Retailers understand that providing good career pathways and consistent, high quality training is vital. Our job is to help retailers get the most out of their training and, therefore, to get the most out of their people.

We are the licensed authority at the heart of the retail skills system. We work with retailers to develop National Occupational Standards that underpin the key roles in store operations across the sector. These standards form the basis of retail qualifications, which many retailers are now using to measure of the quality of their training. This also brings the added benefit of delivering nationally recognised qualifications to their employees.

Retailers get involved in different ways to best suit the needs of their business. These are as follows:

 BENCHMARKING
Store operations roles in retailing share very similar characteristics, irrespective of the products being sold. After all, all retailing is a simple process: buying, moving and selling goods. Recognising this, many retailers now use the National Occupational Standards (NOS), which have been developed by Skillsmart Retail in conjunction with retailers across the sector. These NOS underpin the skills required in the key job roles in store operations. Benchmarking involves mapping retailers’ existing training against these NOS. The result gives an insight into how well the training ‘fits’ the standards that the sector has defined for itself. Equally, benchmarking can reveal gaps in the retailers training, which can then be addressed.

Either way, it ensures the retailers’ training is robust and meets the standards set by the sector.

 ACCREDITATION
The success of UK retailing has been driven by the quality of training and skills across the sector, with retailers investing as much as 1.8bn on the development of staff per year. With retailers expending considerable time, money and effort in skilling their employees, it makes sense to recognise the investment with a respected national qualification. Experience tells us that this process brings employers many benefits.

Delivering qualifications as a result of training adds rigour, quality control and codifies the learning against standards the sector has itself agreed and set. Crucially it delivers better return on training investment. For the employee, it results in increased levels of motivation stemming from the recognition brought by a nationally recognised qualification, leading to increased productivity and retention. There are a variety of ways of delivering qualifications in your retail business. We can help you work out the route that is best for you, your people and your business, whatever the size or location.

 APPRENTICESHIPS
Click on the map for information on Apprenticeships in your nation:  

 CUSTOMER SERVICE
The difference between good customer service and bad customer service is the difference between having lots of customers and not enough. Retailers of all sizes know and recognise that the customer service experience is the most important part of successful retailing and spend considerable sums on trying to get it right. Smaller retailers in particular know that they are able to differentiate themselves from larger retailers by the quality of product knowledge and personal service they can deliver. However, trying to get the support to deliver this service in a cost effective way that fits around a busy day and can be accessed locally can be difficult.

To overcome this we have developed a three level customer service programme specifically targeted at helping smaller retailers. This programme covers all the needs of the smaller retailer, including creating a successful sales and service environment on the shop floor and managing an effective sales culture.

CONTACT THE EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT TEAM for more information.