Part I: Company Overview
Founded in 1963 by Stanley Goldstein, Sid Goldstein, and Mark Steven in Lowell, Massachusetts, Consumer Value Store (CVS), has quickly grown to be the second largest pharmacy and convenience store with over 7,600 pharmacies and drugstores nationwide. Since the beginning, CVS has always strived to be the largest retail pharmacy-which led to the development of their growth strategy. Furthermore, CVS continually strives to “reinvent” the pharmacy and make healthy living a fundamental part of their customers’ lives. (Biesada, 2014)
Initially, these strategies were influenced by the company’s mission statement and purpose. According to the CVS website, the company’s mission is to “provide expert care and innovative solutions in pharmacy and health care that are effective and easy for our customers” (CVS caremark corporation: History, 2014). Clearly, CVS is in business to provide expert care, although it would appear that not all of their individual pharmacists share the same feelings. Based on research conducted, it would appear that there is a general lack of customer service training as some pharmacists have allegedly been behaving rudely towards customers. Throughout the course of this initiative, we will be discussing the gaps that have been found and we will develop a training program that we hope will help alleviate these problems and allow CVS to fully realize their mission.
Part II: Needs Assessment
Pharmacy Prescription Practices
As a result of organizational research, we have determined that there is a distinct gap between the company mission to provide expert care, and how they are actually conducting business, as evidenced by “CVS Refused to Fill my Prescription, Is This Legal (Boyd, 2008)?” According to Danah Boyd, one pharmacist refused to fill her prescription as she had an out of town doctor that had written said prescription. When another patient stepped in to point out that the particular pharmacist had filled her prescription, despite having an out of town doctor as well, the pharmacist in question allegedly became rude and responded in an impolite and belittling manner.
Aside from the general problem of poor customer service, there also seems to be another problem- lack of consistency between CVS store policies and pharmacist behaviors. According to the article, several other stores had previously honored the prescription from her out of town doctor. In fact, this particular pharmacist had even honored another patient’s prescription from an out of town doctor. This shows that there is a lack of consistency between policies and practices. It would even appear that individual pharmacists can pick and choose whose prescriptions to honor and who’s to turn away. It would be impossible to provide expert care to their patrons under such circumstances, thus perpetuating the notion of a gap between how the company should be operating and how they are actually operating. That being said, these behaviors can have several detrimental consequences.
The implications of this behavior could be very harmful, not only to CVS as a company, but to patients as well. Of course, if pharmacists are being rude to customers, the business side of the company will be negatively affected. Nobody wants to be belittled or rudely spoken to when going to fill a prescription. Aside from the negative reaction from customers, pharmacists could potentially be putting their customers in harms way. By refusing to fill certain, sometimes necessary, prescriptions, pharmacists could be causing a lot of undue harm. Many times, these prescriptions are necessary for the health of the individual and could cause severe health problems if not taken daily. Furthermore, refusing to fill prescriptions could, potentially, result in a lawsuit for the company, which could then cost the company millions of dollars. From our research, we have concluded that training on policies and procedures is needed to ensure that mistakes like this do not occur in the future.
Discrimination Lawsuit
The mission statement of CVS is to “provide expert care and innovative solutions in pharmacy and health care that are effective and easy for customers.” Not following this mission statement will cause discrepancies with the company including more lawsuits, financial loss, and a being less competitive in the industry. On September 5th, 2013, an employee changed the receipt name of an ethnic Korean woman from “Hyun Jin Lee” to “Ching Chong Lee.” CVS was charged for $1 million for racial discrimination and that employee who served Hyun Jin Lee the receipt will be counseled and sent to training. Employees should be considerate and courteous to customers. When employees attend sensitivity training, they should be able to identify and avoid critical behaviors towards customers. (Valiente, 2013, n.p.). The discrepancy of stereotyping a Korean woman with a disrespectful name allows the customer to sue the company. The action caused a liability that the company could have potentially avoided if there was proper training involved and proper management guidance. CVS Pharmacy has a need to implement and enforce sensitivity training to their employees. CVS’s expected performance of expert care did not meet actual performance. The discrepancy of not meeting the desired state resulted in a lawsuit against CVS.
Strategic Plans & External Factors
In 2013, the executives of CVS Caremark outlined the strategic plans for the company which included its strategic growth framework which, according to Alexander, leverages the company’s unique integrated model (Alexander). Inclusively, the CEO of CVS stated that Caremark is very well positioned for continued growth. The rapidly changing environment creates significant challenges across the healthcare universe, but this also creates significant opportunities. The executives of CVS also identified the priority initiatives that would define the company’s strategic growth framework which included advancing new breakthrough interventions to improve medication adherence, transforming primary care through the growth of MinuteClinic and of course the expansion of its extensive services.
Mark Cosby, EVP and president of CVS/Pharmacy stated that, “our retail business is really firing on all cylinders. We are continuing to grow market share and we are significantly outpacing our competition in both the front store and in the pharmacy (Alexander).” With their strategic plan for pharmacy growth, Cosby also talked about the company’s new WeCARE program, “which aims to improve service and outcomes and grow scripts (Alexander).”
The current structure of the organization can be labeled as team based. Operations and improvement teams are used both vertically and horizontally across the company with a variety of operational teams managing whole systems or self-managed systems such as regions, branches, or business units. The company can also be seen as highly independent and decentralized, just like most retail chain stores where dozens of mini business units are made through a single store or corporate office. Local managers tweak the company’s products and services mix in order to better suit their market and conditions. With this, they also redesign their existing products and services to develop new experimental prototypes to meet the needs of their customers and/or partners. For them, effective managers must be highly skilled in leading, directing, and developing.
According to IBISWorld, the pharmacies and drug stores industry primary reflects an evolving duopoly, with Walgreens and CVS dominating the industry, as industry operators consolidate, Walgreens and CVS will strengthen their market share (IBISWorld). With this, the market share of many small chain or independently operated drug stores will decline. Even though CVS is one of main players in this industry, it has to stay on top of its strategic plans in order to raise their market share since Walgreens still surpasses their market share by 3%. IBISWorld identified six key success factors that are the most important within this industry which include, the ability to control stock on hand, participation in pharmacy benefit management (PBM) networks, superior financial and debt management, easy access for clients, proximity to key markets, and having an experienced work force.
Competition within this industry is high with an increasing trend as the demographic of individuals 65 and over will significantly grow, resulting in a high demand of prescription medicine. Drug store chains have also been more dependent upon on seasonal merchandise with Halloween and Christmas being the two most important selling periods right along with flu and allergy seasons.
Internally, due to the high levels of competition, profit margins have begun to thin, resulting in buyouts, merging, and consolidating of small stores as stated earlier. IBISWorld states that, because pharmacies and drug stores offer similar products and services, they compete with each other on the basis of price and product selection with location, customer service, and customer loyalty being competitive factors (IBISWorld). Similarly to their internal competition, CVS has to also compete with various industry operators such as supermarkets, supercenters, and warehouses that have increasingly begun to offer over the counter drugs and prescriptions. Furthermore, IBISWorld states that drug stores and pharmacies are now beginning to face competition from dollar stores which has triggered CVS to incorporate dollar aisles into floor plans in order to attract budget conscious consumers. (IBISWorld)
Organizational Support
CVS managers does not support pharmacy technician training very well. In one instance, an employee says that “Management does not provide enough support to store employees or in-store managers. Pharmacy managers are expected to provide outcomes without enough help or support. Work/life balance is never a consideration” (CVS/pharmacy Employer Reviews). This demonstrates a decrease in job satisfaction for employees. Being overwhelmed with completing other tasks and responsibilities can put more stress on employees which potentially decreases job satisfaction. Also, the pharmacy is its own department and managers do not have the proper training or any protocols to guide pharmacists and pharmacy technicians on doing their job.
Employee morale has decreased because some employees do not feel very valued working within the stores. Some employees feel that upper management does not care for their employees and cares more for low cost. An employee writes, “The managers don't care about their employees, only the mighty dollar. You are busy all day and aren't given much technician help. You always work a 12-14 hour shift” (CVS Caremark Employee Reviews).” Managers putting the burden of workload on the very few on hand employees as opposed to hiring new staff can suggest troubling thoughts to current staff. On another note, the fact that employees are aware that managers prefer saving money than providing satisfactory working conditions can offend employees and employee morale can diminish.
Part III: Design
We hope this training gives the employees the knowledge to define what exceptional customer service and satisfaction is, list strategies to being courteous to the customers, list steps to resolve various customer concerns, identify various policies and procedures when given an issue.
Target Analysis
There is a need for training because current performance is poor. Pharmacists are not following store policies for writing prescriptions and as a result, customer complaints and legal issues with CVS have increased. Managers do not support employee efforts because managers choose to overwork the pharmacy in order to keep a low-cost strategy. Employees need to be reminded about the proper procedures to satisfy customer orders and concerns. There are two to three pharmacists that work a morning shift and a night shift along with four to six pharmacy technicians being rotated throughout the day.
Target Audience Characteristics
Employees’ job performance decline because they lack verbal comprehension, reasoning ability to resolve arising issues and the ability to comprehend employee handbooks to reference to follow correct procedures. As a result, staff are not experienced enough to handle issues that arise, which can decrease self-efficacy when it comes to solving customer issues.
Trainees are not informed of the helpful benefits training can provide to not only further their own knowledge but communication skills between fellow colleagues and customers. Trainees are also unaware of how much financially the CVS Company itself can gain from retraining employees by increasing customer value of store employees and avoiding potential discrimination lawsuits involving customers and employees. As of right now, employee attitudes about training are negative. The target audience demographics should include male and female participants ranging from 25-60 years of age.
Prior to this training initiative, trainees did not understand the material used to learn. The employees are aware that supervisors do not support training because they think it is a waste of their time. After training is completed, supervisors do not provide employees the chance to apply their new knowledge because supervisors are more concerned with continuing operations within the pharmacy as opposed to encouraging transfer of training.
There are ten CVS facilities in the Los Angeles County with a maximum of ten pharmacy department employees. In total, sixty pharmacy employees should be sent to training. The retail side of CVS should be excluded from this training because they do not deal with prescription drug orders; they deal with selling merchandise. We decided to facilitate a chevron seating arrangement in a hotel conference room. Chevron will be an excellent choice because “it is very flexible, good for either large or small groups and fosters a sense of audience involvement as the audience can see others and get feedback from them” (Wallace, 2002, n.p.). Guest speakers will be able to walk through the chevron design to help the audience build “a sense of community and group learning” (Wallace, 2002, n.p.). A hotel was chosen because hotels provide a professional platform and learning environment.
We are hiring a tenured pharmacist to train pharmacy technicians on the proper procedures when filling out prescriptions. Tenured pharmacists explaining correct actions will earn trainees’ respect and attention because they are experts in this field and will feel like their time is well spent on quality of training. Tenured pharmacists also have pharmacy jargon so trainees’ will understand the technical terms the speaker will be discussing. We are also having a CVS employee who was nominated as employee of the month to share what great customer service is because they are very knowledgeable when it comes to satisfying customer demands and are aware of the organizational culture of CVS. Lastly, we are hiring an outside consultant for sensitivity training because discrimination aimed towards a customer is a critical issue when the company image is at risk. An outside expert will give the trainees more of an incentive to be more attentive and take this training initiative to be more serious as opposed to having sensitivity training done in-house.
Part IV: Development
Training Method: Media: Video
As far as our CVS training method, we will use a short comical relief video to break the ice among the trainees’. The short video will present a funny situation that pharmacists must all go through. The brief video will help build the trainees trust in the trainers by showing them a mutual understanding of customer service issues. The purpose of presenting this short-length video is to enrich the trainees’ interest without overwhelming them with too much information.
After showing the ice breaker, we intend to develop a video that will state the introduction and give a brief overview of CVS. This video will follow up by stating the company’s mission statement, “We provide expert care and innovative solutions in pharmacy and health care that are effective and easy for our customers (Mission, vision, values, 2014).” This video will also state CVS’s corporate values: accountability, respect, integrity, openness and teamwork. All of which will be presented by an actual pharmacist. The purpose of having an actual pharmacist is to help the trainees feel a connection between themselves and the technician in the video. It will make the trainees feel like they are having a one on one personal conversation. The reason for stating the mission statement and core values is to have the trainees identify and understand the importance of CVS’s values. It will help them justify the importance of their job, the importance of providing expert care and exceptional customer service. It is important for the company to interpret the worth of a pharmacist’s job therefore the video will encourage and build self-worth. It will help the trainees understand the company’s fundamentals and how they impact the lives of their customers. The video will show how their job impacts the lives and well-being of people. Knowing the worth of their job can help with transfer of training and will also inspire them to provide expert care and exceptional customer service.
Customer Service
In order to ensure that our employees deliver “expert care,” it is important to relay the importance of what great customer service is capable of and how our employees can achieve that great customer service. For this portion of our training, we decided on a lecture as part of our training method accompanied by a PowerPoint about the important aspect of providing excellent customer service. This part of our training will be conducted by an in-house professional of the company reason being that we need a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in the topic of customer service in order to have our trainees get the best knowledge there is about customer service. The reasoning behind the choice of the training method is due to the fact that we will have large number of trainees and the information that will be given to them is intended to be listened to and understood in order to have them practice at the end of our training in the structured exercise to see how well they have understood the concepts of delivering exceptional customer service. The objective of this part of our training initiative is: defining what exceptional customer service and satisfaction is, and we’ll do so by discussing the importance of what customer service and how they [the employees] can give exceptional service. We will start of by defining what the core of customer service is, and it is the “means of providing a quality product or service that satisfies the needs/wants of a customer and keeps them coming back” (Customer Service Training Manual, 2006). However, excellent customer service, “means much more – it means continued success, increased profits, higher job satisfaction, improved organizational moral, better teamwork, and market expansion of services/products” (Customer Service Training Manual, 2006). It is important that our employees acknowledge that when it comes to customer service, “service” is not always enough, “it should provide satisfaction – in essence, the customer should walk away pleased at the result of the transaction – not just content but happy” (Customer Service Training Manual, 2006). Making a good first impression is key when it comes in the world of retail and customer service because you only get one. People tend to prefer doing business with people whom they trust and take a liking to and the first impression is crucial to fostering that trust and fondness. It is also important for our employees not only to know how to approach a customer with questions or concerns but to also know how to deal with upset customers. When dealing with an unsatisfied or disgruntled customer, “you will have to use some of the many techniques of the customer service professional to win their support and continued loyalty” (Customer Service Training Manual, 2006). We understand that everyone may have different ways on how to handle customers but it is key for them to know what customer service is and how they can strengthen their skills when it comes to dealing with customers.
Sensitivity Training
Sensitivity training will begin with an introduction of the characteristics that defines sensitivity training which includes to “make people more aware of group dynamics and their own behavior, interpersonal traits, and role play within the group” (Sensitivity Training, 2014). Training outcomes will be presented so that employees will become more aware of the impacts of their verbal opinions and consider cultural differences in a respectful way that does not inflict emotional conflict with the individual. Afterwards, sensitivity training will be broken down into five topics, cultural differences, racial assumptions and prejudices will be discussed. Once identified, solutions to manage emotions, preventing a hostile work environment and benefits to conquering arising issues will be discussed.
Sensitivity training can be broken down into five sections which includes racism, sexism, language barriers, sexual orientation and harassment. Racism is a form of hateful discrimination that can be directed towards individuals based on their ethnicity. Sexism behavior is when negative behaviors or attitudes are directed towards a certain gender based on sexual roles. Language barrier is when miscommunication occurs between two parties because they lack a common language to communicate with. Sexual orientation is choosing a sexual partner to be intimate with. Harassment is repeatedly disturbing an individual that can cause them harm. These topics can help shape the fundamentals of what it means to convey sensitive and considerate behaviors. Trainees will become more knowledgeable in what behaviors advocate potential lawsuits, decrease in customer service and hostile work environment. Employees will be able to communicate effectively with fellow employees and customers.
Cultural differences are variations among people that “arise from nationality, ethnicity, and culture, as well as from family background and individual experiences” (http://www.aacounty.org/Partnership/Resources/Cultural_Differences.pdf). Racial assumptions and prejudices will expose trainees to current sensitive and insensitive behaviors that can occur in the stores so that trainees will become educated to a mutual consensus. Solutions to manage one's emotions, preventing hostile working environments and benefits of arising issues will provide value to trainees. Participants can use this knowledge to help them benefit from a healthier lifestyle and better interpersonal skills.

Pharmacy Policies
CVS Pharmacies have policies in delivering goods and services to their customers. The main rule being that the customer’s privacy is priority. They have separate waste baskets for trash and any trash that contain the patient’s names. For prescription orders, the pharmacists offers cheaper generic brands that is the same as more expensive brand names and is allowed to take competitors’ coupons to try to save the customers money. If the customers are willing to wait, the bottle must be due in 15 minutes or less, depending on the availability. For pick up, there is a daily list that notifies whose prescriptions are ready and the pharmacist must confirm of the name and date of the birth of the customer receiving the prescription. The pharmacist must inform the customer of the new prescription and the proper way to use it.
The pharmacists also take monthly quizzes on HIPAA regulations. They go to quarterly meetings to improve customer service and offer consultations for patience. They learn a step process in dealing with upset customers: they listen to the issue, have empathy, show attentiveness, apologize, and offer a solution to the customer. At the store, they walk the customers out to the products on the floor to make sure they get the right medicine and for kids, they offer flavored medicine. And lastly, there is no needed appointment to get the annual flu shot.
Policies in ordering/filling out prescriptions:
The policies CVS has three ways for filling out prescriptions. They would include receiving the prescription in the mail, paying a copayment for getting a prescription filled at the pharmacy along with the plan to pay the rest, or using the customer’s medical insurance. In order to receive a prescription in the mail, the customer must mail a prescription along with a Mail Service Order Form and the appropriate payment if applicable to the CVS Caremark Mail Service Pharmacy address that is shown on the form. After sending all the information and appropriate payment, the customer shall receive the medicine in the mail within 7-10 business days. The medicine must be prescribed long term by the doctor; one for a 30-day supply and another for a 90-day supply. CVS provides two ways to order a refill on a long-term medicine: placing a request online or calling through the phone. Copayment is a different payment that is defined by the customer’s insurance policy and paid by the customer each time a medical service is accessed. In accordance to the customer’s insurance, the customer has the ability to use the proper medical insurance in order to get their prescription. If not covered fully by the insurance, the customer must pay the rest to fulfill their order.
As part of our training program, we would like to pose a series of discussion questions that will take place in a group setting. We would like the various groups to discuss how they would normally handle the situation. We would then ask the groups to present their answers to how they would handle the various scenarios. Upon hearing the answers given, our trainer would then comment on their answers and provide feedback. Our trainer would also let our trainees know the way that CVS would like these scenarios handled so that there is consistency throughout the organization. It is important for our trainer to iterate the fact that there is no script when dealing with customers.
Upon completion of the discussion portion of our initiative, we would like our participants to role-play in order to gain experience. Also, we would like these facilitated role-plays to be a forum where the participants can make mistakes and learn from them. The trainer should go around to each group and observe how they are reacting to the scenarios and then provide feedback on what they are doing well and what could be done better. All in all, we believe that these group discussions will allow our participants to practice the various ways to deal with disgruntled customers and various customer service related problems. Also, we would like to instill in our participants that there is no script to follow when handling customer relations; there are only “best ways” to answer questions and deal with the customers.

Part V: Implementation

The training program will be divided into two groups and according to the trainees scheduled shift. The first group of trainees, the morning shift will start at 7am and the afternoon shift will begin at 1PM. The reason we have broken the training program into two groups is to maintain all the CVS stores open and in service for our customers. Another reason is because it will allow the trainers focus more attention on a smaller group rather than training them all at once. Both training groups will attend their selected training program three hours prior to starting their shift. The program will last approximately two hours and in the .remaining hour the trainees will be given a paid lunch. The paid lunch is a reward for attending the training and is an incentive to keep them contented and ready to begin their shift. This strategy will allow the second group to attend the training program while at the same time the first group is present at work. CVS pharmacy hours Monday through Friday are from 8AM to 10PM, Saturday from 9AM to 6PM and Sunday, from 10AM to 6PM. As opposed to having training too early in the morning, we have decided that the morning shift employees will attend the training program Sunday because it is the one day of the week CVS opens the latest at 10AM. And the second group of training will be conducted on a Tuesday or any day of the week, excluding the weekend because weekend pharmacy hours will not accommodate to conduct an afternoon shift.
Pilot Program
Before we can launch our training program we will first conduct a pilot program. The pilot program is designed as a test to discover possible issues that may occur and will give us the opportunity to modify the program accordingly. The pilot program will consist of only 15% of our overall 60 pharmacist and will be explicitly be of diverse demographics. Five male and five women of different sets of ages will be chosen to conduct the pilot program. The plan is to experiment the training program with a diverse group of pharmacist in order to formulate effective results. At least one of every age group will be selected, ages ranging from 18-25, 26-35, 36-45, 46-55, and 56-60. The pilot program will allow us to determine if the training program can be thoroughly completed within or less of the 2 hours. For example, if our findings conclude that the training program exceeds the 2 hours by an hour and a half we would then have to extend the short 15 minute break into possibly half an hour. Or perhaps the opposite occurs and realize our training program can be finish before the 2 hours. The result allows us to allocate time and determine whether we can explore a certain topic in more detail. The different group of ages will also help determine whether one certain group in more or less attentive. It will also determine if a certain age group is more or less participative, hands on or not. The end results will determine whether a certain age group learns significantly different than another. If results show that the 18-25 and 56-60 age group learn at significantly different at different level we will adjust the training program and divided the two sections by age group. The purpose of the pilot program is to determine if and where the program needs adjustment.
Issues and Potential Resistance
Some of the many issues that may occur while implementing the training program are timing, people showing up, attentiveness, participation, enthusiasm, personal issues, and negative attitude towards training. Therefore, we have designed the training program to prevent any of the expected issues to arise. To encourage the trainees to show up to the morning training program on time, we have selected an appropriate date and time. The morning program will take place Sunday morning at 7AM. We specifically have chosen Sunday because it is the only day of the week that the trainings start their work shift the latest which is 10AM. It would not be relevant to make the trainees attend a 5 or 6AM training program. If we would have designed the training program to be at such early times in the morning the program would be at higher risk. The program would run a much higher risk of being affective and attaining results. The reason being, is because most people don’t tend to function well that early in the morning. Our purposes is to attain results therefore we have design the program at a more reasonable time for the trainees to be wide awake. A 7AM versus a 5AM training program will allow them more time to be well rested and attend the program ready to learn. Just the timing of the program itself will reduce the risk of trainees arriving late. Because 7AM may still be considered too early to be awake, coffee will also be afford. The coffee will help them energized and ready to learn. Another issue that is expected is the risk of people showing up. To minimize that risk we have chosen a day where the trainee is scheduled to work versus a day they’re off from work. The reason given is because most employees will not be encourage to attend a work related event on their day off. We feel that their day off from work should not be taken away because it will can make the employees feel like they are being punished and increase the risk of attendance.
Attentiveness is another expected issue to be considered. To boost the trainees focus on the subject matter we have also created the training program to be a fun learning experience. For instance, the training program will start off with an ice breaker. We will begin by asking each one trainee to share what their phone lock screen is and what means to them. Participation can be another issue which will affect the learning ability of the trainee. To raise the level of participation chocolate bars and candy will be given in recognition of their participation.
Part VI: Evaluation
As part of our summative evaluation, we have decided to give our participants two brief surveys based on the previously established learning objectives. The first survey will be given prior to the training program and will serve as a point of reference and a measure of how well our training initiative worked. This survey will also help determine the areas that need to be given the greatest attention. Immediately after completion of the training program, we will ask our participants to take part in the second survey. Based on the answers to these two surveys, we should be able to determine how well our initiative worked. By comparing the answers from the first survey to the answers from the second survey, we hope to see noticeable improvements to policy knowledge and customer service knowledge.
As another aid in determining the effectiveness of our training program, we will ask our trainees to participate in a short questionnaire that will gauge their evaluation of the training program. This questionnaire will focus on evaluating the trainers, the methods used, the topics covered, and overall satisfaction with the program. This questionnaire will mainly be used as a way to improve the program for future training programs. We will use this information as a way to determine what worked and what did not. Also, we will likely use this information as a way to evaluate the effectiveness of our trainers. Upon analysis of the various answers received, we hope to determine how well our trainer delivered the information and will use that information to either tweak the program for the future or redesign it all together. Finally, in order to fully help us evaluate our process, we have created a checklist to help us determine where we stand. We will use this checklist to help us determine whether or not we have completed each step in the ADDIE model. Furthermore, this checklist will help us determine what processes we need to spend more time on and what we need to improve upon. Evaluating each step in the process after it has been accomplished will help us create a more well-rounded program and will ensure that there are no big mistakes that we will find out about after the training program has been implemented.
Part VII: Insights
Strengths of the paper is that we covered customer service issues well because pharmacy policy issues and sensitivity training issues. As a result, employees serving customers can be more considerate and tailor needs to that individual which creates better customer service. The training initiative is good because we took into consideration the trainers and trainees. We wanted to encourage learning and how it benefits them through interactive exercises and reemphasizing the internal effects of training such as improved communication skills, work efficacy and performance knowledge. Weaknesses is assuming that the HR budget is very high. The paper could have been more cost effective in selecting training material, training sites, trainers and research in content.

Work Cited
Alexander, Antoinette. "CVS Caremark outlines growth framework at annual Analyst Day meeting." Drug Store News. Drug Store News, 13 Dec 2012. Web. 16 Feb 2014. Anonymous. (2013). Ka-ching! CVS Settles Racist Receipt Lawsuit. The Smoking Gun, Retrieved from http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/stupid/ching-chong-lee-settlement-657901 Anonymous, . "CVS Caremark Employee Reviews." CVS Caremark. Indeed, 27 Jan 2014. Web. 7 Mar. 2014. <http://www.indeed.com/cmp/CVS-Caremark/reviews>. Anonymous. (2014, February 20). Mission, vision, values. Retrieved from http://www.cvscaremarkfyi.com/who-we-are/vision-mission-values Biesada, A. (2014, February 24). CVS caremark corporation: History. Retrieved from http://www.hoovers.com/company/CVS_Caremark_Corporation/rfsxci-1-1njhxk.html Boyd, D. (2008, Dec 02). Cvs refused to fill my prescription; is this legal?. Retrieved from http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2008/12/02/cvs_refused_to.html "Customer Service Training Manual." IFTA Staff Training (2006): 130. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/insectfarming/StaffCapacityBuilding.pdf>

“CVS/pharmacy employer Reviews” indeed.com nd. Web. 27. Jan 2014 IBISWorld, . "Industry Outlook." IBISWorld. IBISWorld, n.d. Web. 12 Feb 2014. <http://0-clients1.ibisworld.com.opac.library.csupomona.edu/reports/us/industry/industryoutlook.aspx?entid=1054>.

Sensitivity Training, (2014). BusinessDictionary.com Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/sensitivity-training.html

Valiente, Alexa (2013 April 18). “New Jersey Woman Sues CVS for $1m for Racist Receipt” abcnews.com Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/04/new-jersey-woman-sues-cvs-for-1m-for-racist-receipt/ Wallace, Marie (2002 Jan 1). “Guide on the Side-Room Setups for Presentations & Training-One Size does not Fit All” llrx.com Retrieved from http://www.llrx.com/columns/guide59.htm "What is sensitivity training?." Sensitivity Training. 2014. <http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/sensitivity-training.html>.

"Cultural Differences-Some Examples." AA County. N.p.. Web. 18 Feb 2014. <http://www.aacounty.org/Partnership/Resources/Cultural_Differences.pdf>.

Appendix A

Pre-Training Survey
Please do not put your name on this survey. These are meant to serve as an anonymous evaluation.
If you do not know the answer to any question, please leave it blank.
1. Please define what exceptional customer service and satisfaction is.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Please list the strategies to being courteous to the customer.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Please list and identify steps to resolve various customer concerns.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Please identify various policies and procedures when given an issue.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Please list the steps to providing exceptional customer service
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Post-Training Survey
Please do not put your name on this survey. These are meant to serve as an anonymous evaluation.
If you do not know the answer to any question, please leave it blank.
1. Please define what exceptional customer service and satisfaction is.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Please list the strategies to being courteous to the customer.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Please list and identify steps to resolve various customer concerns.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Please identify various policies and procedures when given an issue.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Please list the steps to providing exceptional customer service
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Evaluation of the Training Program Please do not put your name on this survey. These are meant to serve as an anonymous evaluation.
Please rate each question on a scale from 1-4 where 1 strongly do not agree and 4 is strongly agree. 1. The program was well organized and delivered well. 1 2 3 4 strongly do not agree strongly agree
2. The trainers arrived on time and were well prepared. 1 2 3 4 strongly do not agree strongly agree
3. Delivery of the information was accurate and informative 1 2 3 4 strongly do not agree strongly agree
4. The trainers delivered the information in a way that was simple and understandable. 1 2 3 4 strongly do not agree strongly agree
5. The trainers treated everyone with respect 1 2 3 4 strongly do not agree strongly agree
6. The trainers were able to accurately answer my questions. 1 2 3 4 strongly do not agree strongly agree
7. The overall training program was eye opening and insightful 1 2 3 4 strongly do not agree strongly agree
8. I believe that I genuinely learned something from this training program 1 2 3 4 strongly do not agree strongly agree
9. I now feel better equipped to handle customer concerns 1 2 3 4 strongly do not agree strongly agree
10. I believe this training program was a good use of my time. 1 2 3 4 strongly do not agree strongly agree

Appendix B

Discussion Questions
1. How would you deal with a disgruntled/angry customer?
2. How would you deal with a customer that claims that their prescription was filled incorrectly?
3. What is the procedure for prescriptions brought in from out of town doctors?
4. If we do not accept prescriptions from out of town doctors, how do you handle a customer that claims that they have been able to do so before?
5. What do you do if you experience stereotyping within the company? How do you approach said employee?
6. Suppose a customer comes in and complains that one of your employees was rude, what do you do?
7. Suppose we cannot authorize an individual’s medication due to an expired prescription, how do you explain that to the customer? What do you do if the customer reacts poorly and complains of poor service?

Appendix C

Formative Evaluation Checklist
Needs Assessment ☐ Gather data to identify needs
☐ Determine needs that can be met by training interventions
☐ Propose recommendations
☐ Calculate potential cost/benefit of training intervention.
☐ Choose and implement the training Design ☐ Compose the goal
☐ Create objectives
☐ Define the target audience
☐ Select an instructional designer Development ☐ Determine training methods
☐ Determine what training materials to use Implementation ☐ Utilize a pilot program
☐ Revise content
☐ Schedule the program
☐ Announce the program
☐ Launch the final program Evaluation ☐ Evaluate the training program