Once a retailer chooses MOHR Retail the real work begins to ensure that whatever the training we’re putting into place that we are all clear on the importance of the senior leaders and their role.  The Vitamin Shoppe understood this well.  Their SVP Retail, SVP HR, and all of the Regional Directors met to agree on how to introduce, participate and close this important session.  We reviewed the content for the day, introduced exclusive senior leader strategies for follow up & reinforcement, and detailed what success would look like.

Over the 26 years I’ve had the pleasure of working with retailers on skill-building training, the true impact of any training could always be predicted by how involved the senior leaders were from the start.  Many times it’s just verbal support, at worst it’s a “…just fix them..” approach but the best has always come when senior leaders agree that their involvement is critical and build a plan specifically for their role before, during, and after.

Kudos to The Vitamin Shoppe senior team, including their CEO, for starting out with the strongest foundation.  The session was an overwhelming success.  It tied many skills and insights to the rest of the week-long business meeting.  I am more confident than ever that they will get the most out of their investment, well beyond the basics.  They have also set the bar high for future development and sent a strong message to their management teams that continuous learning is essential.

How involved is your senior team in training initiatives?  Share your thoughts here for other retailers to read or tweet us @mohrretail.  Thanks for reading and remember, in retail, every day is a chance to learn MOHR.

Posted in Editorial
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About Michael Patrick

Michael held positions in retail management, merchandising, and human resources before joining MOHR Retail’s predecessor in 1986. In 1990 he purchased the retail division of that firm to form today’s MOHR Retail. Michael holds true to his retail roots by delivering learning that changes behavior—providing both immediate and lasting business impact. In addition to facilitating MOHR Retail training programs, he offers executive-level coaching in one-on-one sessions dealing with critical strategic issues such as succession strategies and executive team development. The author of “The New Negotiation Mindset: Guarantee A Bigger Slice,” Michael is a longstanding member of NRF as well as ISA: The Association of Learning Providers. He has a B.A. from San Diego State University, completed Master’s level work at Arizona State University, and lives with his family in New Jersey.