On-the-Job Product & Service Training

Jenae Kain

OJT- Product & Service Training

Overview:

Employee training is a large topic human resource professionals strive to perfect. The difficulty of measuring training effectiveness, choosing between several training methods, and applying effective training to each unique company, type of work, department, or individual employee is a challenge of human resource professionals. One important portion to be covered in on-the-job training is specific to products or service depending on the type of business conducted by the company.

Relevance:

“While training needs and problems undoubtedly vary between companies, there are, nevertheless, principles and concepts which are applicable to all business and industrial concerns.” (Planty, McCord & Efferson, 1948). Effective product or service training is deemed important in all companies because it helps to maintain high standards; influences constant education of new products, services, and technology; establishes knowledgeable employees who are able to think critically in the context of their products or service; and reduces mistakes, which minimizes costs to the company. Each of the previously listed in one way or another reduce costs, lessen turnover, and increase employee well being.

MANUFACTURING

Relevance:

There are several manufacturing companies out there that specialize in just a few products, which the employees are aware of, but other manufacturing companies, for example a small machine shop may have several individual jobs that they produce or perform only a portion of the work. Here, most often the employees are given a blueprint of the product, but never learn what the product is or what it is used for.

In on-the-job training and continually with every new product, it is smart to provide employees with the knowledge of the product in which an employee is working on. This allows them to think critically in the context of the product and company to solve issues that may arise. If an employee obtains enough education relative to the product, they can make simple decisions, perform equipment maintenance or fix minor flaws on the product themselves, rather than stopping production and waiting for a response from someone who is knowledgeable on the product. This can reduce costs by minimizing delays in production and also reduce mistakes by allowing educated employees to make decisions or changes.

Key Points:

What factors are included when training a manufacturing employee on products?

In a manufacturing company many of the employees are directly involved with the production of the tangible products, while other employees are involved in the process management. “Technological changes have advanced so rapidly that it has been impossible to keep pace with developments as they have occurred. The unfortunate result has been that more emphasis has been placed upon machines, materials, and methods than upon the worker himself,” (Planty, McCord & Efferson, 1948). Whether an employee directly working on the physical product or managing the employees who do, thoroughly educating employees on the products they are involved with is more beneficial than placing all the emphasis on the product itself.

Specific on-the-job product training includes what the product is, what it is used for, terminology for the job, materials used, the steps and processes, the tools and equipment needed for production as well as maintenance training on machinery, and specifications of quality products. Yes, this takes extra time, but in the long run educating manufacturing employees through on-the-job training keeps costs down by decreasing pauses in production and can also promote productive, reliable workers because they will understand the importance of their job in relation to each specific product they work on. They also have a sense of accountability because they understand how their role affects the entire process and production of the product as well as the company as a whole.

SERVICE

Relevance:

A service is the distribution of an essentially intangible benefit. Services can either contribute to a particular product, or are a stand-alone benefit, but all services are meant to satisfy a need or offer a solution. Services include consulting with clients on products for specific purposes, providing advice or expertise, training, manual labor, and much more. In the service industry it is important for an employee to be educated on the service they offer and the best way to offer that service. The more training an employee receives, the more reliable employees become for the company. An educated employee feels more ownership in their role in the company and strives to exceed all expectations for personal gratification and overall well-being. On the other hand, an employee who lacks training becomes careless and unmotivated, which heightens costs and turnover, which every company wants to avoid.

Key Points:

What factors are included when training a service employee on customer service?

Its critical for an employee to have a thorough understanding of the specific service and all the details in which the company offers, but looking at training in the service industry on more general terms, it is the customer service, character, and presentation of the company that matter most, even before the specific service they are offering. Richason of Demand Media says, “Customer service is perhaps the most vital part of conducting business as it reflects directly on the company and how it is able to meet the needs of patrons,” (Richason, para 1). An interested client will first consider the business and how it is presented before even considering the details of the service and if it meets their needs, which is why extensive training for customer service is more crucial when developing new clients. A client must trust the company and the employee they are working with before considering the service. To build that trust the company should provide on-the-job customer service training to teach employees to focus on understanding the customer’s needs before anything else. Other methods of providing good customer service and forming trust as Caizeta states are, responding quickly to clients, keeping clients updated, going the extra mile, fix your mistakes fairly, listen to your clients’ needs and concerns, keep your promises, don’t confuse clients with jargon, be patient, know everything you should about the service, put yourself in their shoes, (Caizeta, 2011). One may think these are common sense, but customer service training teaches employees the professional way to identify the customers needs, then exceed those needs, handle problems, as well as develop and maintain trust with the client throughout the life of the service. With thorough training, the employee then will be able to apply their knowledge of the specific service offered and modify the presentation to meet all the needs and expectations of the client.

Relation:

On-the-job training of products and services provides many benefits for businesses. Although a manufacturing company may be able to function without educating employees on the products they are producing or working on, the training can be beneficial in lowering costs, increasing efficiency, holding employees accountable, and increasing morale in the workplace. In a service company training is mostly dedicated to knowledge pertaining to the service offered, but customer service training strategizes how the company and the details of service are presented to the client, which develops long-term success for all involved. In class we often discussed wellbeing in the workplace and that a combination of knowledge, comfort, and accountability equate to job satisfaction or wellbeing. These can be achieved through proper training on products or services and in turn reduce the turnover rate and lower costs, which help to develop a positive morale and successful business.

Take Away Points:

Although the jobs of manufacturing and service vary significantly they each play large roles within each other. In a manufacturing company, training in service can help to work with and meet the needs of other businesses, customers, and employees. In the service industry, mostly when an offered service is associated with products, knowledge of the product, material, terminology, manufacturing processes, tooling, etc. is all beneficial to understand when trying to meet a clients needs. Zack says, “To reflect the full range of explicit organizational knowledge, repositories should strive to record significant and meaningful concepts, categories, and definitions, (declarative knowledge), processes, actions and sequences of events (procedural knowledge), rationale for actions or conclusions (causal knowledge), circumstances and intentions under which the knowledge was developed and is to be applied (specific contextual knowledge), and the linkages among them,” (Zack, 1998). As we begin our careers, training in each product manufacturing and service will contribute tremendously to our success in whichever career path we follow. The more educated we are of our complete surroundings, the more we can continue to build a platform and make use of that knowledge as it applies to us and our careers.

Works Cited:

Caizeta, R. (2011, Jan 28). 10 tips for providing great customer service to your clients. Retrieved from http://sixrevisions.com/project-management/10-tips-for-providing-great-customer-service-to-your-clients/

Efferson, C., McCord, W., Planty, E. (1948). Training employees and managers for production and teamwork. Retrieved from http://www.library.wisc.edu/selectedtocs/ca1774.pdf

Richason, O. (n.d.). How to implement customer service training with employees. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/implement-customer-service-training-employees-1119.html

Zack, M. (1998, Sept.). Managing codified knowledge. Sloan management review. 40(4), 45-58. Retrieved from http://web.cba.neu.edu/~mzack/articles/kmarch/kmarch.htm