E-learning: Personalised staff training in your stores

E-learning has made huge strides since its early days as a basic electronic learning package. In the past it would be delivered by disk or DVD and run in response to an immediate business need, rather than supporting a wider, ongoing training and development strategy.

A decade on, retailers recognise that having a portal for learning, reference, support and communication in stores provides great benefits. Not only does it bring huge cost savings over traditional training methods but it also improves store relations and staff confidence.

Supporting staff at every level

Today, about half of all retailers have switched from face-to-face and paper-based learning to e-learning. And while many still use e-learning to train just the store managers, the more forward-thinking organisations are now rolling out e-learning to support all store staff.

JJB Sports has introduced a bespoke e-learning system based on our Virtual View and Learn (VVL) portal, which provides personalised information and learning. Employees can even pick up daily messages via a message board, and get instant access to specific product and problem-solving information.

JJB Sports associate director of IT Mark Macaulay says: “We needed to speed up the lines of communication to all our store staff, not just our managers. Due to the diversity of BT’s VVL solution we have been able to build a dynamic retail portal that is personal to each member of staff, for training, support and communication. We have even been able to use it to collect information from stores such as payroll and supplementary orders.”

Technology redefining training

The growth in e-learning is partly due to advances in technology. Things like intranet capability within stores, tills with browsers, and the introduction of wireless mobile units are all helping to make e-learning easier and more cost-effective to roll out.

Six years ago we were the first vendor to deliver content directly to touch tills in WHSmith, and a year later interactive e-learning directly to touch tills for Mothercare. Today we have 21 retailers using e-learning at the till point and this number is growing all the time.

We are also looking at less bandwidth-hungry ways of video streaming to allow multimedia content to be delivered as part of an e-learning package and greater use of mobile technology, including smartphone applications for assessment.

Richer, more engaging content

E-learning has become more engaging, interactive and fun for staff with podcasts, videos, gaming and multimedia content all now essential elements of a successful e-learning strategy.

Taking this a stage further, we’re working on 3D ‘virtual stores’ within e-learning and will introduce it for

Co-operative Food as part of its induction programme later this year.

Knowledge sharing tools such as blogs and Wikis, which allow employees to swap feedback about their learning, will also become part of a standard e-learning programme in the future. These replace traditional, more expensive methods of feedback such as forms and questionnaires, and allow senior managers to collate comments and feedback on specific learning campaigns.

The future of e-learning

Retailers are gradually adopting an integrated approach and weaving e-learning into both their everyday operating strategy and an employee’s personal development plan.

And although e-learning is principally for a retailer’s store staff, it doesn’t have to be limited to this. Retailers

can go beyond the boundaries of the store and use the integrated e-learning portal to connect to suppliers’ learning and even to download product information to kiosks and websites to help customers too.

E-learning has changed dramatically in the past 10 years and, with technology advancing all the time, the retailers that take advantage of this will see huge benefits.