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Poor Customer Service Skills Dog Businesses
According to the National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), customer service skills are in short supply across a huge range of business areas.
The survey, which involved interviews with 74,500 bosses across the country, found that a quarter of vacancies are caused by employers not being able to find staff with right people skills.
When employers were asked to identify the areas in which applicants are not fully skilled, customer handling was cited in 38% of cases and basic oral communication skills in 35% of cases.
The hospitality and leisure industry is one of the areas hardest hit.
Customer handling skills are lacking in half of all vacancies caused within the industry due to a lack of skills with oral communications skills accounting for 42%.
Almost two thirds of all staff with skills gaps are reported to specifically lack customer handling skills.
One in five bosses in the industry report skills gaps within their current teams, which equates to around 150,000 employees ill-equipped to provide a good quality of service.
David Way, director of skills at the LSC, said: “While employers do not expect everyone who comes into the labour market to be the finished article there are key 'soft skills' such as the ability to communicate effectively and work in a team which gives individuals a strong chance of succeeding.
“Employers greatly value a positive 'can-do' attitude and it sounds very simple, but being polite, getting on well with colleagues and showing a determination to help, really make a difference.”

