Training under the glare

Hareesha felt she had created more complications than was good for her. A simple request
for training the ground staff at Morro Groups new retail operation had cascaded into new
debates which were wonderful from an academic viewpoint; but at another and more real
level, she — the architect of the debate—had no answers or direction!

Hareesha was not a home-grown Morro resource. She had been the head of customer
service at a white goods company from where she had made this leap to Morro, an FMCG
company, to head and run its new extension into retailing. Earlier in her career, Hareesha
had designed the retailing efforts of an American sports goods company in India, which
justified her new appointment as GM (operations) at Mo-Mart, as the retail business was
being called.

One of the first things that Hareesha had stressed on was training. Morro's HR head,
Swetha, however, felt too much was being made out of specialised training. She said: "We
have been managing the growth of this company for years, we can pull a few leaves from
our BPO division and create a training module for you," she said, Surprised, Hareesha asked;
"And how will you measure customer satisfaction? Besides, the businesses cater to
completely different consumer sets. For example, the Morro Group's focus has always been
on a B2B area. Therefore, while entering a direct end consumer business like retail, we need
to have someone to handhold us,"

Vittal Morro, the MD, leading the debate, said; "But then, what is the quality of trainers we
have in the market today? And retail in India is not all that old for there to be a dependable
community of trainers... nor am I going to spend on some flashy foreign company with
pretty business cards. So you, Hareesha, go find the right people. And later also tell me why
they are right for us"

On the other side, Swetha felt that people were people and they could be trained if HR put
its head to it. "Look, our BPO division is running well," she said. "We did many workshops
with them on attitude and behaviour, and they've managed"

Hareesha agreed, but she said: "Each new business in retail services is facing unusual
situations which call for unusual training, Swetha. Take call centres. After cashing in on the
initial rush of business without training, they are now either laced with attrition or angry
customers, and even the law is unable to help. Take what happened to me. My cell phone
was not working well, so I called the help service. The call centre [CC] lady went through the
steps by the book, but the problem was technical and she couldn't get it working. I was
shuttled back and forth between CC executives and supervisors in vain. I was in Mumbai,
the CC was in Mumbai, but the direct selling associate who was trying to help out was in
Baroda and the technical centre is in Ahmedabad.

"This went on for a whole frustrating week. Is this a problem with process or training? I
think a well-trained customer service person could have helped me, maybe not technically,
but certainly emotionally — because customer service is an attitude, not a set of steps in a

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book, which is what they understood. For no sooner was my problem resolved with a new
SIM card, than I receive an SMS asking: "Were you satisfied with the interaction with the
customer service centre? If yes, reply with A, if no, reply with B!" Are customers just data
points? Is our sensitivity to customer service (CS) geared by processes that throw up mere
statistics?

"Equally, take a look at the new mountain of issues that have come up. Apparently, the
number of problems with mobile customer service has gone up tremendously, and so a
group of lawyers have formed a forum to help subscribers. Why? Because courts in India
have ruled that they will not take up 'poor service' as a complaint given by an individual. A
group of individuals must represent and fight the corporate! ' Now tell me, do we even have
an idea of what kind of Pandora's Box retailing will throw open?''

Morro agreed. He said to Swetha: "Let Hareesha find external trainers. If they turn out
lemons, we will have to spend a few months and develop a good programme in-house." And
thus, Hareesha identified three training firms.

The first, Firm A, was a joint venture between an Indian consulting firm and a foreign one.
The Indian firm had started off with recruitment and HR consulting businesses and then, on
seeing the market trends, diversified into training. It tied up with an International training
organisation that brought with it an assortment of models, including some for sales and
customer service that had served it well worldwide.

Presenting its model, Firm A said: "Customers are typically the same everywhere — not that
we doubt individuality, but having tested this scientifically and psychologically researched
model across thousands of customers and seen how it works identically across countries, we
have been able to validate our position," Further, Firm A did not think there was need to
incorporate client specific variables into the model and customise it to some extent,
because "people are more or less the same everywhere and, hence, the way to deal with
them is also fairly common. These models are based on the principles of psychology and,
hence, the confidence," averred Firm A.

"So are the skills for running a coffee shop, a fitness centre, a travel agency and a call centre
all the same?" wondered Hareesha. "No it's not, this company is shooting in the dark;
besides people, businesses are not the same everywhere as well. India is different.., you are
asking East to build a bridge with West, and it requires a whole new approach... we cannot
have template training...." And as she looked in the slides flowing out of the overhead
projector, Hareesha mused; "All these models are high on jargon. Besides, they are not even
talking about the application of these models to MoMart's scenario'

For example, Firm A used a basic sales training model, which it was going to adopt to a retail
environment. Hareesha didn't think it could be as easily adopted, since retail sales were
more like a transaction itself that did not necessarily result in a sale. Moreover, it had to be
combined with customer service as the more important area in retail experience. When she
explained this to Firm A. it said: "We offer a comprehensive training module for retail sales
and customer service. The model is based on our observation of the retail process, such as
offering assistance in the buying process, keeping an eye as the customer wanders, using

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interaction opportunity to offer more choices in buying and even trying to cross-sell, and
finally, handling customer complaints through customer empathy. The actual training will
incorporate theory relating to buying behaviour using audio/visual aids of various scenarios
and how, ideally, one must behave, plus case studies, role playing and reading material."
Hareesha wondered if that was adequate. She said: "But…that is not how a customer buys,
isn't it? This model is more about how to sell, but what I am looking for is a method that
looks at buying behaviours and selling behaviours, as I feel both are critical to a sale!"

Hareesha was not yet concerned with the model of training, but what her staff really
needed, i.e., training needs identification (TNI). Firm A said nothing about identifying her
needs, because Firm A probably did not believe her needs were any different from its other
clients. If customers were the same everywhere then sellers are the same too, by default,
she rued. Besides, had the impact of training been measured earlier by Firm A? How was
she, as client, to know if their model worked? Even if it gave examples of other
organisations where it worked, weren't business strategies different? Hareesha's own
experience had shown that training method and content changed depending on the
business objective, which could be either to get a maximum number of customers or to get
maximum revenue per sale, or to get maximum revenue per customer per year, or to get
maximum cross-selling across different departments. So how was Firm A planning to
approach her business objective?

"The entire exercise of training is to result in change, isn't it?" she thought. "I have always
defined training as 'changing to learn and learning to change'. But this seems to be more a
game of packaging and marketing the product rather than creating change. Which is what
the model confirms." Yet to be fair, Hareesha asked: "When we have discussed my specific
context and needs, can we incorporate that into this model?" But Firm A said: "This is a
model that is derived from our JV partner, and they do not allow any customisation
regardless of the country it is used in."

The following day Hareesha met Firm B. This was a pure training firm, specialising in sales
and customer training. Firm B was an Indian company that had been in business for more
than a decade and had an impressive list of clients. "Our USP," said Firm B, "is that our
training is customised to about 30 per cent. The other 70 per cent are proven steps in sales
and customer service, which are common across companies. But we have experienced
trainers—subject matter experts (SMEs)— people who have spent at least 15 years in the
industry across marketing, sales and even supply chain." Hareesha was marginally relieved,
but that relief was short-lived when firm B clarified its definition of customisation; "Only the
case studies and simulation exercises done are modified to a live problem taken from the
organisation's context. The approach to the problem does not change, but the way you
practise in the controlled environment (training room) changes."

And Hareesha thought: "So in effect, Firm B is not very different from Firm A. I mean, A
won't change anything; B will change 30 per cent but that, too, in a manner that does not
reflect the organisation's contextual needs. OK, so they use simulation exercises that will
incorporate the client's specifics, bur that is only to exemplify, not to modify the actual
training process. Am I cribbing?" she wondered.

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The training of sales and service staff was just evolving. All these new entrants in the trade
of training were confident that their prescriptions were right, having been tried and tested
before. Yet, Hareesha couldn't help wondering: "Wherever it may have been tried and
tested, can one size fit all? India has 29 states, 30 languages, an equal number of cuisines
and religious practices and belief systems; it's virtually like the European Union. Each state
in India has completely different economics at play. Have these guys validated their
processes against such formidable diversity? How can I be sure that Firm B's approach is
right?"

That evening, CEO Vittal Morro met Hareesha. "My good lady, did I scare you with my pre-
conclusions about training firms?" he asked amicably. "Do allow this old man his rigid ways.
Young people are so quick on changing everything around, the pace is a bit over whelming
for my 72 years! Yet do tell me, you met Firm B today, so two firms so far; is the sun shin-
ing?" Hareesha always felt a certain closeness to the senior Morro, and thus, she spoke with
confidence: "Sir, this is a young industry, younger even than retail in India, I have come out
of both meetings with a lot of questions. Before I meet Firm C, I want to be sure my head is
clear. What is training? Is it essentially an outside influence to bring change in skills,
behaviour and attitudes of the employees? Can a two-to three-day workshop do this? It's
sufficient if you want to train an assembly line to tighten a nut or bolt. But in sales and
customer service, every situation is about feelings sent and unpredictable responses
received, Even in the best training programme, only a set of instructions can be provided in
two to three days, through simulation.

"Does this create the necessary change? The learners are adults with 25 years of
conditioned experiences. Will they unlearn and re-learn in three days?" And Hareesha
quoted from the second principle of adult learning as given by Malcolm Knowles, widely
regarded as the father of andragogy. It pleased Morro, hut he simply nodded, eyes closed,
taking in Hareesha's confusion, superimposing it on his experience.

And Hareesha continued: "Who decides what skills the front-end customer service people
need? We, as MoMart, are still exploring, we do not have the expertise yet to decide. Will
these firms help with a proper process of training-need identification (TNI), or will they give
their model and try to force-fit it by just customising the phrases and case studies for the
industry? Nothing wrong in this from the training firm's perspective; the various models
have been developed from their experience. And if they start customising everything, they
cannot grow as a training firm.

"Fair, but who will decide what has to be customised without knowing what changes are
needed? Can our 250 staff be renewed and 'fitted' in three days? Is it better to first train our
senior managers with the firm's SMEs, and then let these senior marketing people carry it
forward to the front-line staff? That is what I am grappling with. And mind you sir, there is
no one yet in India today who can tell us the answer, because retail is just evolving and
behaviours are all random right now.

"Then again, I have some concerns about SMEs. At our B-school we had vice-presidents of
marketing as visiting faculty; yet three years later when I faced the market with his teach-
ings, the world had changed. I feel SMEs should be used sparingly to give new, different and

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larger perspectives, not teach what has to be immediately implemented. Can we assume
that an ex-GM (marketing), who has dealt with customers but not end-consumers, will be in
sync with the demands of today's direct marketing needs? Plus, these SMEs also train V-Ps.
Don't we need someone who can come down to the level of the front-end staff? If they can
train all levels, as they claim, then it is the model again that trains people, not the trainer,
isn't it? Back to square one then? I feel we need people who can go to the level of the
learner. To create change, the learner must accept the trainer and not be alienated by him,"

Morro nodded, then asked: "Answer this. Do you mean we are putting people into
templates and simply teaching theory... is that your point? If not, explain." Hareesha
replied:" My belief is that for learning, it is essential that the trainer comes to the level of
the learner and is accepted as a coach and is able to change the behaviour of his trainee.
This has nothing to do with theoretical expertise but is more about having experienced an
environment with the end-consumer as a key variable, knowing a little more than the
trainee in the area where the change is expected, and teaching that knowledge using good
communication and psychology. The basis for all these beliefs is that training should create
a change in behaviour or attitude. Otherwise, the best SME and content are useless”.

"Which is why, the best type of training is apprenticeship. During the industrial revolution,
apprentices learned from SMEs — by working alongside them hands on, for months and
years, not through an executive summary. Today's training firms are offering to change skill
sets in three days using SMEs. Is that tenable? Direct consumer interaction training requires
different processes, a focus on very different skills — not teach everything in that subject
area. Retail staffs are going to be in a completely different and dynamic operating situation.
So, these SMEs can bring in a perspective, but the real learning will come from, say area
sales managers and other direct sales people who walk the talk, who meet distributors,
kiranas and end consumers. Maybe I am alone in this thinking. Pardon me for getting carried
away." This lime, Morro opened his eyes and smiled. "You may be alone just now, but not
for too long; we don't know who else believes this theory, I do for one. Now come back
after you have met Firm C," he said, patting Hareesha.

Firm C did not offer any training models or customised training. It offered a training process
that was linked to the client's objectives. Presenting its strategy, Firm C insisted that
training, whether internal or external, is only a small part of the learning. It cannot make any
changes by itself Hence, its process included helping the client identify the training need,
then developing the content and delivering it. "Training is no longer part of the trainer's
job," said Firm C, "but the onus is on the line manager—just like any other resources that he
provides his team.”

Hareesha scratched her eyebrows. So this looked like consultative training, not bad, she
thought. Therefore, would it be more of customisation and more tailored to her context?
Firm C was essentially a firm of generalists who studied the client's context, its business
objectives, its environment and what pitfalls arise. Firm C comprised of MBAs with assorted
consulting experience. They had done consulting assignments where they had diagnosed
problems and the solutions had been 'training'. Add to that, Firm C was saying that no one
can he trained 100 per cent…it is for line management to develop the training needs and
methods.

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Seeing Hareesha's confusion, Firm C said; "What we do is bring in outside skills and
perspective—but also force line management to take responsibility for the change instead
of us simply saying 'give us amount X and we will change your people in two days'. More
and more companies are now realising that this is not possible. Change is an ongoing
concept — and trainers are change agents, not magicians. So they are more like consultants
who watch your process and tell you what you can do to bring about change. We see
change as an ongoing process. There is no perfect state of being trained, because every
variable in your system is also changing everyday—the market, the consumers, the
environment, and technology. Everybody wants to be a change agent. Consultants attempt
to change work culture or business strategy. Marketing, advertising and brand managers
work at changing consumer behaviour. Trainers work with HR to change employee behav-
iour. In short, all of them are trying to change behaviour of employees or consumers! But
somewhere, the purpose of training is getting lost, with focus on the trainers and models.
So this is not about us, not about you, not about the consumer, but about the process. What
we will be doing is teaching the organisation to fish, rather than giving them the fish!"
Hareesha called Amrita Ray her ex-colleague from Axel. In fact, Axel was also grappling with
training programmes -which they had chosen to develop in-house — and not succeeding too
well. "I have met three firms," said Hareesha, "but how do I know what I am getting is what I
need? Because I feel the starting point is to identify MoMart's training needs,"

“Exactly!" said Amrita. "That was my feeling too. The firms I met went straight to four stages
in customer complaint handling. I found that those were only behavioural changes; they
were not getting into attitude change! They got back with role-play scenarios between
customer and salesperson in four industries: airlines, call centres, hospitals and hotels. Firm
B will change the airline mode to retail, but the script, situation and training remain the
same! This is not customising. I feel the situation, degree, and frequency of complaints vary
across industries, and have their genesis in completely different levels of quality and
competition in the given industry. Each industry has different needs, even if the end
objective is profit and customer satisfaction. For example, the business intent of Max
Medical Services could be to increase sales through a large customer base, whereas a
hospital may want to increase average customer revenue per visit. What customisation are
they really doing?"

When Hareesha met Morro the next day, the wise man grinned. "Whoever told you the
learning curve is a bed of roses? If the industry is at its infancy, its problems are worse off!
Didn't you tell me about courts refusing to take up the complaints of individual mobile
phone users? Now if the problems are worse than that, then what should I say about the
solutions and where they lie? But you are on the right track, Hareesha the more you
question and flounder, the more likely you are to gel to the right answer. So where are we
on this?"

"Sir, my feel is, what we need is training consultancy, not just training. That means, the
entire process should be addressed: from training need identification to content develop-
ment, to follow-up after training and ensuring implementation of learning, to measuring the
effectiveness. No doubt a very time consuming process, but then, we are entering a new
industry. Yes, it will be more expensive compared to a standard product from Firm A or B.
So, therefore, the choice is Firm C?"