Building a talent pool: the experience of the Territory of Minimum Prices
Imagine a company that not only keeps up with market changes, but anticipates them. A company where talented employees have real opportunities for professional growth and leadership. Does it sound ambitious? This is exactly how Territory of Minimum Prices works.
What is their secret?
A powerful system for training the internal talent pool, implemented using the LMS Collaborator training platform.
Svitlana Levicheva, Head of the Learning and Development Department at Territory of Minimum Prices, spoke about the peculiarities of selecting candidates and organizing training for reserve personnel.
About the company
Territory of Minimum Prices is a Ukrainian chain of shopping centers that offers a wide range of quality goods at affordable prices. The company specializes in selling clothing, footwear, toys, haberdashery and leisure goods for the whole family.
Over 15 years of operation, Territory of Minimum Prices has gained the trust of 500,000 regular customers. Today, the company has 18 stores in the following cities: Kyiv, Chernihiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Lviv. In addition to physical outlets, the company is actively developing its online business through an online store www.termincin.com.
Today, Territory of Minimum Prices employs more than 1,000 people.
Employee training at Territory of Minimum Prices
Today, 795 employees are trained on the Territory of Your Development platform (ed: the name of the Territory of Minimum Prices training portal created on the basis of LMS Collaborator). This number is constantly growing due to the rapid development of the company.
2023 was a landmark year for the business: the company launched its own clothing brand LAWA, opened a design bureau and a garment production facility. These changes prompted the expansion of training programs and the involvement of new groups of employees in training.
Responding to the business’s request, the company’s training department has developed comprehensive programs for office workers, focusing on two key areas of work: hard skills and soft skills.
«We are actively creating a culture of online learning by offering our employees interesting and useful courses in various formats,» says Svitlana Levicheva, Head of the Learning and Development Department.
To ensure that employees always have access to up-to-date and useful information, the company has created a corporate library. It has become a key center for knowledge storage and sharing for the entire team.
Features of the corporate library:
- Modern interface design;
- Convenient categorization of materials;
- Intuitive information search system;
- Feedback form for suggestions on how to improve the content.
This structure allows employees to efficiently find the necessary materials and actively participate in the development of the corporate knowledge base.
Territory of Minimum Prices corporate library
The company’s line staff undergoes cyclical training in separate professional programs, which are regularly updated with new courses and relevant materials. The highlight of the training process is a unique gamification system. During the training, employees equip a virtual family home with household items from the company’s store assortment. They also accumulate internal currency that can be exchanged for real goods of the chain after completing the training. This approach significantly increases the engagement and motivation of employees to learn.
We described the case of cyclical learning for merchandisers in more detail earlier: Effective training of merchandisers through cyclical learning and game mechanics. Case of «Territory of minimum prices»
Features of the selection of candidates for the internal talent pool
Quickly replacing key employees is not just an advantage, but a necessity to remain competitive. This is especially true for retail chains, where the quality of customer service and efficiency are of great importance. One of the strategic approaches to solving this problem for Territory of Minimum Prices was to organize training for the internal talent pool.
«This issue was very important to us, as we wanted to use our own resources, which would reduce the cost of external hiring and onboarding of newcomers. Line staff who are already familiar with internal processes and corporate culture adapt to new roles faster. The opportunity for career growth also increases employee loyalty, which motivates them to stay with the company,» explains Svitlana.
Candidates for the internal talent pool of Territory of Minimum Prices are nominated at different levels of management and professional activity. The process may involve:
- A direct supervisor, such as a store manager or administrator.
- A senior manager, such as a retail director or store manager.
- A specialized specialist from the central office, in particular, a category manager or an employee of the HR department.
- An employee who strives for development and career growth.
The selection procedure consists of several stages: testing and interviews with specialists from the HR Department, as well as in-depth interviews with representatives of the Retail Department.
Candidates must have a high level of knowledge and skills appropriate to their position. In addition to professional competencies, personal competencies are also taken into account. This approach allows us to ensure a comprehensive selection of candidates for the talent pool.
Organization of training for the talent pool
The formation of an internal talent pool for line staff in the Minimum Price Territory takes place in two stages: «School of Merchandiser» and «School of Administrator».
Stage 1: «School of Merchandiser»
The first stage of the School of Merchandising includes two mandatory introductory courses, 15 e-courses and screencasts. Employees choose them on their own, depending on the current needs of the store during their internship with a mentor.
School of Merchandiser
After each course, the reservist is tested to verify the knowledge he or she has gained. If the candidate shows satisfactory results within a month of training, he or she moves on to the next step – evaluation. If necessary, the training period can be extended.
Stage 2: «School of Administrator»
After completing the Commodity Expert School, employees can continue their studies at the «School of Administrator», the second stage. To do this, they need to fill out a questionnaire on the LMS Collaborator platform and successfully pass the test.
The «School of Administrator» program combines theoretical training and practical classes. Employees study the theory on the platform, and practice their practical skills directly in the store with the support of their mentor.
The training consists of 4 modules that are automatically assigned in turn. Each module includes different types of knowledge checks: essays, quizzes, and tests. Training courses are developed in the format of webinars. After completing each of them, employees perform tasks to consolidate the material, which are checked by supervisors. This comprehensive approach ensures effective learning and allows us to track the progress of each participant.
«School of Administrator»
Upon completion of each module, the trainee receives a message that guides him or her to complete a particular learning trajectory. After online training, trainees undergo a mandatory offline certification.
Conclusions and plans for the future
The use of LMS Collaborator to train the talent pool at Territory of Minimum Prices was a strategically important decision that brought a number of tangible benefits.
For the company, the platform has become a comprehensive ecosystem for all program participants, effectively centralizing the learning process. The flexibility of the system made it possible to create individual learning trajectories, taking into account the specific needs and level of training of each employee.
«With the ability to track progress in real time, we can quickly respond to participants’ achievements and challenges, providing them with ongoing support,» says Svitlana.
Automation of learning processes has greatly simplified administrative work, allowing HR specialists to focus on strategic tasks. Interactive learning formats such as webinars, tests, and forums have increased employee engagement and provided prompt feedback.
The integration of LMS Collaborator with other corporate systems proved to be particularly useful, ensuring uninterrupted data exchange and automation of HR processes. Gamification elements further stimulated employee motivation for learning and professional development.
«As for our plans for further development of the program, we plan to create an internal talent pool for office employees, introduce gamification elements and a reward system to increase the involvement and motivation of talent pool participants.
For companies planning to implement an LMS for training their talent pool, I would like to recommend to:
- clearly define the needs and goals you want to achieve with the system;
- be sure to run a pilot project to test the functionality
- create learning materials based on changes in the business and new challenges faced by the company;
- provide an opportunity for employees to provide feedback on training programs, which will allow you to respond quickly and make the necessary adjustments;
- stimulate employee engagement and motivation to learn;
- make the learning and reward system accessible and transparent so that every candidate understands your rules and regulations;
- cooperate with LMS Collaborator technical support, which will help you realize your ideas and achieve your goals».
