Losing employees in retail is costly—not just due to lost investments in sourcing and hiring talent, but also in terms of the impact this has on retailers’ ability to provide high quality service to their increasingly fickle customer bases. The following are five ways effective training can increase employee retention:

1) Put a training program in place for every employee

Over 30% of retail employees say they don’t receive any formal training in their roles, which is higher than any other industry surveyed. Without access to the right information, employees cannot perform their duties properly. This isn’t just damaging from a business perspective, it also means that employees cannot see value in their work and aren’t motivated to progress. As technology in this space continues to advance, retailers will need to train and upskill their employees in order to provide the experiences that customers demand. Even if the training is limited, take the first step by having formal training in place for every employee and build on that initial step with additional training and by putting in place an LMS to help track training deployment.

2) Implement a strong induction training program

Employees who experience a poor onboarding are twice as likely to look for a new role. A top quality induction training program helps ensure that employees are clear on what is expected of them and that their inputs and levels of engagement are closely monitored from the beginning.

3) Maximize the accessibility of training content

Providing employees with the right information is important for productivity, but providing it in the right way is crucial for retention. Mobile learning is essential for employees who are always on the go; deliver relevant, bite-sized learning content straight to employees’ phones so they can complete it in their own time and in a location that best suits them.

4) Use video to drive engagement

Teaser videos are often used effectively during the weeks before a training launch to help drive interest in the e-learning topic. These videos will give a brief introduction to the training and will outline some benefits of taking the training. Videos can also be included in the main e-learning course to reinforce the training message, to convey a direct message from the CEO (or other senior management), or to more clearly show a real-life retail situation with possible outcomes. The deployment of videos with video graphics (those built in After Effects, for example) has become a common trend in recent years to maximize the impact of videos as part of the training message.

5) Ensure the content is available in all applicable target languages

Help your employees better understand the training message of every learning asset by removing any language barriers. Develop localization-friendly content to keep the translation costs per language down and maximize ROI for each target language country. If the content is translated by genuine subject matter expert linguists, the learners in that target language country will benefit from a clear understanding of the training message. If possible, re-record any audio and video in the target language for maximum impact. Ensure the target language versions have gone through a thorough linguistic QA process to guarantee top quality e-learning modules and maximize buy-in and interest from global employees. 

If you’d like to discuss your training strategies with a member of our team and create more engaging learning content, please contact us today.