You are the supervisor of a relatively new and still-small leather goods import business. Your team ships orders received mainly by phone, on a business-to-business basis to a regular client network. Mary was a foundation employee, starting as the Administrative Officer, and looks after the front office. Originally it was planned that this would be the limit of Mary’s duties but, as the business has developed it has been found that, as other members of the team are usually busy with other duties, she has become the unofficial Customer Service Officer for all clients.
The team needs Mary to look after the customers, ensure that their needs are communicated accurately to other team members, and alert you to any unresolved issues that you need to follow up on.
Mary has become a critical part of the team and you want to make sure she feels that she has your support as much as possible. To this end, you decide to identify and implement a training/professional development program for Mary that will help her to handle current demands more efficiently and ensure she has the skills to meet organisational requirements now and into the future. It is important that Mary feels motivated enough to finish any program commenced.