In the industries The Mann Group serves there is often an all or nothing mentality.  You are either elite or you are not.  Brands find elite athletes to represent and create brand awareness while retailers frequently find anyone with a body to represent their store.

Retail is one of many industries that doesn’t have barriers to entry.   The definition of barriers to entry:  factors that can prevent or impede newcomers into a market or industry sector.  

You do not have to have a college degree, trade degree or even experience…maybe some product knowledge but this fluctuates depending on the retailer.

In Mann U we help students calculate the cost of a bad hire.  See formula below.  Let’s say $8190 is the average cost of a bad hire for a sales associate position. (In other words, what is your loss–in dollars–when you make a bad hiring decision?)  What is your turnover rate?  Industry average for retail in 2022 is 76% for all hourly, in store positions.  Let’s say ½ of those turnovers are bad hires.  

Well you get what we are saying.

Hiring is expensive.

Turnover is inevitable.

And without barriers to entry the cycle continues. 

Now we also realize that high barriers to entry generally require a certification of some sort.  And yet there is no formal certification process for retail professionals.  No amount of hours training and yet to become elite how many countless hours must you spend training?

If we take Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours being the key to achieving true expertise in one skill that could be a baseline.  But what is the skill that is most important for retail?  A lot of our behavior and focus is around product knowledge training.  According to the “interwebs” the number one skill is communication and interpersonal skills…product knowledge ranks #4.

Now think about your store and what it would be like to have a staff certified with 10,000 hours of communication and interpersonal skills?  

Our first barrier to get over is this mindset:  retail is not a real career.

Maybe in order to be elite we have to first decide to be elite.  Maybe after we decide to be elite we put in the hours.  Commit to a new mindset.  Maybe then the barrier to entry can shift  We can demand a new perspective in our retail store.  

You have the ability to set your own barriers.  What are your non-negotiables?

Start with creating a plan.  Just like with any new training regimen you create a goal and a plan.  Start with the end in mind.  Let’s say by the end of the year you want your team to have 10,000 hours of communication and interpersonal skills training complete.  

1. What programs are out there that can help you?
2. What books can your team begin to read?
3. What are some podcasts on communication skills?  Interpersonal skills?
4. Practice.  Put all the time into weekly slots of practicing the specific skills you are focusing on.
5. Training Calendar.  Having a training calendar is as important as any other calendar of your life.  Create one and keep it.

While it is difficult to measure communication skills and interpersonal skills, what would be ways you can create metrics for assurance that the expertise is being achieved?  Here are a few ideas to consider:

1. Individual 360 evaluations
2. Conduct a company employees satisfaction survey
3. Measure net promotoer scores
4. Turn over and retention by department

It starts with you.  We have certified many retail professionals in 20+ years of The Mann Group.  Many of you reading this article have been in retail for decades.  It is time to start taking retail seriously.  

Retail is the #1 private-sector employer in the country.