News-in-Depth: Customer service professionals easier to recruit after Olympic Games?
Finding the right customer service professionals to use call handling technology may be easier than ever after the Olympic Games in London, as large companies are training their staff and volunteers in this skill ahead of the international sporting event.
McDonald's has announced it will invest in the London 2012 Games Maker Programme, sponsoring the attraction and education of up to 70,000 volunteers needed to help out at the tournament.
Trainees who are unemployed or have taken part in the government's Personal Best Programme will receive a City & Guilds Level 2 Award in the Principles of Customer Service, which the company said was a transferable qualification that could be used towards an apprenticeship in hospitality.
It could mould them into great staff for divisions in the UK which help consumers with their complaints and queries and McDonald's will be offering interviews to every person who completes the course it provides.
Skills minister John Hayes commented: "It is my hope that the Games Maker qualification being offered to Personal Best graduates and other unemployed people will help to improve their skills and build their confidence, enabling them to participate more fully in work and the life of their communities."
As many as 1,800 volunteer interviewers went through a training course at McDonald's centre in East Finchley, London, last year and the firm has given 35,000 qualifications to some of its 87,500 UK employees over the last five years.
This comes after Whitbread announced it would also be investing in customer service skills ahead of the Olympic Games.
Facilities to train some of the group's 35,000 personnel have been set up in Manchester, Swindon and Hockley Heath in a project thought to be worth more than £1 million.
Whitbread's brands include Premier Inn, Costa Coffee, Beefeater Grill, Brewers Fayre, Table Table and Taybarns.
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