Independent retailers are being urged to ban the term ‘”shop assistant”‘ as inaccurate. Instead, staff should be regarded as “business development partners”, involved in growing the business and focused on the community.
To help independent store owners improve staff skills, they can now access professional ‘no-exam’ learning on CD and online for informal teaching in the shop, based on driving footfall rather than qualifications.
These are the two foundations of the re-launch of the Retail Academy, which has a track record of success with all types of retailing in many markets since 2003.
Following extensive consultation that revealed a demand for no-exam training, the Academy says its programmes will be complementary to NVQs, but will major on practical advice rather than qualifications.
The Academy will make a range of CDs and online learning available to independents on subjects ranging from marketing, merchandising, store security and customer service.
Free tools, such as margin calculators, document templates, and advice on recycling and manual handling, will be offered on the website.
Alan Toft, the new chairman of the Academy, was director general of the Federation of Wholesale Distributors for 16 years. A panel of successful independents – Lesley Brown (Booker), Sunder Sandher (Londis), Sid Ali (Nisa), Dennis and Linda Williams (Booker) Steve Robinson (Best-one) and Raj Aggarwal (Londis) – are now Retail Academy Development Advisors, who will monitor future development.
Toft said: “Retailer friends who made a huge contribution to My Shop is Your Shop (MSYS) campaign helped me to see the need for in-store skills learning of integrity, which recognised the current pressures on small shops and focused on practical coaching in-store rather than exams.
“Store staff are closer to the community than the owner in many shops – they have immediate interface with customers. If they are regarded as business development partners they will be encouraged to be fully involved in growing the business.
“Lesley Brown suggested ‘shop assistant’ was a demeaning term and that informal in-shop training was required to help her team to serve their community better – that’s the new training culture I hope the Retail Academy will bring to the sector.”
The National Federation of Retail Newsagents is an active supporter of the Academy. Charles Fleckney, head of HR and field operations, said: “We welcome these developments. As the market becomes increasingly competitive, business development is a crucial activity for independent store owners and their staff.”
The technology provider to the Academy is MyKnowledgeMap, which has a proven record of success of working with multiples, forecourt shops, independents, and family owned companies including Booths Supermarkets. To find out more, visit: www.myknowledgemap.com.
