We had just finished debriefing the results of a store manager survey with the regional and district teams from a major retail client. The insights and ahas were everywhere. As the SVP, Store Ops had said when kicking off the meeting, “We want this time to be a healthy reflection on each of us as…

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Clients frequently ask about how to get more accountability in their organization. They also worry about leaders accepting mediocre performance because the thought of recruiting a replacement just adds work to an overburdened schedule. So they struggle with employees who coast or have inconsistent performance. On the other hand, when we read employee blogs about…

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Many organizations that are growing fast focus on just making sure the basics are in place, the brand is being fully represented, and their day-to-day promises to customers are being met.  But like all retailers know, that doesn’t make you competitive. At some point, you are going to be looking at same-store sales, not just…

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Flat wages and shaky consumer confidence will likely dampen the holiday sales surge for most retailers this year. With Deloitte forecasting a 4% increase in sales this holiday season, versus 5.2% last year, the domino effect is bound to hit seasonal staffing as well. According to Deloitte and a number of other research firms, several…

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Management is about getting things done through people, so all management training programs can teach all managers how to do that. Or so the conventional wisdom goes. But ask leaders and managers in store support and home office roles about what they’re dealing with in the complex world of retail management, and that conventional wisdom…

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Much of retail negotiation hinges on how effectively you build and manage your supplier relationships. When you cultivate strong partnerships, the benefits add up—for you, the vendor, and your customer. What builds true partnerships? We asked key vendors and retailers what influences them most. Here are some tips that came from those discussions. Talk to…

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Exposés of what goes on behind the scenes at large, well-known companies are guaranteed attention grabbers, so it’s no surprise that this week’s New York Times story about Amazon’s “bruising workplace” has been getting non-stop coverage. Since the article came out, there has been some controversy about whether the findings are truly representative since they…

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The other day I met with a team of senior L&D leaders from a well-known chain. They’re looking for leadership development across all levels of the organization—store leadership, multiunit management, and the home office. I knew they’d probably implemented some kind of leadership development programs in the past, so I wanted to get a better…

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Over the last few weeks, at least four retailers have introduced themselves to us by talking about their core values. While values and mission statements have always been around, for many there seems to be a renewed sense of importance in connecting core values with learning and development initiatives. These retailers want to make sure…

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The riddle many training departments are facing—and are increasingly frustrated by—is how to get all that excitement and energy from the training to carry on in the field long after the event itself. What we often see is that there’s a lot of focus and attention on the implementation. Maybe it’s being rolled out at…

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