How to Plan and Justify Training for Hourly Retail Employees

Nov 14, 2010
Tim Toterhi

Training - Airman Jhi L. Scott.

Struggling for a way to plan and justify training for new retail employees? These tips explain how to build your business case and answer the ROI question.

Topics for training retail employees typically fall into three categories: store orientation, computer training, and soft skills or functional-specific training. In most cases the first two categories can be handled internally, either by the HR department, or an informed, productive store manager. The later often requires outside experts.

To reduce costs associated with computer and sales systems training, Harry Bilodeau, Senior Manager of Retail Sales at The NewSeum Museum, suggests purchasing an email or phone support contract to supplement or even replace the initial classroom training. “New employees can often learn the basics of the system on the job, but it’s nice to have the support for complex questions,” says Bilodeau in an October 2000 phone interview. That said, Bilodeau believes that it is his responsibility as a manager to continuously advance his knowledge. “The more I can teach, the less I have to pay for outside help.”

Things to Consider Before Buying Training Services

According to Sally Wright, a performance consultant and training professional with The Knowledge Bridge, you sometimes have to go outside the store resources to get the help you need. Still, Wright suggests you isolate your actual needs and expectations before buying training services. “Too often people think that training is the answer to everything,” says Wright in an October 2000 phone interview. “Sometimes what can initially look like a training issue is actually a process problem, an interpersonal conflict, or an organizational change issue that needs to be addressed.

To be certain you arrive at the desired outcome Wright advises that you first identify the root cause of the problem. If indeed training is required, she suggests you benchmark the current level of performance before conducting the initial training. “This lets you go back and compare those figures to the measures taken after the course is rolled out.” Wright says that subsequent embedding sessions are often required to produce lasting results.

How to Justify the Cost of Training

Wright notes that when training is tied to a measurable performance issue, the question of cost can be met with some justification. But you have to do your homework to see if the initiative will be worth the effort. In the case of $8.00 per hour employee, spending $500 per year on sales training would make sense if that training resulted in an increase in store revenue. If prior to the training, a sales check revealed that the average customer visit resulted in a $5.00 purchase, increasing that figure to even $5.75 would more than pay for the training assuming a per employee visitation rate of 700 visitors.

If you really want to promote change in your organization, you can take the training a step further. By increasing the average sales figure to $6.00 and tying it to employee performance measures and you can make the argument for a pay raise for your employees. While the possibility of an hourly increase will surely increase employee morale, managers might find that the concept of being actively involved in the store’s productivity is what really drives employees.

Understanding Training ROI

Of course measuring return on investment from training initiatives is no easy task. While the example provided above is technically correct, to be accurate a manager would have to account for a variety of variables such as product line and availability, competitive influences, consumer confidence, and general economic conditions which often lay outside one’s control.

For example increased sales post a training event could be the result of proper needs analysis and solution implementation. On the other hand, it could stem from a general turn around in the economy, a hot new product, or a strategic error on the part of a key competitor. Acknowledging these factors and taking a realistic view in the part training can play in enhancing employee performance will lend credibility to your pitch for resources.

Luckily, most seasoned senior leaders understand the need for employee development. After a manager spends hours pouring over resumes and conducting interviews to hire the right person, it only makes sense to ensure the employee is trained to produce desired results and engaged to ensure ongoing retention.