Blog

MOHR Ideas at work.

Our work takes us all over the world. And we learn a lot as we train. Today, there’s no reason to wait until we’re back at home base to pass on a good idea or highlight a trend. Here’s where you’ll find them as soon as we spot them.

National Retail Research: Leading From a Distance

By MOHR Retail | March 14, 2016

Be part of our new research on the challenges and best practices of leading at a distance, and receive “first view” access to the report of findings, including implications for retail multiunit management skills and strategy development. More than 7,000 retail DMs have participated in our retail multiunit management training programs. This new research will delve…

Motivating Associates: 4 Store Leadership Best Practices

By Michael Patrick | March 11, 2016

One of the primary aspects of the retail store manager’s role is helping associates maximize their own potential and performance. That’s why it’s so important for your leadership training to address the issues of associate engagement and motivation. Here are 4 leadership best practices from our research that will help unleash motivation to drive higher…

Delegating: It’s More Than Moving Things Off Your To-Do List

By MOHR Retail | March 1, 2016

Task assignments are most often a way of getting something done that needs to happen routinely. Delegation, on the other hand, means giving a person responsibility outside their current job with some degree of decision-making authority. When we teach our module in MSL (Merchant & Support Leadership) on Delegating to Develop, participants are sometimes confused. “You…

Why Retailers Are Scrambling to Close This Leadership Development Gap

By Michael Patrick | February 23, 2016

In working with retailers to develop their store leaders’ interpersonal skills over the years, one question seemed to come up again and again: What about the other leaders in the organization, like those in the distribution centers and home offices? There’s no shortage of leadership development programs out there, but the retail ecosystem is unique. Management…

The Expanding Role of High Potentials in Retail Talent Strategies

By MOHR Retail | February 1, 2016

The HR research firm Bersin by Deloitte defines high potentials as employees who have been identified as “having the potential, ability, and aspiration for successive leadership positions within the company.” But many retailers are also leveraging their high potentials in new and interesting ways. Identifying”‘HiPo” candidates isn’t new. Over the past few years, however, this group…

In Retail, Is the Question Really Managing vs. Leading?

By Michael Patrick | January 19, 2016

Are you a manager or leader? Which should you strive to be? And what’s the difference? Retailers often ask us whether their learning and development strategies should center around management or leadership skills. In many industries, those lines of responsibilities are clear and specific, so separating the two makes sense. But retail is unique. More often…

Healthy Reflection Builds Great Retail Businesses

By Michael Patrick | December 15, 2015

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…

If Leaders Don’t Change, Neither Will Anyone Else

By Michael Patrick | November 23, 2015

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…