Skills council People 1st has created two new qualifications for customer service after research showed that employers were concerned about their frontline staff`s ability to deliver excellent service.
With more Brits expected to holiday at home this year and the approach of the 2012 Olympics in London, People 1st said it was important for employers to ensure their frontline staff are fully trained to deal with customers in the right way.
Brian Wisdom, chief executive of People 1st said: "We have ambitious targets to meet before the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games which will provide the UK with a fantastic opportunity to shine on the world stage.
"The customer service skills of front line and supervisory staff are critical to the hospitality and travel industry’s success as their behaviour and actions impact on whether visitors have had an excellent or bad experience and are likely to return."
The new qualifications are currently being accredited onto the qualifications framework in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and will also be delivered through the National Skills Academy for Hospitality.
The level 2 qualification for frontline staff will focus on customer service procedures and behaviours while the level 3 qualification is for managerial and supervisory staff and will include modules on coaching and facilitating skills, return on coaching investment and the challenges of managing teams. Both courses will be held over one day and will involve some form of assessment.
People 1st decided to make the new qualifications available after research for its State of the Nation 2009 report revealed that 57 per cent of businesses reporting skills gaps in their workforce said staff lacked customer handling skills.
A recent mystery shopper survey by the National Skills Academy for Hospitality showed that businesses scored an average of 72 per cent when it came to customer service, but that there was a need for the industry to improve its `softer skills’, such as putting the customer at ease, being genuinely interested in their experience and caring for customers during their visit.