Why the LMS doesn’t work in

retail and never will5 limitations that are impeding associate performance

and sabotaging organizational success

“Retailers haven’t yet figured out how to grow and maintain brick and mortar profitability while trying to keep up with the likes of Amazon in today’s increasingly digital environment,” said Antony Karabus, CEO of HRC Advisory. “Retailers need to recalibrate and fine-tune their economic business models to reflect today’s new variable cost-oriented online model. Those who can engage customers and meet their heightened expectations, while offering complete visibility of inventory availability, can be lucrative in reducing markdowns and improving inventory productivity.”

Source: Business Wire – HRC Advisory News Release

The reality of the retail landscape

Sell more. Keep costs down. Offer better customer service. Deliver on Omni-Channel. Be nimble. Cut shrink. Manage external threats.

No question, retail is a tough business… and it’s only getting tougher. So how do you get ahead and stay ahead?

The fact is, the highest performing retailers have the highest performing workforce:

• One that’s uber knowledgeable and engaged

• One that delivers an exceptional customer shopping experience

• One that represents your brand and your business correctly and consistently

• One that is prepared for almost anything

• One that can respond instantly

But to build this kind of team, you need to transform the way you approach associate training. And this requires boosting associate engagement, building associate knowledge and bolstering associate learning strategies to achieve the objectives of the business.

Investing in the right kind of learning technology is critical to success. A Learning Management System (LMS) won’t get you where you need to go.

What is an LMS...

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http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160503006294/en/E-commerce-Chipping-Brick-Mortar-Saleshttp://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160503006294/en/E-commerce-Chipping-Brick-Mortar-Saleshttp://www.axonify.comhttp://www.axonify.comwww.axonify.com/modernize-retail

So, to make sure we’re on the same page, here’s how we define the term generally:

An LMS is a traditional workplace learning technology that allows employees to complete online modules (typically referred to as eLearning). The LMS also administers quizzes and surveys and tracks course attendance, course completion and test scores.

What is an LMS anyway?

It’s pretty common for all kinds of learning technology to be slotted in under the LMS (Learning Management System) umbrella.

Why LMS doesn’t work in retail...

3

www.axonify.com/modernize-retail

40%

5 Disconnects between retail and the LMS...

4

Let’s be honest, these types of employees don’t get excited about the

informational posters you plaster on the wall, the sporadic training

sessions you force them to attend, or the boring eLearning courses

they have to take via your LMS. And, if they aren’t excited or engaged,

they’re not going to learn more about your products or do a better

job of selling them.

The ironic thing is that close to 60% of retailers use an LMS to

provide training. But this kind of outdated tool falls short in most

corporate environments, let alone in retail, where it’s simply a waste

of time and money.

The LMS wasn’t designed to fit the retail environment

Dig into the origins of the LMS and you’ll discover that it wasn’t built

to solve retail training challenges. It was developed for the academic

world (to provide better delivery of distance learning) for a different

audience (students enrolled in higher education).

So, when using an LMS in a retail organization, it’s like trying to fit

a square peg into a round hole. Think about it. Higher education is

focused on the “credit hour,” which means students receive a course

credit based on the number of hours they spend taking a class. In this

model, there is a fixed time (e.g., a semester) with a pre-determined

number of course hours that a student must sit through to learn the

material and obtain a credit. These students have the luxury of setting

aside huge chunks of time to learn. They also know that they only

need to learn that material for a finite time frame because the course

has a definitive start and end point. Once the class is over, they’ll

simply move on to the next one.

Why LMS doesn’t work in retail

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Turnover in retail averaged around 66% for part-time hourly sales

associates in 2014.

40% of retail employers report insufficient motivation and post-

training improvement.

66%This scenario doesn’t work in retail. Associates

can’t be taken off the floor for hours at a time

to take training. And, they can’t simply forget

what they learn if you want them to achieve

high standards of customer service and hit sales

targets. Retail employees need to get regular

learning to reinforce important information in

a way that isn’t disruptive to their day-to-day

activities. Otherwise, they’ll just forget it. They

also need to learn continually to keep up with

the latest promotions, product info and policy

changes. All this amounts to a huge misalignment

between an academic model of learning and

retail training needs.

We’ll get more specific on all the reasons why the

LMS doesn’t work in retail. But, in short, it doesn’t

deliver information in a way that helps associates

learn, remember, or apply it on the job. (In fact,

we’d argue that the technology associates carry

in their own pockets helps them learn more

effectively than the LMS). The LMS also doesn’t

give front line managers the insights they need

to help coach their associates to become better

at their jobs and achieve store or organizational

goals. So, we can’t figure out why retailers

continue to spend big bucks on this antiquated

and ineffective approach.

Think about who’s on your payroll. You’re likely employing a large percentage of young, low-wage workers who can be difficult to engage, and turn over regularly.

http:/www.retailcouncil.org/sites/default/files/documents/Retail_Training_Survey3.pdfhttp:/www.retailcouncil.org/sites/default/files/documents/Retail_Training_Survey3.pdfhttp://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2015/02/19/one-reason-wal-mart-is-raising-pay-turnover/http:/www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466696/151008_Retail_SLMI_report_edited.pdfhttp://https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466696/151008_Retail_SLMI_report_edited.pdfwww.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466696/151008_Retail_SLMI_report_edited.pdfhttp://www.retailcouncil.org/sites/default/files/documents/Retail_Training_Survey3.pdfwww.axonify.com/modernize-retailhttp://www.retailcouncil.org/sites/default/files/documents/Retail_Training_Survey3.pdf

60%

50%

Knowledge demands on associates are higher than they’ve ever been. The LMS doesn’t create knowledgeable employees. The retail environment is in constant flux and requires learning to be nimble. The LMS is anything but. Retail associates are always on the move. The LMS doesn’t support a largely mobile workforce. Modern associates want their learning to be engaging, personalized, relevant and short. The LMS doesn’t offer this experience. Retailers have limited resources to manage, administer and measure their corporate learning environment. The LMS is a resource hog.

5 disconnects between the retail environment and the LMS

The way we see it, retailers have specific needs that the LMS can’t address.

So, when using the LMS for training, these limitations make it impossible for associates to retain the necessary information to take the right actions on the job. And when associates don’t have the right knowledge to take the right actions, they can’t be top performers (or even average performers). Ultimately, this results in poor customer service, increased safety incidents, missed sales opportunities, or other shortcomings which can cost retailers thousands—even millions of dollars. We’ll go through each one of the disconnects in more detail, but here’s a quick summary:

5

Almost 50% of organizations are actively looking to leave

their current LMS.

60% of retail employers have identified skills shortages.

Disconnect #1...

Source: Brandon Hall Group – LMS Trends 2014: Satisfaction

and Spending

http:/www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466696/151008_Retail_SLMI_report_edited.pdfhttp://https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466696/151008_Retail_SLMI_report_edited.pdfhttp://https://membership.brandonhall.com/posts/751493-executive-summary-lms-satisfaction-and-spendinghttp://https://membership.brandonhall.com/posts/751493-executive-summary-lms-satisfaction-and-spendingwww.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466696/151008_Retail_SLMI_report_edited.pdfhttps://membership.brandonhall.com/posts/751493-executive-summary-lms-satisfaction-and-spendingwww.axonify.com/modernize-retail

Disconnect #1

Knowledge demands on associates are greater than they’ve ever been. The LMS doesn’t create knowledgeable employees.

You know as well as we do that your sales associates are dealing with customers who are highly educated: They’ve done their homework online; they know exactly what they want; and they know where they can get what they want for the lowest cost. These customers expect your associates to know even more than they do, so they can justify a trip to your bricks–and–mortar store.

To provide a superior shopping experience and represent your brand properly, your associates must be able to:

• Retrieve product knowledge quickly from their heads and, when they can’t, get instant access at their fingertips.

• Communicate promotional information accurately (whether it’s a one-day flash sale or month-long offer).

• Maintain complete command of all policies and processes to provide proper customer service.

• Facilitate cross-channel sales (e.g., helping a customer place an online order in-store) to execute on the omni-channel vision.

The problem is, the LMS can’t keep your associates up to speed so that they can meet your high standards of service.

The LMS limitation...

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Hourly paid associates today are expected to be not only sales associates, but also product evangelists, customer service advocates and distribution experts. Few retailers have made the necessary training investments to enable their store associates to effectively perform these tasks.

Source: Customer Desires vs. Retailer Capabilities: Minding The Omni-Channel Commerce Gap, Forrester Research, January 2014

29%

Source: Customer Desires vs. Retailer Capabilities: Minding The Omni-

Channel Commerce Gap, Forrester Research, January 2014

Only 29% of consumers believe that retail sales associates are knowledgeable and helpful.

http://home.retailnext.net/rs/314-HEV-582/images/Real-Time%20Data%20Drives%20The%20Future%20Of%20Retail_RetailNext-Thought%20Leadership%20Paper.pdf?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoluq/MZKXonjHpfsX56eQuWK6+lMI/0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DTMtmI+SLDwEYGJlv6SgFSbHBMahlzLgIUxM=http://home.retailnext.net/rs/314-HEV-582/images/Real-Time%20Data%20Drives%20The%20Future%20Of%20Retail_RetailNext-Thought%20Leadership%20Paper.pdf?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoluq/MZKXonjHpfsX56eQuWK6+lMI/0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DTMtmI+SLDwEYGJlv6SgFSbHBMahlzLgIUxM=http://home.retailnext.net/rs/314-HEV-582/images/Real-Time%20Data%20Drives%20The%20Future%20Of%20Retail_RetailNext-Thought%20Leadership%20Paper.pdf?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoluq/MZKXonjHpfsX56eQuWK6+lMI/0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DTMtmI+SLDwEYGJlv6SgFSbHBMahlzLgIUxM=http://home.retailnext.net/rs/314-HEV-582/images/Real-Time%20Data%20Drives%20The%20Future%20Of%20Retail_RetailNext-Thought%20Leadership%20Paper.pdf?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoluq/MZKXonjHpfsX56eQuWK6+lMI/0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DTMtmI+SLDwEYGJlv6SgFSbHBMahlzLgIUxM=http://home.retailnext.net/rs/314-HEV-582/images/Real-Time%20Data%20Drives%20The%20Future%20Of%20Retail_RetailNext-Thought%20Leadership%20Paper.pdf?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoluq/MZKXonjHpfsX56eQuWK6+lMI/0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DTMtmI+SLDwEYGJlv6SgFSbHBMahlzLgIUxM=http://home.retailnext.net/rs/314-HEV-582/images/Real-Time%20Data%20Drives%20The%20Future%20Of%20Retail_RetailNext-Thought%20Leadership%20Paper.pdf?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoluq/MZKXonjHpfsX56eQuWK6+lMI/0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DTMtmI+SLDwEYGJlv6SgFSbHBMahlzLgIUxM=http://home.retailnext.net/rs/314-HEV-582/images/Real-Time%20Data%20Drives%20The%20Future%20Of%20Retail_RetailNext-Thought%20Leadership%20Paper.pdf?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoluq/MZKXonjHpfsX56eQuWK6+lMI/0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DTMtmI+SLDwEYGJlv6SgFSbHBMahlzLgIUxM=http://home.retailnext.net/rs/314-HEV-582/images/Real-Time%20Data%20Drives%20The%20Future%20Of%20Retail_RetailNext-Thought%20Leadership%20Paper.pdf?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoluq/MZKXonjHpfsX56eQuWK6+lMI/0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DTMtmI+SLDwEYGJlv6SgFSbHBMahlzLgIUxM=www.axonify.com/modernize-retail

The lengthy, “single-session” approach to training is to blame. Associates either tune out during the training session or, if they do pay attention, they never see the info again—so, they forget about it. While the LMS “checks the box” on delivering required training content, it doesn’t make your associates more knowledgeable. Instead, the training ends up wasting big dollars in your already limited budget.

Besides this, the LMS can’t push out important information on the fly that your associates need to service customers properly. Whether it’s a promotion, new product feature, or updated policy, it doesn’t provide a way to keep your associates in the loop. And, if your associates need to look up something quickly to answer a customer question or provide more information to help with a sale, there is no way for them to do this through the LMS. That’s because most LMSs aren’t accessible from the retail floor and don’t provide a quick and easy way to retrieve specific information. The result is that associates can’t provide the highest level of customer service they’re capable of to set your retail operation apart from the rest.

What would you do?

Imagine if you had to get all your new associates onboarded quickly. The head of training asked you to ensure that all new hires had the knowledge they needed to highlight key product features, compare

Disconnect #2...

7

these products against competitive versions and respond to customer questions. How would you get everyone trained up immediately?

Your LMS wouldn’t set up these new associates for success. While you could put them through a 4-day crash course with more than 20 preloaded eLearning modules, they’re not going to remember all that information without a photographic memory. Forcing associates to sit through hours of training would only cause them to tune out or become discouraged, increasing the risk of turnover.

Plus, once they took the training, if there was no way to reinforce it or look up information they didn’t remember (an inevitable scenario), they wouldn’t be able to provide adequate, let alone superior, customer service. This would create a negative shopping experience and reduce associates’ ability to sell products, which would have a negative impact on the bottom line. You would be used as the scapegoat to explain these dismal results.

The LMS limitation

The fact is, when your associates take training through the LMS, they forget a whopping 90% of the material within a month.

Key Insight: The LMS fails to reinforce learning continuously to ensure sales associates retain, sustain and apply critical knowledge on the job.

www.axonify.com/modernize-retail

100% of retail businesses want to increase learning access and flexibility,

improve on-the-job productivity, reduce the time that employees spend away from their job in formal training, and speed up the application of learning throughout the work flow by using

learning technologies.

Disconnect #2

The retail environment is in constant flux and requires learning to be nimble. The LMS is anything but.

In fast-paced, distributed retail environments, associates need new information daily to be set up for success. Whether it’s training on a new product line, details about flash sales or promotions, information about policy changes, updates on safety procedures or critical instructions for handling an emergency situation (like a terror threat), information must be communicated quickly and consistently to all stores and to every associate.

But, with staggered shifts and limited access to computers in the stores, keeping all of your associates up to date and “singing off the same song sheet” can present a significant challenge. Even if your employees receive the proper information, ensuring that every associate knows this information inside and out —and can actually apply it on the job—is impossible to accomplish through the LMS.

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100%

The LMS limitation...

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The LMS limitation

There’s no two ways about it. The LMS can’t support the fast pace of most businesses, let alone the accelerated speed of change in retail.

It’s just not set up to provide dynamic training and communication. In fact, the LMS’s inability to adapt to changing needs was one of the top reasons that Brandon Hall survey respondents were dissatisfied with their LMS.

A workforce that is knowledgeable about all areas related to their job is more critical than it’s ever been. There’s just too much competition and too many safety concerns in retail these days. But, the LMS just doesn’t have the capability to build your employees’ knowledge over time, track if your associates can translate that knowledge into the right actions at work, and communicate new training quickly enough to help you be proactive.

What would you do? It’s the day before Black Friday and one of your biggest competitors has just introduced a flash sale on a major product line that you also carry. You must react quickly with a “block-and-tackle” promotion and ensure sales associates on every shift, across all affected regions, are up-to-speed immediately.

Your LMS would not be able to provide the kind of instant communication you need. On top of that, the LMS is probably the last place employees would look to for new information. You’d likely have to resort to contacting the management at each of the stores by phone or email to get their help informing and educating their associates. This isn’t a great plan, considering managers and associates rotate shifts and the information could be diluted, miscommunicated or even lost in the process. How would you know which associates had the proper information and could respond correctly? This information gap could place a huge risk on sales during one of the biggest weekends in retail.

Disconnect #3...

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Key Insight: The LMS gets an “F” when it comes to instant communication to every employee in support of on-the-fly learning for the time-strapped store associate.

www.axonify.com/modernize-retail

Disconnect #3

Retail associates are always on the move. The LMS doesn’t support a largely mobile workforce.

Unlike call center agents, financial services employees, or other office workers, your associates don’t have a permanent place to sit and receive training, nor are they able to carve out time whenever they want to take formal classes. That’s because they’re always moving around on the floor during their shift—helping shoppers, stocking shelves, ringing in purchases and more.

The LMS makes it inconvenient, even intrusive, for your associates to take training. No manager wants to spend hours figuring out how to get each associate the training time s/he needs, while ensuring there’s enough staff on the floor to keep the store running. It’s a scheduling nightmare!

Because of this, your associates miss out on learning more information each day that could actually help boost their customer service skills, reduce accidents and increase sales. And that means you’re not able to achieve the results you want.

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24%

Only 24% of retailers currently support mobile learning.

The LMS limitation...

http:/www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466696/151008_Retail_SLMI_report_edited.pdfhttp://https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466696/151008_Retail_SLMI_report_edited.pdfwww.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466696/151008_Retail_SLMI_report_edited.pdfwww.axonify.com/modernize-retail

The LMS limitation

The way the LMS delivers training just doesn’t make sense for a mobile retail workforce.

With an LMS, your associates can’t take training while they’re on the floor whenever they have some down time. Instead, they must wait for a formally scheduled training slot and head into a backroom somewhere to sit and “learn” for an hour or more. And, once they complete the formal training course, there isn’t any reinforcement or support after the fact. This means they’ll forget most of the information. It’s just what the brain does when it doesn’t see the content repeated over time.

This “one and done” approach to training through the LMS not only makes it impossible to train your retail associates on daily changes, but it also doesn’t help them retain the information they need to do their jobs the best they can. And, as we mentioned before, without any way to retrieve this information quickly while they’re on the floor, your associates can’t provide the quality assistance customers expect. This can result in customer frustration, negative comments online and, ultimately, decreased sales.

What would you do? Imagine if the VP of Operations asked you to help roll out the company’s omni-channel strategy. She asked that everyone be up to speed in one week on the concept of omni-channel, the reasons it is important to the business, and the role associates would play in helping to implement the omni-channel approach. What would you do?

You could put training into the LMS and ensure all associates completed it. But this would take way more than a week. Plus, once associates started using the new system, how would they get help if they forgot part of the process? If they didn’t know how to check store inventory for a customer, locate the item in other stores, order the information on behalf of the customer, or complete a number of other procedures that would allow for a seamless shopping experience, this could result in missed sales opportunities, inadequate customer service and a negative impression of the retail organization as a whole. All this could cost the company more than its reputation and you would be to blame.

Disconnect #4...

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Key Insight: The LMS delivers long, boring learning modules which sales associates don’t have the desire or time to consume.

www.axonify.com/modernize-retail

Disconnect #4

Today’s modern associate wants their learning to be engaging, personalized, relevant and short. The LMS doesn’t offer this experience.

Today’s retail workforce is made up of hourly, low-paid associates that consists primarily of millennial and soon-to-be Gen Z generations. These tech-savvy individuals are accustomed to receiving information in short bursts and “Googling” to get instant access to the info they need.

They want learning tech to look and feel like what they’re used to—fun, engaging, social, quick, personalized, easy to digest, mobile, convenient and familiar.

But, this sentiment isn’t limited to these groups. Associates of all ages want modern learning techniques that mimic the tech functions they’re used to—largely driven by the smartphones they carry in their pockets. Plus, they don’t want to endure training on the same content they already know inside and out. They want their knowledge and experience to be recognized.

The LMS delivers the opposite experience.

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70%

70% of U.S. workers are disengaged. This lack of interest in work invades

the retail space, driving down performance and profitability.

Source: Gallup, 2014

The LMS limitation...

http://www.gallup.com/poll/181289/majority-employees-not-engaged-despite-gains-2014.aspxwww.axonify.com/modernize-retail

The LMS limitation

The LMS isn’t anything like the technology your associates use in real life.

It’s a clunky system that serves up linear and generic training sessions that are boring as heck. Instead of content that’s quick and easy to digest, it’s long and difficult to process because there’s way too much information.

When your associates are pushed to review content in the LMS, they’re presented with a complex interface that requires an abundance of clicks and unfamiliar interactions. Some LMSs have added what they call “gamification,” to try and up the fun factor, but this is typically limited to simple badges and leaderboards that don’t work in concert with an overall learning strategy to engage associates over time. Bottom line? The LMS is just not fun, social, or motivating—at all.

On top of this, the LMS isn’t adaptive, meaning it doesn’t take into account what associates know or don’t know. The content is the same for everyone and there is no way to help associates target areas where knowledge isn’t as strong.

Because of this, your associates equate training with something they “just have to get through” to “check the box.” They aren’t invested in really learning the material to improve their performance. And that means you’re missing opportunities to get them jazzed about helping you reach your targets.

What would you do? Imagine if the VP of Human Resources tasked you with onboarding a new group of millennial employees. You took them to the training room to introduce them to the courses they would need to take through the LMS. These associates were not only unimpressed, but couldn’t believe they would be forced to sit through hours of linear training modules (particularly when they’re used to hopping from one thing to the next on their mobile devices to complete regular tasks). How would you engage this group from the start and keep them motivated to stay with your organization long term?

The truth is that you simply couldn’t do this through the LMS. The LMS isn’t fast, fun, or flexible. Its formal structure doesn’t appeal to youth, let alone associates in older generations. So, expecting millennials to participate voluntarily in this training, and actually be enthusiastic about it, is a pipe dream.

Disconnect #5...

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Key Insight: The LMS serves up learning in the same, linear, boring, “one-size-fits-all” way to every sales rep regardless of what they already may or may not know.

www.axonify.com/modernize-retail

Disconnect #5

Retailers have limited resources to manage, administer and measure their corporate learning environment. The LMS is a resource hog.

With razor thin margins, we know you’re under constant pressure to do more with less, provide more effective training, justify your spend and connect learning activities to business results.

The problem is that the LMS doesn’t provide a way to do any of this. So, if you want to prove the value of your learning investment, this isn’t going to help.

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50%

50% of L&D Leaders say L&D is not seen as a priority of the

retail management.

32%

Only 32% of L&D leaders in retail businesses have a plan for how they

will meet the agreed business metrics.

The LMS limitation...

http:/www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466696/151008_Retail_SLMI_report_edited.pdfhttp://https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466696/151008_Retail_SLMI_report_edited.pdfhttp:/www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466696/151008_Retail_SLMI_report_edited.pdfhttp://https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466696/151008_Retail_SLMI_report_edited.pdfwww.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466696/151008_Retail_SLMI_report_edited.pdfwww.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466696/151008_Retail_SLMI_report_edited.pdfwww.axonify.com/modernize-retail

On top of this, it doesn’t track metrics that provide any insight into your associates’ individual learning needs or identify areas where more knowledge and coaching are necessary for improving things like customer satisfaction or basket size. Measures like course completions, training hours, and test scores are rooted in academia and do nothing to provide insights into associate knowledge levels, confidence in the material or ability to apply this information on the job. It’s no wonder these educational institution–type metrics only contribute to the continued difficulty you have when trying to connect retail learning activities to business results. After all, completing an online course and getting 100% on the quiz doesn’t mean an associate really learned, executed on, and will retain that knowledge long term.

Besides this, the LMS is a pain to administer. It often requires a dedicated employee just to manage it. While your trainers and managers may have access to LMS reports, this is usually limited to spreadsheet data dumps that require advanced Excel abilities to interpret and share with stakeholders. Who has time for that?

There is a better way...

15

Key Insight: The LMS can’t even come close to reporting on things like employee engagement because all it tracks are logins, completions and test scores.

The LMS limitation

As we’ve said before, the LMS doesn’t help your employees learn more because it doesn’t have the capability to build individual knowledge, communicate new information instantly, fill immediate training needs, help staff look up information on the fly, or measure learning progress and address the gaps.

What would you do? Imagine if the executive team set specific sell-through rate targets for various products at each store. Although you managed to provide every associate with training, the stores missed their targets. The executive team concluded that the high training costs weren’t worth it because the training wasn’t doing any good. They also indicated your budget would be cut by 50% next year. What would you do?

With an LMS, the only metrics you could pull would be course completion rates and test scores. But even if the test scores were high, this wouldn’t help your cause because you wouldn’t know which information each associate actually knew and if s/he was applying this information on the job. You wouldn’t be able to make a case regarding the kind of training associates needed to close the gaps and hit their numbers. You’d miss your opportunity to snag a seat at the C-suite table and continue to be viewed as inessential to the business.

www.axonify.com/modernize-retail

There is a better way

While the LMS doesn’t work in retail and never will, we don’t blame you for implementing this tool in the first place. After all, it was the only system available until a few years ago.

But now, there are more innovative and effective retail learning solutions that are based on advanced technology for personalizing and measuring learning progress, proven scientific techniques and best practices for building and sustaining knowledge, and the modern needs of associates and retail environments.

Specifically, these solutions have key capabilities that aren’t offered in an LMS:

• Adaptive Microlearning

• Learning Science

• Mobile Access

• Knowledge on Demand

• Gamification and Collaborative Learning

• Advanced Measurement

The fact is that these new approaches are just better suited for the fast-paced retail world and are trusted by leading retailers, who are transforming the way they approach associate training.

Make training manageable...

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Make training manageable through adaptive microlearning

Microlearning is more than a fancy buzzword and goes beyond bite ‑sizing content.

It’s an approach that’s changing the face of learning in retail and lots of other industries too. Done right, microlearning delivers content in short, bite-sized bursts (from three to five minutes) during each shift, in a way that adapts continually to the individual training needs of each of your associates, based on what s/he knows and doesn’t know at any given time.

By recognizing prior knowledge and eliminating content that your associates have already mastered or don’t need to worry about, adaptive microlearning always delivers the right content at the right time to build the knowledge your associates need to perform at their best. It’s novel! It’s progressive! But, most importantly, it works!

Boost associates’ memory with science-based learning techniques

Dumping a bunch of information on your associates all at once is the wrong way to go—at least, if you want them to actually remember it.

By delivering learning in micro-sized chunks and using other proven memory-building techniques, like repeated retrieval and spaced repetition, you can ensure your associates retain information long term. And when your associates remember what they learn, it means they’re more likely to apply this learning on the job to achieve your objectives. It’s a win‑win!

Learn more about memory-building techniques:

Article – Combat Knowledge Decay in the Workplace

Webinar – Leveraging the Latest in Brain Science to Drive the Next Generation of eLearning

Embed learning into every shift...

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Learn more about microlearning:

White Paper – Microlearning: Small Bites, Big Impact

Webinar – Microlearning in Action: Small Bites, Big Impact

http://www.td.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2015/07/Combat-Knowledge-Decayhttp://www.axonify.com/resources/demystifying-gamification-corporate-learning/http://www.axonify.com/resources/demystifying-gamification-corporate-learning/www.axonify.com/resources/microlearning-small-bites-big-impactwww.axonify.com/modernize-retail

Embed learning into every shift through mobile access

Giving your associates the ability to learn anytime and anywhere on their device(s) of choice (or yours—POS, tablet, phone, etc.) means your associates learn something every day instead of having to wait for a formal training session.

It also means they can learn on the floor, during downtime, because training only takes a few minutes. This approach increases training participation dramatically, drives continuous learning, and builds up knowledge over time—which is critical for superior job performance, and for creating constant awareness and engagement.

Plus, if your associates need to know about the latest promotions or require priority safety training, it’s easy to push it out. And there’s no question about which associates have received this learning and which information is and isn’t resonating because it can all be measured.

For annual certifications, you can even drip this knowledge throughout the year instead of all at once—reducing the stress and boredom associated with compliance training and also improving your associates’ comprehension.

Provide information at their fingertips with knowledge on demand

It’s impossible for your associates to know the answer to every question.

But when they have a quick and easy way to look up a policy or access more info for a customer, they’ll provide the correct content instead of simply guessing or shrugging their shoulders.

Just like a Google search, a knowledge-on-demand tool allows associates to pull up short learning chunks on topics of immediate importance. Then, they can drill down as needed for additional details.

Learn more about how to get learning to every employee on a daily basis:

Blog – How Bloomingdale’s delivers instant active shooter training in wake of looming terrorist threat.

Learn more about how you can provide better learning at the moment of need:

Blog – Are You Missing this Critical Step When Trying to Build Workplace Knowledge?

Webinar – Performance Support and the Future of Learning

Making learning fun...

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http://www.axonify.com/how-bloomingdales-delivers-instant-active-shooter-training-to-associates-in-wake-of-looming-terrorist-threat/http://www.axonify.com/are-you-missing-this-critical-step-when-trying-to-build-workplace-knowledge/http://www.axonify.com/webinar-summary-performance-support-and-the-future-of-learning/www.axonify.com/modernize-retail

Make learning fun and engaging with gamification

Believe it or not, there is a way to change training from a “have to do” to a “want to do.”

Gamification uses a variety of game-based techniques like game play, leaderboards, reward points and team scores to encourage associates’ participation and achievement long term.

Because your modern retail associates not only appreciate, but also expect a social learning environment, facilitating collaborative learning using a variety of social elements—such as user-generated and curated content, news feeds, team competition and more—is also a great way to maintain engagement throughout their tenure.

Tie learning to business results with advanced measurement

There’s no point in offering training if it doesn’t help achieve the store operation’s business goals.

But, without an easy way to tie learning to business success, this used to be a daunting task.

Now, you can identify the objectives you want to achieve and push out learning that teaches your associates exactly the right kinds of information they need to know to drive those outcomes.

Then, you can measure your associates’ knowledge growth automatically over time, track if they are applying this knowledge on the job, and prove that improved knowledge leads to improved performance and, ultimately, achieving desired business objectives. Finally, there’s a way to justify budget and impress the top execs!

Learn more about the power of gamification for boosting employee engagement:

Workbook – The Gamification Workbook

Webinar – Demystifying Gamification in Corporate Learning

Article – Report Card: Is Gamification All Hype or Does It Really Work?

Learn more about how to take a business-first approach to learning:

Webinar – Measuring Impact: Ways to Connect Corporate Learning to Strategic Business Outcomes

Article – Measuring what Matters Most in Your Training

Blog Post – Useless vs. Useful Learning Data

A retailer who said “NO” to the LMS...

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http://www.axonify.com/introducing-the-gamification-workbook/http://www.axonify.com/resources/demystifying-gamification-corporate-learning/http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/1877/report-card-is-gamification-all-hype-or-does-it-really-workhttp://www.axonify.com/resources/measuring-impact/https://www.td.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2016/03/Measuring-What-Matters-Most-in-Your-Traininghttp://www.axonify.com/useless-vs-useful-learning-data/www.axonify.com/modernize-retail

A retailer who said “NO” to the LMSStill not sure you’re ready to take learning beyond the LMS? Let us introduce you to At Home—a progressive retailer that said “NO” to the LMS and opted to use the Axonify Employee Knowledge Platform instead.

At Home is seeing huge improvements in associate knowledge, application on the job and overall business success.

Here is At Home’s story:

At Home Case Study...

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That’s the question that faced retailer, At Home, as it underwent a complete transformation from a tired pottery warehouse (formerly known as Garden Ridge) to a powerhouse home décor brand—in less than 24 months.

Chief People Officer, Valerie Davisson, knew that the right kind of employee training program was integral to At Home’s successful transformation. The company needed to align more than 3,000 employees across 100 stores in 28 US states at record speed, while continuing to onboard new employees as the company expanded its store presence. But, with a lean training team and limited budget, Davisson faced the additional challenge of finding a way to train employees quickly and effectively without breaking the bank. “I needed a very simple solution that could easily scale, was easily understood and was flexible enough to meet my needs. And, if it hit all that criteria, I could also afford it,” said Davisson.

An innovative approach to learning

Unlike many retail organizations, At Home didn’t have a Learning Management System (LMS) in place to provide universal learning to its employees. In fact, because training was pretty much non-existent in the old Garden Ridge days, Davisson had to start from scratch.

How do you scale employee training across multiple stores at an accelerated pace to ensure everyone—from the store associate to the store director—has the information required to drive profitability and growth?

At Home case study

At Home cont...

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Instead of simply going the LMS route (which she knew wouldn’t engage associates or help them truly build their expertise around At Home’s new way of doing business), Davisson looked for a fresh approach to provide training that also aligned with the company’s modern transformation. She chose Axonify.

In a nutshell, Axonify is an Employee Knowledge Platform that helps build, sustain and share knowledge in a fun, engaging and gamified way. It personalizes learning to target and close individual knowledge gaps, giving employees the confidence to perform their role to the best of their ability. This helps organizations achieve their potential because employees take the correct actions which ultimately drive real business results.

Davisson believed this revolutionary methodology was just what At Home needed to make a cultural shift that would place employee learning at the forefront of achieving organizational objectives. So, she initiated a 6-month pilot with Axonify in 2014.

“The LMS is not something that lends itself to the world we’re living in, and the retail business that I’m in. Tracking whether or not people went to training and that whole kind of framework, as well as the amount of resources and support it requires you to have in place, doesn’t fit where we’re at and where we’re going. It’s like shoes that don’t fit. I wouldn’t go out and buy shoes that don’t fit. No matter how nice the shoes are, they won’t serve me well if I can’t get them on my feet. So, the LMS doesn’t fit. It doesn’t strategically fit our business model.”

Valerie Davisson Chief People Officer, At Home

www.axonify.com/modernize-retail

Meet Axonify...

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Each day, associates logged on to Axonify through kiosks in the breakroom to answer three to five questions about safe work practices, while playing a fun game. Then, based on their answers, Axonify identified areas where each associate needed more knowledge and delivered learning to fill those gaps, while reinforcing what they already knew. This approach helped improve long-term memory around safety topics and build additional knowledge over time. It also helped store directors identify where employees needed coaching so they could give them the assistance they required to be successful.

The results were incredible! At Home identified a 14% average increase in employee knowledge for critical safety topics, which contributed to a 36% drop in safety incidents among associates who were learning on Axonify.

Armed with this proof, Davisson then proceeded with rolling out the new training initiative to At Home stores across the United States and hasn’t looked back. In fact, by using Axonify, she was able to train 2,500 associates (with no field support) in 4 weeks, which would have previously taken 6 months—contributing to an overall 90% reduction in onboarding time.

Today, At Home employees not only receive daily learning on safe work practices, but also get training on leadership, customer service and support,

company mission and values, and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). The results continue to impress. Besides current employee knowledge levels averaging 92%, there is also a 94% voluntary participation rate on the platform. And, within two weeks of rolling out the annual PCI compliance training required by almost all retailers, 78% of its existing 3,200 associate base had completed the certification—a phenomenal turnaround rate for this type of initiative. Associates even take extra training sessions at their own will, almost doubling their additional training between June and August 2016!

Anecdotal results are also significant. A robbery took place in one of the stores on a Saturday in mid-September 2016. One of the operations leads later received an email from the store director thanking her for Axonify. Every employee who was in the store during the robbery said they knew how to respond correctly because of Axonify.

“I’m thrilled with the decision to use Axonify,” said Davisson. “But it’s more important to say that my field operations people are thrilled with the decision. We’ve been able to deliver them an end-to-end solution that will evolve and grow with our business, scale with our business, and require very little of their time and attention from a day-to-day standpoint. And, yet, we’ve given them very engaging tools to help support the development of their team.”

At Home case study

www.axonify.com/modernize-retail

Simply put, Axonify is a SaaS solution that helps associates build knowledge, instead of just delivering learning. Associates get the information they need to do their job, so they can translate it on the job. And this is what drives successful business outcomes each and every day.

In short, here’s what Axonify does to enable front line managers to create knowledgeable, engaged and high performing associates:

Increase Sales

Armed with the latest product knowledge and sales techniques,

associates can’t help but sell more and deliver top-notch service.

Keep People & Property Safe

Drive down safety incidents, cut shrink rates and make sure your

people are prepared for anything from threats to hurricanes.

Engage Associates

When associates are engaged, they provide better customer service, sell more and perform

better. And a little fun never hurts!

Help Execute Omni‑Channel

One of the best ways a retailer can increase the success of its omni-channel strategy is

to grow employee knowledge and enthusiasm.

• Delivers unique and adaptive microlearning experiences to ensure that each associate acquires and maintains the knowledge needed for peak performance, while addressing the changing needs of today’s modern worker.

• Leverages brain science and learning best practices to maximize learning effectiveness.

• Incorporates more than 15 game mechanics to make learning fun and engaging for employees.

• Provides additional on-demand access to information when associates need it for the job.

• Facilitates manager and supervisor coaching and input into associate knowledge development.

• Gives retailers the measurement capability to easily link learning and development investments directly to tangible business results.

Meet Axonify: The learning solution that’s built for retail

The Axonify Employee Knowledge Platform is different from an LMS and more than an eLearning solution.

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For more information, visit axonify.com/contact or contact one of our knowledge experts.

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