Training Program Plan

Submitted By ricjam42
Words: 2506
Pages: 11

Training Program Plan for SBC
Ricky Jamerson
Capella University

Corporate Background
The SBC Service Center has been operation since 2000 offering customer service in New York. The company has a workforce of 150 employees at their operations center that is operational for 24 hours. Customer Service Representatives make up the majority of the employees, and their duties include handling customer complaints, establishing customer needs and renewing customer subscriptions. In addition to this, they also electronically troubleshoot high-speed internet and develop new customer accounts. The total number of Customer Service Representatives is divided equally into three shifts of working hours. The three shifts range between 7.00 AM to 3.00 PM, 3.00 PM to 11.00 PM and 11.00 PM to 7.00 AM. Each shift is assigned a floor manager, and they are four in number. The role of the floor managers is to provide expedited problem-solving help to CSRs through connecting to the CSR terminals. They also help in solving small challenges such as technical and software problems (Broad, 1997).
Each shift has a shift manager who controls the shift operations and can oversee any CSR/Customer call from his/her office. Customer issues that cannot be solved at the CSR level are referred to either the floor manager or the shift manager. Averagely, each CSR handles about 25 clients per hour. The remaining workforce includes the executive and administrative personnel that include the site manager. The Human Resource Development Department has jurisdiction over recruitment and employee benefits/compensation only (Snell, Morris & Bohlander, 2015).
The New York site is accountable for around 3,000 new subscriptions to the company every year. However, for the past three-quarters of the year, the number of customer complaints has gone up exponentially by a margin of 50%. Moreover, the company has also experienced 1500 cancelations of descriptions (Snell, Morris & Bohlander, 2015).
Current Status of the Corporation
Usually, CSR undergoes a 3-day orientation program. The initial and the second days of the orientation program are presented in a classroom environment with lectures being the primary format. The second day ends with the employee being given a tour of the facility. On the other hand, the lectures cover SBC history, the philosophy of customer service and the professional conduct policy. The third day entails the new recruits simulating active CSRs and listening in on live customer calls on CSR and shift managers training responsibilities during the third day of the orientation. Simulation by the new recruits goes on throughout the first week, and they are assigned their terminals during the third week (Fleck & Kraemer, 2014).
Purpose and Benefits of Training
A Training Needs Analysis (TNA) was carried out over a 3-day period. After consultations with the site manager, it was established that the core reason for the triggering event was shared between the operational and personal areas of the company. The triggering events that called for a TNA are the number of the canceled subscriptions and the rise in customer service complaints by 50% (Fleck & Kraemer, 2014).
Evaluation of top managers, first line supervisors, and the CSRs through the use of interviews, questionnaires, the target areas were task performance and individuals. The findings showed that the CSRs had insufficient core knowledge, skills and attitudes to take care of customer needs efficiently. For instance, the employee orientation gave CSRs general knowledge about the generic types of customer calls that would be encountered on any given shift. In addition, the manner in which the CSR was expected to go about performing appropriate customer service was modeled through the simulation part of the on-job training. However, both of these approaches did not equip CSRs with particular information to develop certain essential skills. Some of these skills include empathetic listening and