Training new employees is always a challenge when employee turnover within an industry is high. So it is within the retail arena. Training programs used to run for two weeks or more and drained the retailer's budget. Times have changed and so have the training programs and how they are implemented. From class room settings and roll playing to interactive video, web-based training and pod-casts, employees have experienced it all. The challenge for any business is to make sure that the employees learn the material so they can perform their job to the company's expectation level.
Training programs and teaching styles may change but the goal of any good program is to develop employees who understand their job and how to perform it and do it every day with consistency.
If the outcome is to have a team of productive, successful and loyal employees then let's work backwards to see what it takes to arrive at that point?
My logo for my company is a magnifying glass followed by a tag-line, "sharpened focus- targeted performance". I chose the magnifying glass because I help companies focus on seeing themselves through their customers' eyes. When you use a magnifying glass, you need patience to find your target and to focus on it. Creating a focus driven company allows the performance requirements of each and every employee to be clear cut and measurable, thus outcome based.
Let's look at your training program though a simple magnifying glass.
1. Handle: Before you can use the magnifying glass you need to grasp the handle. In a retailer's case the "handle" is the customer or client. A good training program needs to start by educating the employee about the company first and the customer or clients they serve. Any hunter knows that the more you know about your target, the easier it is to hit your target. Getting a handle on the target makes focusing on the end result, much easier.
2. Skill Level: Analyzing the skill level of each employee is critical to any successful training program. I have read recently that more employees are let go from their job because their lack of soft skills versus their knowledge of hard skills. Better said, those employees who have great communication skills can be taught the computer skills or technical skills needed for the position. Debbie Fields of Mrs. Field's cookies says she hires the smile first. A good training program provides on-going communication and personal skills training to ultimately help to build strong relationships with customers and clients. Focusing on soft skills can result in hard, bottom line results.
3. Performance: Just like in school, once you have been taught something, the teacher expects you to perform. It is no different in the business world... It takes time and training and practice to be flawless in anything you attempt to do. Sometimes it helps to have a "mentor" or "trainer" to provide focus on the areas that need improvement. It can be as simple as better eye contact, clearer conversational skills, more effective sales techniques, better inventory management skills or other "small" corrections that can have a big impact of the employee's performance as well as the total performance of the company. Focus on the little corrections that produce big results.
4. Feedback: Who holds your employee's accountable? Do they know what they are accountable for? Do they understand their job description and do they follow it on a daily basis? A good training program provides the template for a performance appraisal.
I believe that it is unfair to test someone on something they have never been taught. There are very few of us as students who ever liked to hear the words "pop quiz". Many of us would say it was unfair and that you didn't have time to study or that you didn't know the material you were going to be tested on.
In the case of a performance review, the employee should know exactly what he or she will be held accountable for in their job. If the training program covers customer service, sales performance and performance within the team, then it should be fairly simple to give the employee feedback on his or her job performance based on what they were taught in the training program. Mystery shopper programs that have surveys based on information that was taught in during employee training, can be extremely helpful in pin-pointing areas that need improvement. Focused feedback, delivered in a tactful way, can positively affect the attitude and performance of the employee.
If you want a successful training program, get handle on what the company stands for and who you serve. Then offer continual training in the area of communication skills and monitor each employee's performance, determine the areas that need improvement and become an effective evaluator in reviewing the performance of employees.a
Anne works with organizations who want to focus on becoming CONTAGIOUS! Anne provides keynotes and breakout training sessions on how to develop the right customer service strategies to effectively keep your customers coming back and referring others along the way. Visit her website at www.merchandiseconcepts.com.