Singapore – While business executives said service standards were important, many weren’t willing to put the money or effort to train staff to be better, a new report by the Workforce Development Agency found.

While most of them understood the need to have high service standards, the survey showed that only 52% of business executives were actually willing to raise the standards. Many the Business Times spoke to said that staff training took a backseat when compared to their high turnover and rising expenses. Furthermore, many saw no point in training people who merely saw their jobs in the service industry as a stop-gap to a more lucrative career.

“Companies have no choice, but to use short term solutions such as marketing and promotions to get more customers, and keep their fingers crossed that their core staff will anchor the service level,” Paul Sum, deputy CEO of the Retail Academy of Singapore said.