What practical considerations need to be taken into account when calculating a training program’s ROI?

1. Practical Considerations in Determining ROI: What practical considerations need to be taken into account when calculating a training program’s ROI? See Chapter 6 regarding this topic.

2. You are the training director  of a hotel chain, Noe Suites. Each Noe Suites hotel has 100-150 rooms, a small indoor pool, and a restaurant. Hotels are strategically located near exit ramps of major highways in college towns like East Lansing, Michigan and Columbus, Ohio. You receive the following email message from the vice president of operations. Prepare your reply.

To: You, Training Director

From: Vice President of Operations, Noe Suites

Hello Your Name,

As you are probably aware, one of the most important aspects of quality service is known as “recovery” – that is, the employee’s ability to respond effectively to customer complaints. There are three possible outcomes to a customer complaint. The customer complains and is satisfied by the response; the customer complains and is dissatisfied with the response; and the customer does not complain but remains dissatisfied. Many dissatisfied customers do not complain because they want to avoid confrontation, there is no convenient way to complain, or they do not believe that complaining will do much good.

I have decided that to improve our level of customer service, we need to train our hotel staff in the “recovery” aspect of customer service. My decision is based on the result of recent focus groups we held with customers. One theme that emerged from these focus groups was that we had some weaknesses in the recovery area. For example, last month in one of the restaurants, a waiter dropped the last available piece of blueberry pie on a customer as he was serving her. The waiter did not know how to correct the problem other than offer an apology.

I have decided to hire two well-known consultants in the service industry to discuss recovery, as well as provide an overview of different aspects of quality customer service. These consultants have worked in service industries and manufacturing industries.

I have scheduled the consultants to deliver a presentation in three training sessions. Each session will last three hours. There will be one session for each shift of employees (day, afternoon, and midnight shift). The sessions will consist of a presentation and a question-and-answer session. The presentation will last one-and-a-half hours, and the question-and-answer session approximately 45 minutes. There will be a half-hour break.

My expectations are that following this training, the service staff will be able to recover successfully from service problems. Because you are an expert on training, I want your feedback on the training session. Specifically, I am interested in your opinion regarding whether our employees will learn about service recovery from attending this program. Will they be able to recover from service problems in their interactions with customers? What recommendations do you have for improving the program? Write your response to the VP of Operations.