18 education & business
Why professional development is top of the retail shopping list
The retail market is worth billions of pounds to the UK economy every year. As shopping habits evolve however, those who work in the sector need to be ever more inventive to ensure they stay one step ahead. An innovative approach from Southampton Solent University is helping employers and staff to meet those challenges in many different ways. Alison Dewar of The Business Magazine found out more
Recognising that many who work in the retail sector may want to add to their qualifications, the University has just launched a new work-based Foundation Degree in Retail.
Typically this degree is taken over two years, but learners can also take individual units leading to either a professional development award or accumulate credit towards a degree over a longer period of time.
This gives people the chance to study at a different pace and provides an alternative route for employers to develop individuals’ skills at a higher education level.
Pamela Baker, the University’s strategic development director, said: “The programme has been developed specifically for employers to meet staff development needs and can be tailored to meet particular employer and staff requirements.
“Because the modules focus on work-based learning, they can be made as applicable to someone working in car sales as someone serving in a High Street store, and the course works equally well for someone in a one-off specialist shop as it does for those working in a large chain.“
The flexibility of the programme means employers can choose how staff study. Those taking part can choose to study online or at the University, or a mixture of both, with employers playing a mentoring role in the workplace.
Units include topics such as managing and developing people in retail, retail law, consumer behaviour and in-store customer marketing.
“Previously, if you worked in retail and wanted to gain new qualifications, you would have had to leave work and go back to university,“ added Baker. “Our ethos as a university is about how we can provide career progression for
www.businessmag.co.uk
Students have been able to gain commercial, business and marketing experience through the Re:So project
those already in work, and that’s exactly what this course provides, by allowing you to study and work together.“
Beyond the Foundation Degree, students can go on to its degree courses in BSc (Hons) Retail Management and MSc Retail Management.
The new qualification is just one way that the University prides itself on doing things differently, another is an ongoing initiative between its Business School and B&Q’s HR department.
The two have been working closely together over the past year, developing a strategic partnership to support B&Q employee development. After an initial skills analysis, a short course Marketing Masterclass was developed, which a new intake will start this month.
Earlier this year, the team organised a taster session Retail Safari event where 75 employees spent time in Southampton’s West Quay reviewing how different stores marketed their products.
Louise Hunt, senior lecturer in retail marketing, said the event was a great success and added: “These types of partnerships have immense value both for the University and for business.“
Another successful project, The Retail Solent Initiative (Re:So), was created by the University’s School of Fashion, The Other Retail Group and The Marlands shopping centre team.
This enterprising retail store has enabled students to sell their creations and gain valuable commercial, business and marketing experience.
It has won the Purple Apple Merit Award 2013, an international marketing award, and several students have already gone on to greater success, one gaining a role at Vivienne Westwood, another launching an ASOS marketplace store, while a third is planning her own retail store.
The importance of working alongside local retailers
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – OCTOBER 2013
is underlined by Jo Stark, Solent enterprise centre manager, who added: “We want to get to know the local business community, understanding the challenges they face and identifying how we can work together to resolve them.
“That may be training or upskilling of existing staff, developing new qualifications or providing accreditation or consultancy services to encourage innovation in a business. For us, it’s about sharing the practitioner-based knowledge and experience we have and working with businesses to find the answers, as opposed to simply trying to transfer knowledge to them.“
Calling retailers – how will omnichannel retailing impact on staff training?
The University is looking for commercial retail sector partners to work on a new project looking at the potential impact of omnichannel retailing on staff training and development.
As more and more people choose to do their homework in store and then purchase online, research shows that customers’ expectations of the in store experience is changing and store managers are moving from an operational focus to that of “brand ambassadors“.
Solent University is keen to explore what this means for future staff training and workforce development. To find out more, contact
pamela.baker@
solent.ac.uk
Details:
www.solent.ac.uk
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