Ready. Set. Go. Engage for Impact
CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
A Guide for Learning Measurement That Delivers Growth
Super Retail Group doesn’t ask employees if they liked their training.
They want employees to enjoy learning, but liking training is a vanity metric that doesn’t tell their learning team if they are doing the right things for the business. Instead, their instructional design team spends a lot of time analyzing the link between training engagement and business outcomes. This is particularly important, considering that 80% of their workforce does not have an email address. That means everything they promote has to be done through in-store managers, with direct mail and roadshows, which can be very costly. Every program has to count.
When building annual training plans, the team conducts a detailed learning diagnostic that takes into account business priorities, dives into manager and employee engagement scores from the prior year, and mines customer data looking for opportunities to differentiate from their competitors.
Application of learning is the driving force behind all their strategic educational programs. As such, each program:
- Clearly articulates why this particular training is vital to their customers – and also to the business
- Offers interactivity so learners can feel part of the course
- Allows students to practice what is being taught
“A strong learning diagnostic includes mining customer data to uncover opportunities for differentiating your business.”
Leisa Moate
Learning Design Manager,
Super Retail Group.
For example, Super Retail Group’s leisure customers expressed a desire to find the right refrigeration options to match their individual camping needs. However, there was discomfort at selecting the right fridge and from the many options available. Team members that are refrigeration experts were a clear way to differentiate from many other leisure retailers. But there was one problem. Most associates didn’t know a lot about the options available; however they did have some ‘experts’ within the business. The learning team worked with product experts to design a learning program that would fill this knowledge gap. In the end, associates could do more than relay product specifications; they could genuinely help customers make the best selection for their needs.
The business did the research, and it showed that for every one point in engagement lift, the company could expect to earn $15.4 million more in revenue. In 18 months, the team earned an approximate 10-point engagement gain. The math speaks for itself. When you focus on business impact, remarkable things are achieved through learning.