I declare that this work based project was completed on my own.
Signed ........................................ Date..................
Word count - 3645
TRAINING FOR NEW AND EXISTING STAFF
Introduction
The Organisation that I work for is called La Senza. La Senza is a Luxury Lingerie store that provides women of all ages a unique shopping experience. La Senza employs over 300 members of staff and has over 70 stores across the UK.The Company has now expanded and has franchises across Europe and Ireland. La Senza entered the UK market in 1996 started up by Theo Pathitis (Dragons Den). Since the business was set up the business has won awards and has been a successful business. Theo Pathitis sold the business in 2006 to Lion Capital, a private equity company and still has shares in the business. The branch that I work for is based in Wimbledon and we provide a service for women which includes bra fittings, finding the right bra and providing excellent customer service.
Aims and Objectives
To help me to provide a focus for my assignment I have set out the following aims and objectives:
Aims - To review and research training for new and current staff at La Senza
Objectives:
* To review current training given within the business
* To identify the organisations training needs and requirements of staff
* To research methods of training that may benefit the company employees
* To analyse the store training and how to improve the training for staff members
Training for New and Existing staff
The current training procedures are on-the-job training, the advantage of this is that a new joiner will be able to get knowledge of their job by seeing and through guidance. The disadvantage of this is that there may not be enough time for full on guidance and the staff will not be given proper training.
I have chosen this topic as I feel that there needs to be an improvement in the training system for new staff as well as existing staff members. The reason I think this because I was trained by another member of staff and was not given any proper training. I was given a brief overview of the store, a breakdown of the products and services and was left on my own to do the rest. Based on this I feel that the areas of improvement will be based on product knowledge and services provided to the public.
Product Knowledge - The reason for this is that La Senza has thousands of different products and it will not take a few weeks or months to learn about every product in the store but also there are new items that come in every week.
Services provided to the public - Staff are to provide a bra fitting service and to advise them on the best suitable product, not being able to do this correctly will result in complaints and will affect sales due to refunds.
What is more, there are issues on the style of training that is being provided which is currently from existing members of staff who work for the company. Their experience could range from 1 month to 15 years; the training they provide may not be accurate and can be inappropriate.
The procedures for staff training for new managers would be to go on two weeks training at another branch with an experienced member of store management. This will include
* Going through the policy and procedures of the company.
* The running of the store.
* How to complete daily and weekly paperwork.
* Annual and weekly reports, stock, staff management and the use of the systems
The benefits of training managers this way is to give them a full intensive training over the two weeks, so that they are given all the information on the products and services and full support at the branch over 40 hours per week. This differs from new starters that are non management as they will be running the store over 5 days a week rotated over the 7 days, they will have to train new starters and prepare reports and paperwork which standard staff members will not be a part of.
The training procedure for standard level sales consultants would consist of a standard procedure which every member of staff will have to go through. This will consist of:
* Induction - staff would be given a staff handbook, introduced to other members of staff in the branch, shown around the branch and a brief on where stock and products are held.
* Assigned to a member of staff who is available to show new member of staff how things are done. Spend one hour with the staff in each area of the store which would be the fitting room, cashiering, front of the store, customer service and replenishment. (filling up empty stock)
This procedure would go on for roughly one week until the staff member is confident with what they are doing.
This method is used as it is a fast past industry and there is no time to send employees to training days, so managers find it easier just to assign the new joiner to another member of staff who will help them throughout the days.
Why does training matter?
Training improves the capability of an organization. It is about making sure that everyone is able to do his or her job in a way that increases the chances that the organisation will achieve its objectives. Most people want to do a good job. But 'doing a good job' demands:
* Capable processes
* Capable people
* Capable performance
To set in context the role that training plays, we will consider each of these in turn.
Source: Hackett,P (2003), Training Practice
What if I get it wrong?
If workers' induction training is unsatisfactory, this
Can lead to:
• unsatisfactory performance and low job
• satisfaction
• absenteeism, high labour turnover and
• resignations or dismissals
• tribunal cases if employees complain of unfair
• dismissal because of inadequate training
• high demands on managers
• accidents leading to injuries
• and/or prosecution
• Mistakes which are costly to the company.
Methodology
Information required
Research method
Why I have chosen this method
Primary Research
To find out how staff training is provided and how staff feel about the training given to themselves
Questionnaire will be given to 5 members of staff, completed and collected
I was able to get an accurate opinion of staff regarding their training from the company and feedback on any improvements
To contact the Hr department and find out more information on the training provided to staff members
Using the computer at work to look on the Intranet for more training resources, looking through the staff handbook for information
To see what training is available to employees on the Intranet and staff handbook provided by the HR department
Secondary Research
To find out about staff training and how important it is to have the right training in a company.
ACAS and CIPD website. Use of Currie textbook
The information is reliable and up-to-date
I have made an enquiry to the HR department and spoke to the HR manager about the training that is currently provided for the staff at La Senza.
I asked her a few questions relating to the current training system within the company and was given limited information. The questions that I asked her were:
. Where can I find more information on training of new and current staff?
You can check the company intranet for more information on training and regular updates. We do not have a set structure on training as this is provided in store by the managers. Please also take a look at the staff handbook which will give you an overview of the company's policy and procedures.
2. ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
I asked her a few questions relating to the current training system within the company and was given limited information. The questions that I asked her were:
. Where can I find more information on training of new and current staff?
You can check the company intranet for more information on training and regular updates. We do not have a set structure on training as this is provided in store by the managers. Please also take a look at the staff handbook which will give you an overview of the company's policy and procedures.
2. Do you feel that staff members are getting the appropriate training?
Staff members are trained by members of management in store. We in HR do not get involved with training of lower level of employees.
Based on the information that has been provided to me it seems that HR do not really get involved in training for staff and feel that appropriate training is down to the manager of the store. There is no structure for training within the company and is done by store management as and when they take on a new employee.
There was limited information on the company intranet and the staff handbook has just about a paragraph relating to training. This is bad practice and could cause a poor retention of staff and no development. The estimated statistics for the staff turnover for a branch would be 1 or 2 staff members leaving per month. There are roughly 15 members of staff to one store working full time, part time and weekends only. It is mainly the junior staffs that leave often as they are not happy with their training, they feel that they are not getting what they need from their job and are not confident enough to provide a good service to the public as expected by the company. Most of the junior staff are students working part time or weekends so this would be their first job so they would sometimes feel they have no option.
Staff who have been with the company for a number of years feel that there is no development and are bored with their jobs, they feel that the company does not care about their needs and they are stuck in the same position for a very long time and most are always considering other options. Leaving the company and going to other stores or changing careers. The source of this information has come from the actual individuals letting managers know why they want to leave and still being in contact with ex colleagues from La Senza. Some sources are from seeing the ex staff member working in another shop opposite or within the shopping centre.
Compared to other retailers this is the norm. Retail stores do not take high priority in investing in their staff but would want a high turnover in sales. Other stores within the centre tend not to have as many staff as La Senza does. E.g. Warehouse opposite have about 10 staff to the store, normally 3 staff on the shop floor as La Senza will have 5 staff on the shop floor. Every company has its own needs and requirement but some only work for the money.
'The cost of recruiting again if you do not offer the training and development to keep the staff you have can be considerable and more than justifies the investment in your workers' future'. (ACAS website.)
Findings
I supplied a questionnaire to 5 members of staff to find out how they feel about the training that they have received since they have started their position at La Senza and to identify what improvement needs to be introduced to ensure that the training is more effective.
Please see Questionnaire and results on the next page
La Senza Staff Training Survey
Induction
Very Satisfied
Satisfied
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
How did you find the induction programme?
Did the induction meet your expectations?
How do you feel about the structure of you induction?
Training
Yes
No
N/A
Do you feel you have had appropriate training for your role?
Have you been given the information needed to carry out your duties?
Did you feel you had support throughout your training?
Have the appropriate policies and procedures been shown and explained to you?
Do you feel the training needs to be improved? Please also comment
Are you happy with the pace of the training?
Development
Yes
No
N/A
Are you happy with your development in your role?
Did your trainer guide you through your role thoroughly?
Were you set objectives and personal development?
Do you feel there will be future career development?
Do you think you have learnt new skills in your training and development?
Staff Training Questionnaire Results
La Senza
Induction/Training Programme - 5 out of 5 members responded to the questionnaire
Induction
Very Satisfied
Satisfied
neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
dissatisfied
very dissatisfied
Comments
How did you find the induction programme?
3
2
Did the induction meet your expectations?
4
How do you feel about the structure of your induction?
3
Training
Yes
No
N/A
Comments
Do you feel you have had the appropriate training for your role?
3
2
Have you been given all the information needed to carry out your duties?
2
3
* More information should be provided on products and services
Did you feel you had support throughout your training?
3
2
Have the appropriate policies and procedure been shown and explained to you?
4
* Given staff handbook but not explained
Do you feel the training needs to be improved? Please also comment
5
* More structured programme
* more information and in depth information should be provided
Are you happy with the pace of the training?
3
2
Development
Yes
No
N/A
Comments
Are you happy with your development in the role?
2
3
Did your Trainer guide you through your training thoroughly?
4
Were you set objectives and personal development?
2
3
Do you feel that there will be future career development?
2
3
* No structured development
Do you feel that you have learnt new skills in your training and development?
4
Based on the results table above the results are showing that the majority are not happy with the induction process and felt that there was no structure for the induction and that it was not professional. Some were unsure of what to expect from a retail induction coming from different backgrounds or starting a 1st job. The staff members who have been there longer periods have had more training and support throughout their time at La Senza but the more recently appointed staff did not get a lot of support and training throughout and felt that they needed more information to carry out their duties. All staff members felt that the company should implement a more structured induction and training programme to enable all staff to get the appropriate training and information needed to be able to provide a better service and to carry out the duties.
Most of the staff was not happy with the development in their role as there were no objectives set for them and no personal development. They felt that they were stuck in the same role with no future careers developments although the majority have learnt a new skill since they started working.
The main thing that is needed for a fast past retail industry is a Personal Development Plan. This could be easier as there are only 6 steps that need to be followed:
Personal Development Plans
Higson & Wilson 1995
* What skills do they have now?
* What Roles & Tasks do they currently fulfil?
* What is the next progression?
* What roles & tasks will be different?
* What training will they need?
* What is the timeframe for the training?
CPP -Training and Development Workbook
After gathering the information that has been provided as well as researching into the company's current training policy I have identified that the training needs to be improved and will need to have a structured procedure in place to develop their staff to be able to save more time and money due to limited training.
After investigating further into the training and development of staff members I contacted HR to make them aware of the training issues with staff not being happy with training and the high turnover of staff. I showed them the questionnaire that I created and the results to see if they were aware of any training issues. I was then told that La Senza are introducing a new training and development programme to enable them to help develop staff and gain a qualification at the same time. This is called 'The spirit of La Senza '.
The two key objectives of introducing SPIRIT are:
. To create a clear path for all staff from sales associate to area manager
2. To create a standard training approach across La Senza
Its aim is to provide a clear achievable career path supported by a comprehensive training plan. The meaning of SPIRIT is broken down:
S
Sensational
Being the best in everything that we do. Providing excellent customer service to both external and internal customers. Ensuring this reflects in our personal appearance as well as the stores.
P
Passionate
The passion we have for everything we do, having fun and enjoying ourselves
I
Inspired
Our motivation. Encouraging and embracing all ideas and creativity
R
Respectful
Operating with integrity and honesty. Treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves
I
Informed
How informed and knowledgeable we are. Being experts in our field
T
Team Spirit
How we achieve success as a team by being supportive, inclusive, motivational, excellent communicators who encourage personal development and a good work life balance.
How will La Senza Develop a career?
This is broken down into 5 levels and is down to the individual to demonstrate and improve onto each level. The levels are:
Level
Description
Sales Associate
2
Bra Expert
3
Current Team manager being assessed to meet requirement or Anyone who wants to work towards being a team manager
4
Current Deputy manager being assessed to meet requirements Or Any Team manager who wants to be a deputy manager
5
Current manager in any store being assessed to meet requirement or Any Deputy manager who wants to be a Manager
Each level will be based on a list of competencies, evidence, and development and will need to be signed off for a certificate.
The competency will review all the behaviours required under each section. Once the behaviours have been looked at staff members will be able to assess for themselves on how frequently they demonstrate each behaviour and give themselves a score from 1-4.
The evidence will be specific pieces of evidence that will support the score which the staff member has allocated under each competency.
Development will need to be reviewed by staff member and manager to agree a score on the competency sheet. There is a plan that staff can use to create a development plan if needed and have not met score.
Final sign off would be completed once the action plan has been completed and any scores have been improved. When both employee and manager aggress that the scores are 3 or 4 in all competencies then the manager can sign off the SPIRIT level and arrange for a certificate to be sent.
Please see appendices.
CIPD FACT SHEET
Who is responsible for the induction process?
'The personnel or human resource manager. Their likely involvement would be to go over the terms and conditions, complete any necessary paperwork, and perhaps give an overview of the company organisation'
'The line or department manager. This person will normally provide the more local welcome to the organisation, explaining where that particular department or section fits with the whole, and providing the first round of introductions to the department'
'The supervisor, who will have the greatest responsibility and interest in getting the new starter settled in and effective as soon as possible. This is generally where the use of a checklist can best be made, with the supervisor able to check easily what has been covered, what needs to be done, and any particular points that may need further explanation'
The HR department have identified that the company needs to offer better training for their staff to ensure that the service that is provided to the public is accurate and to save on costs and continuous recruiting. There have been occasions where members of the public have written into the head office to make a complaint about a member of staff not explaining refund policy properly or failing to do bra measuring accurately leading to the customer buying the wrong size. This has resulted in long term research into the training in branch and information or limited information provided to the staff. The research involved monitoring the staff turnover, looking over complaints from the public and identifying what the main problems are. Talking to branch managers about how they are training their staff and what they feel needs to be improved. Making changes to the research would really help staff with their training, save on costs and the company would be able to see improvements to the sales as well as reduction in recruiting new staff.
'Managers in small and medium sized organisations have to take responsibility for developing their employees among a host of other activities. Similarly, managers in larger organisations are increasingly responsible for developing staff and need to understand the terms and techniques used, not least to help them in discussions with their colleagues who are involved full-time in learning and development, and training.' (CIPD Fact sheet)
'The purpose of induction is to ensure the effective integration of staff into or across the organisation for the benefit of both parties. Research has shown that tailor-made induction programmes increase staff retention.'
A good induction programme contains the following elements:
* Orientation (physical) - describing where the facilities are.
* Orientation (organisational) - showing how the employee fits into the team and how their role fits with the organisation's strategy and goals.
* Health and safety information - this is a legal requirement.
* Explanation of terms and conditions.
* Details of the organisation's history, its products and services, its culture and values.
* A clear outline of the job/role requirements.
(CIPD website, induction fact sheet)
By identifying the training needs of staff, Managers would be able to monitor the individuals and offer further guidance and training to the individual and others. As Currie has mentioned managers identifies a training need when an employee's standard of performance needs to be raised.
Currie, D(2006), Introduction to Human Resource Management
Looking at the diagram from the previous page it shows a cycle which is used successfully in industry and the public sector for many years and as a sound for cost-effective training according to Donald Currie.
There are 6 simple steps that need to be followed in order to assess performance and identify improvements that are needed within the training.
' The planned and systematic modification of behaviour through learning events, programmes and instruction which enable individuals to achieve the level of knowledge, skill and competence required to carry out their work effectively'.
Currie,D(2006), Introduction to Human Resource Management.
HR have realised that they need to offer better training for staff as they have noticed the increase in complaints, store managers are reporting more leavers and they are losing out on sales. They understand that during this recession that implementing a new training programme like this is a big risk in costs but they want to invest in their staff in the long run and also to increase their sales. They are not making any redundancies in the stores but instead they are reducing hours for every member of staff to prevent any job losses. The plans were already in place before the credit crisis so it would have been too late to prevent it from going ahead, having it all signed off and ready for launch.
The costing of this project was an estimated £10,000 to put together. This has been broken down to the time it has taken for the Manager and her assistant to put together which took 1 month, how much it cost to make the development pack and how many distributed to stores across the UK.
HR Manager £25,000/12= £2083.33 HR Assistant £16,000/12= £1333.33 Total Gross: £3416.66
Cost per pack published £7 x estimated 10 staff per store =£70 x 70 store across the UK = £4900
Cost for HR Assistant to Travel to stores to brief managers and promote over 1 month period. £16,000/12= £1333.33 + £600 Travel expenses. = £1933.33
Total cost to company= £10,250 estimated.
After the main project has been completed it will be down to the manager and the individual to who will set objectives and develop themselves onto the competencies and development plan. Once both parties are happy this will be signed off and sent to head office for a certificate after each level that has been completed.
Managers are given incentives for the stores after improvements on targets and sales. They are encouraged to develop their employees to gain more knowledge and a qualification which can boost sales. They are also rewarded with holidays to places such as Mauritius, Cuba and other luxurious holidays if targets are met and the sales turnover is higher than previous years.
Conclusion
After conducting an analysis of the current training and gathering more information on the introduction of the new training that if offered to staff members of La Senza I have been able to see a major change in the training and development that has been implemented to the company.
When I reviewed the current training that was provided to staff members, the company did not have a set procedure for training, HR was not involved and there was limited or no information provided on the training. The feedback that I received from the survey that I conducted was not positive and most of the staff felt that the training and development for the company needed improvement.
I had to identify what improvements were needed and how it would be able to help improve the training procedures and talk to the HR manager about these improvement to enable to get positive results from staff and for the benefits of the company.
Upon researching further with the HR manager, it was established that an improvement was needed to help the company benefit and staff to be able to get the appropriate training with the involvement of HR. I was given an information pack on an introduction of a new training and development scheme which is going to be introduced and run by both HR and the store manager. After reading through this information pack I was very pleased with the new training and development programme and the way it has been structured for an employee to be able to gain a qualification as well as getting trained and developed in their role with career prospect at their own pace.
This is a major change that has been implemented which has a step by step training guide to ensure that staff are able to get the knowledge that they need to meet the company requirements and to be able to provide a better service. There is a more structured induction and on the job training. There is also classroom based training offered on a continuous basis. This is a positive progress for the training and development programme for La Senza and is recommended that there should be involvement from HR and a line manager to enable this.
This will also keep staff happy about their progression within the company and junior staff will rethink about leaving so early and possibly move into a position further into the company. The company sales will be higher as staff will be more knowledgeable and be able to add more sales to customers after giving them the correct information.
This new Training and development programme which they have called 'SPIRIT of La Senza' is very encouraging for new staff members, it will be more motivating and the plan is similar to Personal Development Plan as above by Higson & Wilson.
It also follows the SMART model:
Specific Measurable Agreed Realistic Time bound Stretching
During the course of the appraisal process the manager and employee should jointly agree with objectives for the forthcoming period
Malcolm,M, Jackson,T(2005)Personnel Practice.4th ed
Recommendations
. Promoting new training and development programme to staff members by advertising internally and giving step by step instructions to managers
They should include:
* Creating an advertisement so that managers can place on the notice board
* Explaining what 'The SPIRIT of La senza' is about, giving step by step instructions to managers
* Gathering interest from staff members to take part in the development programme
A member of HR should attend all stored with an advertisement of the new scheme. Explain to staff members and mangers what the scheme is about. Managers are given step by step instructions on how to assist staff members on their development.
Staff will show interest by applying to develop in their role and HR will organize when this will take place
The cost of this recommendation would depend on how many staff members are interested and time will have to be divided between staff if too many on list.
Cost of advertising = HR staff designing advertisement = 1day
Annual salary £16,000/260 days per year x1 day = £61.54
This will also be another £61.54 per day for every store visited. So visits to 70 stores will cost £61.54 x 70= £4307.80 for the whole of the promotion
Based on 5 staff members applying on the development programme the costs
* Hourly rate x working hours = half day training
* £6 per hour x 4 hours per day = £24
Each member of staff will need at least 4 hours a day training so for 1 store with 5 staff would cost £120 to train members of staff effectively.
The Benefit of this recommendation would be for staff to gain more information on the new training programme as well as develop their knowledge and skills with a qualification. It is important that this is made clear to staff members to ensure that everyone is equal and has an opportunity to develop in their career within the company.
RECOMMENDATIONS
2. Making changes to the staff handbook to include new training and development programme and to be provided to all branches and available to print on the intranet
They should include:
* A comprehensive update in the staff handbook
* Printing of new handbook
* Hand book to be distributed to branches
* Add staff handbook to Intranet for easy access
Hr staff to write up an update for the staff handbook on the new training and development programme that is offered to all members of staff. To arrange for printing of new staff handbook. Distributing to branches. A member IT to arrange for staff handbook to be accessible via the company Intranet so staff can view if needed.
The cost of this recommendation would be:
HR Staff writing up update for staff handbook, this would take 1 day
Annual salary £16,000/260 days per year x 1day = £61.54
Arrange for printing of staff handbook, this would cost £1 per book printed. 3 required per store
£1 x 3= £3 x 70 stores = £210 total cost for printing
Posting to stores £2 per store = £140 to post to 70 stores.
Arranging for IT to set up staff handbook to access via intranet would take two days.
Annual salary £21,000/260 days per year x 2 = £161.54
Total cost for relevant changes = £573.08
The Benefit of this recommendation would be the company to have an updated hand book for staff to access if further information is needed. The company will be up to date with their literature. The hand book would now be accessible from the branch computer via the intranet which would make things easier for both staff and HR to relate to.
RECOMMENDATIONS
3. Offer a short induction presentation lasting approximately 30 minutes once a week and provide staff with all the information from new starters to completing 'SPIRIT'
They should include:
* Booking a room in head office once a week
* Do a short presentation on induction, SPIRIT and appraisals
* Hand book and SPIRIT pack to be given out
* Get evaluation from staff for future improvements
A member of HR to set up a PowerPoint presentation based on induction, introducing SPIRIT and a brief overview of the appraisal systems. Organise for a room to be booked at the head office once a week, send invitations to new joiners.
The cost of this recommendation would be:
HR Staff setting up a PowerPoint presentation, this would take 1 day
Annual salary £16,000/260 days per year x 1day = £61.54
Arrange for room to be booked, this will be at no extra cost
Staff handbook to be given out to inductees at £1 per book. Estimated 10 per session
£1x10 inductees = £100
SPIRIT booklets to be given out at £3 per book
£3x10 inductees = £300
Total cost for relevant changes = £461.54
The Benefit of this recommendation would be saving the company money by providing all the information to new joiners before they start their jobs so they have an overview of what they will be expecting when they start in the branch. Giving them an SPIRIT booklet can help them identify their individual plans and overlook the competencies that are required of them along with on the job training,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Text Books
> Currie,D(2006),Introduction to Human Resource Management, a guide to personnel Practice
> Hackett,P(2003),Training Practice
> CPP - Training and Development Workbook
> Malcolm,M,Jackson,T(2005),Personnel Practice.4th ed
Websites
> CIPD website - Induction factsheet
http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/recruitmen/induction/induction.htm
> ACAS website - Induction Training
http://www.acas.co.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=280&p=0
APPENDICES
> La Senza completed certificate Level 1
> La Senza completed certificate Level 2
> La Senza completed certificate Level 3
> La Senza completed certificate Level 4
> La Senza completed certificate Level 5
> CIPD website - Induction factsheet
> ACAS website - Induction Training
