Developing a Training Program to Improve Customer Service at PCU

This report outlines a training program designed to address customer service issues at People's Credit Union, stemming from customer complaints and identified needs. The training program focuses on enhancing employee skills and knowledge to improve customer satisfaction. Key objectives include understanding customer service roles, expanding employee knowledge, training new staff, relieving employee stress, and teaching proper customer treatment. The program incorporates induction, simulation, and lectures/conferences as training methods, spanning one month with three hours of daily training. Essential logistics and materials are also detailed to ensure effective training delivery. The ultimate goal is to equip employees with the necessary skills and knowledge to deliver exceptional customer service, thereby resolving customer complaints and improving overall organizational performance. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments to aid students in their studies.

Running head: TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The aim of the report is to design a training program which helps to address the need that is
identified in the need analysis process of the employees of People’s Credit Union. The need
identified states that there are many complaints from the customers due to the lack of proper
customer service on the part of the employees of the organisation. This is why a training
program is designed which helps to overcome the issue. The objectives of the training is
identified in the study which makes it easier to focus and develop the whole plan since the
actual aim of the plan is understood. The study also holds the methods through which the
training will move forward and the time that would be taken to complete the training. The
different logistics and materials that are needed for the training are also mentioned in the
study.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................3
2. Lesson Plan............................................................................................................................3
2.1 Training objective............................................................................................................3
2.2 Content overview.............................................................................................................5
2.3 Training methods.............................................................................................................6
2.4 Time requirements...........................................................................................................8
2.5 Logistics/Materials needed for training...........................................................................9
3. Conclusion............................................................................................................................10
4. References............................................................................................................................11

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1. Introduction
Training is a very important part of every organisation. Training provides an
opportunity to the people of the organisation to expand their skills and knowledge base.
There are a lot of benefits that arise with the incorporation of training in organisations.
Training should be used to overcome the weaknesses that are derived by the company, and
the employees should be given proper training to address those weaknesses (Frost, 2016).
The necessary training should be given to the employees so that they can improve upon their
present knowledge and bring changes within themselves. Training also helps in the
improvement of performance among the people of the organisation (Latif, Jan & Shaheen,
2013). The employees who are already competent in their work would also need to be a part
of the training program as it will help them to broaden their knowledge base and perform
much better. This report will focus on the training of the employees of People Credit Union
whose needs have been identified in the need analysis. The need analysis has derived that
there are often dissatisfied customers who are a result of the poor performance of the
customer service team. There have been various complaints regarding customer service, and
the present training and development plan of the organisation is not concrete for proper
renewal. The training plan will consist of the training objective which will highly the aims of
the whole plan which will be the focus of the organisation. The report will then contain the
methods of training which will be mentioned in the training and development plan which will
help the employees to practically get used to the situation that they would be exposed to.
Moreover, the report will also contain the time requirement which will specify the time
required for completing the training, followed by the resources and materials that are needed
for the training including the room and food set up.

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2. Lesson Plan
2.1 Training objective
The objectives of the need analysis training and development plan are as follows:
 To get an understanding of the work that customer service employees need to do.
 To expand the knowledge that the employees already have.
 To train new employees about the importance of customer service.
 To relive the employees from the stress that they are facing in their everyday life.
 To teach the way that customers should be treated in the organisation
The objectives that have been mentioned above would help the employees of People’s
Credit Union to change the way that they function. The lesson of proper customer service
should be given to the employees since customers are the most important part of the
organisation. Customer satisfaction should be the priority of the people of the organisation
and for this proper training is very important (Hill & Alexander, 2017). The complaints that
have arisen in the organisation regarding the neglect of the customers have been highlighted
deeply by the organisation since they value their customers to a great extent. The need for the
training has arisen due to the visible lack in proper training methods of the employees on the
treatment of the customers who are a part of the organisation. The objectives that have been
mentioned above focuses on the training of the employees regarding customer service and
also focuses on the relieving of the stress of the employees which is also one of the causes of
lack of proper performance.
Extreme stress is given to the employees of almost every organisation to perform better,
which sometimes has an adverse effect and stress could stop the employees from performing
better in the proper way. Therefore organisations would have to arrange for training programs
which would help the employees to overcome the stress that they feel in their daily lives and

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motivate them to work better. Training and development programs are also a way of
employee retention, as extreme pressure and stress on the employees could force them to
leave the organisation, especially if they are unhappy and not satisfied with their
performance. Therefore, it is mandatory for the organisation to ensure that the employees see
a chance for development and growth in their performance so that they can satisfy the
customers with their performance and no chance for disappointment is present in their
performance. The need for training would be present in every organisation. Therefore, they
would have to realise the correct time for initiating the training plan (Durand & Theureau,
2016).
2.2 Content overview
The training and development plan that is being designed is done to focus on the need
for proper training regarding customer service in People’s Credit Union where the customers
have lodged several complaints due to the poor performance and attention of the employees
towards the customers. This incident has given rise to several reasons such as stress and lack
of proper training which might have caused it. However, it is upon the organisation to address
this issue quickly so that no further escalation of the issue is seen which have led it to develop
a training and development plan to eradicate the issue at the present level. The objectives of
the training have been mentioned in the earlier section which has made it clear that the
organisation’s main focus is on the proper training of customer service and satisfaction for
the employees. The objectives have been laid out very clearly for the trainer to understand the
area of focus during the training. The training plan identifies certain methods which would be
extremely helpful in the training process. There are three methods which have been identified
such as induction method, simulation method and lectures and conferences. These three
methods would help the employees get both practical and theoretical knowledge to address
the objectives of the plan. The time designated for the training is one month with three hours

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of training each day. The employees would be divided into groups which would be easier for
the organisation to accommodate in the room and for the trainer to train effectively. The
materials required for the training are also listed which should be provided properly by the
organisation so that there is no hindrance during the training process. The logistics and
materials are one of the most important parts without which the training would not progress.
2.3 Training methods
The training that has been initiated would require the incorporation and the
collaboration of different kinds of methods for it to be successful. When different methods
are combined in the training process, then they provide a wider chance for the employees to
receive better results from the training since the methods will be combined with both
practical and theoretical knowledge. Both kinds of methods would help the employees to
improve their skills and also sharpen their knowledge about their job role. In the current
scenario, the training is being conducted due to the several complaints that have been
received from the customers regarding the lack of proper customer service in People’s Credit
Union. Further research has proved that the lack of a proper training plan is one of the
reasons for the low level of performance of the employees. This is because the employees
with high level of skills are not being made a part of training which put them behind on their
skills and knowledge, not giving them a chance to upgrade themselves according to the new
scenarios and trends. The new employees are also being not given proper training, and they
are also not made familiar with the organisation. Hence they remain in confusion regarding
their job roles and the culture of the organisation and the customers that are a part of the
organisation.

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Therefore, there is different method through which training can be given to the
employees of the organisation which will help them to address the issues of the customers in
the right manner. The methods are as follows:
 Induction method – This is the first method of training that should be followed by the
management of the organisation. The induction method should be a mandatory part of
every training since it helps the new employees to become accustomed to the organisation
and the process that the organisation follows (Salau, Falola & Akinbode, 2014). The
induction would help the new employees to know about their job role and the culture of
the organisation and the way that the customers are treated in the organisation. Induction
training is also used for the existent employees of the organisation so that they can
understand the new changes that have been made in the organisation so that they can
incorporate the changes in their work process as well.
 Simulation method – Simulation method is used when a real-life scenario is designed by
the trainer and the employees are rounded together to respond to the real-life scenario.
The real-life scenarios could be a challenge that has been earlier faced by an employee
and the customer (Aggarwal & Thakur, 2013). Different employees will address this
situation in their way, and the responses would then be evaluated to understand the
correct way to address the problem in real life. Simulation methods are one of the most
commonly used training techniques since it helps to get a glimpse of the real-life situation
and prepare the employees into responding to the challenge in the right way. Simulation
method included the enactment of an incident which has occurred before or role-playing
where a situation is given to the employees where they play different roles and solve the
issue that is presented to them (Baile & Blatner, 2014). In this scenario one of the
employees could act as the customer service officer and another employee would be the

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customer who has a grievance. The manner in which the customer service officer solves
the grievance of the customer would be assessed in training.
 Conferences and lectures – Conferences and lectures are also a part of the training plan.
Guest lecturers such as renowned businessmen and the people in the higher management
can be brought in the company who would be able to help the employees understand the
importance of training and also the need of training in solving their problems. Lecturers
would address the problem that is present in the organisation and address it in their way
(Martin, Kolomitro & Lam, 2014). They can give their views on the way that the
employees should treat their employees and ensure complete satisfaction towards their
service. Conferences are held when a group of employees along with the trainer or the
lecturer would sit together to discuss their views on the topic of importance. Every person
shares their views and others would discuss it and extract the important ones so that it
could be used in their operations.
2.4 Time requirements
The training that would be conducted should have a fixed time frame which would
ensure the completion of the training. First of all, it is mandatory that the normal day to day
operations are continued along with the training. There should not be a hamper in the daily
operations of the organisation since it would do more damage than good in their relationship
with the customers. Secondly, the employees should be divided into different groups since it
is not possible to train all the employees together, every day. Dividing into groups will also
ensure that all the employees can attend every training session without missing out on any
since there could be many reasons due to which an employee can miss days of training if
there is training every day. Employees could be sick or have urgent work due to which they
might not be able to attend a training session each day. The groups should have fixed and
different days of training. The complete training should be finished in one month including

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all the groups. There could be four groups of training, where each group would receive five
sessions per month for 3 hours. Out of the three hours, the first two and a half hours would be
training and the rest one hour would be a discussion session about the learnings of the
training for the day. This will also help the trainer to understand if the employees can grasp
everything that is being taught in the sessions. At the end of the month there could be a
combined session of all the groups so that the employees would be able to interact with each
other and share their knowledge about the things that they have learnt in the training session.
This would incur communication among themselves and help them to learn better.
2.5 Logistics/Materials needed for training
The different materials and logistics required for the training are as follows:
 Selection of trainer – Selecting the right trainer is very important for the organisation.
This is because selecting the right trainer would be beneficial for the company
(McDonald, 2004). The trainer should be such who would be able to efficiently align the
objectives of the training with their own and find innovative ways to address the problems
faced by the organisation in the right manner.
 Setting up the room – The area of the room has to be big enough so that it can
accommodate people between the range of 20-30 and the trainer (Hull et al., 2013). The
division of employees into groups would not require a room size to be very vase which
will make it easier for the trainer to train. The room should also hold the necessary
equipment that is needed for the training. Water should be made available in the room.
 Setting up the equipment – The different equipment needed for the training are as
follows: - 1. LCD and a projector which would help the trainer to show any video or other
visual notes during the training process. 2. Tables and chairs to seat the people present in
the room. 3. A cupboard to contain all the important training materials which should also
have a lock with the key being kept with the trainer so that none of the important material

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is stolen or lost from the room. 4. Charts which display graphs and diagrams regarding
customer service which would give the employees a theoretical knowledge of the
problem.
Even though other materials are needed for training which could be identified in due course,
these are the few important ones who should compulsorily be available in the training room.
3. Conclusion
Hence it can be said that proper training and development is very necessary for the
proper functioning of the organisation. The issue faced by People’s Credit Union will be
solved if proper training and development plans are followed so that the employees can
expose themselves to the highest quality of skills and knowledge which would help them to
do their job better. In the plan that has been proposed above, the objectives focus on helping
the employees to work better and more efficiently so that there are no further questions from
the customers regarding their satisfaction of the services provided by the employees of the
organisation. The methods of induction, simulation and lectures that have been mentioned in
the report helps the employees to get a better understanding of the issue at hand and find
effective and innovative ways to solve the issue through the approaches of different
employees towards a challenge. Training should be made mandatory for every organisation
for better services towards the customers.

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4. References
Aggarwal, A., & Thakur, G. S. M. (2013). Techniques of performance appraisal-a
review. International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology
(IJEAT), 2(3), 617-621.
Baile, W. F., & Blatner, A. (2014). Teaching communication skills: using action methods to
enhance role-play in problem-based learning. Simulation in Healthcare, 9(4), 220-
227.
Durand, M., & Theureau, J. (2016). The challenges of activity analysis for training
objectives. Le travail humain, 79(3), 233-258.
Frost, S. (2016). The importance of training & development in the workplace. Small
Business, http://smallbusiness. chron. com/importance-trainingdevelopment-
workplace-10321. html.
Hill, N., & Alexander, J. (2017). The handbook of customer satisfaction and loyalty
measurement. Routledge.
Hull, L., Arora, S., Symons, N. R., Jalil, R., Darzi, A., Vincent, C., & Sevdalis, N. (2013).
Training faculty in nontechnical skill assessment: national guidelines on program
requirements. Annals of surgery, 258(2), 370-375.
Latif, K. F., Jan, S., & Shaheen, N. (2013). Association of Training Satisfaction with
Employee Development aspect of Job Satisfaction. Journal of managerial
sciences, 7(1).
Martin, B. O., Kolomitro, K., & Lam, T. C. (2014). Training methods: A review and
analysis. Human Resource Development Review, 13(1), 11-35.

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McDonald, L. (2014). Planning for impact: Transfer of training audit. Procedia-Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 141, 129-137.
Salau, O. P., Falola, H. O., & Akinbode, J. (2014). Induction and staff attitude towards
retention and organizational effectiveness. IOSR Journal of Business and
Management (IOSR-JBM), 16(4), 47-52.