News: Customer Service/Care
In-house training vital for staff retention
14 December 2007
In a business climate where staff can move to many different firms, in-house training is vital if companies are to retain their employees.
Diana Oreck, vice president of global learning and the leadership centre at the Ritz Carlton hotel group, points out that "when we continuously provide learning opportunities to our employees, the retention figures are higher".
She told AJC Jobs: "We told our people that the outcome is a happy guest and that - as long as what they are doing is moral, legal and ethical - we don't care how they get there."
Part of Ms Oreck's role is to shift customer service training at Ritz Carlton towards a less scripted and more relaxed approach, and, because it is a global strategy, "it must translate across 44 nationalities and 17 languages".
Statistically, training helps firms to retain staff and Ms Oreck believes that the position of CLO (chief learning officer) is likely to become increasingly important in the future.
Bill Byron Concevitch of Verint Systems agrees, saying: "Bringing learning to the table is one of the biggest strategic advantages a company can have today.
"If learning isn't woven into the fabric of the culture, a business will struggle to be successful and might not even know why it's not."
