Importance Of Training In Retail Sector. Scope Of Trainers. Pls Advice.

Resp Forum,
Greetings. Its been 12+ years working into top retail brands & now Would like to make a shift from sales & operations to Training & Development into Retail Industry. Need your kind guidance and career counseling that can help pursue my dream career as Trainer. Thnx with Best Regards, Monil Sheth - RM - Gujarat.

Dear Monil,

I do not know about other countries. Therefore, my reply is India specific.

When it comes training in the retail sector, this sector limits the training activities to retail executives or retail staffs only. The topics are like customer service, communication skills, business etiquettes etc.

Yes training to the front staff is necessary no doubt but then essence of retail sector lies in managing back end activities or managing their supply chain. Unfortunately no training happens for these subjects. I doubt whether retail training managers ever know anything about inventory management. All that they know is they have some SAP or ERP. Training on these software is one thing and decision making through scientific methods is another that they do not understand. "Experience" is no substitute for decision derived by using analytical tools that they are not even aware.

What is your expertise on? If you are good at managing the front end activities then you have scope in India.

Thanks,

Dinesh V Divekar