The Value of Training

by CRP Partner Gene Baldwin
as published in Franchise Times

It is a fact that cannot be denied – companies with formal and ongoing employee training programs perform better than those that do not. Let’s examine how these programs can be used for different types of store employees.

• Hourly employees. We have all heard the old expression that it is the little things that count the most. In multi-unit operations, the little things are everything. Let’s start with training one of the lowest paid jobs in the company, the waitress in a restaurant or the salesperson in a retail store. The simplest way to instill a culture of ongoing training is with the pre-shift meeting. These meetings are critical to good customer service. Some topics that can be covered include the following; what specials are  being promoted that day? how were customer complaints handled from the day before and what can we learn from our response? how can we up-sell more efficiently? How are doing in maintaining our “friendly” standards? is there any great behavior that can be applauded from the previous day? I know it is hard to insist on having these meetings every day, but they are essential and should take less than 15 minutes. Longer term hourly employees will find these sessions boring. So, let them run pre-shift meetings and help teach newer employees the way your company does business. If you can teach these front line people to be friendly, helpful and courteous to customers you will be far ahead of the competition. If they will remember the names of frequent customers – you have won the battle.
• Assistant managers. These employees need to continue the discipline of training. They must begin to learn management skills to be promoted. Most employees in this category have had some success in their store and usually they want to learn and grow with the company. They should be taught the standards for success in that job and be put on a path to be “certified” in that job function. I think the certification process is very important. It sets these employees apart. The award ceremony should be public and the employee should be given some tangible acknowledgement of their achievement (lapel pin, patch, etc.). Assistant managers must also start the process of understanding the basics of the business and the keys to managing to a successful store. They must become adept at skills such as labor scheduling, inventory management and ordering. Certainly these skills can be learned by OJT (on-the-job training), but they are better learned in a classroom-type setting where their full attention can be focused on learning. One key reason that training is important for this group is that you are constantly searching for store manager candidates. Without a good pipeline of General Manager candidates, operational issues will plague your company. Part of the education process for Assistant Managers should be rotation among several store locations. Subjecting Assistant Managers to a number of qualified and successful General Managers will accelerate the learning process.

• General Managers. The General Manager is the backbone of the multi-unit organization and they should be given their fair share of training time and dollars. Most of their training will center of the business aspects of their job and people management skills. When training on business issues, the best training is the monthly income statement review. This should be done on an area or region basis, without fail, each month. By not reviewing financial results each month, Executive Management is effectively teaching the General Manager that operating results are not important to your company. These sessions will educate the General Manager on how the key policies and procedures of the company affect the bottom line. In people management skills, you should start with encouraging the general manager to be personally more efficient and effective. There are some great books, publications and systems available. Such books as Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People provide basic but essential instruction in these areas. Besides making them more efficient, training for General Managers also lets them know how important they are to your organization. The second phase of people management training should be centered on managing their crew. Hiring, firing and retaining employees are critical skills not only from an operating perspective but also from a legal perspective.

Training is one of the keys to successful operations. It cannot be overlooked or shortcut. Excellent companies make training a priority and, as a result, have a pipeline of qualified candidates to move up the organization. Having that pipeline will be very beneficial when the inevitable turnover of key employees happens.

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