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This paper identifies market forces which induce employers to provide training in Ireland. It investigates if they are present in sufficient strength in the consumer service sectors with a high concentration of low‐skill jobs to provide a basis to upgrade such jobs. Data from a survey of firms on training incidence, duration, and cost are used in OLS regressions to investigate the determinants of training at national and sector level. The results show that firm size, the proportion of skilled workers, foreign ownership, perception of changing skill requirements and tightness of the labour market all influence employers' training decisions. Analysis of sector‐specific effects indicates that firms in consumer service sectors are unlikely to respond to market forces by increasing training to a level which would encompass low‐skill jobs. However, policies involving the school system and company‐based training could help to enhance low‐skill jobs in consumer service sectors.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse what retail and hospitality industry employers want from training and trainers.

The research project was undertaken for Service Skills Australia, the Australian Industry Skills Council that oversees formal training for a range of service industries in Australia. The paper utilises data from focus groups and telephone interviews with representatives of the retail and hospitality industries, and telephone interviews with staff of the relevant UK Sector Skills Councils, to provide international benchmarking for the issues raised.

Results showed that, while industry representatives stated that they prioritised industry skills and knowledge above education skills and knowledge, a complex mixture of the two was required, which was generally felt to be lacking. Curriculum for training was also perceived to be deficient, despite Training packages having been developed in consultation with industry. A comparison with the UK interviews with senior staff at the UK Skills Councils for the two industries showed similar issues and suggested some possible ways forward for Australia.

The paper provides three major areas where improvement in VET training and trainers would be welcome and gives useful initiatives for improvement in those areas.

Facing the aging workforce but older workers’ vulnerability in the labor market, this chapter empirically explores factors and policy implications to enhance older workers’ entered employment rates (EER) after exiting the national workforce program. After reviewing older workers’ attributes and the unique methods to train them, the chapter examines demographic, socioeconomic, and program attributions to older workers’ EER, controlling for cyclical changes in the labor market. The chapter relies on three sets of models including logistic regression, multi-level mixed-effect regression, and multilevel mixed effect logistic regression models, as well as longitudinal Workforce Investment Act Standardized Record Data and Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment data. Older dislocated workers and older adults are examined separately. Some Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act training and related service combinations are identified to contribute to older adults and older dislocated workers’ EER and to inform strategic decision-making about future allocations of funds and policy efforts to serve older workers.

This paper aims to establish a service efficiency-oriented framework for training design and evaluation as a pivotal service procedure in the workplace to fill the gap between training and organizational performance in a service context.

A semi-structured interview was first employed to confirm the primary indicator for training programs and criteria design as the pivotal factor for operational efficiency. An observation experiment was subsequently conducted to reveal that the training program can be redesigned according to the concrete operation effects and influencing factors for operational efficiency in the workplace.

The proposed service efficiency-oriented training model is suggested to underline and guide the activities for training requirements, training methods, training criteria and training evaluation for the service sector. Training auditing, analyzing and redesigning based on service efficiency could help to integrate service efficiency so that service organizations can readjust their specific training needs and concise the training program in the human resource management practice.

This study only conducted an on-site observational experiment on one of the casinos in Macau. An observational method assessed the conceptual model in the context of table game operations. More quantitative approaches like AI-assisted systems may be employed in the future. The representativeness of the sample is somewhat limited. In addition, the service efficiency-oriented training concept model is an open system that any organization could extend by incorporating more elements in each part that can be developed to meet their human resource management needs. Finally, other service-oriented organizations like airlines and banks can learn from the theoretical model proposed in this article. It is suggested that non-profit organizations would be a better research area.

The finding can provide organizations and practitioners with insights and tools on how to provide and evaluate service efficiency and assess employee performance.

The proposed service efficiency-oriented training model provides a theoretical foundation for training and organizational performance for service organizations.

This study is the first to develop a service efficiency-oriented training framework with training needs, methods, criteria and evaluation. A service industry sample was used to verify the framework in the context of casino game pace and dealer training for table games. Suggestions for a combination of management are provided for casino operators to redesign and evaluate the dealer training program for service improvement.

The present study is specifically designed to accomplish two objectives: to validate the SERV*OR scale in an emerging oriental market; and to test empirically the effect of service orientation on front-line employees ' service performance in various service skill areas.

The whole research involved a triangulation process, which involved in-depth interviews, pilot test, and survey interviews, to collect both qualitative and quantitative information to validate the measurement scales and test the hypotheses. The major objective was to validate the measurement scales and test the relationship between service orientation and front-line service employees ' performance in various skill areas.

The results from measurement scale development show that service orientation was represented by service leadership, service contact, human resources management, and service system, whereas service skills were embodied by functional skills and technical skills. Results from structural equation model (SEM) analysis show that various dimensions of the service orientation have differential positive effects on different types of the service skills.

Although the model is supported by empirical findings, only through replication in other service industries can it enhance its generalizability. Such factors as investment in service training, quality of training program, employee learning attitude may mediate or moderate the effect of service orientation on performance in different skill areas and future research should include them for a better explanation of the effect of service orientation on service skills.

Based on the results of this study, firms can strengthen the service orientation as an effective strategy to improve service skills and this broad strategy can be decomposed into more workable tactics like building service leadership, service contact, human resources management and service system improvement.

The present study bridged the macro and micro perspectives by developing a framework that provides a deeper and richer portrait of what kind of front-line employees engage in good service performance and, at the same time, what kind of service orientation component will be more effective in facilitating service performance. The findings contribute to the explanation of significant variance in employees ' service performance. The present study is thus a compelling extension of the previous approach to research on service behavior.

Law enforcement officers enter police service usually sometime after their 21st birthday. They often remain in police service until they turn 65. To maintain their professional skills and re‐certify their licenses as law enforcement officers, they must complete in‐service training hours. The purpose of this study is to estimate the current number of law enforcement officers over 40 years old and to explore possible andragogical solutions to existing in‐service training methodologies.

The Police Officer Standard and Training (POST) organizations were contacted in all 50 States in a telephone survey.

Police training requirements vary widely between States. There are a large number of older law enforcement officers that require in‐service training. This population might be better served using andragogical training techniques.

Although this was a nationwide study, there were certain limitations that must be considered. Only State, county, and municipal law enforcement officers were included in this study. No federal law enforcement officers or agencies were included in this study.

The findings show the extent and amount of in‐service training that law enforcement agencies are required to provide their employees and will be of interest to those in that field.

The selling of wines is usually performed by a sommelier in the context of an upmarket restaurant. However, many restaurants cannot afford to employ a sommelier and must rely on the food and beverage service personnel to assist customers with the selection of wine. The food and beverage service personnel are generally not qualified to do this. Restaurants usually do not provide training with regard to wine knowledge, wine service skills and wine selling skills. The purpose of this paper was to establish whether wine service training had an influence on the wine sales of a restaurant.

A quasi-experimental research design used two restaurants from the same franchise. One restaurant was the control group while the other was the experimental group. Wine sales were monitored and recorded for a period of three months, the second month being used for the training intervention of the experimental group.

Although the results were not statistically significant, the results indicated that wine service training increased the wine sales in the restaurant of the experimental group.

This study contributes to the literature in the South African hospitality sector and establishes that wine service training is a necessity for wine sales to explore further in the restaurant industry.

Media coverage of police activities is substantial and makes for “eye‐catching” headlines. Most people in the UK will remember the riots of 1981 and how policemen battled against overwhelming odds. Equally, the story of the young, brave policeman who attempts, and is injured in the process, to arrest treacherous villains, induces waves of sympathy from a probably, very middle‐class public. Best of all, are the stories of corrupted policemen who, detected and apprehended, generate in us all that slight feeling of insecurity which makes for excellent gossip.

Achieving improvements in customer service is now recognized as a major challenge facing manufacturing and service industries throughout the world. This challenge is particularly pertinent to the tourism and hospitality sector. Notions of quality in the tourism and hospitality sector have changed dramatically in the past 25 years: it was once synonymous with luxury and personalized service; it now counts at all levels of price. Service quality is often presented in the literature as primarily a marketing‐oriented concept; however, it has major implications for the quality of human resources and specifically for training and development activities. Focuses on the human resource dimension, specifically the behaviours which hinder and facilitate transactions between people in a service environment. Begins with a discussion of the concepts of quality, customer and service improvement, then considers the factors influencing interpersonal relationships and discusses alternative approaches to the development of interpersonal skills. Considers the nature of services and, finally, reports a study which evaluates the impact of an interpersonal training and development intervention on the quality of service provided by front‐office staff in a medium‐sized hotel.

States that owing to a vast change in commercial activity, organizational strategy and global competition, the skills needs in the organization of the 1990s are quite different from those needed 20 years ago. In consequence, training needs have changed as well. Examines whether women and men at similar organizational levels report the same training needs; whether women and men at different organizational levels report similar or different training needs; and whether training needs reported by the most senior organizational level convey something about the culture or strategic direction of the organization. Analyses data collected from an employee survey within a single large professional services firm. Discusses the results.