MORE than 6,000 employees of Prasarana Malaysia Bhd are being upskilled through a programme organised by the public transport service provider and conducted by a training firm.
In collaboration with Learning Edge, Prasarana aims to instil positivity, empathy and efficiency among its frontline workers for improved staff behaviour and customer experience.
Learning Edge founder and managing director Perthpal Khosa said the programme had three aims: to humanise Prasarana’s service experience, manage customers’ perceptions and train frontline workers to be pragmatic and solutions-based.
“The programme equips frontline workers like bus drivers, operations personnel at stations, technicians and auxiliary police officers with skills such as communications, problem solving and customer service.
“For example, each trainee is given a grooming kit to help them manage their appearance and general hygiene.
“They are also given guidelines on how to communicate with customers,” he explained during a media session about the programme held at Menara Prasarana in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Perthpal said the training sessions accommodated the needs of participants from different backgrounds by incorporating practical examples and simple concepts.
“Trainees are required to analyse scenarios that may occur in their work and come up with solutions.
“For example, they are taught how to deal with angry customers.
“A lot of role-playing is enacted for them to practise skills gained from the programme,” he added.
Better customer service skills, emphasised Perthpal, could ease frustrations during service disruptions.
Also present were Prasarana senior vice-president and head of customer experience Mohd Dzulkaedah Zaharuddin and chief human capital officer Harigaran Bharathal.
Mohd Dzulkaedah said the programme had so far reduced customer complaints on staff behaviour by 50%.
“In 2023, half of the complaints we received were about staff behaviour.
This decreased to 25% last year, indicating the programme’s impact.
“Prior to this, our staff training had been on a one-off basis and without much continuity.
“Hence, I am proud of our achievements under the programme,” he added.
Harigaran said the programme had so far upskilled about 4,000 frontline workers who made up about 60% of Prasarana’s workforce.
“The programme is an ongoing one and will be enhanced to meet future changes.
“Another cohort of about 1,400 trainees will soon be upskilled to accommodate the needs for LRT3, which is scheduled to start operating in September,” he added.
Staff surveys regarding the programme had shown positive results, with trainees expressing that they feel valued through being given a chance to learn new skills, said Harigaran.
“The decision to start this programme about six months ago was definitely the right one.
“I hope that we will have an amazing workforce about a year from now,” he said.
