Impact Of Staff Training On Customer Satisfaction In The Food Retail Sector: A Case Study Of Pret A Manger

Background of the study

Critically discuss the nature, types and processes of academic research;

Implement all stages of the research process and demonstrate awareness of the pitfalls in research designing.

Discuss how original contributions to knowledge are progressed;

Demonstrate expertise in the area researched;

Demonstrate enhanced approaches and skills in critical analysis, synthesis and evaluation;

Work independently in designing and executing a research project.

it will become almost impossible to provide proper service.

Background of the study:

Every business organization should focus on providing effective customer service whether an employee is working directly with customers or in the back end of the customer services, should understand the perceptions and requirements of the customers. Without providing effective level of customer service training a business organization cannot get the desired level of success in customer service providing (Raja et al. 2013). According to Jahanshani et al. (2014), a good training process enables a business organization to have high growth. The customers’ expectations and perceptions vary over the time and living places of the customer. The employees of a business organization should understand the different factors of the customer satisfaction rate before delivering products or services to the customers (Chan and Wan 2012). Most of the previous research works are indicating that the training is must doing activity for achieving the desired level of success through better customer service providing. Research works within the present situation of a business organization will help to understand the present need of the training process for better customer services. Research work is also required to find out the most effective way of developing a proper strategy for the customer service training.

The chosen organization for this research study is “Pret A Manger”. It is a UK based fast food chain. The company was established in the year of 1984 and currently they are operating across The United Kingdom, United States, Hong Kong and France. Currently they are operating over 374 different locations. The different types of products they a reoffering to their customers are sandwiches, soups, sushi, coffees, salads and snacks. They have earned over £500 millions in the last year. In the present situation the market completion has increased as there are so many companies with the similar types of products. In this tough market competition, they need to develop more customer specific strategies for achieving the sustainable competitive advantages (Pret 2016).

The aim of this research study is to find out how the staff training is affecting the customer services in the fast food industry and to give some recommendations to Pret A Manger for further improvement of their training process to provide better customer services in future.  

To understand different types of staff training

Background of the organization

To understand the different types of training process used by Pret A manger

To analyze the impact of the staff training used by Pret A manger in customer satisfaction

To give some suitable suggestions for improving the staff training to achieve better customer services

Q1. What are the different types of staff training?

Q2. What are the training processes used by Pret A manger?

Q3. What are the potential impact of the staff training processes used by Pret A manger on customer satisfaction?

Q4. What are the suitable suggestions for improving the staff training process to achieve better customer services?

In order to achieve the effective level of customer satisfactions, the business organizations need to adopt efficient strategies. The training of the employees is very vital fact for ensuring the effective level of customer services as mentioned by the previous researchers. In order to give proper training to the employees, the business organizations should know how the training process is affecting the organizations to achieve effective level of customer satisfaction.  

At present, the business of the food retail sector is facing a tough market competitionas there are many companies with same types of food products. In this context, each and every organization requires to achieve sustainable competitive advantages for participating in the market competition and to get success in their business. There are two major factors adopted by the business organization as the weapons of the market war. They are price of the products and the customer services. The customers prefer the business organizations which are able to provide the products that are able to fulfill the requirements of them (Chen et al. 2012). There are many factors of the customer service such as delivery of the right products at the right time, proper help at the time of shopping, after sale services etc. In order to provide these services to the customers and developing a good brand image with the help of good customers’ perception, the business organizations need to train their employees. In this context, the selection and development of good training strategy is very vital for the business organizations (Feng et al. 2014).

The business organizations of the UK food retail sector, is in high market competition as there are many big retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons etc. These companies are conducting their business with foods and general grocery products. Pret A Manger is not so big like the mentioned organizations, but they have to deliver a supreme level of customer service to attract the customers who are used to buy food products from the large retailers. As they are expanding their business, they need to adopt new strategies for competing with the big companies (Dhar 2015). The most vital strategy should be the efficient customer service delivery. As mentioned by Soteriou and Stavrinides (2013), a business organization can provide the effective customer services when they have the clear idea about what to do and what to deliver to the customers. These conditions can be satisfied by providing proper training to the employees. In this concern, it is very important to know how the present training process is affecting the customer services of the company and how they will achieve better training process for satisfying their customers more while increasing their business. Therefore, the company needs to know the effectiveness of the existing training process (Radnor and Johnston 2013). Research work on the area of effectiveness of previous training process will help to identify the gaps of the training process which will be able to give the way for improving the training process for achieving more success in their business by delivering better customer services.

Aims of the study

H0: Staff training has no impact on the customer satisfaction

H1: Staff training has some significant impact on customer satisfaction

Figure 1.1: Dissertation Structure

(Source: Created by the author)

Employee training is an essential part of the organizations that are trying to increase the skills of their employees to provide better services. Training is subjected to improve the knowledge and skills of the employees for doing specific jobs (Roberts 2014). According to Nawaz et al. (2014), training is an activity that increases not only the technical skill of the employees but also help them to understand the goal and objectives of his organization. It is quite natural that an employee cannot know everything regarding to his job. Therefore, it is the duty of his organization to provide him trainings and coaching. For old employees training serves as a mode of enhancement and for new employees it serves to help them to understand their jobs and to increase their job related knowledge and skills.

According to Nda and Fard (2013), the one and only objective of employee training is to help them enhance their skills. On the other hand, according to Elnaga and Imran (2013), upgrading skills is not the only purpose of training. He explained some other objectives or training which are,

To provide job related knowledge to the workers.

To impart skills among the workers systematically so that, they may learn quickly.

To change the attitudes of the workers towards their colleagues, supervisors and the organization.

To increase the productivity of employees.

To reduce any occupational hazard like accidents by providing safety training.

To help the employees to understand the needs and psychology of customers which will help them to provide better customer service.

However, according to KumpikaitÄ— (2015), there are some other benefits of training that helps only the organization to improve their brand image, market share and company growth. However, according to Wilson et al. (2012), this statement is entirely not true. He states that, an organization can never be benefited directly by providing training to their employees. However, both of them have stated some other benefits of employee training which are,

It is said that employees are responsible for growth of a company Therefore, trained employees will be equipped with better skills and handle customer inquiries or make a sale or use a computer system.

Training is also considered as an important recruiting tool. New generation workers expect more than a paycheque from their company. They expect that their company will help them to learn new skills so that they can move forward with their job. Therefore, if a company provides regular training, it is obvious that good employees will be attracted towards the company.

Objectives of the study

Training increases flexibility and efficiency of the employees. This is most important part of employee training. Organizations are nowadays paying more attention to provide superior customer service to their consumers to retain old customers and attract potential customers. Therefore, it is important that a company cross-trains its employees so that they become capable in more than one aspect of the business (Carayannis et al. 2013). The objective of the trainings provided by the companies is to help the employees to become competitive in sales, customer service, administration and operations.

Customer service is known as the services provided to the customers before, during and after a purchase. Most of the companies provide superior customer service to customers while they are purchasing anything. However, the attitude of the companies change significantly when a customer has applied for money back because of faulty products. The customers have to experience long procedures and tons of questions before they can get their money back. Sometimes, it takes months to complete to procedure. This is an example of a bad customer service system. If a customer has experienced a bad customer service, he will never deal with that company or organization in near future. Therefore, it is required that companies must adjust themselves to the personality of the customers. According to Carraher and Martin (2012), customer service of an organization describes the culture of that organization. However, it is not possible for the employees to provide good customer service without understanding the features of it. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the organizations to train the employees. According to Orel and Kara (2014), some skills are essential to become a good customer service provider. Those skills are,

An organization and its employees must put this skill near the top of a customer service skill set. For employees it is important to handle the customers who are confused and frustrated over a product with immense patience. According to Durrande (2013), slower customer service is welcomed if the time is used to understand the problems of the customers and needs of the company.

Patience is an effective tool of customer service only when you are applying attentiveness to the customers. The ability to listen to the customers is very crucial for providing great services. If an employee does not listen to the customers carefully, he will never understand the problems, demands of a customer. Therefore, it will become almost impossible to provide proper service.

Research Questions

Employees must be trained to get to the problem as soon as possible with a proper solution. Customers do not need to hear about anything else like how the company is doing well and how they are making progress in global market. Some of the companies like Samsung and Apple are known or their superior customer services where they only discuss about the problems of a customer. However, new companies that are trying to make an impact in the market, sometimes discuss their recent achievements with the customers to create a positive impact on them. For example, In India, Oppo Mobile Company is more concerned to describe their achievements than solving the problems of the customers (Durrande 2013). This must be neglected at any cost. Companies must understand that customers do not care about their marketing goals and achievements. They only care about their product. Therefore, if a company wants to create a good impact on its customer base, it must provide clear and direct communication.

The best forward-facing employee of a company must have detail knowledge on the products and services his company is offering. Now, it is easy for those companies who are dedicated to sale a particular type of product. For example, Volkswagen sales cars and accessories related to it. Therefore, the employees of that company must have knowledge on automobile accessories and on their functions. Difficulty arises for those companies who are selling more than one type of product. For example, Wal-Mart is a shop that sales food products, medical equipments, medicines, garment, technical tools and other various products. Therefore, it is difficult for an employee to have knowledge on all those products (Carraher and Martin  2012). In this case, the authority of the company must provide training to its employees to share basic knowledge on most of their products. Because if an employee does not have any knowledge on the products, he cannot help the customers with their problems.

As it is already mentioned that training creates significant effect on a company and help them to grow their business, in this part it will be mentioned that training can also affect customer services. In a training which is subjected to help the employees to understand and learn various skills that can provide better customer service, includes the below objectives. It is obvious that an employee will provide better and superior customer service if he can learn these skills. In other words, learning these skills will create a positive impact on customer services (Mukerjee 2013).

Problem Statement

In Gravity Payments, employees are taught not to react in the first place while communicating with a customer. During the training session, they are instructed to listen and put themselves in the customer’s shoes. Most people want to react but in fact, it is important to understand the problem and see it from the customer’s point of view before reacting. If an employee can follow this rule, it is obvious that the customer will become happy (Sandahl et al. 2013).

During the training sessions in ConversionCore, employees are trained to think like the customers. It is natural that thinking of the customers is different from the company personnel. Therefore, it is important to understand the mindset of the customers to provide services that can fulfill their needs. Employees can learn this skill via training and grooming sessions (Hammond 2013).

In the training sessions of LLC, employees are instructed to stay on the same side with the customers. For example, if a customer wants to return a product outside of the return policy, service provider of that company must not provide negative comments by saying it is too late to return the product. He can say that the company will do whatever it can to provide support to the customer. If employees can serve like this, customers will feel that the company values his problems (Heracleous and Wirtz 2012).

It is true that sometimes customers demand something which is not possible for the company to offer. In those cases, the employees are trained to handle the situation by using a constructive way of communication (Zablah et al. 2012). Service staffs must not flat-out disagree with an unhappy customer in the first place as this would made the conversation more adversarial.

It is very frustrating for a customer to buy a product and not getting desired services from it. It is one and only company’s fault and therefore, company personnel must apologize to the customers for it. In case of a faulty product, it is highly important that company personnel say sorry to the customers (Yim et al. 2012). In training sessions, the employees are taught to apologize to the customers without thinking twice.

Regular communication

Every company has unhappy customers, as it is not possible to fulfill everyone’s expectations. However, it is important to communicate with those customers to discuss about their problems (Pantouvakis and Bouranta 2013). Therefore, in ShadesDaddy.com, employees are trained and instructed to communicate with their unhappy customers via emails and calls.

Rationale of the study

Transform unhappy customers

In training sessions of Spashpost, employees are said that unhappy customers are more like an opportunity for them. Employees can take advantage of the situation by understanding and evaluating the problems experienced by the customers (Verhoef and Lemon 2013). After finding out the problems, the higher authority can take proper steps to remove those problems which will allow the company to provide better customer services in near future.

Lemon.ly professionals believe that customers are not right always. However, they are trained to make the things right for the customers. They are also trained to go beyond their limits to repair hurt feelings of the customers (Torres and Kline 2013).

Customer service professionals of The Porch are instructed and trained to attend every customer individually.  They are told that customers should not face the irritating policies of feeling up contract forms and automated emails (Othman and Nasurdin 2013).

Sometimes it is important that higher authority of the company comes forward and deals directly with the customers. For example, in RJ Matrix both higher authority and normal employees are trained to deal with their unhappy customers. This will leave a message that customer satisfaction is the top priority of the company (Brooker and Latham  2015).

Next Step China company trains and instructs its employees to listen to the customers carefully. They strongly believes that if an employee pays attention and listen carefully then he will understand the problem from the customer’s perspective. Then the employee will be able to ask relevant questions to the customer to understand what exactly he is expecting from the company (Dhar 2015).

From all these training procedures of several companies, it is clear that they are training their employees to teach them different customer service procedures. However, goal of those companies is same which is to provide proper and satisfactory customer services. Therefore, it can be said that training sessions can improve customer service ability of a company.

Introduction:

The most important part of the research methodology is the research philosophy. Designing the research with the purpose to move forward is another important part of the research methodology (Ahram 2012). This section of the research is mainly dedicated to data collection and determining the method to analyze those data. This helps the researcher to reach to a specific result and conclusion. In research methodology, different types of techniques are used. These are interviewing the customers, interviewing the employees and then obtaining the data with the help of the conducted survey. In other words, research methodology helps the companies to undertake effective business decisions and design innovative ideas (Al 2013).

Research Hypothesis

The current research method is mainly descriptive and it is always helpful to the comprehensive studies. Positivism is the chosen research philosophy and it is executed by following the deductive research approach. The general the primary research is conducted with the implementation of the two theories, such as the positivism paradigm and the deductive reasoning method. This research method was implemented to 12 employees and 23 customers in the Pret A manger, UK. The study revealed that there is a significant effect of staff training on the betterment of the customer service. The researcher used only quantitative method for collecting the primary data.

Alvesson and Sandberg (2013), designed and developed research onion, which is a type of generic research procedure. This helps the researcher to determine the appropriate method of data collection and to design strategies as well (Leedy and Ormrod 2013). The layers of the onion depict several steps of the research. Following these steps properly, will lead the researcher to reach the core of the onion. The research onion comprises of several layers and all of the stages are equally important. The first layer of the research onion the first layer of the research onion depicts the research philosophy that is the choice that can be made between, positivism, realism and interpretive has to be made in this layer. The second layer of the research onion represents the research approaches, there are two types of research approaches. The final layer of the onion, determines the method of data collection and analysis of data and finally reaching the result (Brown and Stowers 2013).

Figure 3.1: Research Onion

(Source: Leedy and Ormrod 2013)

Research philosophy is the building block of a successful research, all the methods that are adopted while conducting a research is dependent on the philosophy of research. According to Cameron (2012) in order to determine the appropriate philosophy of the research, it is necessary for the researcher to determine the factors that affects the quality of customer service at the Pret A manger. The researcher has selected Pret A manger for this research, as this company is very popular among the fast food chains in UK.

In this research, the researcher has aimed at in depth analysis of the research topic in order to obtain a high quality research. The impact of training in improving the staff performance in the Pret A manger company can be explained effectively and efficiently with the help of positivism research philosophy (Klassen et al. 2012). Following the positivism research philosophy will help the researcher to determine the key factors that are responsible for customer service. This will also guide the entire research towards a successful outcome.

Structure of the Study

In the hierarchical system of research methodology comes first and then comes the research approach (Chandra and Sharma 2013). It is the second most important part of the research methodology, it mainly consists of two approaches. These are inductive approach and deductive approach of research, both of these approaches can be used for conducting a research. The inductive research approach is characterized by collection and analysis of data and thereby developing effective theories, which are strongly correlated with the concerned research topic. On the other hand, the deductive approach is based on selection of theories, analysis of data and then providing the area of research theoretical evidence (Creswell et al. 2012).

The researcher in this chapter briefly analyzed the relevant theories associated with the topic in the literature review chapter. In the next chapter, the researcher has explained the data analysis that has provided empirical support to the results obtained in the second chapter.

Next comes the research methodology as per the hierarchical structure of the research methodology. This section briefly interprets the results obtained from the data analysis. According to Eaton (2013), a research is said to be a complete one if and only if it depicts both the purpose of the research and the intention of the researcher for performing the research. There are mainly three types of research philosophy namely, exploratory, explanatory and descriptive.

The researcher has followed the descriptive design for conducting the research. Therefore, the researcher has focused on relating the concluding remarks with the aims and objectives of the research.

The researcher has collected the data based n the survey conducted in two different sectors. First, the survey is conducted for the employees of the Pret A manger company and then another survey for the customers of the company. The study is completely based on the primary data, therefore is crucial for the researcher to conduct these survey most effectively.

The selection of the appropriate sampling method is necessary as his helps to sort out the appropriate responses and thereby making the primary data more reliable (Eaton 2013). The researcher here uses the method of non-probability sampling. This particular sampling method is used in this research to reduce the deviation of responses during the time of primary data collection.

In order to conduct the research, the researcher has chosen 12 employees and 23 customers of the company (Harrison and Reilly 2012). The sample size is a medium one; therefore adopting the non-probability sampling is appropriate so as to reduce the deviation in responses. The researcher has arranged face to face interview in order to obtain information.

Literature Review

Academic research works are associated with some ethical considerations while gathering the data from the human participants. The research work has been completed by marinating all the ethical considerations of the academic research work. The Data Protection Act, 1998 is maintained regarding the personal data gathered from the participants (Eaton 2013). The data were kept confidential and after completing the objectives of the research study, the data will be deleted. Before, collecting the data from the participants, their consents were taken by communicating with them the purpose of the data collection and the how the data will be used in the research study. The questions used in the data collection process, were simple and duly focused in the objectives of the research study. No informal language is used while developing the questionnaires for the data collection process of the research study (Leedy and Ormrod 2013).

The research study faced some significant limitations while conducting the activities of the study. The first major limitation of the research study was the time limit. The whole research study had to be completed within the specific time limit. There were a lot of tasks which might be better with some more time. Another limitation was about the money required for the research study. A little amount of money was allotted for completing the research study. Some more money might be helpful for completing the research study more efficiently. This research study was completed by gathering data from the people associated with the research area. Collecting the data from the individual people was too hectic. The targeted amount of samples could not be gathered due to the lack of interests of the respondents regarding the participation in the research work.

This chapter was about the selection of the strategy of the research study. The different factors of the methodology selection are discussed in the chapter. After describing each factor, the selected methods are discussed with proper justifications. The data collection process is also described in this chapter where the quantitative primary data has been chosen for conducting the research study. The data collection process chosen for the research was survey. Simple random process was chosen for sampling process of the research study. The research study was conducted by maintaining all the ethical consideration of the academic research works.

Introduction:

This chapter is the most vital chapter of the dissertation as this is about the collection of the data from the present environment of the case study organization. All the data has been collected from the human beings who are associated with the field of Pret A manger. Primary data has been collected to complete the research work.

Primary data collection

A survey was conducted among the employees of the organization to gather their viewpoints about the effectiveness of the training they are getting within the organization. Another survey was conducted among some of the customers of the company to gather the feedbacks from them about the satisfaction they are getting form the products and services of the company.

Questionnaire for Employee:

Part A: Demographic Factors

Your Gender:

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
1	MALE	7	58%	12
2	FEMALE	5	42%	12

Table 4.1: Gender of employees

Chart 4.1: Gender of employees

Finding and analysis:

Both male and female employees are available in the organization. Sometimes the perceptions of people conflict over the gender. Data has been gathered from both of the male and female employees of the organization to know the overall effectiveness of the training process given to the employees. Total number of employees who have participated in the survey was 12. After collecting the data it has been found that there were 58% of male employees and 42% female employees.

Please select your age group:

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	18-24 years	5	41%	12
(b)	25-30 years	4	33%	12
(c )	31-40 years	3	25%	12
(d)	41-50 years	0	0%	12

Table 4.2: Age group of employees

Chart 4.2: Age group of employees

Finding and analysis:

Demographic data collected from the employees and it was found that most of the employees of the company are young people. The age group was divided into four categories between the age of 18 and 50 years. There were 41% employees belongs to the age group of 18 to 24 years. 33% were from the age group of 25 to 30 years and 25% were from the group of 31 to 40 years. No employees were found in the age group of 41 to 50 years.

Please select your duration of employment

OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
LESS THAN 6 MONTHS	2	17%	12
6 MONTHS- 1 YEARS	3	25%	12
1 YEAR-3 YEARS	3	25%	12
MORE THAN 3 YEARS	4	33%	12

Table 4.3: Duration of employment

Chart 4.3: Duration of employment

Finding and analysis:

In order to understand the effectiveness of the strategy of a company, the employees of the company should have the experience of significant time. People who are working with the company for a long time will be able to give proper feedbacks about the operational strategy used by the company. It was found that more than 50% of the employees have the experiences of over one year. 33% of the employees have experiences more than 3 years, 25 % of the employees have experiences between 1 year and 3 year. Remaining employees are junior who are working with the company since less than one year. However, all the employees can give their responses about the training process used by the organization and a mixed response of the old strategy and present strategy will be gathered from the old and new employees of eh organization.

Part B: Training and Development

Is empowerment by means of training and development freely available in your organization?

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	YES	12	100%	12
(b)	NO	0	0%	12

Table 4.4: availability of facility

Chart 4.4: availability of facility

Finding and analysis:

The employees were asked to give their response about whether the training and development facilities are freely available to them or not. After collecting the feedbacks from the employees it was found that all the employees have said that they are able to get the training and development facilities provided by the organization freely. It is a good sign from the organization that their employees are satisfied from the availability from the facilities provided by them.

How many times per year do you receive training?

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	0	0	0%	12
(b)	1	3	25%	12
(c)	2	1	8%	12
(d)	4	3	25%	12
(e)	MORE THAN 4	5	42%	12

Table 4.5: frequency of training

Chart 4.5: frequency of training

Finding and analysis:

The frequency of training given to the employees affects the effectiveness of their works within the workplaces. In order to conduct the research study, data has been gathered regarding the frequency of the training provided to the employees. Mixed responses were gathered from the employees about this fact. 42% of the employees are saying that the company provides training more 4 times in a year where another 25% of the employees have said that they are getting the training 4 times in a year. Other employees are saying that they are getting the training for 1 time and 2 times. The responses indicate that the company is following different types of training in different sections. It is good to provide different types of trainings to the employees of the different sections of the company.

Training and development programs have improved my job performance?

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	YES	12	100%	12
(b)	NO	0	0%	12

Table 4.6: improvement of job performance

Chart 4.6: improvement of job performance

Finding and analysis:

While collecting data about the effectiveness of the training approach to develop the skills of the employees, it has been found that all the respondents of the survey have agreed with the fact that the training process of the company is helping them to improve their working skills within the workplace of the organization. It is very good that the company is able to improve their employees with the effective level of training process in the different sections of the company.

Part C: Effective Training Program

The trainer was well prepared and helpful

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	STRONGLY AGREE	3	25%	12
(b)	AGREE	7	58%	12
(c )	INDIFFERENT	2	16%	12
(d)	DISAGREE	0	0%	12
(e)	STRONGLY DISAGREE	0	0%

Table 4.7: helpfulness of the trainers

Chart 4.7: helpfulness of the trainers

Finding and analysis:

The efficiency of the trainer is the most vital fact behind the effectiveness of the training programs conducted by the company. Data has been collected for understanding the ability of the trainers and it has been found that the employees are satisfied by the ability of the trainers. There was no one who has disagreed with the ability of the trainers. Only 16% of the employees have chosen the option indifferent where all other employees are agreed or strongly agreed with ability and planning of the trainers in the training programs of the company.

I was satisfied with the support offered by the trainer

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	STRONGLY AGREE	2	16%	12
(b)	AGREE	8	66%	12
(c )	INDIFFERENT	2	16%	12
(d)	DISAGREE	0	0%	12
(e)	STRONGLY DISAGREE	0	0%	12

Table 4.8: support of the trainer

Chart 4.8: support of the trainer

Finding and analysis:

Support of the trainers of the company is very good as 66% of the respondents have agreed with this fact. Only 16% of the employees have mentioned that the supports of the trainers are indifferent. This fact is also good for the company for achieving the better performances from their employees. If they are able to get the effective level of support form the trainers, they will be able to learn the responsibilities of the company carefully and in future they will be able to provide effective level of performance in their workplaces.

The objectives of the training were relevant to my job

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	STRONGLY AGREE	3	25%	12
(b)	AGREE	9	75%	12
(c )	INDIFFERENT	0	0%	12
(d)	DISAGREE	0	0%	12
(e)	STRONGLY DISAGREE	0	0%	12

Table 4.9: relevancy of the training

Chart 4.9: relevancy of the training

Finding and analysis:

Data has been gathered regarding the relevancy of the objectives of the training programs of the company. In this case, it has been again found that the employees are agreeing with the relevancy of the objectives of the objectives with the responsibilities they have in their job. 100% employees of the company have agreed with this fact where the 25% of them have chosen the option of strongly agree and another 75% have chosen the option of agree.

I was well informed about completing each module of the training program

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	STRONGLY AGREE	3	25%	12
(b)	AGREE	9	75%	12
(c )	INDIFFERENT	0	0%	12
(d)	DISAGREE	0	0%	12
(e)	STRONGLY DISAGREE	0	0%	12

Chart 4.10: Information of the modules

Finding and analysis:

All the employees of the organization are able to get all the relevant information about every module of the training programs before starting. 75% of the employees have said that the trainers are used to provide all the information about the modules before starting each and every module in the training course. 25% of them are strongly agreed with this fact.

The assessments used in the training were fair

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	STRONGLY AGREE	2	16%	12
(b)	AGREE	10	83%	12
(c )	INDIFFERENT	0	0%	12
(d)	DISAGREE	0	0%	12
(e)	STRONGLY DISAGREE	0	0%	12

Chart 4.11: fairness of the assessment

Finding and analysis:

The data collection of this research study is indicating that the assessments used in the training process are fair enough. All the employees are agree with the fairness of the assessment process used in the training process of the company.

I accomplished all objectives of the training

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	STRONGLY AGREE	1	8%	12
(b)	AGREE	9	75%	12
(c )	INDIFFERENT	2	16%	12
(d)	DISAGREE	0	0%	12
(e)	STRONGLY DISAGREE	0	0%	12

Chart 4.12: Objectives of the training

Finding and analysis:

The training processes used in the company are able to ensure that the learners are able to fulfill all of the objectives of the training. 8% of the respondents have said that they have completed the objectives of the training program fully with a high level of confident. Another 75% respondents are also agree with this fact but they are not so confident. Only 16% of them has chosen the option of indifferent. There was no vote in the section of disagree.

I would be able to apply on my job, what I learned in the training program

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	STRONGLY AGREE	3	25%	12
(b)	AGREE	8	66%	12
(c )	INDIFFERENT	1	8%	12
(d)	DISAGREE	0	0%	12
(e)	STRONGLY DISAGREE	0	0%	12

Chart 4.13: Application of the learning objectives

Finding and analysis:

The employees of the company are confident about the fact that they will be able to apply the learning outcomes of the training process in the practical field of their work. 66% of the employees are agree with the fact and 25% are very confident about this fact. Only 8% of them have chosen the option of indifferent and no one for the section of disagreeing. It is the main motive of the training process that the employees will be able to better perform in at their workplaces by applying the objects they have learned in the training method. As the employees of the company are confident about this fact, it can be said that he training methods of the company are practically very good and goal oriented.

I found the overall training program was very challenging

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	STRONGLY AGREE	1	8%	12
(b)	AGREE	9	75%	12
(c )	INDIFFERENT	2	16%	12
(d)	DISAGREE	0	0%	12
(e)	STRONGLY DISAGREE	0	0%	12

Table 4.14: challenging

Chart 4.14: challenging

Finding and analysis:

In the previous section, it has been found that the training programs of the company are effective enough to properly train their employees for the practical working field. After that data has been gathered regarding the challenging fact of the training programs. In this context, it can be said that the training programs of the company are not so simple. The employees of the company have said that the training programs are challenging enough. Only 16% employees have said indifferent where all the other employees have chosen the options of the agree section.

The training program fulfilled my expectations

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	STRONGLY AGREE	0	0%	12
(b)	AGREE	12	100%	12
(c )	INDIFFERENT	0	0%	12
(d)	DISAGREE	0	0%	12
(e)	STRONGLY DISAGREE	0	0%	12

Table 4.15: expectations fulfillment

Chart 4.15: expectations fulfillment

Part D: Coworker Support for Training

My coworkers assist me to apply new skills and knowledge on the job

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	STRONGLY AGREE	5	41%	12
(b)	AGREE	5	41%	12
(c )	INDIFFERENT	2	8%	12
(d)	DISAGREE	0	0%	12
(e)	STRONGLY DISAGREE	0	0%	12

Table 4.16: Assistances of the coworkers

Chart 4.16: Assistances of the coworkers

Finding and analysis:

Assistances of the co-workers play a vital role on the training process. After collecting and summarizing the data about this fact it has been found that the employees are happy with the assistance provided by the coworkers. This is helping to fulfill the objectives of the training program with the collaborative effort provided by the employees at the time of training.

My coworkers support me in learning new skills during the training program

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	STRONGLY AGREE	5	41%	12
(b)	AGREE	5	41%	12
(c )	INDIFFERENT	2	8%	12
(d)	DISAGREE	0	0%	12
(e)	STRONGLY DISAGREE	0	0%	12

Table 4.17: Support of the coworkers

Chart 4.17: Support of the coworkers

Finding and analysis:

Developing new ideas and skills at the time of training helps the employees to develop a strong base for the practical working life. In this area, the employees are getting effective level of help from their coworkers which will help to develop new skills in the training program of the company.

My coworkers help me to develop the skills which I have learned in the training program

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	STRONGLY AGREE	3	25%	12
(b)	AGREE	8	66%	12
(c )	INDIFFERENT	1	8%	12
(d)	DISAGREE	0	0%	12
(e)	STRONGLY DISAGREE	0	0%	12

Table 4.18: Help of the coworkers

Table 4.18: Help of the coworkers

Finding and analysis:

The employees of the company are also helpful for helping the coworkers to learn the objectives of the training programs at the time of training. It is very good for developing the relations among the employees which will help them in the future for providing effective level of collaborative work in the practical working filed. Almost all of the employees have agreed with the effective level of help during the training period for the effective learning of the outcomes of the training programs.

Questionnaire for Customers:

Part A: Demographic Factors

Your Gender:

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
1	MALE	17	73%	23
2	FEMALE	6	26%	23

Table 4.19: Gender of the customers

Chart 4.19: Gender of the customers

Data Findings and Analysis

After conduction of the survey among 23 customers of Pret A Manger, it has been seen that 73% of the customers are male and the remaining 26% is female. The choices and the preferences of the male and the female customers are different and thus at the time of survey, a discrimination has been observed.

Please select your age group:

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	18-24 years	9	39%	23
(b)	25-30 years	9	39%	23
(c )	31-40 years	4	17%	23
(d)	41-50 years	1	4%	23

Chart 4.20: Age group of the customers

Data Findings and Analysis

Out of 23 respondents, it has been found that 39% respondents fall under 18 year and 24 years age category and other 39% fall under 25 years to 30 years category. Remaining 17% are under 31 years to 40 years category and only 4% are in 41 years to 50 years. Therefore, it can be found that the offered services of the fast food retail company are applicable for the young customers rather than the aged customers.

Please select income level

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	<£10000	7	30%	23
(b)	£ 10000 – £15000	8	35%	23
(c )	£15000 – £20000	3	13%	23
(d)	£20000 – £25000	5	21%	23

Chart 4.21: Income level

Data Findings and Analysis

Those customers are in the majority list whose salary is between £ 10000 and £15000 and on the contrary, 21% respondents are in £20000 – £25000 income level. Therefore, it can be said that the middle aged income people are in huge number and at the same time it is proved that the price of the products are comparatively low in this retail food centre.

Part B: work skill

Please rate the work skills of our existing employee in 1 to 5 rating:

Consider customers point of view when making decisions

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	1	2	9%	23
(b)	2	3	13%	23
(c )	3	4	17%	23
(d)	4	9	39%	23
(e)	5	5	21%	23

Chart 4.22: consideration of customer view point

Data Findings and Analysis

39% of the respondents have stated that at the time of decision making, the company pays attention to the customers’ point of view. Only 9% of them have raised their hand against the point. Therefore, it can be said that the company is required to concentrate more on this part in order to make the customers highly valued.

Effective in satisfying customer needs

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	1	0	0%	23
(b)	2	3	13%	23
(c )	3	4	17%	23
(d)	4	9	39%	23
(e)	5	7	30%	23

Chart 4.23: Satisfying customer needs

Data Findings and Analysis

39% of the respondents are satisfied with the services provided by the employees in the retail food chain and on the other hand, 0% has stated that they are not satisfied. Therefore, it can be stated that the company is required to bring consistency to their service in order to hold on the market position.

Pursue the best customer-focused responses that add value to the business

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	1	0	0%	23
(b)	2	2	8%	23
(c )	3	8	34%	23
(d)	4	10	43%	23
(e)	5	3	13%	23

Chart 4.24: Customer focus responses

Data Findings and Analysis

43% respondents have agreed that the company pursue the best customer-centric responses that significantly add value to the business. 13% of them have high agreed and the no respondent has raised their hand against this question. However, it is important to mention that 34% of the respondents were moderately agreed to the point that the company scrutinizes the best customer orientated responses in order to add value to the business.

Focus on needs of customers

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	1	2	9%	23
(b)	2	0	0%	23
(c )	3	5	22%	23
(d)	4	9	39%	23
(e)	5	7	30%	23

Table 4.25: Focus on the needs of the customers

Data Findings and Analysis

39% are satisfied and 30% are highly satisfied on the point that the company sheds focus on the requirements of the customers and this is one of the factors of success for the company. However, 9% has stated that the company does not pay attention to the customer needs and this part is required to modify for the company to enhance growth.

Part C: Communication skills

Please rate the work skills of our existing employee in 1 to 5 rating:

Accurately attends to/understands ideas which are exchanged

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	1	1	4%	23
(b)	2	3	13%	23
(c)	3	5	22%	23
(d)	4	8	35%	23
(e)	5	6	26%	23

Chart 4.26: Exchange of ideas

Data Findings and Analysis

35% respondents have stated that the services provided by the employees are satisfactory and 26% have stated that the service is highly satisfactory. Though 4% are highly dissatisfied and 13% are dissatisfied with the services. Therefore, the employees are suggested to enhance their communication skills in order to enhance the reputation in the existing market.

Deliver influential presentations

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	1	2	9%	23
(b)	2	1	4%	23
(c)	3	2	9%	23
(d)	4	14	61%	23
(e)	5	4	17%	23

Table 4.27: Delivery of influential presentations

Chart 4.27: Delivery of influential presentations

Data Findings and Analysis

61% respondents have stated that the company delivers influential presentations and on the contrary, 9% have raised their hand against the point. Therefore, it can be said that the company is required to deliver more influential presentations to attract more number of customers.

Listen carefully

SERIAL NO	OPTIONS	NO OF RESPONSES	PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES	TOTAL RESPONSES
(a)	1	1	4%	23
(b)	2	3	13%	23
(c)	3	3	13%	23
(d)	4	8	35%	23
(e)	5	8	35%	23

Careful listening

Data Findings and Analysis

The respondents have stated that the existing employees in the company listen carefully to the needs and the requirements of the customers and thus the customers are satisfied with the provide services. However, only 4% have disagreed to the point and 13% respondents stayed neutral at the asked question.

In this chapter, the quantitative primary data of the research study are analyzed. At first, the data was collected and summarized in tabular format and then the analysis of the data was completed with the help of the tools of the MS Excel.

Introduction:

In order to complete the research study, only primary data has been gathered from the employee and the customers of the company. The data about the training process given to the employees were collected from the employees and how the company is providing the services to the customers has been assessed by collecting the data from  the customers of the company.

The training process of the company is very good as stated by their employees. The data was collected from both of the male and female employees of the company and almost all the employees have stated that they are getting proper training in the first phase of working with the company. The company has a lot of old employees who are satisfied with the training programs given by the employees. The employees of the company have stated that the company is providing proper facilities to them in the training process. The responses of the employees of the company are indicating that the training programs are god to complete the responsibilities well at the workplaces. The training helps to develop proper idea about the working responsibilities. The employees will be able to deliver effective level of services to the customers. Data was also collected from the customers about the services they are getting form the employees of the company. The collected data is indicating that the customers are getting effective level of services from the company. It can be concluded that the training program of the company are helping the employees of the company to understand the ways of understanding the requirements of the customers and they are also provide the priority to the customer preferences while taking any decisions in their business strategy.

In all the questions regarding the effectiveness of the training process of the company, it has been found that almost all the employees have agreed with the effectiveness of the training process of the company. According to Radnor and Johnston (2013), the key of getting the desired level of success in a business the training is very vital. As the company is providing the effective level of training to their employees, they will be able to have greater success in their business. The customers of the company are also happy with the services provided by the employees of the company. The main reason behind the ability of providing the satisfactory services to the customers is the effective level of training of the employees. All the required facilities of the training programs are easily available to all the employees. This is helping the employees to understand the important factors for delivering the effective level of services to the customers. All the data gathered from the employees are indicating towards the effectiveness of the training programs of the company.

All the customers and the employees gave positive feedbacks against the training process of the company and customer services. The customers of the company are saying that the company gives mentionable preference to the feedbacks given by them. It is indicating that the employees are well trained about these facts and performing well.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusion

In order to conclude it can be said that, the researcher has analyzed the effects of training on the improvement of the customer services. While conducting the study the researcher has undergone an extensive survey of literature that helped the researcher to gain a broader insight of the topic. On the light of the knowledge acquired the researcher has focused on the theories of training. Training plays an important role in determining the staff performance; it actually helps to motivate the employees towards their work. A better-trained employee with sole focus on the job responsibility is more likely to provide better customer service. Again, the researcher has observed that, there are a number of factors that determines the performance of an employee. These factors are namely, mentoring, motivation and training. These terms are interrelated with each other, through proper training; the employees will be able to achieve better motivation towards their work. On the other hand, mentoring of the employees helps them to develop a friendly and efficient work culture. This helps the employees to enhance their quality of service and thereby increasing the productivity of the company as a whole. In this section, the researcher has evaluated the achievement of the research as well as provided certain plausible recommendations also.

Linking with Objectives:

To understand different types of staff training

The objectives of the research are addressed in an effective and efficient way. There are different types of staff training that has been mentioned in the literature review section. The main purpose to train the employees is to increase and improve their performance. Training is a twofold aspect it benefits both the organization as well as the employees. the proper understanding of the staff training the study has developed a recommendation format for the company.

To understand the different types of training process used by Pret A manger

 Pret A manger uses the training process in order to make its employees humble and good to their customers. Actually to retain customers I is necessary to provide the customers better service before the purchase, at the time of purchase as well as after purchase.

To analyze the impact of the staff training used by Pret A manger in customer satisfaction

If seen from the viewpoint of customer satisfaction, the competitors of Pret A manger are lagging far behind. It has depicted an outstanding performance in this regard. Therefore, from the data analysis it is evident that the company has provided necessary training to its employees and that in turn helped the company to improve its performance from every aspect.

To give some suitable suggestions for improving the staff training to achieve better customer services

The suggestions that are provided in this section are completely based on the research work. The literature review section and the data analysis section clearly depicts that, the company is in a good shape. However, there are always some prospects which can be developed further.

In this section, the researcher will provide certain recommendation for Pret A manger following which may help the organization to provide enhanced customer services. On the basis of the analysis of the company, the researcher has designed certain plausible recommendations for the company, these are as follows,

However, Pret A manger is in a good shape in the context of staff training, it should try to develop its training process by implementing more intensive training methods. An intensive training method will help the employees for the betterment of their quality of service. An improved service will therefore, help the organization to provide quality services to its customers.

Again, the organization may adopt a better policy in its recruitment and selection strategies. That is after selecting the appropriate candidate if the organization provides them an on the job training before absorption, his will help them to train the employees cost effectively. As the employees while they will join the organization, they will be trained enough to provide sufficiently better services to the customers. Following these recommendations may hopefully help the company to achieve a better situation in the market of fast food chains.

The researcher while conducting the study has faced with certain difficulties, there is not enough studies conducted in this context. However, a huge base of literature is available in the context of training and motivation, but they do not relate with customer service. Therefore, the researcher has tried to bridge the gap between the literatures with the help of this study. Therefore, it is quite necessary for the future researchers to look into this side of the research, to contribute in this regard. Which will help the researchers to generate and maintain a relevant database in this context also. Again, the researcher did not get enough time to survey more, otherwise the sample size would have been a bit larger.

The future scope of the study lies in the collection of data. As the data analyzed here is based on the primary data, it can be used in near future as a secondary data. Therefore, the data source used for the study will serve as a source of a proper secondary data. Again, the results that are obtained in the analysis section of the study will help to analyze the market situation in future. The market scenario is changing frequently and new training processes are introducing in the business world. Future research work can be conducted within the changed market situation and new training procedures. As per the present market situation the company has reacted and represented the outcomes, however in future with the changing scenario, if there is a change how the company should react can be suggested in accordance with the study. Future research work can be conducted to understand the effectiveness of the suggestions given in this research work after applying these suggestions within the company.

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