Analysis: Five lessons retailers can learn from Team GB's gold rush

Set targets to motivate and measure success

Team GB’s overwhelming success in Rio stemmed from distinct targets across a host of Olympic disciplines.

Medal targets set for individual sports not only inspired athletes to achieve those goals, but have been used to communicate the team’s expectations to the nation and, ultimately, measure the success of British athletes.

A theme that cropped up time and time again in interviews with Britain’s medal winners was the joy they took not just in achieving individual success, but in edging Team GB ever-closer to its overall medal target as part of a proud and patriotic team.

But while those targets helped drive a sense of teamwork and pride in helping towards achieving a bigger picture, Team GB chiefs showed they were not afraid to amend their targets – something many retailers could learn from.

It is worth remembering that Britain’s Olympic gold rush did not kick into full swing until a number of days after the opening ceremony, prompting Team GB to downgrade their medal expectations from 70 to 60.

Britain’s Olympic chiefs realised that the target had to be achievable in order to motivate rather than alienate athletes in Brazil – and it certainly did that.

Similarly, retailers should not be afraid to be flexible when setting their own goals as market conditions change. Otherwise, lofty goals that will be a struggle to attain can drag down the confidence levels and performance of teams, rather than inspire them to achieve their best.

New Marks & Spencer boss Steve Rowe, for instance, has made clear that the actions he believes necessary to put the retailer back on track mean previous profit expectations had to be reined in.

Drive marginal gains

In a fiercely competitive sector where every efficiency, synergy and percentage point counts, retailers could do worse than to learn from Team GB’s success in the velodrome, which was driven by marginal gains.

Sir David Brailsford, who served as performance director at British Cycling between 2003 and 2014, is credited with championing the philosophy that served British riders so well in Rio.

“The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improved it by 1%, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together,” Brailsford said in 2012.

British Cycling developed a culture of obsessive focus over even the most minor of details, such as improving hand-washing techniques to avoid illness and sleeping on the same pillow, in the knowledge that, added together, the marginal gains would secure the small advantages needed to beat the competition.

Indeed, a number of innovative companies are using the marginal gains in entirely different sectors to enhance performance.

Google, for instance, runs 12,000 data-driven experiments every year in order to pinpoint small areas within the business that can be improved.

One such experiment found that by simply tweaking the shade of the Google toolbar to a lighter blue, the rate of click-throughs was improved and revenue boosted.

Retailers could use a similar technique to pull different leavers across in-store merchandising, ecommerce, customer service and fulfilment to boost their bottom lines.

Target investment into the right areas

Team GB was accused in some quarters as being “brutal” in its decision-making when it came to investment, but there is no doubting the policy has been effective.

On average, each of Britain’s medals at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – which amounted to 27 golds, 23 silvers and 38 bronzes – cost Team GB £4m.

UK Sport, which determines how public funds raised via taxpayers and the National Lottery are allocated, has prioritised investment into sports such as athletics, rowing, cycling and boxing, which have proved happy hunting grounds for Brits.

The policy to plough more funds into those disciplines has helped Team GB surge up the medals table since finishing a lowly 36th in Atlanta two decades ago.

On the flip side, sports such as table tennis, volleyball and wrestling that failed to hit medal targets at London 2012 had their funding slashed or axed altogether.

The ruthless policy may have left some sports behind, but has driven the overall success of Team GB.

Whether it be low prices, depth of range, customer service, fast fulfilment, or a highly-developed ecommerce offer that singles out a retailer, the Team GB model suggests they should focus on what they do well in order to prosper, rather than investing into areas that have garnered less success.

Argos might be one example. It focused on investment in digital technology – at the expense of its traditional paper catalogue – to put itself in good shape for the future.

Similarly Tesco under Dave Lewis has focused relentlessly on its core business and offloaded operations it regards as sidelines.

Succession planning

Many a retail boss has revealed their pride at leaving behind a clear succession plan upon leaving the top job – leaders such as Justin King at Sainsbury’s and more recently Mark Price at Waitrose instantly spring to mind.

Similarly, Team GB has proved across a number of sports that it builds not just for the present, but constantly considers future success and the legacy that Olympic champions will create for future Games.

Cycling provides another prime example. Sir Chris Hoy may have retired four years ago in London as a six-time Olympic champion, but Team GB already had Sir Bradley Wiggins waiting to step out of his shadow – and this summer Jason Kenny won three golds, demonstrating that the conveyor belt of British cycling talent continues to roll on.

Likewise in the heptathlon – a discipline that made Jessica Ennis-Hill an inspiration for budding young sportswomen – Katarina Johnson-Thomson has continued to build her potential and emerged a serious medal contender for future Games.

Britain’s rowers provide a third clear example, continuing to bring home the gold following the retirement of the legendary Sir Steve Redgrave, highlighting the importance of succession planning.

While retail chief executives often regard the moulding of their potential successors as a key part of their role, creating a succession plan at all levels of the business will set them up for the sort of long-term stability and continued success that Team GB continues to enjoy.

Show resilience

Retailers need to show their resilience now more than ever, as a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the industry following the Brexit poll and the growth of digital commerce threatens traditional business models.

A number of Team GB’s athletes demonstrated their resilience in Rio, none more so than Louis Smith who, having cost Britain’s gymnasts a shot at a team medal after falling from the pommel horse, bounced back just days later to win individual silver on the same piece of apparatus.

Team GB’s women hockey players weathered a barrage of attacks from their Dutch counterparts to cling onto a draw in the final – and then win gold in a dramatic penalty shootout.

And even athletes who weren’t as successful in Rio as they would have liked – such as Lutalo Muhammad, who was beaten to taekwondo gold with just half a second left on the clock, and Tom Daley who failed to make the 10m platform final – displayed similar resilience in defeat.

Both struggled to hold back the tears, but instantly turned their attention to a shot at redemption in Tokyo 2020.

Retailers are certain to face similar ups and downs as their businesses adapt to challenges ranging from cost pressures such as business rates and the national living wage, not to mention rapidly changing shopper habits.

But if retailers can display the same resilience as Team GB’s athletes, they should be able to weather almost anything that is thrown at them. Retailers can learn from Tesco boss Dave Lewis, who took over the business at one of its lowest points in the grocer’s history and slowly but surely put it back on track.

• Hear from Katherine Grainger, the most decorated female Olympian, who took silver in the women’s double sculls at the Rio Games, at Retail Week Live on March 8, 2017. She will be speaking on how the lessons she’s learned in teamwork and motivation can be applied to retail. Visit live.retail-week.com for more information.