After analyzing the situation, it is evident that there are two main issues. The first is that some staff, exclusively part-time employees, lack sufficient product knowledge. For example, several employees are not sure which brands offer more narrow shoes and which offer wider ones. Some are unfamiliar with different support systems (e.g. Nike's "Air", Asics "Gel", etc.) A number of the more recent hires have never even played sports and are confused about why certain shoes are better or worse depending upon certain conditions. The second issue is that some staff lack customer's service skills. There doesn't seem to be any consistency in how customers are treated. Some employees are too relaxed and casual while others are too aggressive. This problem wasn't just with the part-timers. One customer used the term 'overwhelmed' when they described how the employee approached them while another customer complained that they were ignored and treated like an inconvenience. It was also clear that some employees only had one of these problems (either they lacked product knowledge or they lacked customer service skills), but there were a few who seemed be lacking in both.

The owner has given you a three-day period in which you are to address the situation through the use of training. In other words, you can now assume the role of trainer or that you are creating the training program that could be delivered by an external expert. Keep in mind that you do not have the authority to fire anyone.

You are required to report on the following:

·     Decide who should be trained. (Would everyone be trained in everything or would you make any exclusions?)

·     Write the training objectives. (What would you like the employees to know at the end of the training?)

·     Decide what the content should be.

·     Decide what methods would be appropriate to train the employees. (You can use off-the-job and on-the-job methods as well as technology-based methods, but be sure to justify the reason for their use.) Make a note of any materials you may need.

·     Describe how those three days might look. What would you do on day one? Day two? Day three? (You have been given permission to shut the store down if you wish and you can choose any three days of the week. You can also start training as early as 8am and stop as late as 10pm.)

·     Discuss how you would evaluate the training to assess its effectiveness. What measures would you look at to assess the success of the training? Are your measures capable of evaluating all aspects of the training? Does your evaluation address your training objectives?

Due to a lack of information, you may need to make assumptions. Please state any assumptions you are making.

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