Article

Three modern improvements to the retail training manual

From gamification to law-enforcement simulations, technology is improving the ways retailers can get new associates up to speed.

February 5, 2015 by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

Imagine that you're a young, idealistic person who has just applied for and received your first job. How exciting! And you'll be working at a store you love, to boot. What's not to be excited about?

Now, imagine that it's day one on the job, and for the next several hours, you are plunked down in front of a screen to watch something like this. What's your level of excitement going to be at the end of the day?

(How far did you make it? Ten seconds, thirty?)

Goofy VHS tapes and coffee-stained training manuals are cliches, but for good reason: Many brands still rely on them.

"I was at a retailer not that long ago who sat a new employee down in front of an old Dell computer on day one with a pile of DVDs," said Bob Phibbs, long-time retail training coach and developer of the interactive SalesRX training system. "'Watch all of these and when you're finished, come find me.' The reason that doesn't work is it is passive learning. It's like a diet book — you can read that you need to limit carbs and fats and exercise more, but until you do those things, you're not going to change."

Phibbs' interactive system is built around 3-5 minute modules so that employees are only off the sales floor for minimal amounts of time. "They can watch them over and over again until they master it on the floor before continuing the training. Even with two-person coverage in a store, it is doable."

Another company which has done extensive work in the field of interactive employee training is Utah-based Allen Communication Learning Services. In addition to building bespoke employee-facing portals for their clients, Allen has also introduced elements of gamification where appropriate.

"Gamification has become popular because, when done well, it increases learner engagement and retention and can help employers measure exactly where employees are doing well and where they may need more work," said Jeri Larsen, senior design consultant with Allen.

Larsen gives the example of a major fast food restaurant who worked with the company to create an instructor-led simulation that placed managers in a real-time scenario. They were put in teams, and given tablets which they used to respond to common scenarios; the game tracked their answers and reactions.

"The training facilitator could track which teams were responding well and give attention to teams that were struggling," she said. "The game has a mobile element that brought learners together to better solve challenges."

Making the right decisions in a simulated environment goes a long way, but for many individuals, the rubber doesn't truly meet the road until they're standing in front of a customer and trying to find the right words to say. Dr. Dale Olsen is trying to fill that particular training void with his patented PeopleSIM platform, which he developed in 1997 while on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory. The video-based technology was originally developed to help train law enforcement officials to detect deception. A year later, it was being used by the FBI to train new field agents.

The system uses video of real people, whom the trainee has to engage in a conversation. "Characters have different needs and personalities that vary with each play, and an advanced emotional model makes them more open and warm if the user is saying the right things, more closed off or cold if the user is making bad choices," Olsen said. "No conversation plays the same way twice."

Olsen said a detailed score at the end of a session tells employees where they are excelling as well as where they need more work, and managers can track an employee's progress over time as they use the system.

It's all a pretty far cry from the dusty old three-ring binder filled with yellowed pages. But we'd like to know what's working best for you — what are your current best practices for employee training? Talk about it in the comments below.