Small and midsize businesses depend on frontline teams for day to day operations. Businesses that are customer facing have even more reliance on their frontline personnel to deliver critical customer service and other revenue generating duties. The challenge facing SMBs is the high turnover rates among frontline units that can reach 60% in some high pressure industries. Turnover is very expensive for small and midsize operations and can consume time and money when a new hire doesn’t work out and the entire hiring and training process needs to be repeated. Controlling and eliminating turnover starts with accurate hiring and interviewing processes but one of the biggest factors that can impact turnover is the onboarding and training process. SMBs that have weak or non-existing initial training will see higher rates of turnovers as the biggest complaint among all industries is a lack of training and support during the transition phase. The anecdote of starting off on the right foot applies in hiring and training situations and should be the mantra of any small and midsize businesses that need to hire for the frontline.
Traditional Methods of Training
Training methods have kept pace with technology but with the mainstream use of artificial intelligence, traditional or classic methods of training may become obsolete. Frontline and entry level personnel are usually subject to training that includes:
- Foundational concepts for customer service, engagement and other frontline skills needed
- Job specific tasks, processes and expectations
- Company or brand history, mission or other brand specific related history or mandate
Binder Based Training (BBT), is one of the most popular methods of training for small and midsize businesses where learnings are delivered through individual modules that cover specific units or areas related to the job. BBT may be accompanied with video material or online material and utilized paper based exercises. While detailed and thorough, BBT is less effective and more time consuming as human attention spans continue to shrink. BBT is not a flexible platform and must be updated manually as business needs change. The changing technological landscape has created new innovations that can deliver deeper user engagement and more effective learning, providing a more robust and complete training experience for the new hire.
The AI Generation
The Artificial Intelligence era began over 50 years ago as Alan Turing brought machine learning into the spotlight. Over the last 5 years, AI mentions in the media have exploded as the technology becomes more mainstream in user facing applications. Recent innovations in AI technology have showcased its high level of engagement and language comprehension capabilities, positioning it as a powerful and practical training tool. New hire onboarding and transitioning can dictate the success or failure of the candidate and using AI technology for initial training phases can be an effective way to teach new hires the skills they need while providing ongoing support and evaluation. Machine learning models can monitor ongoing progress and adjust training pace to better suit the candidate to ensure better understanding of material and natural progression forward. AI based training infrastructure is flexible and can be easily updated with new information or to reflect changing business needs.
A Long Term Training Solution
AI’s powerful comprehension and engagement functionality can extend benefits to business further into the individual’s time at the business. Small and midsize businesses are facing a ‘do more with less’ economic landscape and investing in development in current staff can yield many benefits to the business itself. Upskilling, reskilling and improving habits are common priorities for staff development and an optimized machine learning model can deploy new skills, improve accuracy and increase organizational abilities quickly and effectively to existing and tenured staff. Development and advancement are some of the top wants from entry level and frontline personnel and an all-in-one AI based training solution can provide effective learning for all staff of any length of service.
The Bottom Line
High performing and efficient frontline teams are crucial to the success of any small and midsize business. Consumer facing industries, such as retail and travel, depend on customer service to generate, and in many cases, grow the business. Already facing challenges in hiring entry level people, SMBs can adopt high impact training methods to reduce and eliminate costly turnover when new hires don’t work out. AI technology is a powerful tool and can deliver highly effective initial onboard training, ensuring new hires understand their duties and what’s expected of them. Traditional training methods take time and are costly to update and maintain while a real time AI platform teaches new hires in real time and at a much faster pace than older training processes. For SMBs, getting new hires working faster and more effectively can fill any potential service and process gaps that occur when frontline team strength is reduced. AI training platforms are also highly effective at upskilling and reskilling current frontline team members, increasing their own abilities and capabilities, benefiting both the business and the individual.
