3 Keys to Maximizing Retail Training’s ROI

Here’s a pattern that plays out all too often in retail: Teams come out of a training workshop energized, motivated, and ready to apply what they’ve learned. Senior leaders feel good about the investment and expect there will be tangible impact in the business to show for it, whether that’s with customers and employees in the stores or back in the home office or distribution center.

But then the real test begins, when the day-to-day demands of retail life—staffing shortages, customer issues, product resets—kick in. That’s when all those new skills and strategies the team members learned are at risk of fading away. Under pressure, back in the daily routine, and with the distance to the training workshop growing by the day, leaders and associates alike can quickly fall back into their old defaults and habits, especially when the new skills and behaviors aren’t woven into the way people truly work.

This pattern also speaks to one of the biggest lessons from my years in retail and leadership development: Training doesn’t end when the workshop, national retail summit, or onboarding is over. It’s also not complete when the last box is ticked on the new hire checklist. In fact, effective training is never over or complete; it’s truly a process not an event. The continuous learning journey, along with the tangible impact, begins with application to the job.

Here are a few points that underscore these realities:

• Up to 80% of training is forgotten within 30 days if not reinforced on the job.
• Our research has found only 16-18% of participants will apply what they learned in a training session or company meeting if no one reinforces it on the job.
• Retailers who embed reinforcement into leadership practices see a 3x greater ROI on training investments.
• Senior leadership buy-in and support creates a common language and a “learning vs. proving” culture that will sustain long term results, behavior change, and, most importantly, associate loyalty, which directly influences customer and brand loyalty.
• The real work—the work that transforms skills into habits and habits into results—happens after training, in the flow of everyday retail life.

Put another way, the classroom (or Zoom) is where learning starts. The sales floor, store support center, or distribution center is where it lives. Reinforcement and accountability aren’t just nice-to-haves when it comes to training impact; they’re the secret sauce. Training that ends with a certificate or a handshake leaves far too much learning and ROI on the table.

This is where leaders step in, and it’s where my passion lies: helping leaders not just teach but sustain growth for their teams.

Let’s take a closer look at how you can make sure you’re getting the value and results you expect and need from your retail training and development initiatives.

Leadership Accountability: The Game-Changer

There’s no two ways around it: Leaders make or break training impact. They are the ones who either keep the momentum alive or (however unintentionally) allow it die.

Great retail leaders don’t just tell people the training concepts are important. They demonstrate it by modeling the behaviors, using the language, incorporating the concepts into performance and coaching conversations, and connecting the training to the real work of retail. When leaders check in, give feedback, and apply the same skills themselves, they send a powerful message: This is more than just a workshop we attended. It’s how we lead in our business, and it’s how we expect our business to be run.

This level of accountability, both for themselves and for the teams they lead, is vital, because it promotes consistency, collaboration, and engagement across the culture. It creates clarity of purpose and keeps everyone moving in the same direction together, focused on delivering the kind of superior employee and customer experiences that drive results. The common language and skill set can have a ripple effect across a store or district.

The best part is, as a leader, there are plenty of seamless ways you can incorporate reinforcement and accountability into your regular leadership activities. For example, here are some simple questions you can ask either in a virtual meeting or while observing during a live store visit:

• What skill or strategy from training did you use today?
• What did you do differently today because of the recent training your received?
• What was the result?
• What is still a struggle or challenging for you to put into practice?

Crucially, this isn’t just about correcting mistakes or pointing out lapses. Acknowledging appropriate behaviors and skill application (and celebrating the results) is just as important. Never miss an opportunity to recognize and reinforce your direct report leaders when you observe them using a new skill and applying a newly learned behavior. People want to feel good about what they’re doing and appreciated for making things happen.

Strategies and Tools to Give Structure to Reinforcement

Without reinforcement, training becomes a “one-and-done” event. With reinforcement, it becomes a process of continuous growth. But reinforcement can’t be left to chance; it requires structure.

Fortunately, advances in technology have made it easier to incorporate reinforcement into the flow of the workday, something that in the past has been particularly challenging for retailers. Our clients are taking advantage of our microlearning reinforcement via the Axonify platform, as well as reinforcement tools including microlearning videos, forms, and skill cards/reference tips to keep learning concepts and strategies top of mind post-training and provide participants with skill practice and refreshers on the go and on demand.

These approaches meet the realities of retail head-on with short bursts of reinforcement, embedded into the flow of work. They also help counter the “forgetting curve” by providing spaced learning that builds and engrains habits over time.

When it comes to internal process and culture, weaving the training concepts into HR and performance management practices further emphasizes that this is the company way, not the training du jour. It reinforces that adopting and using these skills and strategies on the job is a performance and a business expectation.

As an example, many of the retailers we work with have incorporated language, skills, and discussion strategies from our leadership development courses and other programs into their incentive programs to reward leaders who use them and achieve results.

The ROI of Reinforcement

Every retailer wants to know the same thing: “What’s the ROI on our training?” In fact, regardless of the training you implement, unless you commit to structured reinforcement, coaching, accountability, and follow-up activities, your ROI will be limited at best.

Without reinforcement, you’re likely to spend money retraining, re-explaining, and re-energizing teams when skills fade. With reinforcement, you’ll see lasting change that will pay off in a variety of ways, from higher customer experience scores, stronger sales, and reduced shrink to higher employee engagement, reduced turnover, and greater career advancement and achievement.

As you can see, the return isn’t just financial. As teams begin to expect growth and leaders become champions of continuous development, you’ll be well on your way to building and sustaining the kind of high-performing culture that will not only withstand but thrive amid retail’s constant shifts and transformations.

Invest in Your Leadership: Preparing Your Retail Teams to Thrive

The timing couldn’t be more important now that we’re moving into the busy fall and end-of-year seasons. Spring training lays the foundation, but it’s the reinforcement now that will carry your teams through back-to-school and the all-important holiday stretch. Leaders who start building reinforcement habits today will see their teams thrive when it matters most.

So, how will you know your training is making an impact? Here are some signs the training is sticking:

• Associates reference training language in huddles or team meetings.
• Leaders model and coach using the skills they expect from their teams.
• Customers notice the difference (measured in feedback and sales).
• Teams expect ongoing development, not one-and-done events.
• Associates are highly engaged and want to stay and grow with the company.

Remember: Commitment and support must start at the top, which is why a key element of any reinforcement strategy is training for senior leadership that helps leaders at all levels drive accountability. The retailers we work with who invest in the senior leadership reinforcement courses we offer get it. They are truly invested, through their time as well as their financial commitment, because they want to ensure the training sticks and generates the highest level of ROI.

As retail leaders, we are the catalysts who bring learning to life, and it’s our responsibility to make it stick. Every time we reinforce, coach, or model the behaviors we want to see, we are investing not only in our people but in our results.

Let’s commit to making training more than an event. Let’s make it a way of leading.

Download our “Guide to the Senior Leader’s Role in Training Reinforcement and ROI” for tips, checklists, and more.