Magazines Archives - 2009 February

HR Training & Service Excellence in Retail
Retailers won’t scrimp on training
Story 6 - Focus

As consumers tighten their belts and sales dwindle due to the global economic situation, retail
companies and mall operators pull back on investments and cut down on expenses to preserve meagre resources.

They believe it is the prudent strategy to take considering that costs continue to rise and cautious customers are likely to think twice before parting with their hard-earned cash.

However, leading players in the stillvibrant retail scene in the Philippines agree that there is one expense item that they cannot afford to slash even in the face of the long and deep global economic recession — training, or more broadly, human resource (HR) development.

“We may have to do some costcutting on some areas but definitely not on training as management believes that [it] is not an expense but an investment. Investing in the skills/competence of our people who will further build the organisation is important to our company,” explains Roland Villareal, assistant vice-president for human resources of the retail group of Robinsons Land Corp, which operates the Robinsons malls across the Philippines.

Villareal says having motivated and well-trained people who come into daily contact with customers impacts directly on the bottom line “because great attitude means greater customer loyalty”.

He cites Robinsons’ Customer Service and Sales Excellence programmes as contributors to the group’s double-digit revenue growth in 2008.

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