CHICAGO -- The information age has ushered in a new breed of worker—complete with different skills and deficiencies than earlier generations. Some retailers are taking customer service back to basics by training staff on social fundamentals.
“We’re hiring a lot of millennials that interact on a phone all the time,” said Nancy Couch, loss prevention and safety director for Maverik Inc., a retailer based in North Salt Lake, Utah. “They need to be taught how to handle offline interactions.”
Since Maverik began investing more in employees’ social intelligence, they’ve seen reduced negative interactions with fellow employees and guests alike, Couch said.
Here’s how Maverik is tailoring its training to fill in younger generations’ gaps ...