CR frontline staff to say hello with a smile

Considering their work force as an extension of the hospitality industry, the Central Railway (CR) is making sure that ticket checkers greet you with a disarming smile, and the booking clerk does not pester you for change. The CR is giving special training to over 4,000 frontline staff, including ticket checkers, booking clerks and station masters, who directly deal with commuters, to handle customers with patience and tact. Of these, nearly 2,500 employees have already completed the two-day training programme. The others will be covered by June.

CR officials said the personnel with direct interface with passengers are being trained to serve better under Mission Karmayogi. An official said, “It’s imperative to ensure that the frontline representatives excel in all the necessary customer service skills in order to offer better experience and create positive brand perception.” 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 Mission Karmayogi is to transform the outlook of the frontline staff by providing citizen-centric training – helping them develop the “intention to serve better” and building their “ability to serve”.

The programme has been designed to improve individual performance as well as strengthen the image of the organisation as ‘responsive and efficient’. Mission Karmayogi was launched on September 20, 2020, by the Centre as one of the most significant capacity building initiatives in the world.

A master trainer told the Free Press Journal, “I explain how to handle customers in different situations, and how to behave at the workplace. I tell personnel 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.”

Emphasising on the role of communication while dealing with passengers, the trainer said that most disputes arise from misunderstanding or miscommunication.

The objective of Mission Karmayogi is to transform the outlook of the frontline staff by providing citizen-centric training