Training and development plan for a customer service manager
The training will be guided by the following objective
- To define key concepts in customer service, relating them to their work experiences.
- To acquire and develop new skills in customer service management, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
- To customer service managers to become trainers and efficient managers of their work.
Contemporary issues in customer service management
Customer service manager needs to acquaint themself with various aspects, which will contribute to the success of their management and make themself administrative work much easier. These aspects should not be assumed because they contribute to Customer service satisfaction. These include the following;
- Budgeting
It is a summary reflecting all resources needed Customer service value and the total cost of having the resources for the department. They must know how to do budgeting for their departments because they understand their financial needs. It should be all inclusive to avoid under and overestimation. The budget estimates should be realistic, keeping in mind that it is a forecast rather than a definitive statement of costs and prices. - Planning
It is the initial process of arranging activities on how he will be carried out in a systematic way within a specified time frame, specifying the goals, objectives, strategies and activities. Without proper planning, nothing will take place. Customer service managers must have skills in planning so that they can be able to a plan of action as required by the department/company objectives. The plans sometimes are made quarterly or annual basis. - Human resources development
The Customer service manager must be ready to go for more trains in order to gain new experience. He should facilitate the other staff below him to go for training so that they can improve administrative skills. Some money should be allocated for training during the budget allocations. - Public relations
The customer service manager must have good relations with the customers and general public. They must have all skills of dealing with all issues presented to them. They should be very careful about the language, tone and words they are using when attending to the customer. Poor customer relations will hinder their work as there will be no goodwill from the customers. - Monitoring is the continuous follow-up of activities so as to ascertain whether the activities are taking place as planned. The Customer service managers need to be on the ground to monitor the other staff to find out whether work is going on as planned.
- Report writing
The Customer service managers must make reports always on the performance of their work, departments and their staff. This is the only way they can be evaluated whether they are performing or not. - Staff appraisals
Is the process of rating an employee not on his personality traits but on his job performance. It is undoubtedly an educational process for superiors and subordinates to identify the job components and to agree on the performance standards. The performance standard is the minimum acceptable level of performance by the employee on each task, measured in terms of both quantity and quality of work. The Customer service managers must appraise their juniors once a year to determine their performance and gaps to be filled. - Improving staff-line relationships
The Customer service managers must make sure that there is a good working relationship between them and the other staff below or above them. Mistrust among them will derail in implementation of the Customer service department programs. They should create an open-door policy instead of using emissaries who at many times the whole information. The customer service manager should make clear to staff and line subordinates the exact nature of their responsibilities. - Embracing technological changes, the customer service manager must be able to be flexible to the technological advances. The changes include, e.g., the use of the computer in the office, mobile phones, the internet as a medium of communication and many more. They need to be trained on these new changes and should be ready for change at all times.
- Evaluation is the assessment of whether a programme has achieved its objectives. It is usually carried out after some specified time. The Customer service manager should be able to evaluate their projects to determine whether it’s a success or a failure. Evaluation can be carried internally, i.e., by the staff members or by the external evaluator.
Methods of training and development
In order to achieve that, I will use various methods for his training and development.
Projects and assignments: I will give him good assignments that involve investigation into a number of activities and hence help reveal his capabilities. This approach is normally adopted in management courses.
External training method: These include college courses which could either be long or short use of consultants or other training organization. This leads to qualification i.e. there is wide and comprehensive coverage of theory—use of consultancy results in his needs being given a high priority.
The 3D organizational effectiveness program: This program emphasizes ‘effectiveness to tasks orientation and relationships orientation’. This will enable me to know his style and can be tailored to meet the needs of the department.
Employee empowerment: As a training and development strategy, he will be able to exercise greater decision-making on day-to-day matters in his work. This will enable me to correct him and help him grow.