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Service providers are recognizing the importance of customer service and are investing considerable amounts of effort, time and other resources into training programs to improve customer service. Customers, on the other hand, are demanding greater levels of service. The importance of customer expectations of service quality has been acknowledged. However, there are relatively few studies which address the extent to which customer expectations of service quality and their subsequent assessment of the service compares with that of the service providers and even fewer which try to redress the issue through training programs. Builds on the existing literature and reports the results of a three‐phased study which investigates the mismatch between customers’ and employees’ assessments of service in five‐star hotels. Concludes with practical implications and recommendations for service provider training programs.

This paper aims to focus on the communications skills training given to transnational call center workers in India whose jobs involve providing customer service to Western customers. Emotion work is a key component of customer service jobs, and this work is constructed as an important soft skill.

Between 2002 and 2009, 100 interviews were conducted with customer service workers, trainers and managers in India. Respondents provided detailed descriptions of their training curricula and some workers shared their complete set of training booklets. The analysis for this paper is based on a section of the curricula that focuses on communication skills used during training programs for Indian customer service agents.

Training curricula designed to enhance the communication skills of call center agents are vehicles through which workers learn to make sense of their place in social, economic and cross‐national hierarchies.

The study of emotion work in relation to workplace learning occurs in the context of global economic regimes.

Training curricula on communication skills serves to help workers to cope with the expression of customer abuse. Rather, there is a need to develop regulations that protect workers from customer aggression.

There are many different views and opinions held about the value of training. Some people, of course, reach the top without any formal training whatsoever and expect others to do the same. This is all well and good if, presumably, you are able to train yourself. Most need the support of formally organized training courses or continuous learning, working on the assumption that there are always things to learn. It does not matter how old or experienced you are, there will always be a gap in your knowledge that requires attention. Beware the people who know it all as they will be the ones who have the blind spots and just cannot see trouble ahead. If these people are at the top of the organization and just happened to be in the right place at the right time, which could happen if an organization has been particluarly successful, then this could have disastrous consequences on the business. Business means change, and if you cannot cope or are not prepared to accept or adapt to this change, the end result is inevitable.

Utilising data from 18 in‐depth case studies, this study seeks to explore training, development and human resource development (HRD) practices in European call centres. It aims to argue that the complexity and diversity of training, development and HRD practices is best understood by studying the multilayered contexts within which call centres operate. Call centres operate as open systems and training, development and HRD practices are influenced by environmental, strategic, organisational and temporal conditions.

The study utilised a range of research methods, including in‐depth interviews with multiple stakeholders, documentary analysis and observation. The study was conducted over a two‐year period.

The results indicate that normative models of HRD are not particularly valuable and that training, development and HRD in call centres is emergent and highly complex.

This study represents one of the first studies to investigate training and development and HRD practices and systems in European call centres.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between service orientation, customer service training and employee engagement of firms in the hospitality sector of the tourism industry.

A total of 231 responses from 13 large all-inclusive hotels in Jamaica are analyzed by using structural equation modeling.

Overall, service orientation positively affected customer service training and employee engagement. In addition, customer service training positively affected employee engagement. Furthermore, the results indicate that customer service training mediates the relationship between service orientation and employee engagement.

This study builds on the conceptual literature of engagement and adds to the limited empirical studies to date to highlight the importance of service-oriented culture and training activities on employee engagement.

The findings of the study generate an increased understanding of the importance of an engaged workforce and of specific customer service training practices that can foster engagement. This study also highlights that managers should be supportive of training and development activities within a broader context that considers specific desired workplace performance from employees.

The knowledge gap related to many frequently used organizational practices reported as having an impact on engagement is addressed. Addressing this problem extends existing literature and provides an evidence base for human resource managers and professionals in service organizations, specifically in hospitality firms.

Proposes that customer service training processes should be studied as a multidimensional issue, recognizing an analytical dimension of tasks, technique, procedure, and system; a behavioral dimension concerned with attitudes, perceptions, and motivation; and an organizational learning dimension concerned with management styles, corporate culture, structure, and information flows. Explores in addition three elements necessary for effective customer service training implementation.

To underestimate service quality is like saying goodbye to some of your hard‐earned profits. Even after revamping and upgrading products, many organizations continue to experience decline because they forget that people want to feel good. The feel‐good factor is espoused by politicians throughout the world to nurture votes. The fact that people want to feel good is often overlooked and ignores Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. How many times have you bought a product only to find there is a fault and the product needs replacing? This is normally something which is very irritating, but not ulcer‐inducing enough to get worked up about until, that is, the customer service department treats you as though it is your fault.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the human resource factors (rewards, training teamwork and empowerment) that affect service recovery performance (SRP) of customer service employees in life insurances companies. Life insurances industries in Malaysia are facing stiff competitions due to growing consumerism, changing consumer choices and expectations. SRP is very important aspect in the insurances firms toward retaining the customer and one of the key competitive advantages for sustainability and adding value to the organization in the future.

The data obtained from 350 customer service employees based on convenience sampling were analyzed using regression and hierarchical analysis.

There are two factors, namely, empowerment and training, affecting the SRP. The employment status moderated the relationship between reward and SRP. The limitations of this study have been noted and further research suggestions are also included that are very important for SRP.

This study has added knowledge regarding the factors that affect SRP, in general, and precisely in life insurance industries in Malaysian context.

Defining “quality” can be confusing. There are numerous possible interpretations, especially in the service sector. Despite this, quality is seen as a major factor in customer acquisition and retention. Describes a model of service quality based around operational issues, directly relevant to issues of staff skills and training; and based on three dimensions of outcome/process, hard/soft and objective/subjective, giving a total of eight service types. Developed from survey data and in‐depth interviews with staff and customers carried out within retail banking, it is suggested that the operations orientation makes it universally acceptable. Concludes that the benefits to the organization from a correct match between staff skills and customer expectations include a higher and more consistent perceived quality by customers, and, very probably, a greater level of job satisfaction among staff.

The current study aims to investigate the role of post‐training self‐efficacy in influencing customer perceptions and usage of self‐service technologies (SSTs). Specifically, the aim is to propose that high post‐training self‐efficacy will reduce technology anxiety and hence increase perceptions of ease of use associated with SSTs.

A self‐checkout machine in a library setting served as the study context. A total of 131 subjects were randomly assigned to two training groups (written instructions and a demonstration).

The results partially support the research hypotheses and suggest that post‐training self‐efficacy has a positive impact on customer satisfaction and ease of use. Ease of use, in turn, increased customer intention to reuse SSTs while decreasing technology anxiety.

The study has a relatively small sample size and only two training methods were tested. A control group should be included in future research.

As the first trial, the study investigated customers' post‐training self‐efficacy in SSTs by integrating training theories and SSTs studies. The results suggest service organizations use effective training programs to customers' participation in the service delivery process via SSTs. The study also explored customers' ease of use and technology anxiety in a single research. Different from previous SSTs studies, the current study suggest that ease of use and technology anxiety play various roles in customers' participation at SSTs encounters.