FE News: The nightmare before Christmas - Invest in training to get those tills ringing

How can retailers make Christmas magic again?

Christmas should be a retailer’s dream: shoppers hungry to spend, tills ringing and profits soaring…

However, many retailers will have faced multiple challenges since the country emerged out of lockdown during June and slowly re-opened for business. There continues to be a reluctance for people to return to their normal shopping habits, having got used to increased online shopping during the lockdown.

There is no crystal ball that can predict how Christmas 2020 will pan out, but we know with the resurgence of Covid-19 within the UK, there will be much uncertainty over the coming months leading up to the big day.

With lower footfall coming into our retail establishments companies need to ensure they squeeze every ounce of opportunity out of customers who have made the choice to shop in-store. Whether this is in ensuring that Sales Assistants are offering exceptional customer service and that they are upselling to ensure that basket sizes are increased, or that their stores are in tiptop condition and are really wowing their customers.

Invest in training to get those tills ringing

One sure-fire way in which retailers can accommodate these pressures is to ensure they have a workforce who are highly skilled, invested in what it is they’re selling and knowledgeable of the industry – enabling them to support and increase sales and customer satisfaction. Planning ahead of seasonal demand, investing in your team via Traineeships, Apprenticeships and utilising Sector-based work academies is a must.

This is where Qube believes that Apprenticeships can be a useful development tool for employers to up-skill their new and existing workforce. Within the retail sector there are great progression opportunities for individuals to develop; in fact, my own personal journey took me from a YTS training scheme to a Store Manager managing 10 million pound turnover stores.

To support these progressions there are Apprenticeships at every level, starting at Level Two Retailer or Customer Service, moving onto Retail Supervisor at Level Three, followed by a Level Four Retail Manager Apprenticeship. These Apprenticeships have been written by retailers and touch on every skill needed for effective working.

Where retailers have introduced Apprenticeships, they have seen several benefits and step changes within their teams: colleagues are more motivated and engaged, attendance increases, and staff are retained within the business. So where will retailers see the benefits through the till?

Although Store Management is important in any retail business, it is the people on the shopfloor who will make or break Christmas. The Retailer Level Two will create a workforce that are really ‘switched’ on to what makes a great shopping experience for their customers and ensure they maximise every sale opportunity.

Cash incentives for training

The Government is really getting behind ‘lifelong learning’ and creating Apprenticeship opportunities for new people joining businesses. To back this commitment up, the Government has introduced several cash initiatives to help support employers to make this a reality. These range from £1,000 for any business introducing a ‘Trainee’ opportunity, and cash incentives -up to £3,000 if recruiting an Apprentice into a new role.

Retail Apprenticeships can certainly pay dividends as they enable training specifically to an individual store or brand’s needs, thereby developing a retail assistant able to work knowledgably and confidently at peak pressure times – often times when less experienced, temporary staff are employed.

Upskilling managers

In addition, employers may also find it helpful to utilise such training schemes for experienced staff members as well as new starters. Upskilling managers via an Apprenticeship to manage a current full-time team and the influx of temporary seasonal staff more effectively is a good use of the Apprenticeship levy and can make significant improvements to instore efficiency and sales targets.

Qube Learning offers Retail Management training up to Level 4, which includes coaching on how to deal with unexpected or additional workloads and practical techniques to use in store. But of course, there’s a lot more to retail than the shop floor, and the warehousing and logistics side should also recognise the benefits of Apprenticeships for its workforce, something especially pertinent in the context of the Brexit transition.

Attracting talent

From a resourcing perspective, the warehousing industry has voiced real concerns on how it will meet staffing requirements once the UK leaves the EU and surely the main challenge to retailers in this respect has to lie in attracting talent to enable these vast warehousing spaces to become operational.

Apprenticeships within the warehousing and logistics industry will facilitate new talent by offering real opportunities for people to earn, learn and move up the career ladder and, in doing so, supply employers with a future pipeline of middle and upper management.

Qube Learning delivers a range of Warehouse and Transport associated Apprenticeships, reflecting significant client demand amongst its existing customer base and highlighting the increasing numbers of companies interested in innovative workforce growth via specialist Apprenticeship schemes.

Levy funding

Employers are also advised to access government support for Apprenticeship schemes, including the Apprenticeship Levy. The Apprenticeship Levy is charged at a rate of 0.5% of all employers with a pay bill of over £3 million per annum, for them to thereafter draw down from their government account to spend on upskilling their workforce. Should you be a non-levy paying employer, the Apprenticeship Levy is still there for you to spend with the government funding 95% of the costs.

The Apprenticeship Levy was introduced to encourage employers to analyse how such schemes would most benefit their business and generate the best return on investment. This is vital now as, post-Brexit, the industry is likely to see a dramatic decline in applicants to job vacancies since historically many jobs were filled by people moving to the UK from overseas. In this respect it also makes sense to maximise the Apprenticeship Levy to develop a current and future workforce of team of leaders and managers.

As the mounting costs of higher education and university life deters some applicants, an Apprenticeship in the warehousing sector could offer an alternative career pathway, and by investing in apprentices at the beginning of their working life, companies will be able to ‘train their own talent’ with the exact skills set that business needs.

Focussed on the needs of the sector

Modern day Apprenticeships are designed by employers within the sector subject area and so the content is truly focussed on the needs of that sector. For example, take the Supply Chain Warehouse Operative Apprenticeship where a key element of this programme is Health & Safety; by giving employees the opportunity to complete this Apprenticeship, the knowledge gained will increase the H&S understanding of their staff and in turn reduce the risk of accidents on site.

There is no doubt that retailers can reap the rewards that Apprenticeships can bring businesses. There has never been a better time for companies to embrace the opportunities that Apprenticeships offer, and where these are working well retailers become the ‘employer of choice’, attracting the best calibre of candidates, improving retention and ultimately a reassurance that their store teams are maximising any opportunity during this Covid Christmas.

Adrian Grove, Business Development Director, Qube Learning

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