Breaking Down Retail Silos: The ROI of Frontline Cross-Training
Joe has been an employee in the toy department at Magnolia, a large department store, for several years. Back when he started, he was trained the traditional way: He attended formal training sessions that applied specifically to the functioning of the toy department and learned the rest of what he needed to know by figuring it out on the floor.
The Cost of Siloed Retail Employees
Joe is highly knowledgeable about the toy section, but he was never trained to work in any other department. One day, the toy department was incredibly slow, but due to a massive flash promotion, menswear was completely overrun. The employees in menswear were drowning, while Joe and his toy department coworkers stood around with nothing to do.
Joe wished he could transfer over to menswear for a few hours to help out, but without the appropriate training, he would have no idea what to do over there. This lack of agility is a massive operational drain for retail organizations.
Unleashing Agility with Frontline Orchestration
Then Magnolia adopted Frontline Orchestration through a digital workplace platform, and everything changed. Management realized that siloing employees was an inefficient way of doing business—not to mention frustrating for workers who were eager to learn new skills and pick up extra hours.
On-Demand Microlearning
The digital workplace app completely overhauled the way Magnolia handles enablement, focusing heavily on learning and knowledge management. By delivering mobile-optimized, bite-sized digital training modules, employees can easily absorb minute-long lessons when they aren’t otherwise busy on the sales floor. Managers can set up the modules to trigger automatically when cross-training is needed and track each employee’s progress via a digital dashboard.
Real-World ROI: Streamlining Visual Merchandising
Using his own mobile device, Joe began microtraining for the menswear department. In one module, he learned how to properly dress mannequins. As a large chain, Magnolia has strict visual merchandising protocols to ensure mannequins present the exact same way across all stores.
In the past, store managers received emailed instructions, which they would print out and hand to employees. This was highly inefficient: Managers wasted time printing and distributing, the volume of paper needed was immense, and it was difficult for corporate to verify if the mannequins were dressed correctly.
With the digital workplace, a video-based training module showed Joe exactly how to execute the display. Once he finished dressing the mannequin, he used robust task management capabilities to snap a photo of his work and send it directly to his manager for approval. The manager was otherwise blissfully uninvolved with the process. Simply by eliminating the cost of printing these instructional packets, Magnolia saved $250,000 over their first year using the platform.
Gamification, Rewards, and Shift Flexibility
Once Joe got a thumbs-up from his manager for his visual merchandising task, he received a digital badge through the platform’s rewards and recognition system, signifying that he had officially mastered this new skill. Joe is motivated to earn badges at work; he knows they are tangible proof of his value the next time he asks for a raise. He quickly earned a few more badges by completing modules on restocking clothing racks and managing the fitting rooms.
The next time menswear was slammed and toys was slow, Joe was ready. Utilizing flexible shift management tools, he seamlessly volunteered to switch departments for the rest of his shift. He was now fully trained on menswear—he had the badges to prove it—and could move immediately to where his help was needed most, saving the store from lost sales and frustrated customers.
This level of operational agility is only possible with the flexible, digital, on-demand training enabled by a unified digital workplace.
