In the near future, if a ticket checker greets you with a disarming smile or a booking clerk does not pester you for change, don’t be surprised. The Central Railway (CR) is giving special training to its more than 4000 frontline staff, including ticket checkers, booking clerks, and station masters, who directly deal with commuters. Out of 4000 front line workers of CRs Mumbai division, around 2500 employees have already completed the two day-long training programme. The rest will be covered by June 2022.
"The staff is being trained under 'Mission Karmyogi'. Under this training programme booking clerks, ticket checkers and station masters are being taught,' how they serve better," said a CR official adding that a frontline employee who deals directly with customers is one of the most important representatives of the organisation.
"The manner in which these frontline employees engage and handle our customers is what creates the first impression about Railways and impacts its brand image. It is imperative for us to ensure that the frontline representatives excel in all the necessary customer service skills in order to offer a better experience and create a positive brand perception,’’ added officials.
These employees have been trained by ‘Master Trainers’ who themselves have been trained at the Indian Railways Institute of Transport Management (IRITM) Lucknow, a Centralised Training Institute under the Ministry of Railways.
The objective of the Mission Karmayogi is to transform the outlook of these Frontline staff by providing citizen-centric training- firstly helping them develop the “intention to serve” and secondly building their “ability to serve”.
It has been designed to play a big role in improving their individual performances as well as strengthen the image of the organization as responsive and efficient.
Mission Rail Karmayogi was launched on September 20, 2020, by the Union Government as one of the most significant capacity building initiatives anywhere in the world.
"Under this mission, we are teaching our staff, how to behave with commuters. For example, we tell them why they need to stay calm and focused while dealing with difficult customers. The employees are told to handle customers, who are in a hurry, with a lot more patience and tact,” said an official of CR who is monitoring this training programme.
“I am trying to explain how to handle customers in different situations, and how to behave at the workplace. I tell them to treat the customer as king and always speak to him/her with respect. The most important point is: never say no to a customer," a master trainer of CR told FPJ on Saturday who didn't want to be quoted.
Emphasising the role of communication while dealing with customers master trainer said that most quarrels or disputes arise from misunderstanding or miscommunication.
Employees also praised the move a booking clerk, who recently completed two days of training said, “Among other things, we learnt how to resolve a problem or dispute by putting ourselves in the position of the complainant.’’
