Customer Service is top job skill sought by employers
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By Robert Haase, Director of Communications
When each of my three daughters began looking for their first job, I spoke with them about the concept of assets and liabilities. Not from a spreadsheet perspective but rather an employment perspective. “When you work for an employer, you are either an asset or a liability. Employees either make money for their employer or lose money.”
I’ve seen businesses invest heavily in their branding, remodeling their retail space to create the perfect ambiance, conducting focus groups to determine their customer’s priorities, going all-in on advertising expenditures, and employing the best of social media platform experts. They did everything right. Yet, at one business, when a shopper asked a member of the maintenance staff where to find an item, he retorted, “Go find it yourself! That’s not my job.” The company’s investments may have brought shoppers through the front door, but a single employee can prevent customers from ever returning.
According to the Employment Security Department, the number one skill employers are looking for in new hires, by far, is customer service. Actually, of the twenty-five top skills employers are looking for when recruiting, customer service skills are 48% more in demand than number two on the list. The NRF’s RISE Up Customer Service & Sales online training program is ideal for retailers looking to train current employees or new hires. For a limited time, grant courses are available free of charge. Please contact Rick Means, the Director of Safety and Education, at [email protected] or 360-200-6454.