Talent shortages are reaching peak levels – the highest since 2006! With changing demographics, digital transformation and geopolitical issues, by 2030, more than 85 million jobs will be vacant due to the lack of skilled talent. Whilst many businesses may look to recruit talent externally, the upskilling of existing employees in organisations is often overlooked. To remain competitive, businesses have to close the skills gap – and there must be a key focus on organisational learning and training to build the capabilities of the future (and present!).
LinkedIn’s 2019 Workplace Report stated that 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if their learning and development is being invested in. Furthermore, according to a employee and workforce data report by Glint, opportunities to learn and grow was the primary factor defining an exceptional workplace. Learning is a business imperative and is a key ingredient for businesses and their employees to survive and thrive.
At Roberts Group, we partnered with a fast moving consumer sales organisation to grow the capabilities of their Distributor Sales Representatives (DSRs) in developing markets – with the objective of maximising the DSRs’ potential, driving growth in the sales organisation and develop future leaders in these markets.
Defining and Developing our Solution
We drove this project from start to end, beginning with immersive sessions to obtain a well-rounded perspective of both user and organisational needs, what was happening on the ground and the gap between vision and reality. We were also keen to identify what the skills of the present, but critically, we wanted to know and incorporate skills for the future. This critical information fed into our bespoke solution, which served to maximise engagement with DSRs and drive business outcomes whilst reducing the requirement for costly and ineffective in-person training. To drive engagement, the learning content was delivered digitally, via bite sized videos, and further reinforced through quizzes, gamification and manager coaching. Assistance was on hand beyond the initial rollout with support provided via our local ambassadors, helpdesk and support network.
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Our impact – and organisational gains
The programme is used by ~15,000 sales reps across 20 markets and supported the realisation of building a future-fit organisation and growth culture at this FMCG client. Continuous monitoring of the initial markets found a 7% increase in Secondary Sales – all in less than half a year post deployment – translating to an increase in revenue of €0.5 million. This digital first format reduced the amount of time DSRs were out from the front line for training – equating to a €100k reduction in loss of sales for a single market alone. Yet, the benefits realised from this project were not limited only to direct sales gains. There was a dramatic improvement in productivity gains: With more efficient and effective training and upskilling, new sales representatives had sufficient knowledge to achieve their sales targets in a shorter period of time. With continuous learning and upskilling the organisation also retained many more of their people. Attrition rates fell across all markets – in multiple cases by up to almost 50%.
The importance of continuous learning…
Continuous learning is critical for businesses to succeed and remain relevant. Talent shortages and skills gap needs to be closed – and one of the best ways to ensure the relevance and effectiveness is to focus on building these capabilities, whilst embedding a culture of learning within the organisation itself. As Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric said: “An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.”
