Re‐examining the training side of productivity improvement: evidence from service sector

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to review past and current research on the productivity problems and how to alleviate it by appropriate training. Design/methodology/approach - The article presents the collective results of two experiments, a grocery store chain, and a top outsourcing provider to show the higher levels of productivity can be achieved by proper training methods. Findings - The results of two experiments specify that businesses should incorporate proper training techniques in order to increase their productivity. If such an approach to generating high levels of productivity contingent on training is implemented, we expect that business should harvest the benefits. Research limitations/implications - Ideally, the experiments reported on should be extended to comprise a measure of the amount of employer‐provided on‐the‐job training and training costs. Originality/value - This research contributes to the current training and productivity literature by emphasizing, to both human resource practitioners and policy makers, inadequate investment in workforce training is related directly to poor employee. The results have offered practical implication to organizational training.