Training Additional 5000 People

It was reported in the Straits Times, that The Singapore Institute of Retail Studies (SIRS) would train an additional 5000 people for sales and service jobs this year on top of their current capacity for 15000 trainees.

Although I mentioned in my previous post that one cannot rely on training alone in customer service, it is a good start and will provide the necessary foundation for people looking to go into the service industry. I applaud this move and I think it comes at a right time, when customer service is a highly valued skill in the retail sector.

In these lean times, it is important that companies take the opportunity to re-organise and re-train their staff to ensure the company is in a better position when the economy picks up.

Another good initiative, from what I can see, is how SIRS is looking to conduct training at the clients' premises in conjunction with their own premises. This will mean additional training space and from what I can gather, it will help trainees by putting them in real situations, in real settings. Role playing, while effective, is not enough.

One thing customer service personnel must learn however, is flexibility. They must not just be flexible in mindset but also flexible when dealing with customer requests, within their empowerment of course.

I really hope this initiative can take off and eventually, even when the economy picks up, SIRS can continue to evolve and grow to constantly provide relevant and much needed training to service staff.

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