of the companies as the employees play a crucial role to deliver
the brand promises. The most valuable employees of the companies can cut the costs of the
companies through the skills of supply chain management. After that, employees can delight the
customers with the help of face-to-face interactions and they can influence the customer desires
with the aspects that the companies can deliver to them. However, it is needed for the
organizational managers to motivate the employees so that they can contribute towards the
company’s brand image (Gelb and Rangarajan 2014).
Performance Indicators for Measuring the Level of Customer Service
Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) is a major performance indicator that the companies
can use to measure the level of customer satisfaction. This is a popular key performance
indicator (KPI) where the customers are directly asked to rate their satisfaction based on products

4HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
and services. After that, Net Promoter Score (NPS) is another major KPI that the companies use
and it measures how likely the customers are for referring the company to someone else. Another
major KPI is the Customer Retention Rate and it measures the ability of the companies to keep a
paying customer for longer period (Rawson, Duncan, and Jones 2013).
Relevant Examples
It needs to be mentioned that there are many real life companies all over the world that
use different performance indicators for measuring the customer services. For example, there are
certain companies that use the Customer Satisfaction Rate as the KPI for their business. They use
the formula for this. After that, there is another group of companies that use Conversion Rate as
their major KPI for measuring the customer services. It can be seen that the companies also use
certain formulas for this (Cannella et al. 2013).
Conclusion
It can be seen from the above discussion that customer service is a crucial aspect in the
process of HRM; and it is related to the training and development of the employees. Highly
trained and developed employees have the ability to provide the customers with superior quality
of services. However, the human resource managers of the companies are needed to take into
consideration both the advantages and disadvantages of providing training and development
programs to their employees. The above discussion also shows that the employees can contribute
towards the brand image of the companies by providing effective services to their customers. In
addition, companies use some KPIs like CSAT, CRR and other to measure the customer
services.

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Chelladurai, P. and Kerwin, S., 2017. Human resource management in sport and recreation.
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Falola, H.O., Osibanjo, A.O. and Ojo, I.S., 2014. Effectiveness of training and development on
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