News - Henderson Retail/Upskill People
A new approach to induction for Henderson Retail, with Upskill People online learning
9thJanuary 2013: Henderson Retail is to roll out an online learning platform from Upskill People across its Spar, and EuroSpar retail brands.
The roll out follows a successful pilot across ten stores and will now include online training for more than 70 stores as part of a structured induction programme for all new employees. A total of seven courses are provided and include a general introduction to retail, health and safety, age restricted sales and merchandising, all to be taken over a thirteen week induction period. Additional training courses will be made available to new and existing staff in 2014.
Justine McGreevy, Training and Development Manager of the Academy, Henderson Group comments: "Online learning has proven to be a very effective way for us to deliver induction training across a geographically dispersed area. It enables us to provide far greater consistency in our training and frees up time for our store managers to focus on the day-to-day operations. Feedback from participants of the courses has been positive. Many of our employees are school or college-leavers who have grown up with technology and e-Learning tools and they find it very easy to log in, navigate and interact with the courses."
Upskill People's online learning system was chosen as an alternative to CD Rom and face-to-face induction training because of its consistency, ease of use, up-to-date content and its relevance to the sector. Upskill People operates entirely within the retail and hospitality sectors and as a result, the training provided is highly relevant and can be tailored with corporate branding and to in-store best practice. All courses are very easy to set up and are interactive, requiring only a mouse or touch-screen to operate and interact. Assessments and short tests at various stages of the course ensure that participants have fully understood the content.
The learning platform records a full audit trail following completion which can be viewed in real time via reporting that runs on all devices. Area and store managers can keep track of who has achieved the right level of skill and support those that have not.
Next year will see additional training modules rolled out to support sales and product knowledge skills for both new and existing employees as well as broadening the availability of training to other areas of Henderson Group.
About Upskill People
Upskill People is a specialist online learning provider operating primarily within retail and hospitality. With a catalogue of more than 120 courses, Upskill People's portfolio provides all the essential skills and knowledge for both frontline and management staff, providing training on compliance of health and safety regulations, licensing laws, finance, recruitment and employment law. In addition, Upskill People provides a wide range of management and leadership development courses online.
As the training courses are completed, all managers can track an individual's progress, compare training uptake with other stores, document compliance and integrate with payroll, to ensure leavers and starters are always up to date.
Clients include Best-One, Coca-Cola, De Vere, JD Wetherspoon, Las Iguanas, Malmaison/Hotel du Vin, Moto, Nando's, ScotMid Co-operative, Southern Co-operative, Travelodge and WHSmith.
www.upskillpeople.com. Twitter: @UpskillPeople
Press enquiries Upskill People:
Veronica Hannon - Transform Communications
Mob: 077 52875285
Email: veronica@transformcommunications.co.uk
Kimberley Gray - Transform Communications
Tel: 0118 969 4904/07884 405835
Email: kim@transformcommunications.co.uk