A Case Study: Increasing Sales and Decreasing Turnover

The Situation: This rapidly expanding retail company, with small clusters of employees in over a hundred locations throughout the country, faced a number of significant challenges, including:

 *  EMPLOYEE TURN OVER AND BUSINESS PLAN CHALLENGES - The skyrocketing cost of recruiting and training new employees was pounding the bottom line, as entry-level staff joined this innovative electronic retail company, and then quickly moved on when the work environment didn’t meet expectations. The business plan called for rapid expansion through both organic growth and acquisition, and high turnover was a serious impediment to meeting plan goals.

 *  EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPLOYMENT –The turnover rate was not the only challenge. A widely dispersed workforce composed of young, inexperienced employees, created unique challenges to the successful deployment of effective training and development programs.

 *  EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION AND CONNECTION - Because of the number of locations and employee retention issues, staying connected to employees with consistent messaging in every location was critical to the success of the business -- and posed a constant challenge.

The Solution: The Leadership team met with Argus professionals to identify gaps between corporate vision and staffing strategy. By deploying Argus methodology, several issues emerged which centered around identifying talent, on-boarding new employees, and effective training deployment and follow-through. The Argus team collaborated with the client to build a next-generation technology solution which incorporated creative, real-time on-boarding and training programs. Immediate feedback and a distinctly fun approach involved employees in the buzz. The holistic approach, which reflected the type of employee most suited to this type of role, was an instant ‘hit’, and has now become an integral part of the corporate culture. Employees across the U.S. are aligned with the vision and mission of the company’s leadership team, allowing the organization to pursue an accelerated growth plan.

The Results: Within 12 months, this client had dramatically enhanced employee communication, training, development, and retention by effectively implementing:

 *  EMPLOYEE TURN OVER AND BUSINESS PLAN RESULTS- A creative, custom strategy which actively involved company employees, connecting them to the work they do every day and how that work impacts the performance of the company. Turnover was reduced from nearly 120% to 65%.

 *  EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING DEPLOYMENT –Argus Creative designed and delivered an on-line, real-time training and testing solution, which provides each new employee, regardless of location, instant access to a series of training modules day-one. Modules are automatically scored, allowing employees instant feedback and review.  Employees are quickly assimilated into the team, knowledge gaps are identified and addressed immediately, and delivered information and feedback is consistent throughout the organization.

 *  EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION AND CONNECTION – The Argus Creative team built a custom, out-of-the box intranet portal which features company employees training new colleagues in humorous, highly effective video modules; on-line, real-time training and testing technology; and an intra-retail outlet network which keeps the competitive spirit vibrant and entertaining among stores from Florida to Illinois to California on a daily basis.  Additionally, the portal includes an employee benefits module which ensures consistency and improves processes, supporting this company’s ability to continue to expand.