Effective training of merchandisers through cyclical learning and game mechanics. Case of «Territory of minimum prices»
Sales are the basis of business, and their effectiveness directly depends on the level of qualifications and professionalism of sellers.
To successfully sell a product, employees must be experts in their field and know the product perfectly. Therefore, sales training requires a special approach, which includes cyclical and constant motivation support.
Svitlana Levicheva, Head of the Training and Development Department at Territory of Minimum Prices, told us how the training of sales merchandisers is organized at the company and how to keep the level of motivation with the help of game mechanics.
Territory of minimum prices is a chain of stores for the whole family, with a wide selection of clothing, footwear, toys, haberdashery, household goods, pet products and leisure products for the whole family – more than 500 thousand items in total. The company has been operating in the market for 12 years and employs over 800 people. The chain consists of 13 large stores, 11 of which are located in Kyiv and one in Chernihiv and Ivano-Frankivsk.
Implementation of e-learning
Due to the rapid expansion of the company, the number of employees has increased.
The objectives that the company pursued:
– implement unified rules and standards of work
– create a knowledge base
– optimize the learning system.
Solution: Implementation of a distance learning system.
In August 2022, the company began actively working on the design of the platform, creating a concept for the distance learning process, and developing the first learning paths. A month later, it launched the corporate portal «Territory of Your Development».
Currently, about 700 employees are learning on the platform.
Svitlana Levicheva – Head of the Training and Development Department
«L&D should be a catalyst for business processes, so our requests for
e-learning were as follows:
- learning the company’s standards;
- improving the level of employees’ qualifications;
- automation of knowledge assessment;
- strengthening internal corporate communications.
That is, to optimize and automate the learning process for all groups of personnel, saving time and money. In particular: to introduce newcomers to the company’s history, corporate culture, responsibilities and safety rules at the workplace, appearance standards, corporate ethics, etc. in the shortest possible time; to train line staff in company standards, cash discipline, merchandising rules, etc.».
Learning organization on the LMS Collaborator portal
Currently, about 700 users are trained on the LMS Collaborator platform. We plan to involve 15 groups of personnel in the learning process: from beginners to store directors. Each professional category has its own learning path, which consists of a training program and is divided into modules, and modules are divided into separate topics.
A course is built around each module topic. The course formats are varied: interactive SCORM, animated video, gamified cases, and audio presentations. To check the knowledge of employees, checkpoints are necessarily created: tests, checklists, comprehensive tests, etc. Information is provided in a dosed and sequential manner, according to certain time frames. Each personnel group has a separate training program. Since the content of the programs is individual, they have different durations.
After completion of the learning process, each group of employees receives the professional knowledge necessary for successful work. Successful completion of the learning process is considered to be the complete completion of the trajectory and qualitatively completed test tasks, which are evaluated in accordance with the developed evaluation scale.
«With the help of the LMS Collaborator functionality, we were able to create training programs and combine them into an annual learning path for each category of employees. Such programs are important to us because they allow us to track the statistics and progress of each employee’s learning.
Easy access to the platform and 24/7 use makes life easier for everyone. An undeniable advantage is the ability to create a Knowledge Base. Standardization and automation of the adaptation, onboarding, and evaluation processes is the key to successful and fast training of our newcomers, and within the timeframe we set. Various types of reports are of course useful for analyzing and evaluating the learning process».
Cyclical learning for merchandisers
Cyclical learning is organized for merchandisers throughout the year. According to the developed training program, the material is presented by season and includes learning content on merchandising rules and product categories presented in the stores. Since this category of employees has a large daily workload, the material is divided by deadlines and delivered in portions.
Supportive motivation and unique game mechanics
In order to increase interest and engagement in learning, the company has developed its own gaming methodology that will encourage merchandisers to learn. The idea is for employees to take part in competitions to get the best outfit for their virtual hero – the Buyer of the department. During the learning process, they will collect collections of badges from product categories, which they will study.
For each period of learning, in accordance with a particular module, a separate selection of badges has been developed that correlate with seasonal clothing, footwear and accessories.
The badges have three levels that correspond to progress and results. Awards demonstrate the achievements of employees and help keep them motivated during the learning process.
Currently, a game-based method of certification is also under development.
At the end of each learning period, employees will receive one of the 4 parts of the certificate puzzle. Depending on the results of the learning process, the parts of the certificate will have a different color, which will correspond to the level of knowledge: expert, intermediate and basic. Employees of the expert level will receive a red certificate and will be able to take part in a drawing for the right to receive a stylist-designed look in the «Territory of Minimum Prices» store.
«Our main task is to arouse and maintain the interest of employees in the corporate portal. We want them to log in not only for training purposes, but also to get important additional information. To do this, we plan to regularly update the News section to inform employees about current events in the company. We also plan to develop and implement training for other categories of line and office staff, as well as blended learning. Equally important is the task of filling the Knowledge Base with relevant, interesting and useful information.
To increase employees’ interest in learning, we need to continue to develop training courses in various formats with visual video and audio content, introduce developmental sections, various types of quizzes, entertaining and educational content, and much more.
We also aim to create a corporate Library and Glossary.
We are also planning to develop and implement a talent pool for the company».
«Territory of minimum prices» Recipe
- The implementation of LMS Collaborator helped the company to optimize and automate the learning system for all groups of employees.
- For each group of employees, the company develops separate learning paths consisting of programs and courses covering specific professional knowledge.
- Using the analytics of the training portal helps «Territory of Minimum Prices» analyze the results and progress of employees.
- The company uses cyclical learning for merchandisers. The learning material is distributed by deadlines and delivered in portions.
- To maintain motivation and interest in learning, «Territory of Minimum Prices» has developed its own gaming methodology. During the learning process, employees will receive badges in the form of outfits for their virtual hero.
