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TITLE Training in the Retail Trade in Ireland. Report fortho FORCE Programme. First Edition.

INSTITUTION European Centre for the Development of VocationalTraining, Berlin (Germany).

REPORT NO ISBN-92-826-7830-XPUB DATE 94NOTE 74p.; For reports on other countries, see ED 372

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EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Case Studies; Corporate Education; *Distributive

Education; Educational Improvement; EducationalNeeds; *Educational Trends; *Education WorkRelationship; Employment Patterns; Foreign Countries;*Job Training; Labor Market; Merchandising; PersonnelManagement; Fostsecondary Education; Private Sector;Recruitment; *Retailing; Sales Occupations; SecondaryEducation; Tables (Data); *Training Methods; TrainingObjectives; Trend Analysis

IDENTIFIERS *Ireland

ABSTRACTAn international team of researchers studied the

following aspects of training in Ireland's retail sector: structureand characteristics, institutional and social context, employment andlabor, changing conditions and their implications for skillrequirements, and training and recruitment. Data were collected froman analysis of social and labor/employment statistics, literaturereview, and case studies of a family-owned department store,Ireland's natiu.tal electricity generating and distribution company, aretail firm selling food and nonfood items, and a private grocerychain. Each case study included information about the following:company structure/characteristics; business strategy; personnelpolicies; and training policies, strategies, objectives, structure,and plans. The case studies confirmed that systematic training ofstaff within Ireland's retail sector is a relatively new development.One of the companies had no training department/training system until2 years ago even though it employs 320 people. Formal planning oftraining occurred only at the large companies and was generally theresponsibility of a training manager. Training practices and topicsvaried widely, and only the larger organizations had invested intraining facilities. Little in-depth assessment of training costs andbenefits had occurred to date; however, more systematic assessment oftraining appeared likely. (Contains 16 tables/figures and 14references.) (MN)

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F EFORMATION CONTINUE EN EUROPE

European Commission

RETAIL SECTOR

U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Eaucatroar Researtn and improvement

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES )

INFORMATIO; '

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VI6

`IMINIMswoorroNerr inombmmImri..L.-.

RETAIL SECTOR

TRAINING IN THE RETAILTRADEIN IRELAND

REPORT FOR THE FORCE PROGRAMME

drawn up byService Industries Research Centre

University College DublinRichview, Clonskeagh

Dublin 14, Ireland

1992

First edition, Berlin 1994Published by:

CEDEFOP European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training,Jean Monr.et House, Bundesallee 22, D-10717 Berlin

Fax 49-30 + 88 41 22 22Tel. 49-30 + 88 41 20 Telex 18 41 63 eucen d

The Centre was established by Regulation (EEC) No 337/75of the Council of the European Communities

3

Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.

Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1994

ISBN 92-826-7830-X

© ECSC-EC-EAEC, Brussels Luxembourg, 1994

Articles and texts appearing in this document may be reproduced freely in i 'tole or in part providingtheir source is mentioned.

Printed in Germany

4

FORCE

Formation continue en EuropeCommission of the European Communities

TASK FORCEHuman Resources, Education, Training and Youth

Rue de la Loi, 200; B-1049 Bruxelles

THE IDEA FORCEThe futi. economic strength and the potential for social progress of the European Communitydepends on a consistent improvement in the competence and qualifications of its 132.000.000 labourforce. Better continuing vocational training is one of the essential conditions for the success of theSingle Market 1993.The European Commission is determined to support and give fresh impetus to the efforts which com-panies throughout the Community are making to improve continuing training.FORCE is the European Community's action programme for the development of continuing vocationaltraining. It is focussed on companies, especially on small and medium-sized companies. It involves train-eis and training bodies, employer and union representatives - everyone concerned with improving thecompetence of the labour force.

WHAT DOES FORCE OFFER?FORCE promotes workir,g partnerships in continuing training between companies, training bodies,public authorities and social partners.These will include: supporting continuing training innovation through a European transnational net-work, an exchange programme, transnational and transfrontier pilot projects and projects concernedwith the evolution of qualifications; assuring closer policy co-operation between Member States byevolving a common statistical means of analysing what is being done in terms of continuing training,through regular analysis of relevant contractual policy and collective agreements, and through enquir-ies into sectoral needs; supporting the establishment of regional consortia and transnational continuingtraining partnerships which specialise in transferring exemplary good practice to economically weakregions.

JOININGYou can take part in the FORCE network and apply for financial assistance to join its innovation andtransfer exchanges and projects if you are:a large, medi. 3m-sized or small company, a training body working with industry orcommerce, an employer or trade union body, a training or human resource expertor manager.Through FORCE you can help improve continuing training in your company, sector or local labourmarket. At the same time you can help to contribute to the improvement and availability of continuingtraining and thus to shaping the European Community.

CEDEFOP

European Centre for the Development of Vocational TrainingJean Monnet House, Bundesallee 22, D-10717 Berlin

Institutional status

CEDEFOP is an autonomous body, independent of the departments of the Commission of the EuropeanCommunities, but its task and activities are closely integrated with those of the Commission, to whicl,the Centre contributes its technical and scientific expertise.

Working guidelines for the Centre are laid down by its Management Board, whose members repres-ent the EC Commission (3), trade unions ( i 2) employers' organizations (12) and governments (12).The Management Board decides on the Work Programme, draws up and approves budgets andadopts the Annual Report.

The members of the Management Board .are appointed by the organizations they represent andremain in, office for two years. The chairmanship of the Board changes each year.

Institutional tasks

Information:In the field of vocational training, information is one of the Centre's vital tasks. Its documentation serviceand a constantly updated bibliographical database receive information from a network of nationalcorrespondents, and the information is then made available to .a very wide audience, in part via highlysophisticated computerized channels. Its carefully planned publishing policy also ensures that theCentre's voice is heard on major issues in the field of vocational training. It produces its own regularpublications (»Vocational Training«, »CEDEFOP flash« and »CEDEFOP flash special«) and occasionalpublications such as research reports, monographs and manuals.

Research:CEDEFOP, as c. centre for the promotion and coordination of research within the Community, providessupport in ne form of information, expertise and encouragement for the planning and implementationof vocational training initiatives in Member States. In so doing it serves as a focus for innovation.

Consultation:CEDEFOP, as an organization supporting the Commission, has the task of promoting a concertedapproach to vocational training problems. It takes every opportunity to promote and encourage train-ing.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study was carried out in the framework of theEuropean Retail Trade Sector Study, within the ECFORCE programme, and conducted by a CentralTeam made up mainly of member centres of "E URO-NET Work & Education", under the responsibility ofthe CIREM Foundation in Barcelona.

We would also like to thank the employers'organiza-tions and trade unions, and their representatives,who contributed to the research by making sugges-tions for case studies, attending meetings and com-menting on the draft report.

Those involved were:The Central team was composed of Olivier Bertrand(CEREQ, Paris), Oriol Homs (CIREM, Barcelona),Wilfried Kruse (S.F.S. Dortmund), Marisa Mendez-Vigo ( CIREM, Barcelona) and Harry van den Tillaart(ITS, Nijmegen), in close collaboration with Tina Bert-zeletou from CEDEFOP, Berlin.

The project team would like to thank the companieswho gave access for research, and whose staffprovided the information and help which enabledus to write the case studies. We very much appre-ciate the time and effort which were invested sogenerously.

Mr. Jim Keo:11), National FORCE Co-ordinator,DublinFORCE National Coordinating Committee for theRetail Sector, DublinMembers of the Retail/Wholesale Training Commit-tee of FAS, DublinMr. Henry Murdock, Mr. Ian Hyland, Ms. BredaKennedy, FAS, Dublin.We wish to pay tribute to the work undertaken byTom Martin who wrote the sectoral and conclusionsreports and two case studies, and to Candy Murphywho compiled two of the case studies.

7

7

CONTENTS

PART 1 - SECTORAL CONTEXTDESCRIPTION OF THE RETAIL SECTOR AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

1. Definition and limits of sector

2. Structure and characteristics of retailing

3. The institutional and social context

4. Employment and labour

5. Changing conditions and their implications for skill

requirements and training 21

6. Training and recruitment 22

7. Issues 24

Annex 26

Census of service retail business categories 27

Page

13

.13

15

18

PART 2 - CASE STUDIES1. CLERYS & COMPANY (1941) LTD

1.1 General description of the firm 31

1.1.1 Facts about Clery's 31

1.1.2 Business strategy and management style 32

1.1.3 Structure of firm 32

'1.1.4 Human resources 32

1.1.4.1 Employment 32

1.1.4.2 Employment statistics 32

1.1.4.3 Part-time employment 33

1.1.4.4 Gender 33

1.1.4.5 Recruitment 33

1.1.4.6 Summary of employee profile 33

1.2 Training policy 33

1.2.1 Training strategy 33

1.2.1.1 Aims of company 33

1.2.1.2 Future training priorities 33

1.2.2 Training structure 33

1.2 2.1 Responsibility for CVE 33

1.2.2.2 Identification of training needs and evaluation of training 33

1.2.2.3 Training budget 34

1.2.3 Impact of new technology 34

1.2.4 Participation of social partners 34

1.2.5 Description of major programmes 341.2.5.1 Induction training 34

1.2.5.2 Continuing training general staff 34

1.2.5.3 Continuing training managers 34

1.2.5.4 Example 35

1.3 Evaluation 35

1.3.1 By the firm 35

1.3.2 By employees and their representatives 35

1.3.3 By the author 35

1.4 Conclusion

Listing of main training programmes

2. ESB (Electricity Supply Board)

2.1 General description of the firm 39

2.1.1 Major facts about ESB

2.1.2 Business strategy 39

2.1.3 Structure of the firm .40

2.1.4 Human resources 40


2.1.4.2 Employment statistics '40

2.1.4.3 Gender 14


2.1.4.5 Recruitment ,40

2.2 Training policy 41 ,


2.2.2 Training structure 42

2.2.3 Impact of new technologies 43

2.2.4 Participation of social partners

2.2.5 Description of major programmes 43

2.3 Closer look at a particular outlet 46

2.4 Evaluation 47

2.4.1 By ESB 47

2.4.2 By employees and their representatives 47

2.4.3 By the author 47

2.5 Transferability 47

2.6 Conclusions 48

3. MARKS &SPENCERS (IRELAND) LTD.

3.1 General description of the firm 493.1.1 Major fads about the firm 49

3.1.2 Business strategy 49

3.1.3 Structure of the firm 49

3.1.4 Human resources 49


3.1.4.2 Gender 49


3.1.4.4 Unionization 50

3.1.4.5 Staff turnover 50

3.1.4.6 Wages 50

3.1.4.7 Recruitment _50

3.2. Training policy 51


3.2.1.1 Training objectives 51

3.2.1.2 Training plans -;51

3.2.1.3 Future training priorities 61

The Service Industries Research Centre would like to express its appreciationto the management and staff of ESB, particularly those ire the applianceshops, for their assistance in the preparation of this case study.

3.2.2 Training structure

3.2.2.1 Training department structure

3.2.2.2 Role of training manager

3.2.2.3 Identification of training needs

3.2.2.4 Training budget

3.2.3 New technology


3.2.5 Description of major programmes

3.2.5.1 Training plans

3.3 Closer look at a particular store:

The cork branch of Marks & Spencer Ireland Ltd.

3.3.1 General information

3.3.2 Human resources

3.3.3 Training strategy


3.3.5 Impact of new technology


3.3.7 Description of major programmes in Cork

3.4 Evaluation

3.4.1 By the firm and employees

3.4.2 By the author

3.5 Transferability

3.6 Conclusions

51

:=:52

52.

52

52

52

53

53

54-

54

54

54

54

56

56

56

. 57

4. SUPERQUINN

4.1. General description of the firm 594.1.1 Major facts about Superquinn 594.1.2 Business strategy 594.1.3 Structure of the firm 604.1.4 Human resources 604.2 Training policy 61


4.2.2 Training structure '61

4.2.3 Impact of new technologies 624.2.4 Participation of social partners 63

4.2.5 Description of major programmes 63

4.3 Closer look at a particular store 664.4 Evaluation 674.4.1 By the management 674.4.2 By the employees and their representatives 674.4.3 By the author 674.5 Transferability 684.6 Conclusion 68

.10

PART 3 - TRENDSCONCLUSIONS REPORT

1. Selection of case studies 69

1.1 Planning and conception of training 69

1.2 Type of personnel concerned with training 69

1.3 Contents, methods and organization 70

1.4 Cost, financing and evolution 71

APPENDIX: INTERVIEWS 73

PART 1:

DESCRIPTION OF THERETAIL SECTOR ANDITS DEVELOPMENT

***Mk***ttfitttlittitftftft*******01#0404fritiritffitittffirttitittittiPtitt

1. Definition and limits of sector

2. Structure and characteristics ofretailing


4. Employment and labour

5. Changing conditions and theirimplications for skill requirementsand training

6. Training and recruitment

7. Issues

DESCRIPTION OF THE RETAIL SECTORAND ITS DEVELOPMENT

1. Definition and limits of sectorThe retail trade is defined by the Irish nationalagency for statistics Office (CSO), as the resale (i.e.sale without transformation) of new and usedgoods to the general public for personal or house-hold consumption or utilization. The goods caneither be so;d in the same condition or after under-going the kind of processing, sorting, grading, pack-ing, repacking, etc., normal to retailing.

The Central Statistics Office definition of the retailtrade includes public houses, petrol filling stations,car sales outlets and repair and service garages.Milk roundsmen operating on their own account areincluded; these have increased in importance inurban areas because of the restructuring of milk de-livery operations. Excluded are open air and cover-ed markets, mobile shops, itinerant traders, news-boys, auction sales rooms, self-employed retailagents and the direct retail sales of firms mainlyengaged in some other business activity i.e. manu-facturing.The CSO uses a classification system which distin-guishes 37 retail business sectors. This national clas-sification system can be equated with the GeneralClassification of Economic Activities with the Euro-pean Economic Communities (NACE). In this reportstatistics for the retail trade in Ireland are presentedusing the CSO national classification system anddetailed description of the CSO national classifica-tion system is provided in Apr. 1.

The disadvantage of using CSO data for the retailsector is that a census of the retail sector is onlyundertaken every ten years and frequently there isa considerable time lag between undertaking thecensus and the publication of results.The CSO infor-mation on the retail sector used in this report wasmainly obtained from the 1988 Census of Servicesthe one previous to that was 1977 - which was onlypublished in July 1991. Surveys of the retail sectorby the market research company, A.C. Nielsen ofIreland, while not as comprehensive as the CSOcensu: are undertaken more frequently and pub-lished more promptly. The Nielsen information isprovided in this report as an indicator of trendswithin the retail sector and it should not be used forits absolute value. There are definitional differencesbetween the CSO and Nielsen surveys.

In this report the Service Industries Research Centrehas omitted statistics relating the retail sale of motorvehicles and motorcycles and the repair of personaland household goods.

All monetary values are given in Irish Pounds (IRL)unless otherwise specified; at the time of writing IRL1 =1.3 ECU.

2. Structure and characteristics ofretailing

Brief historical backgroundThe retailing structure which evolved with inde-pendence from England in 1922 w, dominated bysmall family owned and managea ,ounter serviceshops. A number of retail concerns were ownedby UK companies but these were few in number.

The early decade:, of Irish independence were char-acterized by low economic growth and high emigra-tion.

The first-self service grocery shop ias opened inDublin in 1949 but closed a year later.The main rea-son for the kick of consumer acceptance for selfservice was that products then did not come in pack-ets. Butter was the only product which was packed inconsumer portions everything else come in largesacks. Products had to be repacked in small brownbags, labelled and placed on the shelf.

The company which tried the self-service concept in1949 tried again in Dublin in 1957 and this time suc-ceeded. An important factor was that economicconditions within Ireland began to improve aroundthe end of the 1950s and the beginning of the1960s. The second self-service grocery shop in Ire-land was established in Dundalk by the founder ofSuperquinn one of the companies profiled in thecase studies.

The self service concept quickly established itselfand spread to other retail sectors besides grocery. Itwas followed in turn by the development of multiplegroups and by a rationalization of the number ofretail outlets. A number of UK multiple groups haveentered the Irish grocery market since the 1960s butonly one which took over an existing Irish super-market chain has been successful.

Multiple groups since the transition to self-servicedominate the grocery, clothing and householdhardware sections. Within the grocery trade themultiples account for 60 per cent of groceryexpenditure and within the Dublin region accountfor 80 per cent of grocery expenditure.

The threat of the multiples has been a major factorin the re-organization of the symbol stores largelyprompted by the grocery wholesale companieswho are now competing on the basis of longeropening hours and proximity to consumers. Thesymbol stores e.g. retail outlets affialiated to afranchise such as Spar, Mace, Centro, etc., havesucceeded in winning market share back from themultiples. Other contributing factors have been theprohibition on below cost selling, stronger and morecentralized group purchasing and investmentsmade in equipment and premises. The independ-ents' market share of the grocery trade declinedduring the 1970s and 1980s though recently thedecline has levelled off.

In other sectors of the retail industry one of themajor developments has been the arrival of UKowned retail outlets particularly in the hardware,clothing and music sectors.Their presence in the Irishmarket has intensified the level of competition andhas lead to a number of Irish-owned outlets ration-alizing their operations. A particular feature of thehardware sec.or has been the development oflarge, out-of-town superstores by UK operators.

Structure of retailingAccording to the 1988 Census of Services publishedby the Central Statistics Office, the Irish retail indus-

13

13

14

try had an estimated aggregate turnover in 1987 ofIRL 5.7 billion (excluding Value Added Tax) ofwhich the food drink and tobacco sub-sector aloneaccounted for IRL 3.7 billion.

The food, drink and tobacco sub-sector dominatesthe retail industry in Ireland in terms of number ofoutlets, turnover, gross margin, persons engagedand selling space. A small number of categories,however, within the food, drink and tobaccosubsector account for a greater proportion of thesestatistics. The supermarket category accounts for22 per cent of total retail turnover and 16 per centof the total number of persons engaged thoughin terms of numbers of retail outlets it onlyto-ms 1.5 per cent of total retail outlets. The cate-gory public house, is also a major one accountingfor a high percentage of total number of re-tail outlets, numbers of persons engaged and turn-over.

It should be noted that in Table 2.1 the number ofpersons engaged includes owners, family membersand employees. It is important to note that a numberof the companies in the supermarket category suchas Dunnes Stores and Quinnsworth (through itsPenneys/ Primark chain) are also involved in theclothing and footwear category and in recent yearshave obtained a major share of this - ategory aswell.

The Dublin metropolitan region accounts for thegreater share of both numbers of outlets and totalturnover for the state. One-fifth of all retail outletsand two-fifths of retail turnover in Ireland is

accounted for in this region. A number of food, drinkand tobacco categories are found almost exclu-

Table 2.1 - Structure of Irish retail sector in 1988

sively in rural areas an example of which is grocerswith public house.

The dominance of the Dublin metropolitan regioncan be seen in the percentage of gross marginsearned by the industry in Ireland as a whole. In thefood, drink and tobacco sector the Dublin metro-politan region with only 16 per cent of national out-lets accounted for 34 per cent of total gross marginsgenerated nationally. In the grocery sub-sector, theDublin metropolitan region accounted for 14 percent of total national retail outlets but generated 32per cent of -the country's gross margin.

Trade sources indicate that within the grocery sub-sector pressure of competition has reduced marginsto 16-18 per cent compared to 50 per cent in thepublic house sub-sector and 300 per cent forclothing boutiques. Competition within the Dublingrocery market is very intensive given that the city isover-provided with retail outlets.

The retail sector in Ireland is characterized by a largenumber of family-owned and staffed retail outletsand a small number of very large companies withmultiple outlets. This is especially so in the food, drinkand tobacco sector but is found in other sectors of theretail industry. The size of firms in the retail sector isexamined in more detail in Section 4 below.

Surveys of the retail sector by the market researchcompany, A.C. Nielsen, give an overall indication ofthe trends in numbers of retail outlets for certainretail sub-sectors for the period 1966 - 1988.Theseare shown in Table 2.2 below and it should be notedthat Nielsen does not cover clothing or departmentstores.

Sub-sector

No. ofoutlets

Turnoverexcl. VAT

Gross

marginexcl. VAT

No. ofpersons

engaged

Selling

space

sq. feet

Food, drinkand tobacco

Of which:

SupermarketsOther groceryPublic houses

Tobacco, sweets

and newspapers

Clothing andfootwear

All other non-food

Of which:Chemists

HardwareElectrical

Department stores

Total

18

5

6

1

3

6

1

27

239

433176

478

689

202

434

039840608

12

875

IRL

3 658 064

1 492 968

600 937715 737

220 992

652 448

1 407 950

204 92?191 989156 605195 155

5 718 462

IRL

741 605

228 28599 583

233 006

41 346

18341?

391 953

56 85345 04341 25064 725

1 316 977

72

17

13

22

5

12

26

4

3

1

3

111

254

726353961

158

792

509

207503978

507

555

00

159 802

39 751

28 65060 593

7 797

35 366

69 503

6 118

14 327

5 0587696

77 078

Source: 1988 Census of Services, Volume 1, Central Statistics Office

4i

Table 2.2 - Trends in number of outlets for selected shop types, 1966 1988

Shop type 1966 1977 1983 1988

Grocers 12 681 9 042 7 736 6 575Grocers with off-licence 364 377 541 596Grocers with public house 3 923 1 933 936 677Tobacco, sweets & newspapers 4 003 2 428 2 357 2 822Public houses 5 973 7 231 7653 7 888Chemists 1 343 1 199 1 132 1 269Butchers 2 060 1 759 1 947 1 954Footwear 486 585 691 671Hardware 1 162 1 242 1 780 2 072Electrical 843 913 1 228 1 242

Total 30 778 24 950 24 054 23 812

Source: Retail Census 1988, Nielsen Marketing Research

The fall off in numbers of retail outlets over the pe-riod 1966 -1988 in Ireland can be seen from Table2.2 and in particular the sharp decline in numbers ofgrocery outlets. A number of retail categories suchas electrical and hardware retail outlets have, how-ever, seen increases and they reflect changes in thepattern of consumer expenditure. The increase inthe public house category is contrasted with thevery heavy decline in numbers in the grocers withpublic house category which, as mentioned above,is exclusively a rural phenomenon.

Nielsen data shows that while the numbers of gro-cery outlets has declined the numbers of cateringoutlets has increased from 1 822 in 1966 to 3 622 in1988 indicating a move towards eating out amongconsumers.The declining numbers of retail outlets inIreland trend long term strategic implicationsincluding staff numbers, training, opening hoursand range of products and services offered.


Background informationThe general system of industrial relations in Irelandis a voluntary one. This means that the terms andconditions of employment of the majority ofemployees are determined by the process of collec-tive bargaining between an employer or employers'association and one or more trade unions, withoutthe intervention of the State. This process deter-mines standard matters such as wages and hours ofwork and, in addition, some collective bargains laydown procedural rules .vhich govern the conduct ofindustrial relations. Thus, collective bargaining andnot the law is the primary source of regulation inemployment relationship in Ireland.

However, in recent years there have been a numberof laws passed which lay down certain minimumstandards which are often improved upon by col-lective bargaining.

As a general rule, employment laws do not apply tothe immediate family of the employer provided theylive with him and are employed in the same privatehouse. A law passed last year, the Worker Protection(Regular Part-time Employees) Act 1991, extends

basic minimum employment rights to part-timeemployees and particularly impacts on the retailsector because of the large numbers of part-timeworkers engaged in retailing.The main laws which affect the retail sector are asfollows:

Shops (Conditions of Employment) Acts 1938 and/ 942:These acts regulate and control the conditionsof employment of workers in wholesale and retailshops, warehouses, hotds (Dublin city only),licensed premises and refreshment houses (restau-rant, cafes or tea shops). The acts cover such areasas restrictions on the employment of young people,work hours, intervals for meals, holidays, and healthand comfort of employees.

Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act 1977:This act relates to the employment of young personsunder the age of 18 and it contains provisions aboutthe minimum age for entry into employment, setslimits to the working hours of young people, pro-vides for rest intervals and prohibits night work. Italso requires employers to keep records of the agesand working times of employees under 18 years ofage. The Act prohibits the employment of childrenunder the age of 15 though a child over 14 may bepermitted to do light work during school holidays.

Worker Protection (Regular Part-time Employees)Act 7997 : The object of this act is to extend to regu-lar part-time employees the rights to minimumnotice, holidays, maternity leave, redress for unfairdismissal, worker participation (where appropriate)and redundancy and insolvency protection. The acthas particular consequences for the retail sectorbecause of the large numbers of part-time peopleemployed.

Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act1973: The act sets out io specify the minimum noticethat must be given by employers and by employeesin terminating a contract of employment and to giveemployees the right to have information about theterms of their employment in writing. The act doesnotap- ply to the immediate family of the employerprovided they live with him and hare employed inthe same private house or farm.

1!t51

)5.

16

Maternity Protection of Employees act 1981: Thepurpose of the act is to provide maternity protectionfor employees who are expecting a baby and doesso by giving them certain basic rights.The act coversfemale probationers, trainees and apprentices whowork for 18 hours or more per week.

Holidays (Employees) Act 1973: The ad provides aminimum legally enforceable entitlement for mostemployees working the required number of hours tothree weeks' annual leave per year and to publicholidays.

Unfair Dismissals Act 1977: The purpose of the act isto protect employees from being unfairly dismissedfrom their jobs by laying down criteria by which dis-missals are to be judged unfair.

Joint Labour CommitteeIn recent years the government has conc;uded spe-cial agreements with the social partners in order toimprove economic conditions. In recent years thesehave included the Programme for National Recov-ery (PNR) and the Programme for Economic andSocial Progress (PESP). The rationale behind theseagreements has been to curb excessive wageincreases and to determine a level of wageincreases applicable to all employees agreeable togovernment, employers and trade unions. How-ever, both agreements have covered wider issuesincluding special schemes to improve unemploy-ment.

As part of the negotiations leading to the PESPagreement in 1990 the trade unions requested theintroduction of a statutory national minimum wage.The trade unions cited the retail sector in generaland the newsagent/grocery sub-sector in particu-lar, as an area where low pay and below averageconditions of employment were prevalent.

The Department of Labour requested the Economicand Social Research Institute to carry out an investi-gation. The results of this investigation supportedthe trade unions' arguments and the governmentagreed to consider th, . possibility of introducing anational minimum wage during the period covere Jby the PESP agreement.

At the same time two trade unions which representworkers in the newsagents and grocers sub-sectors,IDATLI and INUVGATA, made submissions to theLabour Court in 1990 for the establishment of aJoint Labour Committee (JLC) to cover workers inthe Grocery and Allied Trades sector, under the pro-vision of Section 36 of the Industrial Relations Act1946.

In November 1990 the Labour Court heard submis-sions from all affected parties. The Federation ofIrish Employers (FIE) co-ordinated the employers'campaign against the establishment of the JointLabour Committee.

After hearing submissions from both employers andtrade unions, the Labour Cour ordered the introduc-tion of the JLC. which came into effect on May 1,1992. The JLC will be responsible for the implemen-

16,e

tation of minimum wage levels for shop assistantsagreed by the parties during the Labour Court sub-missions as well as matters relating to part-timeworkers, overtime premiums, annual holidays, restperiods, work rosters and service certificates. TheJLC has the statutory power to issue EmploymentOrders (ERO) which are legally binding for bothemployers and employees. An employer cannotplead inability to pay in the face of an ERO. Simi-larly any agreement between employer andemployee to offer/accept pay or conditions lessthan those agreed by the JLC will be null and void.

Employers in the newsagents, grocery and allied tra-des will from Mc 1992 have to pay agreed labourrates for a 39 hour working week depending on theyears service of the employee concerned. Hitherto,where an employee was dissatisfied with conditionsthe option most commonly taken was to seekemployment elsewhere. This allowed employers toreplace high cost employees with newer, lower costrecruits. The new minimum rates established by theLabour Court and to be implemented by the JLC willmake it more attractive for experienced employeesto stay with their existing employers.

Employers' associations believe that the impact ofthe JLC will force employers to consider more seri-ously the necessity to treat their sales staff as anasset and to recognize the importance of training indeveloping their staff.

Employers' organizations and tradeunionsThe Irish retail sector is characterized by a multi-plicity of both employers' organizations on one sideand trade unions on the other. Even within specificand narrowly defined sub-sectors in the retailindustry it is possible to find more than one employ-ers' association. On national pay and working con-ditions issues, employers are represented by theFederation of Irish Employers (FIE) and tra, le unionsare represented by the Irish Congress of TradeUnions (ICTU). A number of the employers' organi-zations in the retail sector are associated with theFIE and similarly the retail sector trade unions areaffiliated with the ICTU.

The FIE has a specialist training division which pro-vides tailor-made in-house training courses formanagers/supervisors in all sectors. However,involvement of the retail sector in these courses islow. FIE and FAS, the national employment andtraining agency, are finalizing a modular-basedtraining programme for sales staff going into theretail trade. Modules cover customer relations,sales, hygiene, safety and product knowledge. It ishoped to extend the modules to cover supervisoryskills.

Apart from the obvious difficulties to be expectedwith a sub-sector having more than one employers'organization in developing a common position forall employers in that sub-sector, there are other lessobvious implications. One such implication of hav-ing more than one employers' organization in asubsector is that they are likely to compete with eachother for members with the result that less time

and resources are available for policy developmentand implementation. One of the consequences ofthis is that employers' associations often have plansto provide training courses fc.,r their members butbecause of scarce resources these plans are neverput into practice.

A number of trade associations in the retail sectordo, however, run training courses for members'employees. One example of this is the Irish Hard-ware Association (IHA) which represents manufac-turers, agents, wholesalers and retailers. The lattercategory accounts for the majority of the membersof the IHA. The IHA has a Training Committee whichorganizes training courses, sets examinations andawards diplomas for new entrants and existingemployees. The association has a very comprehen-sive training programme covering all skill areas andtends to use experts in the industry to run program-mes. The only training area not being met is lan-guage skills. The IHA Training Committee designscurricula for distance learning programmes withassistance from its counterpart organizations in theUS and the UK.

There are similar problems to employers' organiza-tions on the trade union side in that a number ofunions compete for members in the same retail sub-sector. Other difficulties experienced by tradeunions are the difficulties of serving members whoare the sole employee in retail outlets in peripheralregions of the country and the high proportion ofpart-time workers in the retail sector many of whomare not unionized. Trade union officials spend aconsiderable amount of time dealing with members'grievances relating to pay and conditions but train-ing is not a priority in negotiations with employers.

Social partners involvement invocational trainingIn the area of continuing vocational training in Ire-land, the government has developed structuresparticularly within many sectors of manufacturingindustry which allow for the involvement of thesocial partners in the development and formulationof national vocational training policies. In the manu-facturing and tourism sectors for example, statutorytraining organizations composed of representa-tives of the social partners exist to take decisions onissues relating to education and training matters inthese sectors. In these sectors a training levy is col-lected from employers, calculated as a percentageof wage and salary costs, and is used to fund train-ing programmes for the sector. However, in theretail sector there has been no government impetusto involve the social partners in the provision oftraining for the sector. There is no sector specificstatutory body for the retail sector in which socialpartners can meet to discuss the development andimplementation of national vocational training poli-cies.

The main statutory body concerned with vocationaltraining in Ireland, FAS, the training and employ-ment authority, has established a Retail/ WholesaleTraining Committee. The committee is composed ofrepresentatives of both employers and trade unionsand its remit is to examine what are the require-

ments for training in th.! retcil/ wholesale sector andto determine what role if any FAS should take inrelation to the two sectors.

At the level of the enterprise as illustrated in the casestudies there are no mecnanisms to involve man-agement and trade unions in the development andimplementation. of training programmes. The for-mulation of training policies and plans is solely theprerogative of management. Even where there arestructures to involve management and trail: unionsin areas of mutual interest as in ESB, training issuesare rarely discussed. The main issues discussedbetween management and staff at these forumsare pay and conditions. Though employees andtheir representatives are not directly involved intraining they have a very positive attitude to contin-uing vocational education. They are willing toundertake training even though there may be noprospect of promotion.

In the absence of a recognized body responsible fortrcfriing in the retail sector the larger enterprises inthe industry have had to develop their own internalprogrammes. This has been a difficult process forthe larger enterprises due to the lack of retail train-ing experts in Ireland and the lack of available train-ing material suitable for the retail sector. The solu-tion in many cases has been to develop their owninternal experts and to customize existing trainingmaterial to their own particular needs.

The lack of a recognized sectoral training body isfelt most keenly by the small to medium-sized -etailenterprises who are not able to afford the cost ofexternal trainers or training mate, ial. Though thereare a number of Dublin-based educational institu-tions providing courses for the retail sector theuptake of these courses has been largely fromemployees of the larger retail groups.

The larger organizations are not in favour of atraining levy being imposed to fund a nationaltraining programme for ti-!,4 retail sector as is thepractice in other sectors of the economy. Theyalready have spent considerable amonts of moneyon developing their own internal trainirg program-mes and would be reluctant to contribute resourcesto a national training programme which mightduplicate their own.

The government, in its 1986 White Paper on Man-power Policy and reiterated in the Programme forEconomic and Social Progress (PESP) published inJanuary,1991, committed itself towards the creationof an apprenticeship system which would be basedon standards rather than on time served. Unaer thePESP which was negotiated by the tripartite socialpartners, the government aimed to increase thenumber of apprentices in currently designatedtrades and to increase the number of trades to beincluded in apprenticeship schemes. By moving to astandards-based apprenticeship system, the meth-od of funding would change from the present train-ing levy system to a situation where employers ineach designated sector would contribute towardsan apprenticeship fund. Employers could offsettheir apprenticeship expenses from the fund and

4 7;

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the rule of the fund would be structured to make itmore attractive to employers than the training levy.One possible inducement for larger employers isthat apprentices would receive credits for bothexternal end internal courses. It is likely that theretail sector will be one of the new sectors to beincluded in the apprenticeship system.

Some of the larger retail enterprises question thenecessity for a nationally based retail trainingprogramme. They point out that when they recruitnew employees the main criteria is personality. Thiswas particularly evident in the Superquinn casestudy. The fact that the applicant may have under-taken a retail skills course is not a major factor inthe selection process as the new recruit will be senton the company's own training programme as amatter of course. However, it is thought that if anationally recognized and certified retail trainingcourse was developed it would in time be supportedby the larger retail companies. Such a course wouldallow them to concentrate on more advanced train-ing programmes that are specific to their marketneeds.

4. Employment and labourA total of 111 555 persons were engaged in theretail sector in Ireland in 1988. Of these 34 447 or31 per cent were proprietors or family membersand, of the total of 77 078 persons employed inthe retail trade, some 54 152 or 49 per cent of thetotal numbers engaged in the industry were full-time. Table 4.1 shows that part-time workersformed 20 per cent of the total numbers engaged(including proprietors and family members) in theindustry and 30 per cent of the total numbersemployed.

The food, drink and tobacco retail sub-sectoraccounted for almost two-thirds of those employedin the retail sector as a whole with clothing and foot-wear and all other non-food retail outlets account-ing for the remaining 11 and 24 per cent respec-tively. The food sub-sector is characterized by ahigher than average percentage of proprietors andfamily workers and part-time employees than theretail sector as a whole. Thirty seven per cent ofthose engaged in the food sub-sector were proprie-tors and family workers with a further 23 per centbeing part-time employees. Proprietors and familyworkers were particularly evident in the publichouse and small grocery outlet categories while thesupermarket and the public house sectorsaccounted for the majority of p art-time employees.The tobacco, sweets and newsagents (TSN) sub-sector also had a high percentage of part-timeemployees.

Both the clothing and footwear and all other non-food retail sub-sectors had a higher proportion offull-time employees at 58 and 67 per cent respec-tively compared to the sector norm. In both sub-sec-tors 20 per cent of all persons engaged in retail out-lets were proprietors and family workers.

Nearly six thousand persons are engaged in thegeneral drapery category of which nearly one-thirdwere part-time employees.

The twelve retail outlets within the department storecategory employ a total of 3 507 persons of whom22 per cent are part-time employees. Over fourthousand people are engaged in the chemist sectorthough there are over one thousand retail outletsfalling in this category.

As shown in Table 4.2 the majority of proprietorsand family workers are concentrated in retail out-lets with an annual turnover in 1987 of less than IRL250 000. Two out of every five full-time employeesare to be found in retail outlets with an annual turn-over of between IRL 100 000 and IRL 500 00. Thenumbers of part-time employees rise in proportionto turnover with the majority of part-time employ-ees being in retail outlets with an annual turnover ofmore than IRL 5 million.

The 1988 Census of Services indicates that 56 percent of all retail outlets in Ireland had an annualturnove- of less than IRL 100 000 (77 000 ECU) andonly 12.: or 0.5 per cent of all retail outlets had anannual h. over greater than IRL 5 million (3.8 mil-lion E-CU). The outlets in the latter category account-ed for 15 per cent of all p arsons engaged in theretail distribution sector whereas the retail outlets inthe former category accounted for 23 per cent ofthose engaged in the sector.

Outlets with an annual turnover of less than IRL 100000 in 1988 accounted for 63 per cent of all propri-etors and famil, workers but only 12 per cent of allemployees. At the other end of the scale the 125outlets with an annual turnover of more than IRL 5million accounted for 17 and 31 per cent respec-tively of all full and part-time employees. Therewere no proprietors or family workers in this cate-gory size.

The IR 100 000 turnover cut-off point separatesthe outlets where the proprietor can manage withinputs from family workers from those whereincreasingly employees either full or part-time -are needed.

It should be pointed out that in larger unionized out-lets there may be agreements between employersand trade unions on the introduction of part-timelabour. An agreement was concluded in 1985 be-tween the grocery multiples and the Irish NationalUnion of Vintners, Grocers and Allied Trades Assis-tants regarding part time labour in supermarkets.This led to a two tier pattern of part-time labourusage in supermarkets: permanent part-time work-ers (pro rotas) and temporary part-time workers(casuals).There was no change in the terms and con-ditions of casual part-time staff but permanent part-timers could be recruited provided there weregranted pro rata rights. A ratio of 1:4 part time tofull-time staff was instituted. Part-time workers areused primarily to meet peak demands, to provide ameasure of flexibility, to cover extended hours ofopening and to reduce wage/ overhead costs.

A study of part-time workers in supermarkets foundan equal distribution between males and females.Among casuals, nearly sixty per cent were male

Table 4.1 - Estimated number of persons engaged in all retail outlets - analyzed by status and by s actor, 1988

Sector No. ofoutlets

No. ofproprietors&workers

familyFull-time

No. of employees

Total

No. ofpersonsengagedPart-time

Food, drink and tobacco 18 239 26 497 29 020 16 737 45 757 72 254Supermarket 433 152 10 480 7 094 17 574 17 726Delicatessen 134 182 221 77 298 480Other grocery 5 176 8 037 3 560 1 756 5 316 13 353Grocery with public house 921 1 650 825 372 1 197 2 847Public house 6 478 10 302 7428 5 231 12 659 22 961Off-licence 92 80 175 47 222 302Fresh meat 1 690 1 955 2 531 357 2 888 4 842Bread & flour confectionery 337 263 768 276 1 044 1 307Dairy products 772 863 496 206 702 1 565Fish and poultry 111 120 169 45 214 334Fruit and vegetables 327 438 294 109 403 841General country shop 79 137 349 51 400 537TSNs 1 689 2 318 1 724 1 116 2 840 5 158

Clothing & footwear 3 202 2 600 7468 2 724 10 192 12 792Footwear 567 380 1 285 324 1 609 1 989Men's & boys' wear 440 285 1 002 100 1 102 1 387Ladies, girls' andinfants' wear 1 148 915 1 921 618 2 539 3 454General drapery 1 047 1 020 3 260 1 682 4 942 5 962

All other non-foodChemist

6 4341 039

5 380917

17 664

2 751

3 465539

21 1293 290

264250709

Hardware 840 756 2 394 352 2 746 3 502Electrical goods A08 295 1 532 151 1 683 1 978Electrical goodswith repairs 124 121 223 31 254 375Furniture and carpets 611 512 1 224 189 1 413 1 925Department stores 12 0 2 733 774 3 507 3 507Variety stores 74 54 149 32 181 235

Leather, sports &fancy goodsBooks and stationery

576370

566304

6941058

161

2878551 355

1 421

1 659Jeweller 425 347 976 122 1 098 1 445Solid fuel 148 186 264 50 314 500Motor tyres 142 57 311 29 340 397Car accessories 163 94 393 24 417 511Clothing fabrics,yarns and threads 213 206 288 123 411 617Flower shops 231 252 215 53 268 52GAll other non-food 858 713 2 459 538 2 997 3 710

Total 27 875 34 447 54 152 22 926 77 078 111 55531 49 20 69 100


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Table 4.2 Estimated number of persons engaged in all retail outlets analyzed by status and by annual turnover

of business, 1988

No. ofAnnual turnover No. proprietors io. of employees No. of

excluding of family persons

VAT outlets workers Full-time Part-time Total engaged

IRL 9 999 or under 2108 2 593 283 161 394 2 987

IRL 10 000 - 24 999 3 425 4 576 404 384 788 5 364

IRL 25 000 - 49 999 4 003 5 727 1 139 853 1 972 7 699

IRL 50 000 - 99 999 6 152 8 887 3 817 2 042 5 859 14 746

IRL 100 000 249 999 7 961 9 842 12 881 4 234 17 115 26 957

IRL 250 000 - 499 999 2 670 2 302 10 349 2 951 13 300 15 602

IRL 500 000 999 999 960 454 7 351 2 392 9 743 10 197

IRL 1 000 000 - 4 999 999 471 96 8 635 2 791 11 456 11 552

IRL 5 000 000 + 125 9 313 7 138 16 451 16 451

Total 27 875 34 477 54 152 22 926 77 078 111 555

No. of

Annual turnover No. proprietors No. of employees No. of

excluding of family persons

VAT outlets workers Full-time Part-time Total engaged

%

IRL 9 999 or under 8 7 0.5 1 0.5 3

IRL 10 000 - 24 999 12 13 1 2 1 5

IRL 25 000 - 49 999 14 17 2 4 2.5 7

IRL 50 000 - 99 999 22 26 7 9 8 13

IRL 100 000 - 249 999 29 29 24 18 22 24

IRL 250 000 - 499 999 10 6.7 19 13 17 14

IRL 500 000 - 999 999 3 1 13.5 10 13 9

IRL 1 000 000 4 999 999 1.5 0.3 16 12 15 10

IRL 5 000 000 + 0.5 17 31 21 15

Total 100 100 100 100 100 100


whereas the ratio of male to female was reversedfor pro rata part timers where women predominat-ed. All casual supermarket staff were single, while aminority of pro rates were married. Casual staffwere also younger than pro ratas, most were aged20 years or younger whereas pro ratas ranged be-tween 20 and 50 years of age. Most pro rata staffwere under thirty years of age. The study cited anumber of factors among supermarket multiplesinfluencing current and future demand for parttimelabour. The positive factors included rising labourcosts, customer demand, abolition of the marriagebar, changing trade union attitudes, requests bystaff to work part-time and the granting of equalpay to women. Part-time workers were rated equalto, if not better than, their full-time counterparts interms of productivity, absenteeism, loyalty, em-ployee relationships, availability, training costs,wage costs, fringe benefits, supervision and use ofovertime. The only negative view of part-timerscompared to full-time staff among supermarketswas in terms of higher labour turnover.

It could be argued that in small retail outlets familyworkers take the place of both full-time and part-time employees. The principal other source of data

20

on employment in the retail sector is the annualLabour Force Survey undertaken by the Central Sta-tistics Office. The main methodical difference be-tween the Census of Services and the Labour ForceSurvey is that in the former the owner of the enter-prise completes the questionnaire while in the latterthe head of private households completes the ques-tionnaire. It has been found that where returns arecompleted by householders they are more prone toerror.

However, the Labour Force Survey while only pro-viding aggregrate data for employment categoriesdoes give information on male and female employ-ment in the retail sector. The table below illustratesthe changes in male and female participation inretail sector employment.

Table 4.3 shows that there have been fluctuations inthe level of employment in the retail sector and inthe breakdown of male and female employees.Overall employment declined from 123 200 in 1979to 121 800 in 1985 and increased again to 126 200in 1990. Male employment in the retail sector fell by1 200 while female employment rose by 4200, anincrease of 9 per cent.

Table 4.3 Male and female employment in the retailsector

Retail

employmentas % of total

Male Female Total employment

1979 76 900 46 300 123 200 10.71985 74 300 47500 121 800 11.31990 75 700 50 500 126 200 11.2

Source: Labour Force Surveys 1979, 1985 and 1990,Central Statistics Office

Employment in the retail sector as a percentage oftotal employment increased from 10.7 per cent in1979 to 11.2 per cent in 1990.

The Labour Force Surveys also provide informationon employment status, hours worked, regional distri-bution of workers, age profile and occupations.However, the disadvantage of Labour Force Sur-veys is that this information on the retail sector isaggregated with other sectors such as insuranceand finance.

Data on par.-time employment in the retail sector isderived from Census of Population returns and isshown in Table 4.4 below.

Table 4.4 - Part-time employment in the retail sector

Year

Number ofpart-timeemployees

Percentageof total

1977 9 267 10.81988 17 648 20.0

Source: Census of Population 1977 and 1988,Central Statistics Office

Due to methodical differences in the way the infor-mation was collected the Census of Population dataon part-time employment cannot be directly corn-,pared with the Census of Service data on part-timeemployment. However, as Table 4.4 clearly illus-trates, part-time employment in the retail sector isincreasing. During the period 1977-1988 part-timeemployment rose from 10.8 to 20 per cent of totalemployment in the retail sector.

The Census of Service provides information fromwhich it is possible to calculate the number of self-employed within the retail sector.

From the table 4.5 it can be seen that there were20113 individual proprietorships in the retail sectorin 1988 which can be equated with self-employ-ment. Individual proprietorships as a percentage oftotal numbers engaged in the retail sector in 1988amounted to 18 per cent.

Table 4.5 Retail outlets classified by legal status

Number of Number ofoutlets persons

engaged

Number ofemployees

Individualproprietorship 20 113 51 300 20 687Partnership 1 570 5 568 2 420Co-operative 28 270 258Public Limited

Company 24 842 839Private LimitedCompany 5 978 53 213 52529Other 164 360 345

Source: 1988 Census of Services, Volume 1,Central Statistics Office

5. Changing conditions and their impli-cations for skill requirements and train-ing

TechnologyTrade sources indicate that scanning is one of themost significant developments in the grocery mar-ket noting that in 1987 only ten outlets were equip-ped with scanning facilities and three hundred andfifty companies were using bar-coding on theirproducts. Estimates to date put the number of storeswith scanners installed at 33 and the number of com-panies bar-coding their products at 500.

The Quinnsworth grocery chain lead the field in theintroduction of scanning equipment and is followedby a smaller provincial chain, L&N. So far only thegrocery trade has been using scanners but othersectors of the retail industry in Ireland are planningtheir introduction and include retail outlets in thehardware and stationery sub-sectors.

The presence of scanners at checkouts is impactingon the work performed by the checkout operatorsand the training provided for them. For example,because scanners allow for greater checkout oper-ator - .,.,tamer communication there is now a great-er emphasis being placed on training staff in thesepositions in customer service and interpersonalskills.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is becomingincreasingly relevant now that many of the majorgrocery companies have introduced check-outscanning. Both Quinnsworth and Dunnes Stores areconducting feasibility studies with a small number oflarge suppliers and once they have implementedEDI in their stores all suppliers will be expected to fol-low suit.

It is common customary practice in Ireland for thesupplier of electronic equipment and software toorganize the training of staff in the companies pur-chasing scanning or EDI systems. In the larger firms,the suppliers will normally train the trainers withinthe client company who will then become responsi-ble for training the rest of the staff.The smaller corn-

Jo,2j

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pony will generally rely on suppliers to organizeinitial training and follow-up courses. At presentthere is no recognized training courses for employ-ees in scanning or Electronic Data Interchange tech-nology.

The future is likely to see the greater use of electronicpoint of sale (EPOS) technology as costs decrease.One implication for human resources managers inretail companies is that EPOS technology will leadboth to a reduction in staff numbers because lessstaff will be needed, for example in the pricing ofgoods on the shelves, and to a further de-skilling ofsales assistants jobs as self selection did earlier. Thecoroilary of the new EPOS technology is that it is cre-ating the need in retail companies for new techni-cally-oriented skills such as system designers andoperators.

Legislative changesThe introduction of a Joint Labour Committee (JLC)in the newsagents, grocery and allied trades sub-sectors outlined in section 3 is likely to lead to em-ployers to consider the necessity for training of em-ployees. Up until now employee turnover in thesesectors was high and therefore employers were notlike-/ to consider the notion of training employeeswho mistri leave in the short term. The implementa-tion of Li iployment Regulation Orders by the JLCwill lay down minimum wage and working, condi-tions for employees.

Trade sources predict that as a result of the JLCemployee turnover will decrease and thereforeemployers will be more likely to consider continuingtraining for their staff. Another implication of the JLCfor the retail sector is that it will push up costs andmay drive marginal firms out of business.

Economic changesThe increasing competitive pressures within theretailing sector and slow economic conditions arecausing companies to r...view staff numbers. This isparticularly true in the non-food sector where anumber of UK companies have entered the Irishmarket in recent years. Some indigenous retailersbelieve that the Single European Market will lead tothe arrival in the Irish market of new entrants fromContinental Europe and speculate that even USretailers may establish stores in Ireland. These fac-tors have resulted and will continue to result in retail-ers reducing staff numbers to the economic mini-mum. Smaller staff numbers mean that sales staffmust take more responsibility, use more initiativeand must take on the management of stock. Themove to providing higher levels of service meansthat the role of the sales assistant is more important.Many retailers are now realizing that people arethe key to competitive advantage. Therefore thequality of staff required by retailers now and for thefuture is higher.

Economic conditions are on the other hand forcingretailers to reduce costs by sub-contracting manyfunctions which were previously undertaken in-house. Functions such as butchering, merchandisingand packaging are now being sub-contracted outto external companies which trade unions say is

22

reducing the number of jobs in the sector and con-tributing to the de-skilling of those who remain.

Social changesOne of the major factors affecting the nature of retail-ing has been the greater participation of women, par-tkularly married women, in the labour force. This hashad the effect of increasing disposable householdincome E. it it has also meant that shops have had toincrease theiropening hours to take account of this fac-tor. In the major urban areas the large multiple shopsremain open in the evening three nights a week tofaciliatate working housewifes. The smaller symboland independents have also extended their openinghours to compete with the multiples and to gain com-petitive advantage are generally open for longerhours than the supermarkets.

The impact of women working outside the home haslead to a concentration of grocery shopping duringthe latter half of the week. For retailers this meansthat staff are often underutilized from Monday toWednesday, particularly during the mornings andearly afternoon. On the other hand stores need tobring in part-time employees to supplement full-time staff to cope with the peak shopping days dur-ing the second half of the week.

Another implication of women working outside thehome and greater household disposable income isthat there is a trend towards convenience foods andeating out. The grocery outlets have been develop-ing their product offerings to take advantage ofthe trend towards convenience foods. Superquinn,for example, which was profiled in one of the casestudies pioneered the development of in-storepizza kitchens in Ireland and markets other ready-made food products. All the major grocery outletshave created their own delicatessen counters whichserve pre-cooked food items and have developedother specialist sections such as bakery, fresh meatand wine departments.

6. Training and recruitmentUnlike some other EC Member States Ireland doesnot have a legal or industry-regulated systemrequiring that owners or employees in the retailsector have a minimum vocational educationaltraining. There are no rules or conditions governingentry into the retail trade. The Retail Grocery, Dairyand Allied Trades Associaton (RGDATA) estimatethat 500 people go into the retail sector in Irelandevery year with no business skills. RGDATA estimatesthat there is a ten per cen turnover in shops eachyear with negative effects tar consumers and suppli-ers.

There are no restrictions on the location of new retailoutlets in Ireland though planning policies mayplace restrictions on the establishment of out-of-town shopping developments.

Employees do not have to undergo any vocationaltraining prior to starting a career in the retail indus-try. It is understood from discussions with retailers'and employers' representatives that even if therewere a recognized training certificate an employerwould prefer to take on recruits without any

previous training and train them in his or her custom-ary mode of retailing. Many of the large retail com-panies operate their own formal induction and con-tinuing training courses for their staff.

Training outside of the larger enterprises is ad hocand tends to be unstructured, on-the-job and infor-mal. Progressive managers in smaller retail compa-nies face many problems in providing training totheir staff. One of the biggest problems is that manyof the institutions which do provide training in retailskills are Dublin-based which makes for difficulty forregional retailers. A second difficulty for smaller con-cerns given the low margins prevailing in the Irishretail industry is finding the financial resources topay for the high cost of external trainers. Also, in thesmaller shop it is more difficult for managers torelease employees for courses because there areless staff available to cover for them. The reality isthat in the smaller retail outlet either the managerprovides the training based on his or her own knowl-edge (in some of the symbol stores managers wererecruited from the multiples and were able to passon the training they had received to their staff) or notraining is undertaken at all.

There is also the problem that many of the olderretail owners particularly those in rural areas do notsee the need or value for training.

The lack of a recognized training course for theretail sector as a whole and the absence of anindustry train-ing body has resulted in the large companies partic-ularly the grocery and department store sectorsdeveloping their own internal training programmes.

As there is also a lack of available retail trainingexperts and external training programmes suitablefor the retail trade, the large companies have hadno alternative but to develop their own in-housetraining programmes. The range and quality ofthese internal programmes vary enormously. Someare structured using a mixture of on-the-job andclassroom training, others are less formal and areexclusively on-the-job training.

Because of the great variation in training ap-proaches used within the large retail companies it isnot possible to specify the amount of expenditureon training. However, a survey of labour costscarried out by the Central Statistics Office of largeenterpi ises in the retail sector in 1988 found that atotal of IRL Z4 million was spent on training dividedbetween IRL 2.8 million in the food, drink andtobacco sub-sector and IRL 4.8 million in all othersub-sectors of the retail industry.The enterprises sur-veyed had an average annual labour cost peremployee of IRL 10 565 of which 2.5 per cent or IRL265 was accounted for by training costs.

The majority of large retail enterprises provideinduction training for new staff which would covercheckout skills, cash handling and basic customerservice. Continuing training of staff is chiefly theresponsibility of store managers or supervisors andlargely consists of on-the-job training though spe-cialist skills.

The practice in larger retail organizations was forthe provision of internal management developmentcourses for store and area managers. However,there is a recognition that the store manager's jobhas become more difficult and complex, and retailcompanies are increasingly sending their managerson external management courses which specializein the retail trade. As there are no advanced man-agement degree courses in Ireland specifically forthe retail trade, companies are sending staff tostudy at UK universities.

The development of annual train-ing plans is wellestablished in the bigger retail company. In the smal-ler retail outlet, planning for training is unlikely to becarried out in a structured way as most training isundertaken in an ad-hoc manner. However, even inthe larger retail enterprises formal assessments ofthe training needs at an individual level are rarelyundertaken. Most of assessments of staff trainingneeds are calculated in a subjective manner bysupervisors and managers. It would appear alsothat detailed assessments of the costs and benefitsof training programmes are rarely carried out. Lackof staff and resources may be the cause of this situ-ation but the larger companies are aware of therequirement for more formal evaluation of individ-ual training needs and for in-depth cost-benefitanalyses of training programmes. One of the com-panies profiled in the case study, ESB, is pilot-testinga new scheme for ascertaining staff training needs.

Trainees and apprentices in the retailtradeThe retail sector in Ireland is characterized by ahigher percentage of trainees and apprentices com-pared to other service sectors and the manufactur-ing sector.

The definition of trainees in the retail trade canencompass entrants to particular trades such as bak-ers and butchers where there is a defined appren-ticeship structure and to management and staffpositions. However, apprenticeship as defined inthe very strictest sense has almost disappearedapart from a small number of butchers and bakers.Trainees are a feature of both the food and non-food retail outlets. In the grocery sector for example,the large multiples recruit young people, termedtrainee managers, who they train as managers inshort but well-structured induction programmes.

The labour costs associated with trainees and appren-tices are higher in the retail sector compared with thewholesale sector and with the distribution sector as awhole. In 1988, a survey of firms with more than 10employees in the retail sector estimated that trainingcosts stood at 2.5 per cent of total labour costs peremployee and were higher than equivalent figure of0.8 per cent of total labour costs per employee of simi-lar sized firms in the wholesale sector (see Table 6.1).Training costs per employee,for the distribution sectoras a whole was 1.5 per cerit of total labour costs peremployee. Training costs per as a percentage oflabour costs per employee in the retail sector at 2.5per cont was more than twice the equivalent figure of1.1 per cent of firms employing more than 20 in themanufacturing sector.

24

It should be noted that this 1988 survey of labourcosts, undertaken by the Central Statistics Office,was confined to firms in the retail and wholesale sec-tors with more than 10 employees and in the manu-facturing sector to firms with more than 20 employ-ees. Because of the ten or more employee limit forthe retail sector and due to the predominantly smallsize of enterprises within the retail sector, the vastmajority of employees within the sector would nothave been included in the survey. A total of 203food, drink and tobacco retail enterprises weresurveyed along with 353 other non-food retailenterprises. The survey also collected data at theenterprise level and not separately for individualestablishments or branches.

The survey also showed that trainees and appren-tices are a feature in the retail sector to a greaterextent than in wholesaling or in other sectors suchas banking and insurance. In 1988, a total of1 248 trainees and apprentices were employedin the distribution sector as a whole of which 1 039or 83 per cent were employed in the retail sectoras shown in Table 6.2. It is estimated that the larg-est component of training costs per employee in thedistribution sector relates to wages and salaries ofapprentices and trainees rather than the cost of pro-viding internal training courses or payments of feesfor attending external courses.

Provision of training coursesThe biggest problem facing the non-multiple retailoutlet is access to training courses. The main provid-er of retail trade related courses is the College ofMarketing in Dublin. This poses obvious problemsfor retclers in rural areas particularly those whocan only afford to allow their staff to be absent fromtheir work-places for a short time.

The College of Marketing provides a range ofcourses from a certificate course in retail marketingto certificate in principles of retail management. Itruns a special programme, proprietorship, forfamily members of retail operators. The college is

having discussions with Trinity College Dublin con-cerning a degree programme in distributive market-ing management.

The courses provided by the college are for man-agement level; there are no education programmesfor entrants at general staff level.

FAS, the national employment and training author-ity, provides a number of retail trade related train-ing courses. However, these courses are directed atunemployed people to help them find positionswithin the retail trade.

As mentioned previously the authority is presentlyfinalizing in conjunction with the Federation of IrishEmployers a modular-based training programmefor sales staff entering the retail trade with moduleson customer relations, sales, hygiene and safety andproduct knowledge.

The Vocational Education Colleges (VECs) are onlyminimally involved in retail trade education.

The structure of the Irish retail sector with the smallsize of outlets and low margins presents difficultiesfor both public and private organizations consider-ing the possibility of providing training to retailersand their employees. The difficulties are com-pounded because of the need to provide courses inrural areas as well as urban centres. The high costinvolved is likely to deter private sector training pro-viders.

7. IssuesOne of the most pressing issues in the Irish retailindustry is whether there should be a national

vocational education course for people wort .ngwithin the industry. At present only the large ...Acid

enterprises provide formal training course in re-tail skills for their employees. For persons workingin smaller enterprises there are few options opento them for increasing their work skills and knowl-edge.

Table 6.1 Average labour costs per full-time equivalent employee and percentage distribution of labour costs inretail distribution compared with wholesale distribution and manufacturing industry, 1988

Percentage distribution of labour costs

Total

labour Wages Social security payments All

Sector costs per and . . _ Training otheremployee*

IRL

salaries Statutory Other costs costs

ok

Food, drink & tobaccoretail distribution 9 699 85.1 9.0 2.2 2.5 1.2

Other retail distribution 11 109 83.6 9.4 3.4 2.5 1.1

Retail sector average 10 565 84.1 9.3 3.0 2.5 1.1

Whole:ale distribution 16 709 cs1.9 8.0 7.0 0.8 2.3

Dist ibution sector average 13 321 82.9 8.5 5.3 1.5 1.8

Manufacturing sector average 16 020 83.0 8.1 6.0 1.1 1.7

* Port-time employees converted to full-time equivalentsSource: Labour costs survey 1988 in industry, distribution, credit and insurance, Central Statistics Office

2

Table 6.2 Total employment (full and part-time) of retail and wholesale distribution firms with 10 or moreemployees

Sector

No of enterprises

Full & part-time

Full-timeemployeesNo

Part-time

employeesNo

MaleNo

Female

NoTotal

No

Ap-pren-tices

No

Total

employ-me

No

Food, drink& tobaccoretail firms (203) 8 807 4 196 5 450 7 553 13 003 468 13 471Non-foodretail firms (352) 14 191 7 080 7 302 13 969 21 271 571 21 842Retail sectortotal (555) 22 998 11 276 12 752 21 522 34 274 1 039 35 313Wholesale sectortotal (671) 22 501 812 17 222 6 091 23 313 209 23 522Distribution sectortotal (1 226) 45 4> 1 12 088 29974 27 613 57 587 1 248 58 835

Source: Labour costs survey 1988 in industry, distribution, credit and insurance, Central Statistics Office

Proponents of a nationally recognized certificate inretail skills point out that it will help employees todevelop professionally and personally in their jobs.It would also lead to a greater professionalismwithin the industry and it would lead to greater staffmobility. Such a qualification would also be of assis-tance if they wished to take up a retailing positionelsewhere within the community.

The arguments against the concept of a nationalretail certificate is that the retail sector in Ireland isso diverse that it would not be possible to cater for

all the skills required by employees in these sectors.However, it is accepted that a basic course in retailskills would be acceptable to many of the social part-ners and that it would be up to each sub-sector ofthe retail sector to provide the specialist traininginput relevant to that sector.

The certificate course in retail skills would be organ-ized by FAS, the national training and employmentauthority, or through the existing vocational educa-tion structure in Ireland.The course would ideally con-sist of a mixture of theory and on-the-job training.

2 51

25

26

AN

CEDEFOP, The role of the social partnersin vocational education and training, in-cluding continuing education and training,in Ireland, Berlin, 1988

Central Statistics Office, 1988 Census of Services,Stationery Office, Dublin, July 1991

Central Statistics Office, 1977 Census of Distribu-tion, Stationery Office, Dublin, November 1982

Central Statistics Office, Labour Force Survey 1979,1985 and 1990, Stationery Office, Dublin, variousdates

Central Statistics Office, Labour Costs Survey 1988in Industry, Distribution, Credit and Insur-ance, Stationery Office, January 1991

Dawson, J. A., 'Retail Sales of Towns in the Republic ofIreland", Irish Geography, Vol.6, 1972, pp. 487-492

Drew, Eileen P, Part-time Working and the Serv-ice Sector, Working Paper No. 5, Service IndustriesResearch Centre, Dublin, 1990

Fitzgerald, J. D., 1992: The Distribution Sector,ESRI, Dublin, 1988, pp. 15 (mimeo)

IP"

Fitzpatrick, J. & Associates, "Retailing in the Republicof Ireland, EIU Marketing In Europe, No. 296,1987, pp. 22-36 Nielsen Marketing Research, RetailCensus 19b3, A.C. Nielsen of Ireland Limited, Dublin,1989

Parker, A. .i., "Retail Planning in Ireland-, in Davies,R. L., (ed.), Retail Planning in the EuropeanCommunity, Farnborough: Saxon House, 1979,pp. 117-202

Parker, A. J., "The Development of Planned ShoppingCentres in the Republic of Ireland", Retail rt,c1Distribution Management, 10 (2). 1982, pp.25-29

Parker, A. J., The Evolution of Supermarkets inIreland, Report for the Irish Productivity Centre, 1983,pp.23, (subsequently published in the IPC Report, NewTecklology in Supermarkets in Ireland)

Parker, A. J., `The Changing Nature of Irish Retailing", inIreland: A Contemporary GeographicalPerspective, R. W. G. Carter and A. J. Parker (eds.),Routledge, London, 1989, pp. 237-270

Ward, E. B., "The Future Pattern of Grocery Retailing,IBAR, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1979, pp. 35-44

APPENDIX 'I

Census of Service retail busineyscategoriesIn the 1988 Census of Services publication focusingon retail distribution, the Central Statistics Officeuses 37 business categories to classify retail busi-nesses. They are as follows:

Supermarket Outlets where general groceriesand household provisionsaccounted for the bulk of retailturnover. To qualify for inclusionin this category an outlet had tobe self-service with three ormore checkout points.

Delicatessen

Other grocery

Grocery withpublic house

Public house

Off Licence

Fresh meat

Outlets for which more than 40per cent of retail sales areaccounted for by delicatessentype goods and health foods.

Other grocery outlets (includingself-service shops) not classifiedas supermarkets.

Outlets where 50 per cent ormore of retail turnover wasaccounted for by general gro-ceries, household provisions andsales of alcoholic beverages forconsumption on the premises.

Outlets where 50 per cent ormore of retail turnover wasaccounted for by alcoholic bev-erages and soft drinks for con-sumption on the premises.

Outlets where 50 per cent ofretail turnover was accountedfor by alcoholic beverages offthe premises.

Outlets where fresh meat salesaccounted for 50 per cent ormore of retail turnover.

Bread and flour Outlets where bread, confection-ery or biscuits accounted for 50per cent or more of retail turnover.

Dairy products Outlets where fresh milk, creamand other dairy products (i.e.cheese, yoghurt, ice cream, etc.)accounted for 50 percent or moreof retail turnover. This categoryalso includes milk roundsmen.

Fish and poultry Outlets where fresh fish andpoultry accounted for 50 percent or more of retail turnover.

Fruit andvegetables

Country generalshop

Outlets where fresh fruit andvegetables accounted for 50 percent or more of i utail turnover.

To qualify for inclusion in thiscategory an outlet had to havean annual turnover of at least IRL

100 000 in 1987 and have sold awide range of goods in sizeablequantities such as:

general grocery and house-hold provisions;solid fuel;domestic hardware;domestic kerosene;agricultural supplies;clothing and footwear.

There should have been significant sales of at leastone of the last four items, particularly agriculturalsupplies and hardware. If 50 per cent of more ofretail turnover was accounted for by general gro-cery and household provisions then the shop wasclassified as grocery; if the sales of agricultural sup-plies exceeded half of the total turnover, then theoutlet was classified to wholesale trade.

Tobacco, sweets Outlets where 70 per cent orand newspapers more or retail turnover was

accounted for by sales of ciga-rettes, tobacco, chocolates, icecream, newspapers, periodicals,etc., and where there was atmost 10 per cent of sales of gen-eral grocery and household pro-visions. If 80 per cent of retailturnover related to books, peri-odicals, stationery, etc., the out-let was coded under the categ-ory books and stationery.

Footwear

Men's andboys' wear

Outlets where footwearaccounted for 50 per cent ormore of retail turnover.

Outlets where men's and boys'clothing accounted for 50 percent or more or retail turnover. Ifladies' wear accounted for 10per cent or more of retail turn-over the outlet was coded to thecategory general drapery. Out-lets specializing in men's andboys' wear and footwear wereclassified to this category if foot-wear accounted for less than 50per cent of retail turnover.

Ladies', girls' Outlets where ladies', girls' andand infants' wear infants' wear accounted for 50

per cent or more of retail turn-over. If men's wear accounted

10 per cent or more of retailturnover the outlet was coded tothe category general drapery.Outlets specializing in ladies',girls' and infants' wear and footwear were classified to thiscategory if footwear accountedfor less than 50 per cent of retailturnover.

General drapery Outlets not falling into any of theabove specialist clothing andfootwear categories were classi-

27

27

28

fled to this category if draperyitems (excluding uncut materials)accounted for 50 per cent ormore of retail turnover with sig-nificant sales (at least 10 per centof retail turnover in each case) ofladies' and girls' wear and ofmen's and boys' wear and suchitems as uncut material, bedlinen, etc. Howev,r, if there weresignificant sales of furniture, softfurnishings, etc., the outlet wasclassified to the category othernon-food.

Cycle shop* Outlets where the sale, repairand servicing of pedal cyclesand mechanically propelledcycles of all kinds (e.g. motorcycles, scooters, mopeds, etc.)accounted for 50 per cent ormore of retail turnover.

Filling station* Outlets where petrol and oilaccounted for 80 per cent ormore of retail turnover withno motor vehicle sales.Where theonly items sold were non-garageitems e.g. sweets and groceriesthe 80 per cent condition wasreduced to 50 per cent.

Repair and Outlets where 50 per cent ofservice garage* more or retail turnover was

accounted for by repair and ser-vicing of motor vehicles and bythe sale of petrol and oil with,possibly, a limited amount ofvehicle sales (not exceeding 20per cent of total turnover).

Motor vehiclesales*

Chemist

Hardware

Outlets where motor vehiclesaccounted for 20 per cent ormore of retail sales.

than 20 per cent of total retailturnover).

Electrical goody Outlets with significant sales ofwith repairs electrical goods and also en-

gaged in substantial repair andservice activity (between 20 and50 per cent of turnover). Outletsinvolved mainly in repair are notincluded.

Furniture and Outlets where 50 per cent orcarpets more of retail turnover was in

respect of furniture, bedding,floor covering, household tex-tiles and soft furnishings. Outletsalso selling clothing in significantquantities were coded to thecategory Other non-food.

Department store To qualify for inclusion in this busi-ness category an outlet had tosatisfy the following criteria:

at least 10 per cent of retailturnover accounted for by eachof these commodity groups (I)clothing and footwear and (II)furniture, floor coverings andother household textiles and softfurnishings with, in addition, sub-stantial sales of a number ofother commodities;

at least 50 persons employed;selling space of at least 15,000

square feet;not more than 25 per cent of

the store's retail turnover inrespect of general turnover andhousehold provisions.

Leather, sports Outlets where 50 per cent orand fancy goods more of retail turnover was in

respect of leather and sportsgoods, fancy goods, souvenirs,toys, etc.

An outlet where sales of drugsand medicines on prescription Variety goodsaccounted for 50 per cent ormore of retail turnover. Most out-lets in this category also dealt intoiletries, photographic andoptical goods, etc.

Outlets where 50 percent or moreof retail turnover was in respect ofdomestic hardware,china,decora-tors' supplies, garden implementsand other hardware.

Books andstationery

Electrical good Outlets where 50 per cent ormore of retail turnover was in Jewellerrespect of electrical goods (tele-vision sets, radios and other elec-trical goods and fittings), buthaving only a limited amount ofrepair and service activity (less

Excluded from current study.

Outlets which sold a very widerange of goods including inparticular sports goods, toys,leather and fancy goods.

Outlets where 80 per cent ormore of retail turnover was inrespect of books, stationery, peri-odicals, office supplies, etc. Ifthere were substantial sales ofsweets and tobacco the outletwas included in the categoryTobacco, sweets and newspapers.

Outlets where 80 per cent ormore of retail turnover was inrespect of the sale and repair ofwatches, jewellery, etc. Outletsinvolved solely in repairs wereexcluded.

Solid fuel

Motor tyres

Car accessories

Clothing fabrics,yarns andthreads

Outlets where 50 per cent ormore of retail turnover relatedto coal, coke, turf, etc.

Flower shops

Outlets where 50 per cent ormore of turnover was accounted All otherfor by tyres. non-food

Outlets where car accessoriesaccounted fro 50 per cent ormore of retail turnover.

Outlets where 50 per cent ormore of retail turnover wasaccounted for by clothing fab-rics, yarns and threads.

Outlets where 50 per cent ormore of retail turnover wasaccounted for by flowers,wreaths, etc.

Retail outlets for which 50 percent or more of retail turnover isaccounted for by non-food itemsand which were not classified toany of the other retail businessdescriptions.

29

PART 2:

1. Clerys

2. E. S. B. (Electricity Supply Board)

3. Marks & Spencers (Ireland) ltd.

4. Superquinn

30

1. CLERY & COMPANY 0941) LTD

1.1 General description of the firm

1.1.1 Facts about Clery'sClery's is a family-owned department store withone location in the heart of Dublin city' . The torerecently celebrated its 50th birthday. Clery's sells awide range of clothing and household goods (nofood) and has approximately thirty concessionstores (employing approximately 180 people)within the building. Over the last three yearsthe store has undergone a fundamental change,

bringing in a new young management team withdetermined ideas about changing and improvingClery's :ather staid image. The store is now focusingon a consumer profile aged 25-44, primarilyfemale. Accordingly it has recently opened anin-store creche and a hairdressing salon. The youn-ger customers 16-24 are increasingly attracted tothe store by the concession shops, (Miss Selfridgeetc.). High on the management agenda is a signifi-cant investment in the training and development ofstaff with an emphasis on customer relations and

Table 1 - Training Undertaken by Marks & Spencers, Cork 1991/1992

Course Location No. of Staff Length of Programme

Management courses1. Divisional deputy

managers conference2. Divisional management

development course3. Disciplinary commercial

workshop4. Assessment centre

training

Supervision1. Sales floor standards

& presentation2. Foods commercial

workshop3. Textiles commercial

workshop4. Managing change course5. Managing change course

(deputy supervisors)6. Time managementZ communication &

presentation skills8. Working with

assertiveness

Main general staff training1. Textiles &

food workshops2. New technology

training3. New commercial

documentation4. Sales assistants

trained in stockroom5. Till procedure

update6. Health & safety7 Theft & loss8. Quality service

AttachmentsFood supervisorFood deputy supervisorTraining co-ordinatorCatering deputy supervision

Scotland

Bath

Scotland

Scotland

Cork

Scotland

ScotlandCork

CorkCork

Cork

Cork

Cork

Cork

Cork

Cork

CorkCorkCorkCork

Glasgow storeHarrow LondonPerth

Bristol/Cork

2 3 days

1 5 days

1 2 days

1 1 day

7 1 day

2 3 days

2 3 days7 2 days

10 1 day (May '92)10 1 day

10 1 day

10 1 day

50-60 half day

60 1.5 days

60 1 hr. per person

4 2 days per person

50-60 half hr. per personall staff half dayall staff half hr. per staffall staff half hr. per staff

3 weeks2 weeks1 week

3 days

As Clery's has only one outlet this case study does not isolate one particluar store but presents the information onpolicy and practice together for the one outlet.

31

31

32

staff/management team work. Given the age ofthe store it is not surprising that many staff are aged50 + with over thirty years service many of whomhave never worked anywhere else. Motivating andencouraging staff to participate in training hasbeen a major challenge for Clery's new manage-ment team.

1.1.2 Business strategy andmanagement styleThe senior management team has developed a tenyear business plan with a detailed five year pro-gramme of action. Major items on the agenda are:

a move away from a 'low' price to a 'quality/serv-ice' image with customer service identified as themain competitive advantage,computerization of stock linked to sales,more service departments,upgrading staff and management skills.

A major programme of investment to modernizeand rationalize the store is being undertaken, com-plemented by a significant investment in staff train-ing. Skills, staff development and succession plan-ning are seen as the key to the successful completionof this long-term plan.

A philosophy for the store of the "best standards inretailing" is being promoted. It is recognized that inmany cases progress must be made from a rela-tively low standard of basic education and training.This situation must be taken into account in planningand developing training initiatives.

Management style is increasingly open and team-based with information spreading down the struc-ture. Departmental managers, having recentlycompleted a two year training programme, will begiven more responsibility and autonomy and will beencouraged to 'network' more. Job enhancementfor all staff is seen as a vital goal as promotionopportunities are very limited.

1.1.3 Structure of firmClery's is a privately owned limited company. MrsGuiney, the founder's widow and current chairmanholds fifty-one per cent of the shares; forty mem-bers of her extended family hold the remainder. MrsGuiney, a lady of advanced years but still veryactive in the company, has established a trusteeshipto prevent the store being sold for twenty-five yearsafter her death. (Ownership includes the storebuilding and adjoining land, a site of very high com-mercial value). Table 1 shows how the company iscurrently structured.


1.1.4.1 EmploymentThe store has only one outlet which currentlyemploys approximately 320 people - 200 salesand 120 non-sales staff. The company payroll isabout £5 million. Employment has fallen fromapproximately 850 in 1983 to its present number,due primarily to increasing self-selection of prod-ucts by customers. Information technology has con-tributed somewhat to the fall, through natural wast-age. However, new technology is generally seen

32.

to have enhanced skills and made jobs more attrac-tive.

1.1.4.2 Employment statistics

Gender of staff

All staff 0/o Buyers Departmentmanagers

Male 44 36 27Female 56 64 73Total 100 100 100

Age of Staff

No.

Under 2525-55over 55Total

2

231

87

320

1

72

27

100

Years pf service

Years 0/0

0 -2 12.2

3-4 9.8

5 6 12.2

7 - 8 4.9

9-10 17.1

11-12 7.3

13- 14 7.3

15 - 16 2.4

17 -18 2.4

19 -20 4.8

21 30 9.8

31-40 9.8Total 100.0

Wages 01/10/91 under the Programme for Economicand Social Progress

1R£

Year 4 Sales assistant

(lowest current level) 154.88

Year 5 158.40

Year 6 165.74

Chargehand 177.97Allowance 15.24

Departmental manager 175.56

Allowance 15.39

Port-time staff 103.86

Allowance 9.55

Register money 4.65

Productivity allowance 15.24

1.1.4.3 Part-time employmentCurrently only twenty three sales staff in Clery's arepermanent part-time workers representing lessthan ten per cent of total permanent employment.This low level of part-time working relative to otherretail establishments is seen to create commercialdifficulties for management in a business wheredemand peaks on a daily and a seasonal basis. Thehigh percentage of full-time staff reflects the lengthof time Clery's has been trading and th long lengthof service of many staff. A number of voluntaryschemes are in operation to reduce full-time staffnumbers early retirement, voluntary redundancy,leave of absence etc.

1.1.4.4 GenderThirty-six per cent of buyers and thirty-seven percent of departmental managers are women; one ofthe senior management team is a woman and thestore is owned by a woman. All part-time employ-ees are women. Special efforts are seen to berequired to encourage more female staff to applyfor promotion.

1.1.4.5 RecruitmentAll recruitment at the current time is for temporaryseasonal employees. No recruitment of permanentstaff has taken place in the last year and none isplanned.

1.1.4.6 Summary of employee profileIn summary, employees have the following profile:

fifty six per cent female,twenty seven per cent aged over 55 (only 2employees are under 25),mixed educational levels, depending mainly on age,twenty per cent have over twenty years service,while twelve per cent have 2 years or less,less than ten per cent are part-time workers,absenteeism and turnover are low at under 5%,wages are standard for the sector Year 4 salesstaff, the lowest grade currently in the store, earnIRE 154.88 per week for a 37.5 hr. week,wages are supplemented by commission of 1.25per cent of sales.

1.2 Training policy


1.2.1.1 Aims of the companyThe following are the agreed aims in relation tostaff training and development in the store:

Identify the broad training needs for the majorgroups of staff.Draw up a three to five year training plan basedon this identification of training needs.Identify appropriate training programmes tomeet these needs.Outline training methodologies for these pro-grammes.Examine resources (both external and within thecompany) to mount training programmes suitedto on-going requirements.Examine management training needs across theorganization.Recommend a method to manage long termpotential.

Currently the training manager is responsible foridentifying broad areas of training need, arrangingcourses/programmes and encouraging staff toattend. Howeverthere are plans to delegate more ofthis activity to line managers. Staff are also encour-aged to engage in any type of external night courseswith funding available up to 100 %, depending ondegree of relevance to the business.

The approach taken towards staff training is one ofincremental change. Staff are encouraged to partic-ipate in training. Old attitudes of suspicion and dis-trust are being broken down by example. Trainingsuccesses are seen as the keyto encouraging all staffto undertake training. One of the principal objec-tives of training is to broaden staff's experience.Many sales staff have no experience or apprecia-tion of other areas of the business apart from sales.Training is geared to changing this narrow focus.

1.2.1.2 Future training prioritiesMajor issues for the future in relation to staff train-ing and development are:

to instill in all staff an attitude of responsibility fortheir own career and development needs.to become less reactive and more proactive inanticipating training and development needs.

Training priorities for the next two years are:product knowledge training (mandatory for allsales staff),basic functional skills training (mandatory for allstaff),courses to meet individual needs (optional)agreed between the individual and their linemanager,development courses (selected at appraisal timein conjunction with line manager).

Training will, increasingly, be identified jointly by theline manager and the staff member concerned, withstaff being encouraged to assess their own per-formance, to draw up career plans and to developto their full potential. As stated above, Clery's haveidentified the development of existing staff, many oflong years service, as a key element in ensuring thefuture competitiveness of the store.


1.2.2.1 Responsibilty for CVEUp until two and a half years ago there was notraining department in Clery's and no formalizedtraining system. Following the appointment of anew personnel/training manager with many year'sexperience in both the industrial and services sec-tor, this has now changed. Supported by seniormanagement a concerted drive to foster andencourage training has begun. The training man-ager is a member of the senior management team.She has no staff in the training section of her depart-ment. She is also responsible for personnel andindustrial relations in the store.

1.2.2.2 Identification of training needsand evaluation of trainingThe training manager identifies broad areas oftraining need through annual interviews with all the

aj

34

store's buyers who advise on the training and devel-opment needs of sales staff. This process has identi-fied an urgent need for product knowledge trainingas well as a range of other individual training needs.During these interviews staff problems are alsoraised and tailor-made programmes, plus coun-selling if required, is arranged to solve specificproblems.

In 1991 performance appraisal was introduced forall staff down to departmental manager leveliden-lying individual training needs and reviewingtraining undertaken is a key element of theappraisal.

Evaluation of training is qu- litative, based on anassessment of whether or not performance has im-proved following training. While the training man-ager accepts that more formal evaluation would bedesirable, the view has been taken that form fillingetc. should be kept to a minimum while positive atti-tudes to training are being developed among staff.No formal cost-benefit analysis of training is under-taken.

However, external training programmes under-taken by individual staff members are formallyassessed with all participants being asked to fill in aform evaluating the course taken, its relevance, suit-ability etc.

Investment in training is seen as a long term invest-ment in staff, the benefits of which must be assessedin relation to its long term effect on competitivenessand company profitability.

1.2.2.3 Training budgetThe training manager has a training budget of£35,000 split approximately 50/50 between salesand non-sales staff. All of this budget is currentlybeing spent on continuing training as no new staffare being recruited. This represents 0.7% of payrollcosts.

1.2.3 Impact of new technologyNew technology, particularly at the point of sale, isregularly being introduced into the store. This tech-nology is considered to have improved the qualityof salespersons' jobs, to have enhanced their skilllevels and to have improved the environment withinwhich they work. Further investment in the most up-to-date cash registers is planned particularlyEPOS and there will be an on-going requirementfor training in this area. Over the years the introduc-tion of such technology has contributed towards thelower level of staff required in the store.

1.2.4 Participation of social partnersA number of unions represent staff in Clery's. BothSIPTU (Services, Industrial and Professional Techni-cal Union) and I DATU (Irish Distributive and Admin-istrative Trade Union) represent sales, clerical anddisplay staff, while another branch of SIPTU repre-sents porters etc. Craft unions represent the smallnumber of craft workers employed in the store.There are no formal agreements to cover the train-ing area. Formal agreements deal only with payand conditions.

3 4


1.2.5.1 Induction trainingInduction training programmes are run in-house forall new staff a half day in length with follow up ses-sions with the training manager. Induction training isprovided for all temporary employees (recruitedaround the Christmas period). With no recruitmentof permanent employees into the store at the pre-sent time induction training is currently not a priority.The priority is for updating the skills of existingemployees, many of long years standing.

1.2.5.2 Continuing training - generalstaffAs stated above, continuing training of staff,many with long years of service, is the key train-ing priority in Clery's. Over the last two yearsthe major training programmes for staff have cov-ered:

sales training,training on new equipment,customer relations training,supervisory training.

Training needs are mainly met in-house using exter-nal consultants, complemented by attendance atexternal programmes. Appendix 1 gives a listing ofthe main training programmes undertaken in thelast two years.This shows the wide range of trainingbeing undertaken in Clery's.

Efforts are made to vary programmes and to offertraining that will have immediate appeal and be funto learn. For example grooming for sales staff,demonstrating new computer games, fire fightingfor all staff, security seminars, etc.'Core'training pro-grammes for which there is an ongoing need covertopics such as register procedures, product knowl-edge, customer service, buyer familiarization, etc.

A tradition of training is becoming embedded in thestore. Attitudes have already begun to change withstaff asking "why am I not on a particular pro-gramme?" instead of, "Why am I being picked outfor training?"

As well as formal training programmes staff areencouraged to participate in external educationalcourses. A small number of staff are currently pursu-ing such courses.

1.2.5.3 Continuing training managersTwo initiatives have been introduced over the lasttwo years aimed at improving management skillsand at ensuring on in-house supply of new manage-ment material.

These are:A two year programme of workshops for depart-mental managers aimed at improving their lead-ership, communication and staff managementskills and at increasing their flexibility and mobility.A two year staff development programme forselected staff to prepare them for managementpositions (this programme is discussed in detailbelow) and to encourage mobility across differentdepartments.

1.2.5.4 Example of a major traininginitiative in Clery's: The staff develop-ment programmeThis programme is aimed at developing futurein-store managers from existing general staff.A comprehensive selection system is used onthis programme with staff members applying andbeing selected through a series of interviews. Fivepeople, three men and two women, were chosen forthe first programme in 1990. This programme willrun for two and half to three years.

The programme takes the following approach:2-3 internal placements in the store (six monthplacements in a management position in differentdepartments). Placements are agreed betweenthe participant and the training manager.Attendance at external courses (management,marketing, computers etc.) which are agreed withthe training manager.Appointment of a mentor for each participant toguide them throughout the programme.Regular meetings with the training manager todiscuss progressClery's bearing the full cost of the programme.

The benefits of the programme, now in its second year,are seen by the participants to be in areas such as;

broadening experience,improving motivation,raising confidence,preparing for promotion.

While promotion is not guaranteed following theprogramme, both management and participantsare confident that participants will achieve promo-tion over the next couple of years.

Other direct benefits of the programme, its per-ceived success has enhanced the status of trainingwithin the store. A greater number of staff are nowkeen to participate in similar programmes.

1.3 Evaluation

1.3.1 By the firmFAS, the National Training and EmploymentAuthority, has provided a significant amount oftraining for Clery's staff. This training has beenviewed very favourably by both management andstaff. However, one of the major problems facingClery's'training manager is the limited availability oftraining material and/or programmes in Irelandspecifically for people employed in the retail sector.Certification of retail skills training is not generallyavailable. More formalized training for all levels ofentrants to the retail sector is considered desirable.Suitable external management courses of a gen-eral nature are considered to be available whenrequired.

1.3.2 By employees and theirrepresentativesThe new senior management team in Clery's has avery positive attitude towards staff training anddevelopment. For them, investing in training is anintegral part of a long term strategy for competi-tiveness and greater efficiency in the store.

Staff attitudes to training are changing. In the past afear of change resulted in some staff being suspi-cious of training and development. Efforts arebeing made to create a culture where staff are notafraid to try new things and are not penalized forfailure. All staff are encouraged to take part intraining and external educational courses. As aresult attitudes are changing with more staff comingforward each year to avail of training. A graduallong term process of change and development istaking place in Clery's.

Unions are supportive of management's efforts toincrease the amount and type of training availableto staff.There are no areas of substantive disagree-ment between management and staff in relation totraining matters.

Union representatives believe it would be beneficialfor management to present a long term trainingplan to staff in Clery's. They consider that this wouldassure staff of management's commitment to thelong term development of the store's employees.

1.3.3 By the authorClery's represents a department store goingthrough a process of significant change in order tocope with the more competitive environment ofthe 1990's.Retraining and developing existing staff is a keyelement in the store's strategy for greater com-petitiveness.The long years of service of many staff presents amajor challenge to trainers. Such staff must beencouraged to avail of training in a non-threat-ening environment. Managing change is a keytraining need.The new training department in Clery's has initi-ated a major training programme for the store.Particular attention is being paid to broadeningstaff's skills and experience and to developingselected staff for promotion.Attitudes towards training have become morepositive in Clery's as more training has been madeavailable to staff in recent years and as manage-ment commitment to training has been clearlydemonstrated. As a result, staff have become bet-ter motivated and confident and are keen todevelop their own skills through training.For the future, both line managers and staff arebeing encouraged to take greater responsibilityfor their own development and that of theirstaff.The presence of concession stores within Clery'shas had a positive effect. It has attracted moreyoung people to shop in the store and has in-creased staff awareness of business imperatives.

1.4 ConclusionClery & Co. is a store going through a process ofconsiderable change to meet the more competi-tive environment of the 1990's. The store is committed to improving quality and customer serviceand to developing a more 'up market' image. Thisstrategy has brought skills and training to theforefront of the store's agenda over the next fiveyears. Staff development is now perceived as vitalfor the Future success of the store.

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While much progress has been made to regener-ate the store, a number of further developmentsare required. Line managers rnd individualstaff must become more responsible 1.)r theirown development. More individually-basedapproaches to the identification of training needsmust be developed.These changes would result inless direction from the training department andmore from individual line managers. The man-agement in Clery's is aware of these requirementsand is moving in this direction.Currently the training department in Clery's hasvery limited resources in terms of both humanresources and back up training material. Todevelop Clery's staff development programmes itwill be necessary to increase such resources -either in-store orthrough increasing availability oftraning supports from the external education andtraining system.The current lack of any integrated back-up train-ing support for retail stores in Ireland increasesthe difficulty stores like Clery's face in developingtheir training programmes. Such back-up supportis urgently required.

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Key skill needs for staff in the retail sector as evi-denced in Clery's are product knowledge, newtechnology, and customer relations. These skillsare constantly changing and therefore create anongoing training need.There are currently no formal systems in place foridentifying general staff training needs, nor forevaluating training at any level. Stores like Clery'srequire assistance in developing these systems ifthey are to maximize their returns on traininginvestment.The unions currently have no formal role in stafftraining. There appears to be little perceived needfor change in this area. Nevertheless the creationof an agreed long term training plan for all staffwould appear beneficial in developing the posi-tive attitude and commitment to staff trainingwhich is required to prosper in the competitiveenvironment of the 1990's.

APPENDIX 1

Listing of main trainingprogrammes undertaken inClery's in 1990 and 1991

1990Quality customer service (all sales staff)Safe manual handling (Porter etc.)Keyboard skills (office staff)Security seminarsBuyer familiarizationLift release courseDriving skillsFirst aidFraud preventionGroomingPlanning for retirementTraining for the store's crecheManaging people effectively

1991Women in businessManagement skills (departmental managers)Telephone skillsCounselling Skills (store's nurse)Legislative changesBusiness ethicsConsumer legislationSupervisory management

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2. ESB (Electricity Supply Board)


2.1.1 Major facts about ESBThe Electricity Supply Board (ESB) is Ireland'snational electricity generating and distributioncompany. It was establishc in 1927 and is a state-owned monopoly. It is one of Ireland's largest com-panies employing 9 733 people. ESB operatestwenty two power stations and uses a number ofsources to generate electricity including hydro-electricity, coal, gas, oil and peat. The company isalso conducting experiments with the generation ofelectricity by harnessing wind power.

In 1990 ESB had a turnover of IRL 800 million andgenerated a surplus of IRL million.The buoyancyin the Irish economy in 1990 v.-'s reflected in thedemand for electricity that increased by 5.4 per centcompared with 5.2 per cent in 1989. Growth indemand is welcome in most industries and no less soin ESB where it brings increased revenue and posi-tive company morale. Excessive growth, however,has a down-side for ESB in that major new borrow-ings become necessary to finance the constructionof new facilities.

ESB has recently diversified into a number of ancil-lary areas including overseas consultancy work withparticular regard to the development and opera-tion of electricity generating stations, fish rearingand farming and the sale of electrical appliances.ESB has been involved in the so:9 of electrical appli-ances since it was established. Originally it was theonly source for such appliances. Since then ESB hasbeen a market leader setting standards and pro-moting efficiency. It is the continuing vocationaleducation in this ESB retail shops that will be thefocus of this case study.

ESB operates some 105 retail outlets which sell elec-trical appliances including both white goods (cook-ers, refrigerators, freezers, etc.) and, increasingly inrecent years, brown goods (televisions, video-play-ers, hi-fi equipment, etc.). As a further development

the brown goods area ESB has recently started tosell home computers and is the first electrical appli-ance retailer to market these products.

The market of electrical appliances has been one ofthe growth sectors in the Irish retail industry. One ofthe main reasons has been the reduction of ValueAdded Tax (VAT) on electrical appliances from ahigh rate of 35 per cent in the early 1980s to just 21per cent presently.

Competition is intensive within the electrical appli-ance sector and the sector is dominated by a smallnumber of large companies. ESB is the largest elec-trical appliance retailer in the country and is fol-lowed by three privately owned companies all ofwhom are Dublin- based. The market share held byother outlets is considered small. There is consider-able friction between the private sector retailersof electrical appliances who believe that ESB isabusing its monopoly position.

There are a number of special features which makeESB electrical appliance outlets different from the

private sector retailers.The first is that ESB shops arealso locations where customers can pay their elec-tricity bills which are charged every two months.Approximately forty per cent of customers pay theirbill in person at ESB shops. All shops have facilitiesfor customers to pay their electricity account. Inmany of the larger towns there is a considerablenumber of potential purchasers of electrical appli-ances passing through the ESP 'hop which couldgive ESB an advantage over its rivals in the sale ofsuch appliances. In addition, however, there are25 30 small shops throughout the country whichare not viable in terms of appliance sales and existas a service to the local community.

The second special feature is that ESB is able toallow customers to spread the purchase of an elec-trical appliance on their electricity bill. Customershave on option of paying for the item in cash orspreading it over a number of months or years.Many of the items on special offer in ESB shops areadvertised with the bill received by each customer.Because of +heir central computerized billing sys-tem, ESB shops are able to evaluate whether a cus-tomer is credit worthy.

Under pressure from the private sector electric appli-ance retailers the government has sought to restrictthe facility whereby ESB could allow customers to payfor items bought over their electricity bill. However, ahostile public response quickly caused the govern-ment to back down. ESB has consistently pointed outthat for many high value items such as television setsthe ESB method of billing i.e. using the electricity bill,is less expensive to customers than using a privatesector television rental company. As such, the the ESBargues that their billing method actually favours thelower paid sections of the community who might oth-erwise have to pay more for electrical goods.

Virtually all of the major retailers of electrical appli-ances in Ireland are Irish-owned. The growth in theIrish electrical appliance market has attracted theinterest of a number of overseas companies.To-date, however, this interest has not materializedinto actual presence in the market. It is known thatlarge UK discounting operations such as Currys andDixons could enter the Irish market starting with aflag-ship store in Dublin and then branch out toother cities. Such a strategy has already beenadopted in the Irish music record and cassette mar-ket by new entrants from the UK.

2.1.2 Business strategyESB is headed by a twelve member board, some ofwhom are appointed by the government and someof whom are elected directly by the staff of ESB.The chief executive of ESB who is also a boardmember has seven functional directors reporting tohim: personnel, generating and transmissionoperations, new business investment, finance, cor-porate services, customer operations and companysecretary.

The board of ESB is responsible for deciding thestrategic direction of the organization and theimplementation of strategy is the responsibility ofthe chief executive and his functional directors.

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The ESB board has recently submitted a strategicdocument to the Minister for Energy who has statu-tory responsibility for ESB. The document, entitled"Connecting With The Future" describes the strategicdirection ESB will follow at least until the year 2000.1tis primarily concerned with promoting maximum effi-ciency in the generation, transmission, distributionand usage of electricity to limit growth in demand tothe level which is necessary to support national, eco-nomic and social development. The guiding strategyis known as Demand Side Management and itsobjective is to achieve an annual growth in electricitydemand of around 3 per cent. If this can be achievedover the long term the benefits to the country will bevery substantial both in protecting the environment,in curtailing borrowing to build new plants and inmaintaining electricity prices at levels which are com-petitive in the European Community.

2.1.3 Structure of the firmESB is divided into six operating regions each ofwhich is under the control of a regional manager.The regional managers in each of the six regionsreport to the director of customer operations. Headoffice provides support services to the regi ns andliaises with regional staff in the preparation of pol-icy and in the establishment of targets. One of thosereporting to the regional manager is a marketingmanager who has a number of responsibilitiesincluding energy marketing, sales of electricity toindustrial, commercial and domestic users, and theoperation of the retail shops.Table 1 provides infor-mation on the six regions and table 2 illustrates thetypical structure of ESB in each region.

In each region the marketing manager has an ap-pliance sales controller reporting to him who is alsoresponsible for the sales function in the shops. Allshop staff (full -time, part-time and relief staff)whose sole responsibility is selling report to theappliance sales controller.

The larger shops normally have sales staff who dealexclusively with appliance selling. In addition thereare clerical assistants who deal with payment ofelectricity accounts, telephone queries, customerenquir es and provide backup to the sales profes-sionals and the areas supervisors.

In the smaller shops sales and cash handling is car-ried out by area clerical officers who rotate the cashhandling and appliance sales functions.All the cleri-cal officers report to the accounting manager.

Within the regional-based structure of the retailshops, the head office departments provide ser-vices such as centralized buying, promotions, stockcontrol and distribution. Continuing vocationaleducation services to ESB retail shops are providedby two head office sources, the training and devel-opment department and the training unit within themarketing department.


2.1.4.1 EmploymentWithin ESB retail shops there are 15 people in head-quarters and an area sales controller in each of the

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six regions. There are 62 full-time sales staff. Thereare approximately full time 200 area clerical offic-ers who combine cash collection, handling customerqueries and sales as part of their normal duties. Thearea clerical officers are mainly found in the smallershops.

2.1.4.2 Employment statisticsOf the 62 full-time sales staff, 23 are male and 39are female. The age distribution of the full-timesales staff is as follows:

Age category

20 29 4

30 - 39 21

40 49 17

50 - 69 16

60 + 4

Source: internal ESB records

While no statistics are available for the electricalappliance retail trade as a whole, it is believed thatemployees in the private sector firms are more tran-sient whereas staff turnover in ESB retail shops is low.The management of ESB understand that employ-ees in ESB shops are paid a higher basic salary thantheir counterparts in the private sector.

2.1.4.3 GenderAs noted above, females account for a majority ofthe full-time sales positions. Thirty nine of the sixtytwo of full-time sales staff in ESB retail shops arefemale. In addition, approximately 75 per cent ofthe area clerical officers are female.

The implementation of equality of opportunity forwomen throughout ESB continues to be a manage-ment priority. ESB has had a formal policy of equalopportunity for several years, and in 1985 ESB wasamongst the first of the major businesses in Irelandto appoint its own Equal Opportunity Officer. In1990 the management of ESB invited Dr. MaryRedmond, an authority on labour law and equalopportunity, to chair a review group of young menand women within ESB to examine and report onthe present reality of equal opportunity for womenin the organization. The review group consultedextensively with staff, unions and management andsubmitted a comprehensive report and recommen-dations. ESB has accepted all of the group's recom-mendations and is implementing them.

2.1.4.4 Part-time employmentIn addition to the sixty two full-time sales staff thereare approximately 100 part-time sales staff whocover busy periods such as weekends and provideholiday relief.

2.1.4.5 RecruitmentIt is important to note that the majority of the personnel who work in the retail shops entered ESB as cleri-cal officers i.e. ESB did not recruit people with salesor marketing backgrounds directly for the shops.While in recent years the in-take of clerical assis-tants has declined the average qualification of new

recruits has increased with a number having thirdlevel qualifications. In the past the most commonqualification for a clerical officer was to have com-pleted the Leaving Certificate.

Within ESB retail shops the most common careerpath is for clerical officers to apply fora cashier posi-tion within the shops. Then if the clerical officershows aptitude for dealing with the public andwants to progress as a salesperson, he or she isgiven a trial period on the sales floor. Should thearea sales controller find the clerical officer satisfac-tory during this probation period, that personwould be promoted to salesperson. In time he or shecould be promoted to senior salesperson, thoughthis latter position is only found in the large shops.The senior salesperson, where the post exists, gener-ally acts as store manager but this is not reflected intheir job title.The position above senior salespersonis the area sales controller. However, the personnelin the shops may also have come not from the cleri-cal officer grades but fi om technical positions withinthe company. A number of the salespersons work-ing in the retail shops at present started off theircareer in ESB as trainee electricians.

It is also possible for a staff member of ESB applianceshops to apply for another position throughout ESBsuch as in one of the electricity generating stations orin ESB's international consultancy subsidiary.

2.2 Training policy

2.2.1 Training strategyESB makes substantial investments in the develop-ment of staff so that employee's talents and skillsmay be used to the best advantage of the personand the company in the interests of better servicefor the customer. In 1990 ESB as an organizationspent IRL 12 million on staff training and develop-ment. As well as providing for all of the ongoingtrailing needs of a complex nationwide hillinessESB is now putting in place new arrangements toshc pen the focus of staff development and to

lake it available to the entire workforce.

As one of these new arrangements, ESB is piloting anumber of Learning Centres with the intention thatthese centres would have available a wide range oftraining material to which staff members could haveaccess. These centres are a new departure for ESBand they are open during both business hours andafter hours. One of the locations chosen for the pilotprogramme, a power station in the middle of thecountry, was selected because of the absence of avocational training college nearby. There are threesuch Learning Centres being piloted at present.Staff members of ESB will be free to borrow coursesin a wide range of media such as video, audio-visual and manuals in an equally wide range of sub-ject areas from welding to planning for retirement.Each Learning Centre has a wide range of mar-keting and sales training material which could beused by the staff in the retail shops though it shouldbe emphasised that the material is general in natureand does not specifically relate to the retailing ofelectrical appliances. However, it is anticipated thatthe area sales controllers will use the material in the

Learning Centres in informal sales training program-mes for staff members.

The Learning Centres have only been on trial for fivemonths but the resu s available to-date show a veryhigh level of usage. If successful, ESB plans to extendthe number of such Learning Centres in order thatno employee will be more than a twenty minutedrive away. The Learning Centres are seen as a wayby which ESB can cope with the anticipated demandfor training courses as articulated in both the busi-ness plans and in the individual training needsanalysis. The Learning Centres also have a numberof computer-based training (CBT) programmes.Thetraining unit within the marketing department isaware of the potential for CBT. An analysis of theCBT continuing vocational education packages onthe market has identified a number of potentiallyuseful sales and marketing and general electricalsafety programmes which could be used bythe staffin the retail shops. Consideration I lud been given todisseminating such CBT courses through the com-puter system installed in the larger sl lops. However,it appears that the existing computer system is notcapable of transmitting CBT material though futureenhancements and up-grading of the system willallow for such transmission. Once CBT is available inthe shops the training unit in the marketing depart-ment intends using the system to provide productknowledge courses which the staff members canaccess during slack moments.

ESB believes that work experience and training pro-grammes are important for the development ofstaff. It also believes in the importance of educationsupport especially when it takes full account of thecareer development plans of staff as well as ESBbusiness needs. ESB has introduced the EducationSupport programme which applies to all membersof the organization, irrespective of category. Theprogramme reflects the dual involvement of the indi-vidual and the company in the learning process.

The Education Support programme allows mem-bers of ESB to attend a course or study for anapproved qualification. The programme specifiesthat the course must be relevant both to ESB and theindividual's personal development and further-more that the course must be done on a part-timebasis and be examined by an approved institution.Where an individual is approved under the Educa-tion Support programme ESB will provide advanceof fees, refund of course fees on successful comple-tion of examinations and examination leave withpay.

Under the Education Support programme the staffin ESB retail shops could, for example, study for aprofessional marketing degree from the MarketingInstitute of Ireland or undertake an open learningcourse. The training and development departmenthas urged all managers in ESB to interpret the guide-lines for the Education Support programme liberally.The department wanted to ensure that if anemployee had been out of education for some timeand that even if they only wanted to attend a nightclass related to their hobby and by implication notof direct benefit to ESB - that they would be sup-

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ported by the programme. In this way the trainingand development department reasoned, theindividual's interest in learning would be stimulatedand perhaps he or she would be then be encoura-ged to undertake a more advanced, work-relatedcourse.

2.2.2 Training structureThe training function within ESB has undergone fun-damental change since 1990; previously the train-ing function was scattered throughout the differ-ent functional areas. Now, however, following ajoint review conducted by ESB and external consult-ants, the training function has been largely central-ized as a single unit in head office in Dublin. Thereare a number of exceptions to this where a depart-ment provides specialized training to its staff andthe training is confined to that department. Onesuch area which affects this case study is the provi-sion of sales and marketing training to ESB retailshops. This continues to be the responsibility of themarketing department though all other training isprovided by the training and development depart-ment. The reason that a number of training centreswere excluded from the central training function,now re-named the training and developmentdepartment, was that departments which requiredspecialized training should retain their own special-ist training units.

The decision to centralize training within ESB will bereviewed in 1993, when an analysis of the function-ing of the training and development departmentwill take place. A decision will also be taken on thecontinued separate existence of the specialist train-ing units which have, up to now, remained outsidethe training and development department.

The training and development department is

divided into three divisions; the first deals withtechnical training in the power generating stations;the second oversees general training in the organi-zation; and the third division is responsible forstrategy and design. The total staff in the trainingand development department numbers 120 ofwhom eighty are in the technical division, thirtyin the general training division and ten in the strat-egy and design division. The head of the depart-ment reports to the personnel director of ESB; theother two main departments in the personneldirectorate are employee services and employeerelations.

The division which looks after all non-technical train-ing in ESB, the development division, is divided intofour areas; general training, which includes all cour-ses for management, supervisory and other grades;information training, which deals with all non-spe-cialized computer training; the development unit,which looks at future training programmes; and theoverseas training unit, which looks after the trainingcourse needs of ESB's international consultancy sub-sidiary, ESB International.

The general training section provides a number ofcourses to ESB retail shops. However, the majority of

42continuing vocational education courses especiallythose related to sales and marketing given to the

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retail shops, are provided by the marketing depart-ment.

The marketing department is divided into five divi-sions, one of which is the demand management divi-sion (see table 3). This in turn is divie. 1 into a num-ber of units including communications, newsletter/media and training.The training unit comprises onetrainer and a clerical assistant and has responsibilityfor providing training to the marketing function andto ESB retail shops. It maintains a close relationshipwith the training and development departmentwhich has a monitoring role in relation to thecourses provided by the former. The training anddevelopment department review the trainingprogrammes prepared for the retail shcp's annualbusiness plan by the marketing department'straining unit; the purpose of this review ensurethat the policies and programmes deve; sped bythe unit are consistent with overall ESB trainingobjectives.

As a general rule training needs analysis within ESBis undertaken by the staff member's immediatesuperior.The process is informal, though the trainingand development department are working on apilot programme to make it more formalized.

The programme is in fact being piloted in the train-ing and development department itself andinvolves managers preparing individual trainingand development plans for each person in thedepartment.The process asks staff members to high-light oeeas of weaknesses that could be overcomeby training.

The training and development department recog-nizes the need to extend formal individual trainingneeds assessment throughout the organization andbelieves that employees will respond positively asthe process will concentrate on their individual train-ing needs rather than the needs of the position theyoccupy. However, the department recognizes thatthis process will be administratively very difficult toimplement. It is also worried that the process will per-haps raise employees'expectations with the dangerthat these cannot be fulfilled.

ESB operates a five year business plan which isprepared by each business unit and rolled overeach year. For the first time the training has beenincluded in the 1992 business plan prepared in1991. In the preparation of the 1992 business plan,managers were asked to identify and to prioritizethe training needs of each business unit to achievethe goals identified in the plan. In relation to thetraining needs of the retail shops it would be theresponsibility of the marketing manager in eachregion to specify the type and amount of trainingrequired by staff.The analysis of training in the retailshops within the region is considered very much atthe macro level but in some cases it is done at themicro level. In assessing the training needs of thebusiness plan for the shops, the marketing managerwould normally consult with the area sales control-ler. The training manager is only asked to considerthe needs of the retail shops in terms of on-goingoperational training progrc.nmes: induction pro-

grammes would not, for example, be considered inthe business plan.

2.2.3 Impact of new technologiesThe ESB retail shops have embarked on a majorcomputerization programme. To date only thelarger shops have been computerized but in time. allshops will be electronically linked. Staff in the largershops have received training in computer basicsand in key board skills. Training has been providedalso on important application programmes suchas electronic billing and verification of customercredit.

The product mix available within the ESB shops ischanging with a greater emphasis on brown goods(hi-fi, televisions, computers, etc.) compared to

white goods traditionally associated with ESB retailshops. The changing product mix has implicationsfor the product knowledge of the sales staff in theretail shops as it requires them to become familiarwith new products and new technologies. Forexam-ple, ESB shops now sell personal computersESBwere the first major electrical appliance retailerin Ireland to d3 so. However, the staff in the retailshops had no previous experience of sellingcomputers and product knowledge training cour-ses had to be devised to provide this to sales per-sonnel.

2.2.4 Participation of social partnersESB has institutionalized a mechanism whereby thesocial partners can meet together to discuss mattersof common concern.This mechanism is known in ESBas Participation Councils and are held in each majorcentre within the organization. For example, therewould typically be a Participation Council in each ofthe main electricity generation stations but in theretail shops there is generally one ParticipationCouncil for the region as the shops are too small towarrant a separate council.

The main issues discussed at the Participation Coun-cils are general matters affecting staff and thesetake place once a month. In theory it is possible thatqueries relating to training in ESB could be raised ata Participation Council meeting by a staff memberand the general procedure would be for local man-agement to relay the information to the training anddevelopment department to follow up. However, inpractice, there have been few discussions on con-tinuing vocational education at Participation Coun-cil meetings at the work-place level.

Training issues are, however, raised at the NationalParticipating Council meeting which is held once ayear over three days.The training and developmentdepartment presented a paper on its new EducationSupport programme.

The training and development department uses itsown Participation Council to communicate changesin policy direction to staff. Because of the recentre-organization of the department there has beensome uneasiness among the trainers since their rolehas fundamentally chap .G.2.-2 from being purely train-ers to facilitators of the training process.

It should be pointed out that the Participation Coun-cils are primarily intended for staff/managementcommunication. Industrial relations matters are han-dled by ESB Joint Industrial Council on which bothmanagement and employee representatives amrepresented. ESB recognizing the crucial role itplays in the provision of electricity to the economyhas developed elaborate structures and mechan-isms to ensure that disputes within the organizationdo not result in power cuts to customers.

2.2.5 Description of molar programmesGiven the orientation of ESB retail shops and theirdirect contact with customers, the type of continuingvocational education provided to the staff differsconsiderably from other sections of ESB where thestaff are more technically-oriented with less exter-nal contact.

Training in marketing and sales techniques and skillsform a major part of the overall continuing voca-tional education programme. Management andsupervisory training is also an important and inte-gral element of the programme.

Marketing and sales training is open to all staff inthe 105 ESB retail stores including part-time andclerical employees as well as full-time sales person-nel. All of the training in this area is the responsibilityof the marketing department who either providethe training directly or hire external training organi-zations.

Training in sales and marketing can be divided intotwo parts: product knowledge and skills and tech-niques. With regard to the former, formal courses inproduct knowledge are held every twelve to eight-een months in all the regions. These courses aredeveloped and managed internally within ESB andgenerally cover all products. It is the responsibility ofthe area sales controller in each of the six regions toensure that the staff in the shops are kept up-to-date in terms of their product knowledge. The Con-troller will liaise with the staff on a regular basis andshould there be a requirement for a particular prod-uct knowledge course, the request will be chan-nelled up the marketing department in head office.ESB has a number of specialist advisers, calledenergy sales officers, who provide advice and infor-mation to both residential and commercial users.These advisers may be called upon to provide theretail staff with technical information on new prod-ucts in their fields of expertise. A number of theenergy sales officers have trained as homeeconomists and are specialists in home appliances.As such, they can be invaluable in ensuring thatsales staff are kept informed of product changes.Additionally, suppliers may be requested to pro-vide modules on these courses relating to theirbrands.

The majority of product knowledge courses held inthe regions are run over three days and involveinputs from ESB staff and external suppliers. Fromthe point of view of the management of the retailshops, one of the most successful features of thiscourse is the preparation and presentation of a pro-ject by the course participants either by individuals

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or, more frequently, by a group.The ten minute pres-entation centres on a particular product sold in theshops such as colour televisions or computers. Notonly does this aid in learning product knowledgebut participants also gain confidence in their ownability to make presentations. The level of presenta-tions at these product knowledge courses is consis-tently high.

Informal product knowledge courses are alsoarranged for staff. These take the form of eveningsessions whereby a supplier will It-range for ademonstrator to come in and give the staff an over-view of the company's range of products. Suchsessions happen on an ad-hoc basis and are gen-erally arranged on a store-to-store basis. Thestaff are not paid for their attendance at these infor-mal product knowledge sessions, though it is custom-ary for the supplier to provide a meal and refresh-ments.

A recent example of this method of informal train-ing in product knowledge is the fact that some of thelarger retail shops have recently diversified into sell-ing personal computers. The staff in these storeshave attended a product knowledge course devel-oped by the hardware supplier. However, the prod-uct knowledge session was less than satisfactorybecause it was the first time that the supplier hadmarketed computers through a etaii outlet whichwas not a specialized computer ;upplier. The suppli-er's instructors were used to dealing with the staffof customers who had some pravious experienceof selling computers, whereas in the case of ESBretail shops the staff had none. Both ESB and thesupplier recognize that this problem will have to berectified in the next product knowledge trainingsession.

Other informal methods of product knowledgetraining include arranging visits by the suppliers' rep-resentatives to particular stores to answer questionsrelating to their products.

The staff in the retail shops are unanimous in theirsupport for product knowledge courses and believethat the management could do more in this area.They point out that the purchase of many electricalappliances sold in the shops represent a major finan-cial commitment to a large section of the population.Customers, therefore, will do a lot of shoppingaround before they make up their mind. For this rea-son the staff say it is important that they have confi-dence in their product knowledge and this confi-dence is communicated to the customer. It is a truismamongst the staff in ESB shops that customers comeinto the shop on a Saturday to investigate and willreturn to the shop on Monday to purchase the itemhaving considered the matter over the weekend.The staff know that if they can demonstrate theirproduct knowledge to the customer in a profes-sional way their chances of persuading that cus-tomer to buy from ESB are increased.

With regard to sales and marketing skills, ESB pro-vides a formal two day course in selling skills. Thecourse is held off the job and covers such topics asthe role of selling and objection handling.

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In addition, ESB has been involved with a distancelearning course in sales for the past twenty years ormore. The course, sales training, is of six monthsduration and runs from September of each yearwith examinations being held in the following May.Virtually all the full-time sales staff have undertakenthis course and it has proved a popular choicethroughout ESB organization even for staff who donot work in the retail shops.The course was develop-ed originally in the UK by the Electricity Council whohave prepared a series of six booklets in a loose-leaf format. Subjects covered by the course include:preparing to sell, the sales plan, appliance selling,professional selling and getting started. ESB

arranges tutorials for staff undertaking this coursewhich involve role-playing exercises which allow theparticipants to put the theory into practice within thecontext of ESB selling environment. These tutorialstake place during the normal working day and theyoften necessitate the retail shops having to take onrelief staff to cover personnel attending tutorials.Each region will generally organize a one or twoday product knowledge session as part of the partic-ipants' examination preparation.

Participants on this course have to undertake athree hour written examination, usually held in May,and followed by an oral examination which takesthe form of a sales interview. Successful candidatesare awarded a certificate at a formal ceremonyorganized by the company. ESB has designed andprinted its own certificates and the presentationceremony is generally attended by a director of theorganization. A diploma is also available and isawarded to those who have firstly completed thecertificate course and, secondly, completed twelvemonths full-time experience in appliance sales.

However, ESB is in the process of replacing the Elec-tricity Council sales course with a newer coursedeveloped by one of the newly privatized electricitygeneration and distribution companies in the UK.Called the effective selling and customer servicecourse, it is also an open learning programme. ESBhas received permission to make adaptations to thecourse to make it relevant to the Irish situation.

The effective selling and customer service courseconsists of three self-learning modules in the formof workbooks, tutor marked assignments, tutorialgroup meetings, on the job practice, assessmentsand written examinations. Topics covered by thecourse include serving the customer, identifying cus-tomer needs, product presentation, closing the saleand after-sale techniques. This course is replacingthe previous course programme because of itsgreater emphasis on sales techniques and its use ofmore up-to-date materials and role-playing situa-tions.

Training is also provided to staff in the larger retailstores in sales documentation and procedures.Since three-quarters of ESB retail shops are comput-erized, training in computer procedures and key-boarding skills for staff is essential.

ESP also arranges informal training in sales andmark6ting for its staff. For example, new recruits are

sent to the larger retail stores to work along sideexperienced sales staff.

For some time now, the management of ESB retailshops have been concerned about the quality of thedisplay of products in the shop windows. It wasapparent that staff did not have the capability tomerchandise the products to a consistently highstandard.The problem was that there was a lack ofexpertise within ESB in this area and there was noexternal source in Ireland who could provide train-ing in the merchandising of electrical applianceswith particular emphasis on window displays.

The training unit within the marketing departmentsourced a shop display training course provided bythe Norweb Electricity organization in Englandbased in Manchester. The course was specificallydesigned for the display of electrical appliances butwas spread over five days. It was not possible forESB to commit their staff for such a period of timesince an additional two days would be lost trav-elling to Manchester; a compromise was reachedwith the Norweb Electricity organization to com-press the course into a three day course.

A number of staff from the retail shops in the Dublinregion attended the course in early 1991 and asecond group went later in the year. Despite theshortened course both staff and management ofESB retail shops were pleased with the course con-tent. Both groups of staff who participated on thiscourse have stayed together as a display group.Themembers of both groups meet one evening a monthto help arrange the display in a particular store inthe Dublin region. It has been found necessary forthe group to work as a team because of the heavyelectrical items which have to be moved. The groupmembers give their time voluntary in carrying outthis work. Management believe there has been aconsiderable improvement in the quality of the shopdisplays in the Dublin region. There are plans tosend similar groups from other regions to Man-chester to attend this course.

The majority of the continuing vocational educationcourses referred to above are directed at full-timesales staff or the more general category of areaclerical officer. The marketing department has,however, provided training programmes specific-ally for the area sales controllers who are the linkpersons between the marketing managers in eachregion and the retail shops. It became apparent tothe marketing managers that there wasa very largegap in terms of responsibilities between the areasales controllers and the staff who worked in theshops. In order to address this situation a number ofsenior sales staff have attended an intensive coursein marketing principles and practice.This has helpedto broaden their skills and their personal develop-ment.

From the viewpoint of the staff in ESB retail shopsthe courses in sales and marketing are important,given their recognition of the need to present a pro-fessional attitude to potential customers. They areaware of the requirement to make contact with cus-tomers as they enter the shop and to get an under-

standing of their requirements before advisingthem on the merits of a particular product.

In terms of future training requirements some seniormembers of ESB retail shops would like to see agreater emphasis on training in the legislativeaspects of marketing, particularly in the area of cus-tomer rights and product liability. They believe thecustomer protection area will change fundamen-tally and it is important that they be aware of ex-isting and impending legislation.

In terms of number of training man-days provided bythe marketing department who have responsibility forformal sales and marketing courses, it is estimated thatin 1990 a total of 1,210 training man-days were pro-vided to the staff in ESB shops. Of this total, 825 wereaccounted for by female staff members. Informationon expenditure on training as a percentage of the totalwage bill of ESB retail shops was not available.

Formal product knowledge courses provided by themarketing department accounted for an additional2 days per employee per year and suppliers contrib-uted a further 2 evening sessions per employee peryear.

The foregoing covered continuing vocational educa-tional programmes which are specific to the staff in theretail shops. However, there are a number of interest-ing training programmes which have been developedfor the whole of ESB and in which staff in the retailshops can participate. The most relevant of theseorganization-wide courses are described below.

The majority of ESB's clerical officers are female andthe organization, recognizing very few of its seniorand middle management team are women, hastaken a number of actions to redress the balance.They have appointe-' an Equality Officer ESB is oneof the very few organizations in Ireland to do so. ESBhas also developed a career development pro-gramme specifically for female employees.

The career development programme is intended toassist women in identifying and develop their ownabilities, personality characteristics and occupa-tional interests so that they can optimize theircareerpotential within ESB. The programme also aims tohelp women to determine their educational andtraining needs in reaching their career objectivesand it also assists them in writing their own personalaction plans. Finally, the career development pro-gramme provides participants with an opportunityto develop some of the skills needed for personaleffectiveness. As a senior manager in the trainingand development department observed, if a man ispromoted he immediately starts thinking of his nextupward career move while woman in a similar posi-tion feels that she has to prove herself in the newpost before setting her sights on the next promotionopportunity. The career development course isopen to female staff members in the retail appli-ance shops and a number have already partici-pated on the course.

Part of the career development course concentrateson life-style skills with the aim of helping women to

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think through their own priorities particularlywhether they are working for a career or just purelyto provide an income for their family. The course isdesigned to help women to feel comfortable withtheir career choice. Also included in the course is psy-chometric testing which for many participants is aneye-opener as it helps to identify their particularstrengths and weaknesses relative to their workingduties.

There is a growing demand among female employ-ees in ESB for the course which is held over threemodules, with each module lasting three days. It wasjointly developed by the training and developmentdivision and external consultants.

Another course open to all clerical officers, bothmale and female, throughout the organization is apersonal effectiveness programme which coverssuch skills as lime management and presentations.The programme has the objectives of helpingparticipants to clarify their personal goals, toidentity the key interpersonal skills they need toachieve their goals, to identify, develop and applyeffective assertion skills and, finally, to help partici-pants to develop competent interpersonal skills.The personal effectiveness programme is held overtwo days and involves role play and group exer-cises.

In terms of training input by the training and devel-opment department to ESB retail shops, it is esti-mated that virtually all employees in the shopsreceive 2/3 days training every year. This includesall non-marketing and sales courses such as thecareer development and personnel effectivenesscourses.

ESB provides a supervisory development pro-gramme covering all aspects of supervisorymanagement. The programme which is modular indesign was developed internally by ESB. It coverssuch areas as communications, management,understanding the role of the supervisor, changemanagement, team working and supervisory skillsboth work-related and personal.

All supervisors who undertake this programme mustdo a work-related project either on an individual orteam basis. The purpose of the project is to relatecourse content to the working situation in ESB andto aid the learning process.

2.3 Closer look at a particular outletThe ESB retail store in Fleet Street in the centre ofDublin is the largest of the 105 ESB retail stores. Thestore has five full-time sales staff and two part-timestaff. In addition, there are two people on a job shar-ing scheme. In terms of staff categories, there is onesenior salesperson, four salespersons and one salesassistant (one of the two involved in job sharing), theremainder being part-time. The area sales controlleris based in Fleet Street but his responsibility extends tothe whole of the Dublin region.

The store also has 10 clerical officers, all female,

46who work as cashiers dealing with payment of elec-tricity accounts, telephone queries and customer

,4a

enquiries. The cashiers handle up to 2 500 custom-ers a day.

The age profile of sale personnel varies quite widely.All the men are full-time and they tend to have overtwenty years experience. They are also have comefrom a wide variety of backgrounds within ESB. Someof the male sales staff are close to retirement age. Bycontrast the female members of the staff are youngerand are more likely to work on a part-time basis.Theyare also more likely to have started in ESB as clericalofficers and have worked as cashiers.

Recruitment to the sales positions within the shop nowtends to be made from the ranks of cashiers sincethey are dealing with the public on a full-time basis.Also, the cashiers may have gained some sales expe-rience through occasionally acting as substitutes forthe sales staff during holiday periods. If a vacancyoccurs in the sales staff in Fleet Sireet, a replacementis appointed for a probationary period of twelvemonths. A formal assessment takes place after twelvemonths but informal assessments may also take placeduring the probationary period.

The Fleet Street store has a wide range of both whiteand brown goods on display. The store has recentlystarted to market personal computers and printerswith a high level of customer interest. Product knowl-edge is seen by the area sales controller as being avital part of training for staff particularly as none ofthe staff in the store had experience of using or sell-ing computers. Product knowledge refresher coursesevery six months are considered essential in thebrown goods area as products are constantly chang-ing. White goods such as refrigerators and freezerson the other hand tend to change more slowly andproduct knowledge refresher courses are onlyrequired every two to three years.

A key `nature of the product knowledge trainingsession, is that time is allocated for participants tomake a presentation either singly or as part of agroup. One of the salespersons in the Fleet Streetoutlet had recently made an excellent presentationon televisions for which he was highly commended.The high quality of presentations by staff was par-ticularly pleasing to management who saw an addi-tional feature of the product knowledge courses asaiding staff in their personal development.

The level of merchandising of products in the store israted very highly by management and is a result ofthe display training provided by the Norweb Elec-tricity Organization in Manchester (two of the salesstaff in Fleet Street had attended the course).

In addition to product knowledge courses, the ma-jority of the sales staff had passed the previous UKElectricity Council distance lea' ning course on sellingused by ESB, sales training programme (describedabove), or were in the process of doing the replace-ment course, effective selling and customer service.

Both management and staff were satisfied with thelevel of training provided by the training unit withinthe marketing department and by the training anddevelopment departmeri. However, some staff

voiced their opinion that Improvements could bemade in the area of product knowledge courses inthe brown goods area and, in particular, in personalcomputers.

The senior sales staff also felt that more attentioncould be placed on providing staff with details onconsumer legislation. Sales staff were of the opinionthat training in consumer rights and legislationwould help to clarify customers' legal rights.

2.4 Evaluation

2.4.1 By ESBThis case study of training in ESB retail shops hastaken place against a background of a policy moveto centralize training within ESB. One of the excep-tions to this policy has been the training unit withinthe marketing department which continues to be astand-alone unit and which provides the majority ofcourses to the retail shops. A review of the central-ization of training within ESB will take place withinthe next twelve months and a decision will be takenon the issue of the training unit within the marketingdepartment remaining outside the centralized train-ing and development department.

Management is generally satisfied with the level oftraining provided to staff in the retail shops. Thereare, however, a number of areas that the manage-ment of ESB retail shops would like to address them-selves to in the future. One such area is the provisionof training in shop window displays to staff in shopsoutside of the Dublin area (to date two courses havebeen arranged for staff in the Dublin area and a thirdis due to run this year, again for staff in the Dublinregion).

Another area is the introduction of formalized train-ing needs analysis in the shops which hitherto havebeen assessed on an informal basis. It is intendedthat once the pilot experiment being conductedpresently within the training and developmentdepartment has been assessed and evaluated, itwill then be extended to other parts of ESB includingthe appliance shops.

2.4.2 By employees and theirrepresentativesStaff of ESB retail shops have a high regard for thetraining they receive. They are conscious of the factthat training helps them to be more professionalparticularly in their dealings with customers. Theyare also conscious that training can help them tomeet their sales targets and improve their earningpotential. They are eager to gain more productknowledge given the changing product mix beingmarketed in the shops.

Members of the staff of ESB shops themselves have,however, identified the need for more productknowledge training, particularly in the brown goodsarea and especially in the personal computer area.They have also identified the need for training innew legislation particularly customer protection leg-islation. These are two areas they would like to seemanagement addressing in the future in terms ofcontinuing vocational education.

2.4.3 By the authorThe staff of the ESB retail shops have a wide range ofgood quality vocational educational programmesavailable to them. At one level staff receive trainingto develop their skills in selling to customers and atanother level they can receive courses in personaldevelopment which can give them the opportunity tomove elsewhere in the organization. The range andscale of both types of training is impressive.

While assessment of training needs of staff withinESB retail shops is currently very subjective at pres-ent, management are examining a more formalizedand systematic method of evaluating trainingneeds.

A unique aspect of ESB retail shops which sets themapart from other private sector retailers of electricalappliances is that they belong to a much larger publicsector organization whose chief function is the gen-eration and distribution of electricity. ESB retail shopscan, therefore, benefit from economies of scale ofbelonging to a much larger parent organization par-ticularly in relation to the provision of training serv-ices. It is unlikely that a smaller organization couldafford the range and quality of training services thatthe ESB parent organization provides to ESB retailshops. Certainly, no private sector electrical appli-ance retailer in Ireland provides such a high level oftraining to its staff as does ESB.

If ESB retail shops operated as a stand-alone opera-tion and had to pay for the training services it cur-rently receives, it would appear to the author that amuch greater emphasis would be given to undertak-ing cost/benefit analyses of the training program-mes used.

2.5 TransferabilityESB shops are an interesting organization to studyfrom the point of view of continuing vocational edu-cation because of the range of courses open to staffand because of the fact that training is provided bytwo different units within ESB.

The concept of the Learning Centres is also an inter-esting feature of ESB and it is one which other retailorganisations could consider. The Learning Centreconcept has already worked successfully in thefinancial services sector. ESB believes that the Learn-ing Centres will encourage more home study byemployees and the wide range of courses availablewill help employees to satisfy their own personaltraining aspirations. Already supervisors in ESBhaving been using the material from the LearningCentres to support their on-the-job training forapprentices.

The recent introduction of the Education Supportprogramme by ESB is also noteworthy. The pro-gramme is likely to encourage ESB employees par-ticularly those who left school early to learn a newskill. In time it is thought that these employees can bethen encouraged to attend more formal trainingcourses provided by the company.

The company has plans to introduce on-line CBTthrough its computer network to staff in the retail

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shops in order that during slack periods during theday they can refresh their selling skills or update theirproduct knowledge. Existing limitations to ESB's com-puter system means, however, that it will be sometime before on-line CBT becomes a reality.

However, it should be pointed out that ESB is primar-ily in the business of generating and distributingelectricity. The appliance shops are only one part ofa much larger public sector organization. Many ofthe training programmes such as the product knowl-edge courses which are available to the staff in theretail shops are unique to the retailing of electricalappliances and would have limited application inother sectors of the retail industry. Staff in ESB retailshops benefit because of the wide range of person-al development courses available from the mainorganization.

2.6 ConclusionsESB retail shops have a number of distinctive featuresin relation to training programmes provided to them.The first is that training is provided from two differentsources: the marketing department which providesstaff in the retail shops with marketing and sellingskills, and the training and development departmentwhich provides general skills training.

The second distinctive feature of ESB retail shops isthe amount of product knowledge courses provided.

47

This is a function of the changing product mix of ESBelectrical appliance shops. A higher proportion ofmore technically sophisticated brown goods arebeing sold by the shops compared to the more tradi-tional, low technology white goods. Staff responsiblefor the marketing of such goods have to have theirproduct knowledge constantly updated to keepabreast of changing technology.

Another feature is the recent inclusion of the identifi-cation of training requirements in business plans.Managers responsible for the development ofbusiness plans were asked to prioritize the trainingneeds of each business to achieve the objectivesidentified in the plan. Though training needs arepresently only identified at a macro level, ESB hasplans to introduce formal training needs analysis atthe individual level.

It is necessary to keep in mind at all times that ESBretail shops are part of a much larger public sectororganization whose prime function is the genera-tion and distribution of electricity. If ESB retail shopswere a stand-alone operation and had to buytraining services from its current providers e.g. themarketing department and the training and devel-opment department, it is unlikely that the shopscould afford such a wide range of high qualitytraining programmes.

3. MARKS & SPENCER IRELAND LTD


3.1.1 Major facts about the firm andbrief history of its development inIrelandMarks and Spencer have three stores in the Republicof Ireland two in Dublin, and one in Cork. Thesethree stores, trading as Marks & Spencer Ireland Ltd,are a subsidiary company of Marks & Spencer plc,based in London. All stores have food and non-food(textiles) departments.The Cork store which has beenchosen for this study opened in 1989, a year after thethe second Dublin store. All Irish stores are now partof division 1 of Marks & Spencer plc, following amajor programme of regionalization introduced in1991. Division 1, with headquarters in Edinburgh,also includes all the Marks & Spencer stores in Scot-land, Northern Ireland and Northern England. TheNorthern Irish and British stores are all part of Marks& Spencer plc. (Prior to this, Marks & Spencer Irelandwas part of the European division).

Division 1, like all six of the Marks & Spencer divi-sions, reports to head office in London. All buying,selecting, merchandising, distribution, technologicaland product development are centralized in Lon-don for all stores. London is also home to the train-ing and development department which formulatesoverall training policy for all stores worldwide andwhich develops the vast array of training materialavailable to all stores for staff training.

Within the Republic -4 Ireland there is a unified man-agement structure tor all three stores. This systemwas introduced last year as part of an overallprocess of management integration aimed atrationalizing structures and ensuring that smallerstores benefit from the expertise and innova-tiveness of major stores within particular areas.

The Republic of Ireland stores 'network' with theNorthern Ireland stores with managers from storesthroughout the island of Ireland meeting their coun-terparts on a regular basis.

3.1.2 Business strategyThe Marks & Spencer Board develops policy forthe entire Marks & Spencer Group includingMarks & Spencer Ireland Ltd. Annual objectives,goals and targets are set by each division coveringsales, staffing, staff costs, food waste, theft and lessetc.

The division plan provides the context and the priori-ties for Marks & Spencer Ireland Ltd. However,Marks & Spencer Ireland Ltd have discretion in theway in which these priorities are interpreted andconsolidated into a local action plan, within budgetlimits, and taking into account local conditions. Inthis way commercial, personnel and training objec-tives are set for Ireland. These in turn are translatedinto operational plans for each store, again takinginto account the local situation. Individual storeshave discretion in setting their own objectives for theyear and in introducing new initiatives. The processis neither all top down or bottom up. It is an iterativeprocess aimed at ensuring consistency while at thesame time allowing for local variations.

A 6:.rtt ' A, -4

During the eighties, policies have changed to allowparity of prices between UK and Ireland, effectivelya price reduction for Irish customers of around tenper cent. This removes extra costs incurred inrepricing merchandise and has had a significanteffect on the volume of business being done by theIrish stores. This parity issue, together with highertransport costs and higher employment costs inIreland, make Marks and Spencer Ireland veryconscious of the need to reduce other costs and toimprove efficiency. Training objectives for the Irishstores reflect this priority. Given the present UKrecession, business strategy, as directed from headoffice, is currently aimed at 'back to basics' i.e. get-ting the basics right in terms of customer service, etc.This priority is reflected in current training plans forthe Irish stores as well.

Both management and staff agree that manage-ment style in Marks & Spencer Ireland Ltd is open,friendly and participative.Time is taken with staff toensure that they are working well and that they arecomfortable with their task. Problems are generallysolved through agreement on action to be taken,often based on a training response. Feedback is con-stantly given to staff and staff feel highly confidentof their own skills, expertise and developmentpotential. Ability, rather than education, is valuedand used as the main criteria for promotion.

3.1.3 Structure of the firmFigure 1 shows the organization structure from Lon-don head office to Ireland head office. In practice,Marks & Spencer operate a matrix structure with adual reporting system across geographic and func-tional lines. For example, the Irish training managerreports to the personnel manager in Dublin andalso to the divisional training manager based inEdinburgh. He also networks with other trainingmanagers in division 1.

Marks & Spencer Ireland Ltd is run by a managingcommittee which includes the general manager inIreland and a number of senior executives fromdivision 1 and from head office in London (9 in total).


3.1.4.1 EmploymentApproximately 500 people are employed in Marks& Spencer Ireland Ltd (compared to 62,000 in theUK). Sales turnover is around IR255m for Ireland.

3.1.4.2 GenderSeventy nine per cent of staff are female, (com-pared to 83% for the UK). A majority of the super-visors are female. Marks and Spencer operates onthe basis of full gender equality. This is reflected inthe generally prevailing attitude that there are nodifferences between men and women in terms ofattitude to training, seeking and obtaining promo-tion, etc.

A general spirit of equality prevails at all levels.

3.1.4.3 Part-time employmentDue to a union agreement (no longer operating inDublin but voted to be maintained in Cork) part-

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Figure 1 - M & S Board Head Office London

Division 1

Executive

Commercialcontroller

Personnei

controller

Soles promotion etc.

Commercialmanager 3(Based in 3 stores)

Personnel

manager 1

Div. personnel man.Div. training man. etc.

M & S Ireland LtdManaging committee

Irish general manager

Financialcontroller

Audit- Building- Fin. control- Security etc.

Administration Operationmanager 1 manager 1

time workers are limited to 2 for every 3 full-timeemployees.This has had the effect of limiting perma-nent part-timers to thirty-five percent of permanentemployees (compared to 66% in the UK).

Managers and supervisors account for eight percent of total employment. At the non-managementlevels approximately two-thirds are sales staff andone-third 'back stage' staff. This proportion is

watched constantly, aimed at increasing the ratio ofsales to 'back stage' employees.

3.1.4.4 UnionizationAll Irish staff, excluding supervisors and managers,are unionized and a closed shop operates. None ofthe UK stores are unionized.

3.1.4.5 Staff turnoverStaff turnover is also low two per cent per annum.Thus, staff stability is a key issue in determining localtraining priorities. It focuses attention on "toppingup" staff skills to reach new and higher standards ofcustomer service. Mobility within the Marks & Spen-cer Group is encouraged particularly to assist inopening up new branches. However the geographi-cal remoteness of the Cork store from the otherMarks &Spencer stores has had the effect of limitingsuch mobility.

3.1.4.6 WagesWages rates in Marks and Spencer Ireland Ltd. aresignificantly higher than the agreed trade rates forthe retail sector.

4J

Up to this year wages rates were at the same ratefor all unionized employees in the three Irish stores.However following the new agreement on part-time working in the two Dublin stores, wages haveincreased by three per cent. The Cork store remainsat the original rate. No commission is paid on salesin any Marks & Spencer stores. Average wage ratesare higher in Ireland than the UK as are the 'indirect'costs of employing staff (PRSI etc.)- thirty per cent inIreland compared to 24.5 per cent in the other divi-sion 1 stores. As a result, the staff cost/sales ratio ishigher in Ireland. Constant efforts are made toimprove efficiency etc. ;n order to counteract thishigher cost. Reward for effort is a key philosophy ofMarks & Spencer. However to date, union agree-ments on pay and conditions in the Irish stores havelimited the extent to which performance-relatedpay increases may be given.

3.1.4.7 RecruitmentThere is currently limited recruitment of permanentstaff into the Dublin Stores but none in the CorkStore. Temporary part-timers are recruited through'open nights' which include a general discussion onterms and conditions, using both group and per-sonal interviews. In Cork such temporary posts havebeen advertised internally as a good-will gesture toexisting staff.

Education levels for staff being recruited intoMarks & Spencer Ireland are considered to bevery good with a very large volume and a highstandard of application (7,000 applied for the 100

jobs made available by the opening of the Corkstore).

3.2 Training' policy


3.2.1.1 Training objectivesThe 1992 1993 objectives for training in SouthernIreland are as follows:

To develop further the commercial growth in thebusiness by introducing advanced selling tech-niques.To develop a team of trainers across the region toenable greater self- sufficiency.Create greater accountability at section level forthe development of product and system knowl-edge.Increase the profile of the Irish Training Team byenhancing links with the division and establishinga working partnership with Northern Ireland.To develop close links with key local schools.To stringently control the cost effectiveness oftraining whilst increasing standards.

3.2.1.2 Training plansContinuing training is a key objective in all Marks &Spencer stores. Staff training is seen as a long-terminvestment bringing long-term returns in increasedsales and profitability.This training ethos permeatesall discussions with Marks & Spencer executives.There is a deep felt belief in the value and impor-tance of training for competitiveness and for longterm success in the market place.

This commitment is backed up by a very wide rangeof training material aimed at meeting identifiedtraining needs in-house. All such training material isavailable free of charge to Marks &Spencer IrelandLtd.The Marks & Spencer philosophy is that, havingidentified a training need, training material to thehighest standard is developed in-house, assisted byoutside experts. All such material is piloted in a num-ber of selected stores, then assessed and modifiedbefore going on general release. It is also regularlyupdated and reviewed.

Training, however, is not something the trainingdepartment 'gives' to staff. Staff are responsible fortheir own development and supervisors are respon-sible for ensuring that their staff are adequately trai-ned. All supervisory and management staff are trai-ned to train their own staff as required.The trainingdepartment's role is to make sure that no trainingneeds remain unmet because of a shortage of rele-vant training material or other resources. The princi-ple of individual 'responsibility' and ownership ofone's own destiny is the key to Marks & Spencertraining and development strategy.

The aim is to develop a self sufficient4raining team inIreland, encouraging each supervisor to developtheir own specialisms and to impart these skills totheir staff.

3.2.1.3 Future training prioritiesThe key training issues for the future are seen to be:

quality service - to be the best in the High Street,

product knowledge - keeping this up to date andbroadening sales staff's knowledge,new technology- ensuring effective use of signifi-cant investments in technology made in the lasttwo years,health and safety 1992 is health and safety train-ing year.

All these issues reflect on-going business priorities ina time of low economic growth and generally flatconsumer spending. The overall training objectiveremains to ensure that all staff perform their task tothe agreed high standards expected in all areas ofactivity t y m -irks & Spencer.

The MAST pro' jramme which is about to commence,represents a niajor initiative to develop supervisorsin all Marks 8. Spencer stores. (It should be notedthat supervisors are the equivalent of floor man-agers in other retail stores and have considerableresponsibility and authority).

This programme, which is being developed jointly byMarks & Spencer and an outside agency, will:

agree new job descriptions for supervisors,set up a working party to manage the process,identify training needs both general and individ-ual through means of a lengthy questionnaire tobe completed by the supervisor and their line man-ager,develop an appropriate training package basedon individual training modules.

This open style and approach towards developingsupervisors is viewed positively by the supervisorsthemselves.


3.2.2.1 Training department structureIn Ireland the training department is structured asfollows:

1 personnel managerbased in Dublin

1 training managerbased in Cork

3 training co-ordinatorsbased in each store

3.2.2.2 Role of training managerThe Irish training manager, based in Cork, is an assis-tant personnel manager, with personnel and indus-trial relations responsibility in the Cork store. He isresponsible for agreeing training plans for the threeIrish stores and for ensuring that all staff are trainedand developed to meet operational and succes-sional needs. He is responsible for ensuring that allstaff receive regular and effective appraisals withconstructive follow-up.The actual day to day trainingarrangements are made by the training co-ordinatorin each store who reports to the training manager.

The training manager 'networks' with other trainingmanagers in division 1 and liaises with the TrainingDepartment in head office on a regular basis. 51

The training plan he draws up is based on overallMarks & Spencer training objectives for the yearand training priorities set by division 1 head-quarters. The final contents of this plan are thenagreed by the Irish management team.

3.2.2.3 Identification of :raining needs& evaluation of ;rainingMarks & Spencer operates a highly sophisticatedand comprehensive method of identifying trainingneeds, relating them to performance, and re-viewing achievements.

All jobs at all levels have detailed job descrip-tions which are updated regularly. These form thebasis for identifying training needs. Once a yearall staff are appraised. This appraisal is a two wayprocess with staff encouraged to give their views.Staff are thus assessed against their job descriptionsusing a standards-based assessment system. Any'gaps' are addressed in terms of training requiredto fill them. Staff are then encouraged to locatethe necessary training. When the required traininghas been identified a 'briefing' summary is preparedby the staff member and their line manager.This involves agreeing objectives and expectationsprior to undertaking the training. On completionof the training, staff are 'debriefed' and anaction plan with dates agreed to ensure that thenew skills are put into action on the job. A date isthen set for a three month progressreview at whichresults are reviewed and comments made. Ifrequired, a further action plan is then agreed. Theoverall situation is then reassessed at the nextappraisal.

Using this tight and highly structured system, Marks& Spencer ensures that training is relevant and ben-eficial to both the individual and the store.

Staff appraisal is thus undertaken in a very positiveway with solutions to possible weaknesses beingimmediately discussed and agreed.The strong back-up training material available ensures that suchplans are not frustrated by lack of available training.Both management and staff view this system veryfavourably.

Formal cost/ benefit analysis of training is notattempted in Marks and Spencer Ireland Ltd. Man-agement view such an evaluation as extremely diffi-cult if not impossible to measure accurately andbelieve that investment in staff brings long-termreturns in terms of greater competitiveness, effi-ciency and profitability.

3.2.2.4 Training budgetThe training budget for Marks & Spencer IrelandLtd. in 1991 was £15,000. It must be noted that thisfigure only covers expenses incurred in attending

training programmes. It does not cover the costs oftraining materials or wages paid to those runningand attending training programmes. A more mean-ingful figure is the target set by division 1 of two percent full time equivalent staffing allocated to trainingfor each of their stores. This figure is monitored

52monthly, based on figures provided by each super-visor.

.51

3.2.3 New technologyA key objective of Marks and Spencer Ireland Ltd. isto "increase the commercial awareness of all staffthrough:

increasing knowledge of new technology systemsparticularly on foods,maximizing the information and documentationto increase sales and efficiency."

In 1991 a series of new technology training pro-grammes was undertaken for all staff in Irish storesmainly covering new till systems. All staff receivedten hours training in this area.This training was pro-vided by the training co-ordinator in each store whoin turn had been trained in Dublin by a supervisor.

New technology is perceived to have raised theskills of staff as it allows them access to a greateramount of information on their sales area.

3.2.4 Participation of social partnersAs stated above, all staff in Ireland below super-visory level are unionized. Generally the union is notdirectly involved in setting or reviewing trainingpriorities. However, training plans are presented tothe union house committee, a body elected by thestaff to represent different areas of the store, for dis-cussion and comment.

Staff issues are usually dealt with by line managersbut can be referred to the house committee. Suchreferrals are then discussed with management,and action agreed. A spirit of co-operation ratherthan confrontation prevails. The unions are positivetowards change and initiative and work wellwith both staff and management. The aim of bothsides is to head off problems through discussionrather than letting them develop to confrontationand crisis.


3.2.5.1 Training plansComplementing the 'bottom-up' individually-based,training approach, annual training objectives foreach store are set in line with business plans. Thetraining plan for Marks & Spencer Ireland Ltd,agreed by the Irish management team for 1991-92,had the following objectives:

Establish an effective and creative training teamwithin each store.Structure training needs on an individual basisthrough job descriptions and appraisals.Maintain close liaison between the three Irish sto-res, whilst developing further associations withNorthern Ireland and division 1.Establish a training budget for each store andmaintain high training standards, whilst reducingunnecessary expenditure.

These training objectives, which are reviewed on asix monthly basis, are then translated into a detailedtraining plan.

The training plan for each store, reflects the overalltraining priorities set for division 1 as well as individ-ual training needs. Currently the broad training pri-orities for the division are;

increased commercial awareness of all staff,the highest standard of customer service,

the further development of interpersonal andmanagement skills within supervisory categories

As well as attending formal training programmes,staff are encouraged to undertake 'attachments' inother Marks & Spencer stores in order to broadentheir experience and knowledge.

Further product/sales related troining takes placeon the job, generally involving a fifteen minute ses-sion per staff member per week. All training, bothoff-the-job and on-the-job, is recorded for trainingrecord purposes. A spirit of healthy competition isencouraged between stores in relation to theamount of training undertaken with monthly com-parisons of each store's training activity being circu-lated throughout the Division.

Sales staff who are responsible for a certain sectionof a department are encouraged to take initiativeswithin their own area (eg. in displaying goods) andto broaden their jobs aspuch as possible. Sales staffrotate through differ'ent departments to broadentheir experience and to maintain a high level ofinterest in their job. Sales staff set their own sales tar-gets within forecasts set by supervisors. They areencouraged to make suggestions for improvementsin their department and receive feedback on all sug-gestions made.

Recently, a new grade of "till controller" was in-troduced with sales floor staff being promotedto this grade. This has had the effect of tighteningup controls and of releasing both sales and super-visory staff to concentrate more on dealing withcustomers.

Figure 2 -The Cork store

Given the exceptionally high level of training supportavailable in-company, Marks and Spencer IrelandLtd. do not generally look for external programmesin Ireland. However they do participate in program-mes available through the Federation of Irish Employ-ers (FIE) and the Irish Management Institute (IMO.They have found these programmes useful.

3.3 Closer look at a particular store:The cork branch ofMarks and Spencer Ireland Ltd.

3.3.1 General informationThe Cork branch of Marks and Spencer Ireland Ltd.was opened in 1989. It has both a food and non-food department. It is located in the main shoppingstreet of Cork, the Republic of Ireland's second larg-est city. Sales turnover in the Cork Store was 1R£12million in 1992 representing twenty-four per cent ofthe total turnover of Mark; and Spencer Ireland Ltd.

Within the Cork store, a number of changes havetaken place since its opening in 1989. On the com-mercial front a conscious effort has been made, dueto poorer than expected sales in the initial year, tomove the store's image up-market and to changethe range of products available in the store accord-ingly. This strategy has proved successful with a sig-nificant increase in sales (from IRam in 1989 to1R£12m in 1992 and a forecast level of 1R£14m in1993). As a result, six new deputy supervisors havebeen appointed and trained in Cork since the storeopened.

Figure 2 shows the structure of the Cork store.

Commercialmanager 1

Assistant

personnelmanager 1

Additional responsibility fortraining in Ireland

7 supervisors equivalent to floor managers

4 Commercial 1 Administrator 1 Personnel/Training 1 Operations

3 Till

c-mtrollers

Sales staff 50

5 deputy 1 deputysupervisors supervisor

6 7 clerical staff

3 deputysupervisors

personnel

1 training

co-ordinator1 catering

1 deputy

supervisorstockroom

warehousing

"/7

53

54

3.3.2 Human resourcesThe Cork store currently employs 92 people.Employment has remained stable since the storeopened in 1989.

Employment is distributed as follows:

50 full-time permanent general staff33 part-time permanent general staff

9 management and supervisors

92

An additional nine staff are employed in a tempo-rary part-time capacity.

Cork employees by age break down as follows:

Age

Under 3030 - 40over 40

662014

100

Years of service are as follows:

over 5 years2 -4 yearsless than 2 years

14

851

100

Absenteeism is very low under three per cent ofpaid staffing. Staff turnover is also low around twoper cent per annum.

3.3.3 Training strategyPrior to the opening of the Cork store, a comprehen-sive training programme was implemented basedon a clear strategy aimed at ensuring that Marksand Spencer's international standards of serviceetc. were evident from day 1 in Cork.

Supervisors were recruited a year before openingdate and given a very wide-ranging programme oftraining. Five of the seven supervisors wererecruited locally, one transferred from Dublin andone from London. Six months training in the UK wasgiven, all expenses paid, followed up by a twomonth period of training in the Dublin stores. Train-ed supervisors were then available to ensure thesmooth opening of the new store.

General staff were recruited four months prior tothe store's opening and given training in the Dublinstore backed up by a local training programme.Given the distance between Dublin, the neareststore, and Cork almost all general staff wererecruited locally. They therefore had no experienceof working in Marks &Spencer and most had no for-mal training in the retail sector when recruited.Thusa highly intensive training approach was adoptedfor these staff.

This training was considered to have been excellentby both staff and management.

Training for temporary staff is normally a week longone and a half days off the floor, the rest of theweek spent 'shadowing' an experienced staffmember.

Table 1 outlines the training undertaken in the Corkstore 1991/1992.

3.3.4 Training structureAs outlined in Section 2, each Marks and Spencerstore has a training co-ordinator who reports to theassistant personnel manager. The role of thetraining co-ordinator in Cork is to:

ensure that training is given a high level of prioritywithin the store,identify store training requirements in consulta-tion with supervisors,plan and arrange the agreed store training pro-gramme,keep all store training material and training rec-ords,ensure that 'general' training needs are met (e.g.new technology training, updating in commercialareas etc.),ensure training is followed up through the briefingsystem (outlined in section on identification oftraining needs below),advise on new training material,

The Cork training co-ordinator, when appointed,undertook a week long 'attachment' in a Scottishstore and attended a training of trainers course inScotland.

Training records are prepared by line managers inthe Cork store on a monthly basis and co-ordinatedby the training co-ordinator.

The three Irish training co-ordinators meet regularlyto discuss training and related issues and alsoattend divisional training meetings. In this waystrong networks are developed and maintained.

The Cork training co-ordinator works in this positionon a part-time basis (three days per week) combin-ing it with commercial responsibilities.

The training budget for Cork was 1R£5,000 in 1991,to cover incidental expenses only.

3.3.5 Impact of new technologyAll staff in the Cork Store received ten hours of newtechnology training during 1991 mainly to coverthe introduction of new till systems. Both man-agement and staff viewed this training as benefi-cial and considered that such technology hasallowed staff to broaden their jobs and to partici-pate more in planning for their ar a of responsibility.There was no resistance to the introduction of thistechnology.

3.3.6 Participation of social partnersAs stated above, all staff in Ireland below super-visory level, are unionized. Generally the union isnot directly involved in setting or reviewing training

Table 1 -Training undertaken by Marks & Spencers, Cork 1991/1992

Course Location No. of staff Length of Programme

Management Courses

Divisional deputymanagers conference Scotland 2 3 days

Divisional managementdevelopment course Bath 1 5 days

Disciplinary commercialworkshop Scotland 1 2 days

Assessment centretraining Scotland 1 1 day

Supervision

Sales floor standards& presentation Cork 7 1 day

Foods commercialworkshop Scotland 2 3 days

Textiles commercialworkshop Scotland 2 3 days

Managing change course Cork 7 2 days

Managing change course(deputy supervisors) Cork 10 1 day (May '92)

Time management Cork 10 1 day

Communication &presentation skills Cork 10 1 day

Working withassertiveness Cork 10 1 day

Main general staff training

Textiles &

food workshops Cork 50-60 half day

New technologytraining Cork 60 1.5 days

New commercialdocumentation Cork 60 1 hr. per person

Sales assistants

trained in stockroom Cork 4 2 days per person

Till procedureupdate Cork 50-60 half hr. per person

Health & safety Cork all staff half day

Theft & loss Cork all staff half hr. per staff

Quality service Cork all staff half hr. per staff

Attachments

Fnod supervisor Glasgow %lore 3 weeks

Food deputy supervisor Harrow London 2 weeks

Training co-ordinator Perth 1 week

Catering deputy supervision Bristol/Cork 3 days 55

56

priorities. However, training plans are presented tothe union house committee in Cork, a body electedby the staff to represent different areas of the store,for discussion and comment.

Staff issues are usually dealt with by line managersbut can be referred to the house committee. Suchreferrals are then discussed with management, andaction agreed. A spirit of co-operation rather thanconfrontation prevails. The unions in Cork are posi-tive towards change and initiative and work wellwith both staff and management. The aim of bothsides is to head off problems through discussionrather than letting them develop to confrontationand crisis. Union representatives interviewed inCork did not consider it necessary for them to take amore active role in training issues.

3.3.7 Description of major programmesin CorkThe major training programmes provided in theCork store in 1991/1992 are described below:

Managing change course for all supervisors.This course aimed at developing supervisors tohandle more responsibility, to increase their flexi-bility and to ensure that they delegated, as appro-priate, to their deputies. It was a two day, off-the-job, course run by an external tutor with a signifi-cant input from the Irish general manager on com-pany policy, priorities, etc.

Intensive development course for deputy supervi-sors.These workshops, which ran over a 6-7 monthperiod were provided in-house bythe two manag-ers, using the Marks & Spencer training materials,booklets, open learning packages etc. The work-shops covered topics such as assertiveness, man-aging change, time management etc. In this way,deputies have been developed to take on moreresponsibility, allowing supervisors to concentratemore on new developments and initiatives in thestore.

Product knowledge workshops for sales staff.Half day sessions for all sales staff were given bysupervisors aimed at updating and broadeningproduct knowledge. These programmes alsoaimed at increasing staff mobility across depart-ments (similarly styled workshops are now plan-ned for back stage and office staff).

Education sponsorshipApproval was given this year to offer sponsorshipto Irish staff undertaking further education. At thepresent time staff are being invited to apply forsuch sponsorship.The of this programme willdepend on staff interest and budgetary condi-tions. No indications of interest in Cork are avail-able yet.

New technology training.During 1991 all sales staff received approxi-mately ten hours training on the new tills intro-duced into the store during that year. Training wasgiven by the Cork training co-ordinator, havingherself been trained by a supervisor in Dublin.

J J

Such technology was agreed to have upgradedskills and to have given sales staff more informa-tion on their own area. There was no impact onstaff numbers or on the balance of part-timeworking.

Open learningAn open learning week is held each year duringwhich all training material can be viewed andused. Staff are encouraged and given time toavail themselves of the wide range of materialavailable.

All training programmes followed during the yearaimed at bringing all staff up to agreed divisionalstandards in each area and at consolidating the skilllevels of each employee.

3.4 Evaluation

3.4.1 By the firm and employeesBoth management and staff in the Irish storesagreed training is very comprehensive and relevant.As referred to above, all staff are encouraged toberesponsible for their own development and toavail of training as required. Part-time staff andwomen employees are found to be equally as wellmotivated towards training as both full-time andmale employees.

Union representatives are also very positive aboutthe training and career opportunities available toMarks and Spencer staff in the Irish stores.

3.4.2 By the authorMarks & Spencer Ireland Ltd. have a deep commit-ment to training for all staff. Training is seen as anessential investment for long term prosperity.

Staff development systems are highly formalized,but with increasing responsibility being given to indi-vidual staff members to develop to their full poten-tial with all necessary back-up support wovided bythe store.

Identification of training needs is clearly linked toperformance while training is very much standard-based. Training review is also clear!;' built into theprocess.

3.5 TransferabilityMarks & Spencer represents an Irish firm fully com-mitted to training with beneficial results in terms ofstaffs growing sense of personal responsibility andgeneral effectiveness, as well as in terms of growingsa:as. It thus represents an admirable example forother Irish retail stores to emulate when developingtheir training efforts.

Important lessons can be learnt from Marks & Spen-cer, particularly in relation to the identification oftraining needs, reviewing training undertaken andlinking training to performance on the job. HoweverMarks and Spencer Ireland Ltd. have access tocomprehensive back up support in terms of bothtraining materials and systems, a level of support notreadily available to other retail establishments inIreland.

3.6 ConclusionsThe arrival of Marks and Spencer in Ireland hasbrought a new and comprehensive approach totraining to the Irish retail sector.

Marks and Spencer have shown how an inte-grated staff training and development systemcan be operated in the retail sector and thereturns such a system can bring in terms of staffperformance and, ultimately, business perform-ance.

It must be remembered, however, that the trainingsystem operated by Marks and Spencer IrelandLtd. receives considerable back up support fromMarks and Spencer plc. in the United Kingdom.This support is not available for other Irish retailoutlets.

The question is therefore raised as to how similarsupport can be provided for other retail outlets inIreland. The needs and resources of stores in dif-ferent segments of the market and of differentsizes, also raises issues of transferability and stan-dardization versus individual requirements andspecial needs.

In the absence of a strong training tradition in theretail sector in Ireland, agreement must be rea-ched on the type of intervention required from theexternal education and training system; whetherthis should be in the form of advice,funding, directprovision, etc.

The experience of Marks and Spencer in Irelandhas shown that whatever back up support is avail-able it must be adapted to suit local conditionsand characteristics - interms of both staff and cus-tomers.

Marks and Spencer clearly demcnstrates how a'virtuous circle' of training staff performancequality- customer service business performance

further training can be developed. Both man-agement and staff in the Irish stores react verypositively to the obvious company commitment totheir ongoing development.

The Irish Marks and Spencer stores are union- isedwhile those in the United Kingdom are not. Whilemanagement/ union relations are very positive,the presence of a union has been seen to reduceflexibility in terms of part-time working, rewardfor performance etc.

The commitment to training in Marks and Spenceris demonstrated in many ways. For instance atraining co-ordinator is appointed in each outlet.This co-ordinator spends three full days a week ontraining matters, backed up by line managers,company training supports, etc., for a staff ofninety-two in the Cork store.

The systems for identifying individual trainingneeds and particularly for following up on train-ing received, are comprehensive. Such systemscould usefully be emulated in other Irish stores.

2.

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4. SUPERQUINN


4.1.1 Major facts about SuperquinnThe Superquinn grocery company is one of Ireland'sleading food retailing compagies. The company,which is privately owned, operates thirteen storesin the Dublin region with a combined sales areaof over 30,000 square metres. Superquinnemploy over 2,000 people and operate the higheststaff to store ratio of any grocery multiple inIreland.

The company specializes in the marketing of freshfoods particularly fruit, vegetables, meat, dairyproducts, bread and prepared food. In addition,each store carries a large range of dry goods, toilet-ries and wines and spirits.

Superquinn has pioneered the introduction ofcreches in is supermarkets as well as in-store baker-ies and butcher shops. It has also developed a rangeof specialist food departments in every store suchasdelicatessens, pizza kitchens, pasta kitchens, saladkitchens and even sausage kitchens. The centraltheme behind these new developments is thatSuperquinn wishes to convey the theme of provid-ing fresh foods to its customers.

4.1.2 Business strategySuperquinn competes on the basis of fresh food andcustomer service. It is competitive on price but isconsidered more expensive than Dunnes Stores,one of Ireland's largest grocery multiples, whichcompetes solely on the basis of lower prices andrestricted product choice. In one of its newer storesSuperquinn matched a competitor which specializesin discounting on price for every item it sold. Marketresearch found that despite prices being identicalwith the discounter, Superquinn was perceived bycustomers as being more expensive. However, fewof its competitors can match Superquinn for itscustomer service or the range of goods suppliedparticularly new fresh foods. For example, in recentyears Superquinn has spent much time andresources in encouraging the sale and consumptionof exotic fruits and vegetables even in storeslocated in working class areas.

The founder and owner of the Superquinn grocerycompany, Feargal Quinn, established his first shopin Dundalk in the North East of Ireland in 1960 hav-ing spent some months previously in Europe study-ing new self-service retailing methods. His fatherhad operated a chain of grocery shops called Pay-antake before going into the holiday camp busi-ness.

Feargal Quinn is regarded as an innovative foodretailer both in Ireland and internationally. He is in con-stant demand as a speaker to international food andretailing conferences world-wide. He travels abroadregularly to Europe, America and the Far East toresearch new retailing methods. He has written a best-selling book entitled "Crowning the Customer: How toBecome Customer-Driven" which explains his cus-tomer-oriented philosophy. He was born in Dublin in1936 and attended University College Dublin wherehe graduated in commerce in 1958.

The Dundalk outlet was small in size, approximately200 square metres, and had a total staff of eight. Itwas the first self-service grocery shop to be oper-ated in Ireland outside Dublin. Self-service super-markets were slow to take off in Ireland and the firstself-service grocery outlet to operate successfully..nly opened its doors in Dublin in 195Z

The second shop was established in a disused cinemain Finglas in 1965, a working class suburb on thenorth side of Dublin.The company grew to develop afurther twelve stores and five shopping centres in thegreater Dublin area, SOME of which are located inworking class districts and others in more prosperoussuburbs of Dublin. Superquinn has a policy of owningall its stores and shopping centres. By 1970 the com-pany had changed its name from "Quinn's Super-markets" to "Superquinn" and had located its headoffice in Sutton, the second store opened in Dublinafter Finglas.

Superquinn's share of the Irish grocery market isapproximately five per cent nationally but it aver-ages at around 16 per cent in Dublin where a thirdof the population lives with an even greater propor-tion of the nation's spending power. Since 1970 ithas concentrated in the greater Dublin area, havingclosed the Dundalk store. Pressure of competition inthe Dublin market is causing the company to exam-ine the feasibility of opening new stores in urbanareas outside of the capital. In one sense this wouldbe a radical departure for the company becausethe proximity of the stores to each other and headoffice allows for close and regular communicationall of Superquinn's shops are within forty kilometresof each other. Lines of communication would bestretched if the company was, as anticipated, toopen branches in towns eighty or a hundred kilo-metres away from Dublin.

The company has a very informal style of manage-ment; paper is kept to a minimum and writtenmemos are unheard of. Managers are asked whatuse they are going to make of non-essential infor-mation or statistics: if it is not needed then theyshould not want it. For example, the training depart-ment does not keep statistics on the hours of trainingit provides to the stores. Its most important statistic isthe number of trainees it trained in the year. Fromthe company's point of view the most important sta-tistics are the weekly performance figures of eachstore which are summarized in a five page docu-ment.This information is communicated to the storesevery week and it provides the management andstaff of the stores with details of the precedingweek's sales, cost of sales, gross margin and contri-bution. The results of each store are discussed eachweek with staff by the management of the store anda director of the company.

The company's lack of formality and dislike ofexcessive paperwork, however, have not stopped itfrom being the first grocery supermarket group tobe awarded the quality mark by the Irish QualityAssociation which represents the European Organi-zation for Quality (EOQC) in Ireland. Superquinnregard having achieved the quality mark as a majorcoup for the company and were surprised to

57

59

60 --

receive it given the customary requirements of qual-ity control systems for accompanying documenta-tion.

A key management philosophy is that managersshould not be office-b ound; the manage 's office ineach store is by design small and cramped.The com-pany prefers to enot. rage managers to spend theirtime out on the shop floor. This philosophy alsoextends to executive directors: once a week eachdirector will visit one of the company's thirteen sto-res to discuss the previous week's trading results andto discuss matters relating to that director's area ofresponsibility. The managing director, FeargalQuinn; makes it his duty to visit each store once aweek.

4.1.3 Structure of the firmSuperquinn operates a small head office of somesixty people. Within the company it is not known ashead office but as a "support centre". The trainingdepartment is located in the Finglas branch whichwas the company's first store in Dublin. The trainingdepartment is also regarded as a service depart-ment to the stores as are other departments whichare not directly connected with the operation of theshops.

The company operates an unusual company struc-tureif it can be called a structure at alland Super-quinn make no apology for not having a formalorganizational chart. The company points out that ifit had an ideal organizational chart it would be aninverted triangle and the person at the top wouldbe the customer under which in turn would be salesassistant, department chargehand (supervisor),shop management, shop manager, area manager,the Monday Table (see below) and, final;y, the man-aging director.

The basic conventional company structure has themanaging director, Feargal Quinn, with six execu-tive directors reporting to him. Within the companythis group is known as the board or the MondayTable after the practice for all the directors to meetevery Monday morning for three hours to discussfuture company policies. Day to day operationalmatters are rarely discussed at the Monday Table.This is the only formal meeting where all the direc-tors meet; ad hoc meetings can be arrangedbetween directors to discuss problems of mutualinterest but these are .always done on an informalbasis.

Each director has responsibility for a specificdepartment: finance, marketing, buying, property,training and personnel, and operations. The chair-man of Superquinn acts as the head of a separatesubsidiary company which manages Superquinn'sproperty investment.

The most unusual feature of the company's organ-izational structure is the distribution of authorityand the importance of the area and store managersin the organization. The operations director hasthree area managers reporting to him; each of thearea managers are responsible for four shops(though one is now responsible for five with the

opening of Superquinn's latest store in Lucan nearDublin). The store manager reports directly to thearea manager. Within the company the area man-ager has absolute responsibility and the same pointapplies to the store manager though to a lessorextent. Area managers have the authority to spendas much as is needed to provide the level of cus-tomer service necessary in the shops for which theyhave responsibility. If they believe customer stan-dards have slipped there is no limit to the amount ofmoney they can spend to rectify matters.

The area managers have specialist advisers inmeat, fruit and vegetables, etc., whose function it isto provide the area managers and stores with infor-mation and advice on how best to increase cus-tomer services in these specialist areas.

The function departments in the company such asfinance, training and personnel and marketing aresupport services to the area managers and storemanagers. The area managers or store managersare not obliged to use the services offered by thefunctional departments; the shops are required tobuy the services of the functional departments.Therefore, if an area or store manager does notfavour the services offered by the training and per-sonnel or marketing departments he or she is notrequired to use them. From the area or store man-ager's perspective the other departments a -eexpenses which come off his profit figures.The conpany's philosophy is that the functional depart-ments support the area and store managers.

The onus is on the functional departments to go outto the area or store managers and sell them servicesor programmes. it is rare for an area or store man-ager to go to where the functional department islocated. The services or programmes offered bythefunctional departments must be relevant to theneeds of the area managers of the stores i.e. theservices and programmes offered must be worth-while to the shops. From the staff in the functionaldepartment's point of view they often regard them-selves as external consultants to the stores. One ofthe challenges that the functional departments willhave to face in the future will be servicing the needsof stores outside the greater Dublin region. The factthat all of Superquinn's stores are all in the Dublinarea makes it easier for the functional departmentsto interface on a regular basis with the thr'e areamanagers and thirteen store managers.

58

4.1.4 Human resourcesThe company employs 2 000 people which includesboth full and part-time employees. This figure doesnot include casual workers which the companyemploys to pack bags at the check-outs.

Prior to 1984 the majority of Superquinn's staffwere full-time but with eighty per cent of sales beingon Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the companyfound that staff were underutilized in the early daysof the week. During week days peak shoppinghours are between the 10 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. andafter 5.50 p.m. during the late opening nights ofThursday and Friday. Rising labour costs forced thecompany to correct the imbalance by reducing the

percentage of full-time staff and bringing in part-time empioyees to cater for peak shopping hours.Superquinn stores are open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. onMonday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday andfrom 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Finish-ing time for staff is fifteen minutes after closing time.Employees work a basic 39 hours a week, five daysover six, Monday to Saturday.

Superquinn is fully unionized and relations with theunion are generally good.The wages of Superquinnemployees generally regarded as being 5 6 percent higher than their equivalent in competing com-panies. The staff/store ratio is twice that of Super-quinn's competitors. The company also providesgenerous holiday and compassionate leave allow-ances compared to its rivals.

Many of Superquinn's employees have the basicminimum education and joined the companystraight from leaving school. In some of these casesthe employee already had worked for Superquinnon a casual basis after school hours packing bags atthe check-out or assisting in the store room. One ofthe problems facing the training and personneldepartment is that some employees had a verypoor experience of education which made themreluctant to attend training courses provided by thecompany. For this reason the department had toensure that training programmes were not seen byparticipants as being overformal.

The company operates in a very competitive gro-cery market in Dublin which is considered to beover-supplied in terms of grocery outlets particu-larly large supermarkets. Superquinn's next largestcompetitor is four times the company's size and thenext largest is six times the size. Pressure on marketshare is not only coming from other multiple chainsbut also from symbol groups e.g. Spar, Mace, etc.,which have regained some of the market share theylost to the multiples.

4.2 Training policy

4.2.1 Training strategyThe company firmly believes in the importance oftraining particularly in the achievement of companyobjectives of being specialists in the marketing freshfood and providing the highest level of customerservice. Underpinning the company's training poli-cy is that staff must understand the need to react tocustomers in the Superquinn way that is serving thecustomer better than anyone else in the marketplace. Management believe that the function oftraining is to ensure that employees are allowed tolook after the customer. According to the trainingand personnel department, the environment for theprovision of the high level of customer servicedesired by Superquinn from its employees is createdin the training department.

Central to Superquinn's policy of continuing voca-tional education is the role of the selection andinduction training process in obtaining the rightcalibre of personnel to provide good customerservice to customers. The company believes that theselection process is crucial in finding employees who

are committed to serving the customer no matterhow difficult the customer is or the situation in whichthe employee finds him or herself. The manner inwhich an applicant handles the interview situation isa key factor in determining whether they will beselected. If the applicant can behave in a friendlyfashion during a tense situation like an interviewthen he or she is likely to behave in a friendly fashionto customers on the shop floor. Having the right per-sonality is the key criteria from Superquinn's point ofview and is more important than having previousexperience in retailing or having studied a courserelating to retailing. Superquinn believe that if arecruit has the right personality then they can betrained in the necessary techniques. Only one inthirty of those interviewed by Superquinn areoffered employment.

The majority of new employees in the shop assistantcategory undergo a three day induction pro-gramme before they are allowed on the shop floor.During the induction programme they are given anintroduction to the company and its emphasis onmarketing fresh foods and customer service. Duringthe early part of the 1980s the emphasis of theinduction programme was on explaining the com-pany's rules and then an introduction to the compa-ny's specialization in fresh foods and serving thecustomer better than any other retailer. Following areview, the company decided to reverse the com-ponents of the programme giving the company'sphilosophy of providing a high level of customerservice as the main part of the programme with thelatter part of the programme being devoted to rulesand conditions of employment. Each new employeeis given a copy of Superquinn's 'A Question of Team-work" publication whici. outlines the company's his-tory, philosophy, rules and terms of conditions. Thecompany believes that the induction programme isessential for instilling the Superquinn's philosophy toits new employees and maintain that employeeswho do not go on the course are not as good asemployees who do.

In a new departure for Superquinn which trainingexecutives believe will be commercially significant inthe future, recruits for the company's new store inLucan in West Dublin were given training in hygiene.Superquinn believe that in future all employees ofetail outlets handling fresh food will have to

receive training in hygiene. The trainer on thiscourse is a qualified hygienist and as mentionedabove the training centre has its own laboratorywith the capability for undertaking simple hygienetests.

The company plans to extend the hygiene compo-nent to all induction programmes in the future andin addition to other non-induction training pro-grammes.

4.2.2 Training structlreThe training and personnel department came for-mally into existence within Superquinn in 1979 withthe appointment of a full-time personnel manager.The appointment of a personnel officer was largelyas a result of the introduction of new employmentlegislation such as the Unfair Dismissals Act and of

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the opening of new stores by Superquinn. Prior tothis date there was no formal personnel manager.This was followed a year later by the recruitment ofa training officer who is now the head of the trainingsection within the department. She had previouslyworked on the shop floor as a check-out operatorand in the cash and wages department. She had noprevious work experience apart from Superquinnand in common with many of people working in theIrish grocery trade saw her ob in Superquinn as atemporary one until she could find something bet-ter. Prior to joining Superquinn she never considereda career in retailing_

A number of outside trainers were recruited into theorganization in 1981 to assist in the training effort.However, there were difficulties with these newpeople because though they were well qualifiedthey did not come from a retailing background.Thenew trainers themselves found the long workinghours and working week of Superquinn much dif-ferent from what they previously were used to.

External consultants were employed during thebeginning of the 1980s to assist with the trainingof new employees for new store openings. How-ever, Superquinn does not presently use externalconsultants to the same extent as it has done in thepast.

Within the training and personnel departmentthere are fourteen people including the director.The director has only been with the company since1986 and previously worked with an Americancomputer accessory company. By contrast his dep-uty has been with Superquinn all her working lifehaving started as a check-out operator. Since hisarrival in the company, the training and personneldepartment has become more structured andobjectives have been defined for the department. Acomplete and thorough review has taken place ofall Superquinn's training programmes.

The director has responsibility for training and per-onnel policies in Superquinn. There are three sec-

tions within the department: recruitment, trainingand administration.The recruitment section has oneperson whose full-time activity is the recruiting andselection of full and part-time employees from salesassistant grade up. Superquinn has established ascale of 1 10 for the recruitment of new employeesand selects one person for every thirty interviewed.The recruitment of casual staff for packing bags atthe check-out in each store is undertaken by spe-cially trained interviewers in each store. The bagpackers in each store are known as Super ServicePeople and are mainly young people still at schoolor in some cases mature people.There are four peo-ple in the Administration section who look after per-sonnel records.

The training section is the largest in the departmentwith eight staff. The head of the training section actsas the deputy head in the director's absence. Thetraining section is divided into four sub-sectionseach dealing with the training needs of a particularpart of the company: In-store departments, skills,Introduction/ customer relations and management.

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The in-store department sub-section has responsi-bility for the training of personnel in the in-storedepartments such as bakery, meat or fruit andvegetables. The skills sub-section handles the train-ing in relation to computerization, check-outs, cashoffice administration and other store supportoperations. The introduction/customer relationssub-section has a staff of four including the sectionhead. Its duties include the three day inductioncourse which all new employees must do and cus-tomer service courses. The remaining sub-sectionmanagement training as its name implies caters forthe training needs of people in management gra-des throughout the company.

One of the trainers in the training section has re-ceived training in hygiene and Superquinn hasestablished a small hygiene laboratory in the train-ing department. The laboratory is being used pres-ently for simple hygiene tests on behalf of the thir-teen stores and it is hoped to further develop thisfacility in the future. Superquinn believe that havinga training officer skilled in hygiene will be a vitalcompetitive asset in the future.This will be discussedin more detail later in the case study.

The training and personnel department is based atSuperquinn's store in Finglas in North Dublin. Super-quinn has made considerable investment in recentyears in improving both the size and facilities of thetraining and personnel department. The depart-ment has a number of offices for senior executives, atwo room interview area, a number of large roomdevoted entirely for training. One training room isequipped with check-out terminals of both the oldand current makes of machinery used in Super-quinn. A second room has computer terminalswhere users are trained in Superquinn's informationtechnologysystems.The department also has stand-ard audio-visual, television and video equipment.The department has also invested heavily in trainingpackages and videos. The centre also has its ownbright and attractive canteen serving food freshlyprepared from the adjoining store.

4.2.3 Impact of new technologiesSuperquinn has been to the fore in the introduction ofscanning technology. The majority of the company'sstores now have scanners at the checkouts.The com-pany is already planning the next part of the intro-duction of scanning facilities in the storage area ofeach store. In this way details on consignments of aparticular item delivered into the storage area ofeach store or directly on to the shelves by a supplierwill be fed into a computer. This information will bethen matched with the sales records of the item pro-duced by the check-out scanners. The analysis willhelp management determine which products areprofitable and which products should be deleted.

New recruits to Superquinn are given a five daycourse in operating check-out machines. In the com-pany's training centre there is one room which isequipped with both the old and existing make ofcheck-out machines. Trainees are also taught tooperate Superquinn's price look-up (PLU) systemwhereby check-out operators memorize prices ofgoods which do not have bar codes such as bread,

vegetables, etc. Superquinn believes that its check-out operations training course for sales assistants isunique in Ireland and possibly elsewhere.

The induction course up to now had been exclu-sively for full-time and part-time sales assistantgrades. The company also employs a large numberof casual staff who are principally school childrenwho work a few hours every week after schoolpacking bags at the check-out, collecting trolleys,etc.The casual staff are known as the Super ServicePeople. They are selected at store level and receiveon-the-job training. However, Superquinn is nowplanning to send all recruits to the Super ServicePeople on a one day induction course in order thatthey understand the Superquinn way of retailing. Intaking this policy decision Superquinn are followingin the steps of McDonalds and Disneyworld that noemployee should serve customers without someinitial training. The Super Service People are the firstpeople customers meet in the stores and the trainingand personnel department wants to make sure thatthe first impressions made by customers of Super-quinn staff are positive ones.As an illustration of thisattitude, Superquinn found that customers appreci-ated having more mature Super Service Peoplepacking their bags at the check-out because ahousewife with two children is likely to have more incommon with an older person packing her shoppingthan a sixteen year old school girl which is the normin many supermarkets.

Superquinn believe that legislation will be intro-duced in the next few years which will make it man-datory for employees in retail outlets who handlefood to have training in hygiene. For this reason thecompany has started providing training in hygieneand it hopes that by the time the legislation isenacted all Superquinn employees will havereceived the required training.

4.2.4 Participation of social partnersTraining policy in Superquinn is decided by man-agement alone. Employees or their representa-tives are not formally involved in the formulationand implementation of training policy and pro-grammes.

However, the training and personnel departmentwhich is responsible for training policy in the com-pany is in regular contact with all stores and the per-sonnel director makes an in-depth visit to one storea week to discuss training with the staff.

4.2.5 Description of major programmesPrior the formation of the training and personneldepartment in 1980 employees had limited optionsavailable to them in terms of training. A number ofemployees attended external courses in retailingmost notably the two year diploma in the principlesof retailing course provided by the College of Mar-keting and Design in Dublin. Attendance at thiscourse was purely voluntary at the time but since1980 Superquinn has recognized this course andactively encourage employees to attend it.

Other external providers of training were used bySuperquinn prior to the establishment of the train-

ing and personnel department for short, specialistcourses. The Irish Management Institute in Dublin isan example of an external provider of training thatSuperquinn has used in the past particularly forsupervisory management courses.

Since the formation of the training function withinthe company in 1980 most of the training coursesprovided by the company were developed internally. The main reason for this has been the fact thatSuperquinn has not been able to outsource trainingprogrammes which focus specifically on the retailsector. Many of the training courses and program-mes which the trainers have inspected are manufac-turing-oriented and thus unsuitable for use in a gro-cery retail environment.

Since 1990 however a number of courses havebeen outsourced. A key criteria of the effectivenessof the training and personnel department is that itprovides courses that are relevant to the needs ofthe stores. In recent years a growing concern of thearea managers and the store managers has beenthe standards of presentation in the shops both interms of appearance and customers relations. Theview was expressed that standards had fallen fromwhat Superquinn had a right to expect from boththe shops and staff. Following consultations with thearea and store managers the training and person-nel department outsourced a UK training packagesince it could not be developed internally and it wasnot available from Irish sources. The course wasentitled "Customer care: what is it?"and Superquinnsought the permission of the producer to customizeit to make it relevant to Irish conditions. This permis-sion was granted by the UK company and Super-quinn now run this two day course in all of its stores.The company also purchased another UK package"Leadership and Coaching" which emphasizedteam building skills for use with management andchargehands (supervisors).

In the few situations were Superquinn have boughtexternal continuing education programmes a com-mon feature to all has been the adaptations that thecompany has made to make the material relevantto retailing. In other cases the company will addmodules to the training material to relate the mate-rial to the Superquinn way of doing things.

With the increased competition within the Irish gro-cery retail sector both area and shop managers areunder greater competitive pressures. A review ofmanagement policy in the shops found that shopmanagers were trying to do every thing themselvesand that there was a need for them to delegatemore responsibility to the next level down of man-agement most notably the department chargehand(supervisory) level. The intention was to have thestore manager deal with issues relating to overallstore management and the department charge-hands were to take over the responsibility of run-ning their departments. Store managers, therefore,had to be trained in management techniquesparticularly in delegation. Similarly, the depart-mental chargehands had to receive training insupervisory management that allowed them to takeresponsibility for managing their departments. A 63

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key element for the supervisors was to developleadership skills.

The task facing the training and personnel depart-ment was a formidable one. They had to changestore managers from handling a very-wide range ofactivities to concentrating on real managementproblems and they had to nurture the capability ofchargehands to look after the running of theirdepartments. In addition to this they also had toface a problem which is not unique to Irish retailing- that many of Superquinn's employees had joinedthe company having completed the minimum com-pulsory secondary level education. Many of theseearly school leavers had unsatisfactory schoolexperiences or had not undertaken anyformal edu-cation for a number of years and therefore viewedtraining somewhat with trepidation and suspicion.The training and personnel department also recog-nized that the training had to have regard for thegrocery retailing sector in general and Superquinnin particular. The provision of such continuing edu-cation courses for management and supervisorswas outside the capability of the training and per-sonnel department and Superquinn examined anumber of training options including open learning.

In researching the open learning option the deputymanager of the department undertook a distancelearning course in supervisory management fromPlassey Management and Technology Centre inLimerick University. The manager found that whilethe structure and materials were excellent thecourse was not suited to retailing conditions.Changes were made following receipt of permis-sion from the course developers to make the coursemore relevant to the retail sector. The experiencegained by the manager undertaking the course wasinvaluable. The training and personnel departmentrealized that if Superquinn was to maximize thebenefits of open learning particularly to employeeswho left school early or who had an unsatisfactoryexperience at school it would have to provide a sup-port structure for trainees in order to overcome thedisadvantage of the ease in which people can optout of open learning courses. As part of their duties,the trainers assigned to chargehands undertakingthe distance learning supervisory managementcourse provide support in terms of organizingmeetings to encourage the trainees to undertakethe exercises and assignments. The departmentorganizes a session once a week in the training cen-tre for the chargehands undertaking the supervi-sory management course so that the individualtrainees do not feel isolated or believe that onlythey are having problems with the course material.The presence of a trainer in the weekly sessions notonly encourages the trainees to do the assignmentsbut he or she also acts as a facilitator to help thetrainees to relate the course material to their everyday needs. Presently there are eleven store staffmembers on the course plus one trainer from thetraining and personnel department.

The same support mechanisms are available to staffmembers who are studying for the diploma in prin-ciples of supermarket management. This is a twoyear part-time course organized by the College of

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Marketing and Design in Dublin. Superquinn hasprovided considerable inputs into the course designand contents. The course is limited to those who areworking in supermarkets though there is a full-timeday course for those aspiring to a career in retailmanagement. The principles of management andmerchandising are the major study areas.Merchan-dising includes not only the grocery/provisionsarea but also specialized areas such as fruit/veget-ables, meat, bacon, dairy, delicatessen and offlicence. Also covered are security, business law forthe food trade and elementary accounting. Thereare currently nine Superquinn employees on thisdiploma course and all despite being early schoolleavers have achieved high grades in examinationsto date.

For shop managers the company has started enroll-ing a small number of executives on a Master ofBusiness Administration course in retailing andwholesaling in Strathclyde University in Scotland.Again, the reason that Superquinn selected anexternal course was that it was beyond theresources of the training and personnel departmentto provide such a course and the Strathclyde Uni-versity MBA course was chosen because there wasno suitable course available in Ireland. Superquinnhave selected six managers for this course whichinvolves a substantial time commitment betweentravelling to the course in Scotland and studying.The University provides a tutor but this input is lim-ited to providing academic assistance. Superquinn'straining and personnel department organizesweekly meetings in Dublin for the MBA students torevise the course material together and to applythetheory to actual Superquinn situations. Superquinnis pleased with the progress of the MBA students todate most of whom have gained high grades inexaminations.The course has aroused considerableinterest among other managers and Superquinnwill be sending more managers when the coursestarts again later in the year.

Continuing vocational education courses for salesassistants and grades below chargehand (super-visor) is virtually all provided internally by Super-quinn. The chargehand in each department isresponsible for the smooth running of t', -.:part-ment and for the training of all staff members in thedepartment. The training provided by the charge-hands is very much unstructured and informal andvery often will depend on the chargehand's ownstyle of management. Some prefer group trainingsessions while others prefer one-to-one coachingsessions. The training and personnel departmentprovides the support and documentation to enablethe chargehands to provide training to departmentstaff.

Because of Superquinn's emphasis on fresh foodsand its continuing ende6vours to promote the con-sumption of exotic fruits and vegetables, it becameapparent to the training and personnel departmentthat material would have to be developed to assistthe chargehands in the fruit and vegetable depart-ments in all the stores in training staff. As a majorproject the department developed a manual illus-trating each of the exotic fruits and vegetables

stocked by the company and providing informationon how such products were to be prepared andconsumed by the customer.The assistance of suppli-ers was enlisted in preparing the manual which isnow regularly used not only as a training aid forSuperquinn employees but also as an aid to con-sumers who wish to try new fruits and vegetables. Itis also known that a competitor of Superquinn hasmanaged to obtain a copy of the manual! It is theresponsibility of the chargehands to ensure thatdepartment staff are up-to-date with productknowledge and if there are weaknesses in this areahe or she can point the staff member to the manual.The training and personnel department has alsoorganized films and videos as well as tastingsessions for staff in the fruit and vegetabledepartments in all Superquinn stores to ensurethat their product knowledge is at the requiredlevel.

The training and personnel department also pro-vide courses in customer service for sales assistantsand chargehands which would cover topics includ-ing merchandising, quality control, documentation,hygiene and, most importantly of all, customer care.These courses are generally held in the training cen-tre in Finglas and are generally two days in dura-tion. All training sessions regardless of their aim willhave a component on the importance of customercare and how customer service can be improved inthe stores.

It is important to note that while the training andpersonnel department provide support and assis-tance to the store managers and chargehands inrespect of the continuing vocational education ofsales assistants the responsibility for assessing thetraining needs of individual employees rests withthe store manager and chargehand concerned.Thenormal practice is that each sales assistant will sitdown with his or her manager/ supervisor to discusstheir career plan. This is not a formal process but inkeeping with Superquinn policy and with the factthat many employees left school early is kept infor-mal. The normal progression route is for each salesassistant to work on the check-out initially and thenmove to general duties on the shop floor. If theemployee shows ability he or she is moved to one ofthe departments such as the meat, bakery, fish, wineand fruit and vegetable departments and can ulti-mately advance to becoming the chargehand forthat department. Once the employee has reachedchargehand level he or she is eligible for formal,structured courses organized internally or exter-nally. The level above department chargehand isstore management and the next level above that isthe area manager grade. In discussing each salesassistants' career plan the manager will outline whatqualities and training the employee will need toadvance to the next higher grade. Employees areencouraged to take their own initiative in furtheringtheir continuing vocational education. Employeeswho, for example, undertake the certificate anddiploma course in the principles of supermarketretailing in Dublin's College of Marketing andDesign will be seen by management as underliningtheir commitment to the company and a career inretailing.

As an aid to the career planning process the trainingand personnel department organizes personalitytesting for employees. This is intended to show staffmembers whether they are introvert/extrovertpersonalities, etc. It may also indicate whether theyprefer working on their own or with customers. If thetest shows that they are best working on their ownthe company will try to accommodate that as far aspossible believing that if staff are unhappy in oneposition this will be communicated to the customerwho will not enjoy her shopping experience as aresult.

In terms of future training needs the training andpersonnel department are conscious of a number ofneeds within the company. The level of competitionin the grocery supermarket in Ireland has intensifieddramatically. It is generally accepted that the Great-er Dublin area is over supplied in terms of shoppingsales space: there is just too many supermarkets.Some of these will undoubtedly fail in the comingyears. The objective of the training and personneldepartment is to geared to ensuring that Super-quinn stays in business. This means focusing on pro-viding a consistently high level of customer serviceand quality in terms of product range and availa-bility, appearance and presentation. The impor-tance of achieving a satisfactory financial result,while always important, is now receiving greaterprominence among senior management. The tech-nical aspects of making money will be a concern ofthe training and personnel department particularlyobtaining the best use of the company's informationtechnology. The training of staff in the use of com-puters to calculate Direct Product Profitability (DPP)which attempts to specify how the highest return tothe company can be obtained from a given amountof shelf space.The department will also be devotingits attention to achieving ways of making moneywork harder for Superquinn.

The department would like though to see a balancemaintained between the technical and people skillsof continuing vocational educational training in thecompany i.e. that the generation of profit maximi-zation will not take precedence of the personaldevelopment of staff. It is also hoped that Super-quinn will continue to be an informal organizationand the high levels of communications betweenstaff and management will continue.

The department also believes that it has made theright strategic decision to start training staff in foodhygiene. All of the staff recruited for its new store inLucan have received training in hygiene and Super-quinn will gradually extend this over the next threeyears to the rest of the stores. The company believesthat it will be legally mandatory for all employees inretail outlets handling food will have to have train-ing in hygiene. By starting now Superquinn believesit will gain a competitive advantage over its groceryrivals.

The department also recognizes the substantialinvestment it has made over the years in continuingvocational education within the company particu-larly those courses which it has developed itself andwhich specifically relate to Irish retailing conditions.

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It is considering the possibility of making some ofthese courses commercially available to otherorganizations.

The training and personnel department would like tosee further courses being made available to thechargehand grades within the company given that thestore managers are delegating an increasing amountof responsibility to the department chargehands. Itwould like to see the chargehands taking a greaterresponsibility for training in their departments.

The department recognizes that the level of trainingit provides in the some in-store departments such asthe cosmetics and toiletries department wherehigh margins are possible could be improved andis considering the possibility of producing a manualon cosmetics and toiletries similar to the one it hasdeveloped for exotic fruit and vegetables.

4.3 Closer look at a particular storeIn November 1991 Superquinn opened a new storein Lucan on the west side of Dublin. As with its previ-ous developments, Superquinn's property subsid-iary was responsible for developing both the storeand the shopping centre in which it is located. Theshopping centre has a pharmacist, newsagent andhairdressing salon, etc., as tenants and there is alsooffice space for small businesses.

The store was the first for Superquinn for someyears as the company had experienced two set-backs when fire had destroyed its combined storeand head office in Sutton and damaged anotherstore in Blanchardstown.

The training and personnel department was activein the preparation programme for the opening ofthe new store. It played a major role in the recruit-ment process and later in the training of staff priorto the opening of Lucan.

Out of the 183 staff working in the new store, some150 were completely new to the company and theremainder came from existing positions withinSuperquinn. The company could have filled all thepermanent positions from within Superquinn butmanagement decided from an early stage that newstaff should be recruited were possible. It wasdecided that the new enthusiasm of staff allied withtraining could lead to the Lucan store setting newstandards within Superquinn which the other storeswould then have to emulate.

In keeping with Superquinn policy, the manager ofthe store considered that the recruitment of staffwas an important part of the training process. Therecruitment programme gave the manager and therecruitment team an opportunity to initially screenapplicants who could form part of the team atLucan. Both manager and recruitment teamendeavoured to make the interview process asrelaxed and friendly as possible. The intention wasto portray Superquinn as a company where it wouldbe fun to work and where team spirit was encour-aged. The manager believed that applicants shouldenjoy applying for a job in Superquinn. Even if jobseekers were unsuccessful in their application the

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recruitment process would serve as a valuable pub-lic relations exercise as they would continue to havea good impression of Superquinn.

The manager of the store personally met eachapplicant in the beginning.Then each applicant wasinterviewed for a further one or two times by a twoperson team from the training and personneldepartment. Emphasis was put on selecting peoplewho would most likely fit into the Superquinn way ofretailing (i.e. those who would enjoy serving cus-tomers) and who would work best as part of a team.Notes were compared on each applicant and theteam began the process of selecting the final num-bers.

The manager of the store had established a numberof objectives he wanted the training.which followedthe selection process to achieve. His major objectivewas to ensure the new employees got to know andparticipate in the culture of the company. He alsoviewed the training as educating the new staff intheir roles in the store.

The successful recruits were then invited to Super-quinn's Training Centre in Finglas for the start oftheir training. In keeping with Superquinn's experi-ence that many of its employees did not have agood experience of school and therefore would besuspicious of formal education, the new recruitswere not told that they were going on a trainingcourse. All new entrants were personally welcomedand congratulated on their appointment by thestore manager.The emphasis on the first day was onbreaking the ice with music, company videos andslide shows being played. The store managementteam mingled with the new recruits during coffeebreaks and at meal times to make the atmospherefeel relaxed and informal. Management felt thatit was important to meet the new employees onthe first day to create a sense of importancethat the store manager had taken time off hisbusy schedule leading up to the store opening towelcome them.

The new employees were divided into three teamsfor the three week training period. The teams werethen further sub-divided according to the type ofwork the staff would be doing in the new store,chargehands, checkout operators, store people,etc. A comprehensive programme of training andstore visits was arranged. Each participant depend-ing on his or her appointed position in the new storereceived training appropriate to that position andvisited existing stores to see how the work was car-ried out in practice. The classroom sessions werekept as informal as possible and the emphasis wason allowing participants to discuss what they hadlearnt. The highlight of the training programme formany of the new recruits was the visit to the Lucanstore two weeks prior to its opening.

The training process leading up to the opening ofthe Lucan store was also an educational process forthe training and personnel department becausethirty three of the total came from existing Super-quinn stores. While these were also included in thetraining programme the nature of their programme

was more on refreshing them on what they hadlearnt on previous training courses. Their presenceon these courses allowed trainers to ask them whatthey had learnt from previous courses and whatthey had applied since. The participants' commentsproved useful in helping the training and personneldepartment to evaluate existing courses and todetermine where changes should be made.

It is Superquinn's style of management that the storemanagers are considered to be "customers" of thestaff departments such as the training and person-nel department.The manager of the Lucan store didnot use a traditional way of evaluating the traininghis new staff had received from the training andpersonnel department such as the money spent oftraining. His measure of the performance of thetrainers was that his staff, when the store opened inNovember 1991, wanted to do their work profes-sionally and wanted to it with enthusiasm. For himenthusiasm was a key word. He also felt that staffshould enjoy themselves, that there should be a funelement to work. The manager did not believe thatthe outcome of training could be or should be meas-ured in terms of cost or numbers. He was entirelysatisfied with the training that had been provided tohis staff in the period prior to the opening of thestore.

The manager believed that it was important for thetraining and personnel department to have a veryclose working relationship with the store. Such apartnership would work best if the training person-nel regularly met with him and his staff to assess thetraining programme that had been put in place forthe opening of the store. He particularly welcomedthe fact that the training and personnel departmenthad provided a full-time trainer to the store for anumber of weeks after the opening. Providing con-tinuing support was as important to the manager asthe initial training.

4.4 Evaluation

4.4.1 By the managementSuperquinn is a company which believes in theimportance of continuing vocational education inassisting the company to survive in a very competi-tive Irish grocery marketplace. Training has animportant role within the company in helping Super-quinn to maintain its competitive advantage in freshfood retailing and in providing a superior level ofcustomer service than its competitors.

The training and personnel department within thecompany plays a supporting role to each of thecompany's thirteen shops. Within Superquinn thestore manager has absolute responsibility for theperformance of the store. Store managers are notrequired to use the services of the training and per-sonnel department: when they do so they must paya fee to the department. This puts an onus on thetraining and personnel department and other sup-porting service organizations to "market" a servicewhich is relevant to the needs of the stores.

The company believes strongly that continuingvocational education is strongly linked with the

selection and induction training process. Super-quinn believe strongly that personality not qualifi-cations or previous experience is the most importantattribute among new recruits. The role of the train-ing and personnel department is providing the con-ditions in which employees can serve the customerto a level better than any of Superquinn's competi-tors can provide.

The training and personnel department supportsthe stores with a wide range of induction and con-tinuing educafion courses for both managementand shop floor grades. Even casual employees whowork in the stores fora small number of hours everyweek sweeping the floors or packing bags at thecheck-out must now undergo a one day inductioncourse.

Many of the courses provided by the Departmenthave been developed internally. Where a contin-uing vocational education course cannot be pro-vided internally by the company, the training andpersonnel department endeavour to have thecourse material re-developed to suit the retailingindustry in general and to Superquinn's method ofretailing in particular.The department also supportsthe trainees on external courses by providing themwith weekly sessions with a trainer from the trainingcentre to help them relate the course content to theiractual working situation.

The company believes that its recent policy decisionto extend training in hygiene to all employees han-dling food will enable it to gain a competitiveadvantage in the future as forthcoming legislationwill make it mandatory for all people handling foodin retail outlets to have basic training in retailing.

4.4.2 By the employees and theirrepresentativesThe employees of Superquinn have expressed theirsatisfaction with the training programmes providedby management. Though employees or their.repre-sentatives do not have direct influence in the forma-tion of training policy within the company becauseof the close relationship that exists between staffand management, employees are encouraged tomake suggestions regarding future training policiesand programmes.

There is a recognition among Superquinn employ-ees of the high standards of continuing vocationaltraining which they receive and of the fact that suchtraining is not available in the majority of other com-panies operating in the Irish grocery market.

4.4.3 By the authorSuperquinn is an example of a company whosemethod of conducting business is dominated by thevery individual philosophy of its founder, FeargalQuinn. His view of customers and the way in whichSuperquinn employees should treat customers isevident in the company s training policy. His viewthat unless potential employees have the person-ality to serve customers in the Superquinn way thenthey can't be trained to do so is one that some pro-fessionals within the training sector will disagreewith. However, Si iperquinn is confident that its

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approach is correct and point to its continuing suc-cess and growth in the very competitive grocerymarket in Ireland where many other firms, bothnative and foreign, have failed.

The company also has a very unusualif somewhatunorthodoxapproach to the measurement of theeffectiveness of training. Superquinn is not a paperorganization: few statistics are kept by the trainingand personnel department on the cost of training.As far as con be gauged Superquinn do not engagein cost-benefit analysis of its training programmes.The most important statistic retained by the depart-ment is the number of staff members who have par-ticipated on its training programmes during thefinancial year.

4.5 TransferabilitySuperquinn prides itself on being a customer-ori-ented company: this attitude is reflected in the struc-ture of the company. The most important peoplein the company are the area managers and thestore managers. Head office and other staff unitsexist to support the area and store managers.As with other support departments, the trainingand personnel department must go out to the storesand "sell" their services to the store managers. Thearea and store managers are not obliged to "buy"from the training and personnel department par-ticularly if they think by doing so the stores' profitsfor which they are responsiblewill be reduced.The training and personnel department is forcedtherefore to spend considerable time ascertainingthe needs of store managers and devising trainingprogrammes which will suit their needs and require-ments. Trainers spend a considerable amount oftheir time discussing training programmes withtheir "customers". Superquinn believe that thisapproach ensures that the department's policiesand programmes reflect what the users want.This user-oriented approach could serve as a modelfor other companies and not only in the retailsector who wish to devise training policies foremployee.; and managers consistent with actual asopposed to perceived needs.

Another element of Superquinn's training policywhich is worthy of consideration is to achieve a com-petitive advantage through training. In Super-quinn's case, the training and personnel depart-ment has developed a hygiene course for itsemployees and it plans to have all its employees gothrough this course over the next three years.Superquinn believe that future legislation will makeit mandatory for all retail sector employees han-dling food to undertake this training. By startingnow Superquinn hope to achieve a competitiveadvantage over their rivals in Ireland in having alltheir employees go on the course before the legisla-tion is enacted. Their rivals who have not yet devel-oped such a course will then be forced to use theexpen:ve option of having to train all their employ-ees in a very short period. By scanning the legal

environment in which Superquinn operate, thetraining and personnel department have devel-oped a training programme which could help thecompany to achieve a possible competitive costadvantage over its rivals.

Superquinn in common with many other retailershave found that there is a shortage of qualitytrainingprogrammes specifically for the retail sector whichcan be purchased externally.Superquinn's solution tothis has been to develop its own training materialsmost of which are of a very high quality or to adaptexisting external material to its own needs. The train-ing and personnel department are considering thepossibility of marketing this material. This is an optionwhich other retail companies which have investedheavily in training might consider. From an industrypoint of view it would help solve the problem of lackof quality training materials on the market. From thecompany's point of view the sale of the materialwould help recoup the cost of producing the materialand would perhaps help overcome the perceptionthat training departments are not just cost centres butthey can also generate revenues from their lwnactivities.

4.6 ConclusionSuperquinn is a very interesting grocery company tostudy because of its policies and structure.The com-pany is very customer-oriented and it has been firstin Irelandand in many other European countriesto introduce radical new innovations such ascreches in shops and pizza counters. From the pointof view of continuing vocational education this cus-tomer-oriented attitude is reflected in the work ofthe training and personnel department.The depart-ment must market its services to all of Superquinn'sretail outletsthe store managers are not obliged touse its services. The department must, therefore,undertake market research among the store man-agers to ascertain what training programmes arerequired and then develop programmes to meetthe needs of the individual stores. This process helpsto ensure that the training and personnel depart-ment are in constant communication and trainingprogrammes are developed which meet the realneeds of the stores.

Superquinn believes in the importance of linkingrecruitment to continuing vocational training andthe company also emphasises the importance of itsinduction training programme. A basic tenet ofSuperquinn's approach is that if a new recruit hasthe right personality to serve customers he or shecan be trained in the necessary techniques. For apotential employee to have the right personality ismore important to Superquinn then having previ-ous experience in the retail sector.

The Service Industries Research Centre would like tothank the management and staff of Superquinn fortheir support and assistance in the preparation ofthis case study.

66

PART 3:

CONCLUSIONS

v 1. Selection of case studies

1. SELECTION OF CASE STUDIES

The four Irish case studies were selected from a listof ten Irish retail companies submitted by the Ser-vice Industries Research Centre. One of the compa-nies selected, Marks & Spencer, was studied as partof a three nation study.

The companies submitted to the central team hadbeen chosen on the basis of criteria relating to theircontinuing vocational education programmes. Thecompanies were interviewed by the Service Indus-tries Research Centre and during the interviewprocess a questionnaire designed by the centralteam was completed.

One of the difficulties faced by the Service Indus-tries Research Centre was the small number of Irishretail companies which met the criteria set down forinclusion in the list of candidates from which thecompanies to be investigated in the case studieswere to be selected. Training within the Irish retailindustry is almost exclusively found in large compa-nies. Another related feature of the Irish retail indus-try which restricted the list of candidates is that it islargely dominated in terms of numbers of enter-prises by SMEs and in terms of turnover by a smallnumber of very large companies.

1.1 Planning and conception of trainingSystematic training of staff within the retail sector inIreland is a relatively new development. For exam-ple in one of the four Irish case studies, Clerys, oneof the largest department stores in Dublin employ-ing 320 people, there was no training departmentand no formalized training system up until two anda half years ago. Similarly, the training function inSuperquinn was not formally established until 1979.The recession in Ireland coupled with the arrival ofUK-owned retail companies in the Irish retail sectorhave combined to make a very difficult tradingenvironment and have underlined the necessity forcompanies to develop staff to meet the changingmarket conditions. The large UK firms which haveestablished in Ireland have long traditions of train-ing and a good example of this is Marks & Spencer.The higher level of professionalism of the staff in theUK-owned stores has been a contributing factor toindigenous companies realizing the need to raisestaff standards in their stores.

Formal planning of training within companies in-volved in the Irish retail sector is largely tF e preserveof large companies. The four case stucies under-taken in Ireland indicated that the enterprises pro-filed undertook formal planning of training. Thispractice, however, is not found in smaller companiesas training in these companies is undertaken on anad hoc basis if at all.

Formal planning of training within companies is theresponsibility of the training manager who is oftenthe personnel manager. The training programmesare directed principally at two categories, salesstaff and supervisors/ middle managers. Formalassessment of staff training needs is still in its infancyin Ireland; the majority of firms rely on subjectiveestimates of staff training needs as perceived bysupervisors and management. Marks & Spencer isan exception as the company has a detailed and

formal system for assessing staff training needs; ESBis pilot-testing a programme to assess individualtraining requirements.

The social partners are not involved in training atthe level of the enterprise. Employees or their repre-sentatives are not involved in establishing companytraining policies or in drawing up annual trainingplans. The development of training policies andobjectives is the prerogative of management. In twoof the companies profiled in the case studies, Marks&Spencer and ESB, structures existed in wF.ich train-ing could be discussed between management andstaff. In the case of the ESB these structures arechiefly used to discuss pay and conditions. Negotia-tions between management and trade unionsrarely focus on training, the predominant concernsbeing traditional industrial relation issues of payand conditions. As mentioned above, the trainingmanager is often also the personnel manager. Thiscan cause difficulties in negotiations between man-agement and trade unions because there havebeen instances in the recent past where trainingwas introduced at a time of redundancy: this hasnot helped to create a positive attitude for trainingin these firms among staff or their representatives.Some trade unionists believe that it would bebeneficial to separate training from industrial rela-tions.

The objectives of training vary from company, tocompany but as a general principle, training isgeared towards enabling sales staff to improvetheir selling skills and relations with customers andto increase product knowledge levels. At the super-visory level, training is aimed at allowing supervis-ors to develop their interpersonal and managerialskills. Training for new technology is becomingincreasingly relevant with the introduction of EPOStechnology.

Training plans within large organizations are gen-erally integrated into overall corporate businessplans. In the case of the ESB, however, this is a recentintroduction. In the case of the vast majority of firmsin the Irish retail sector particularly SMEs, neither aformal business plan or training plan is likely to exist.

Training plans tend to reflect overall corporateneeds rather than individual needs. However, asindicated in the Marks & Spencer case study, staff inthe company are encouraged to assess their owntraining requirements and to take responsibility fortheir own personal development.

1.2 Type of personnel concerned withtrainingTraining for new entrants into the company is a veryimportant part of training within the Irish retail sec-tor. Because of the absence of a nationally rec-ognized retail skills training course for new entrantsto the sector, the onus on providing training lies withmanagement. In the larger companies there areformal induction training programmes, and theSuperquinn case study is a good example of acompany which provides induction training bothfor full-time and part-time staff. In the smaller retailenterprise training is provided on an informal basis

66

69

to new entrants and is largely on-the-job in-struction.

Induction training is intended to provide newcom-ers with basic skills and to introduce the newemployee to the culture of the company. As indi-cated in the sectoral report many employers actu-ally prefer to recruit employees without any priortraining or experience in the retail sector. Theybelieve it will be easier to train such newcomers intheir methods and philosophy of retailing.

Training for existing staff is also an important part ofthe work of training departments of firms within theretail sector. The introduction of new technology,such as EPOS, means that cashiers require trainingto use the new scanning and point of salesmachines.The recession and the increased competi-tion between retail outlets has created the need forincreased training in better selling methods andincreased emphasis on customer service. Enter-prises have also put emphasis on developing neskills to allow them to take advantage of profitablemarket niches. For example, Superquinn invest aconsiderable amount of training on staff in special-ist food areas such as bakeries and meat counterswhere it is possible to earn higher margins than withfood products supplied by manufacturers. Productknowledge courses are very important as was illus-trated in the case of ESB where products sold in thestores are constantly changing.

Retail organizations are now beginning to putincreased importance on training for supervisorand management grades. ComprAtion has resultedin the need for managers to take greater responsi-bility for the strategic management of their storeswith the result that a greater part of their formertactical management duties are now being dele-gated to supervisors. While the larger retail organi-zations still continue to train supervise, and man-agers internally there is an increasing trend towardsthe use of outside courses particularly degree cour-ses. At present there are no degree courses in retailmanagement being offered in Ireland and retailorganizations must send their managers to the UK.Superquinn, for example, has a number of mangersattending an MBA course in Strathclyde Universityin Scotland. However, the College of Marketing inDublin is having discussions with Trinity CollegeDublin about the possibility of offering a degreecourt 3 in distribution marketing management.

As noted in the sectoral report women account forthe largest percentage of persons engaged in theretail sector in Ireland. While women employees areconcentrated in the lower grades the trend is forwomen to increasingly hold management positions.In the case of Clerys,women account for 56 per centof all employees but account for 64 and 73 per centof buyer and department manager positions. Fewretail organizations offer training courses specifi-cally for women employees though ESB has aCareer Development programme specifically toassist female employees in identifying and develop-ing their own abilities, personality characteristicsand occupational interests. It is likely that other retailorganizations will follow ESB's example in the future

68

given the number of female employees in mostretail organizations.

Part-time working in the retail sector is increasingthough the exact numbers are difficult to quantify. Itis estimated that part time employment accounts for20 per cent of total persons employed in the retailindustry in Ireland. Rising labour costs and competi-tive market pressures are likely to result in morepart- time labour being employed. Changing con-sumer expenditure patterns have also influencedthe use of part-time employment particularly in thefood sector where shopping peaks during Thursdayto Saturday and in the department store sectorwhere Christmas is a peak shopping time.There areconflicting views about the impact of part timeemployees on training. Trade unions feor that theincreased use of part-time employees will ii1C1" itless likely for employers to offer formal trainingcourses because part-time employees will beregarded as being more transient than full-timeemployees and therefore investment in training ofpart-time employees will be wasted. Superquinn,hog. Ewer, takes the opposite view and has started toput all part-time employees through an inductioncourse. The company takes the view that part-timeemployees are often the first employees that cus-tomers see and it is therefore important that theyreceive training in customer service as any full-timeemployee would.

With respect to conditions of access of differentgroups to continuing vocational training the mainpoint to be noted is that the main barrier is that insmall and medium-sized firms there is often little orno formal training whereas employees in largerfirms are more likely to have access to a wider rangeof formal and informal training opportunities. Thisbarrier is a function of a number of factors includingthe lack of a nationally available training coursesfor the retail sector and the predominantly small sizeof most retail firms most of whom are not able toafford training programmes.

1.3 Contents, methods andow-iznizationA salient feature of the Irish retail sector is that thereare no industry-wide training programmes specifi-cally for the sector. There are no requirements forowners to have a qualification in retail manage-ment prior to establishing a retail business as is thecase in other EC countries. Similarly, entrants to theretail sector do not need to have a qualification inretailing prior to working in the sector. As has beenindicated above and in the sectoral report, it is notregarded as being to the advantage of a job seekerto have prior training or experience in the retailsector when applying for employment in the retailindustry in Ireland.

Because of the absence of nationally availabletraining courses for the retail sector the onus is onretail companies to develop their own training pro-grammes. For small to medium-sized companiestraining is provided on an informal basis, if at all.In the larger companies training is provided on amixture of formal and informal basis. Both internaland external training programmes are used in lar-

ger enterprises; the lack of available external train-ing courses and materials suitable forthe retail tradein Ireland has meant that many of the larger retailoperators have had to develop their own internaltraining expertise and materials. Much of the inter-nally developed material is of very high quality as isthe case with Marks & Spencer and Superquinn.

The practice of integrating general training subjectssuch as customer service and specific skills trainingvaries quite widely. With SMEs the emphasis is likelyto be on general training in customer relations andin the operation of check-out machines. Training inspecific skills is ¶ likely in small to medium-sizedretail operations because of the cost of using exter-nal trainers. Large retail companies provide bothgeneral and specific skills training. In most cases thetwo types are kept separate. Some of the compa-nies profiled in the case studies are now thinking ofincorporating the two in their training courses.Superquinn provides modules on customer servicein some of the company's specific training courses torefresh participants on customer service training_courses attended previously.

The workplace is used quite widely in the Irish retailsector as a training plac., : in small to medium-sizedcompanies the work place is often the only trainingplace. In the larger organization the workplace willbe used in conjunction with classroom training. ESBand Superquinn use both workplace and class-room as training places.

Only the larger organizations have invested intraining facilities and only the larger organizationscan afford to do so. It is only these companies whichhave internal training departments and have devel-oped their own customized training materials.Many of the training departments are of recent ori-gin as is the case of Clerys where the trainingdepartment did not exist two and a half years ago.The training department as a rule is part of the per-sonnel and industrial relations department. Againas in the case of Clerys, the training manger is alsothe industrial relations manager.

The issue of transferability is one which variesfrom company to company. In some cases the train-ing is geared to informing the employee on how thecompany operates, its specific culture and what isexpected of employees. This obviously cannot betransferred and the same point applies to productknowledge training that is specific to a particularsector of the retail industry. However, other ele-ments of the training programmes of the largercompanies such as custorrr. relations trainingcould be used in smaller companies which pres-ently do not have access to this type of training.Certain training need identification procedures,such as those used in Marks & Spencer, could beused in a wide variety of both small and largeorganizations.

Reference has been made in the sectoral report thatthere are many UK-owned companies operating inthe Irish retail sector. These companies have had theeffect of increasing competition in the market place.Because of the longer tradition of training within the

UK retail industry the new arrivals have broughttheir UK training practices to their Irish operationsand have forced indigenous Irish companies tomake training a higher priority. The UK-ownedstores operating in Ireland have access to their par-ent's training programmes and materials whichgives them a substantial advantage over their Irishrivals. In Marks & Spencer all the training materialavailable to its Irish subsidiary was free of chargeand the subsidiary's training budget of IRE 15,000,with IRE 5000 allocated for Cork in 1991 was tocover incidental expenses.

Companiesparticularly large progressive compa-niesare increasingly conscious of the impact thattraining can make in gaining competitive advan-tage over their rivals. In some cases this takes theform of training in new technology as in the case ofMarks &Spencer or as in the case of Superquinn, thecompany is in the process of providing training inhygiene to all its employees. Superquinn manage-ment believe that forthcoming legislation will makeit mandatory for all employees in the retail businesswho handle food to have this training. By startingnow, Superquinn management hopes to gain anadvantage over their competitors who have not yetstarted this kind of training.

The vocational education system only plays a smallrole in continuing vocational education. In the main,only one vocational educational institufion, the Col-lege of Marketing in Dublin, provides courses forthe retail sector. The College provides courses attrainee/apprenticeship, management and propri-etorship levels. Its Dublin location, however, createsdifficulties for retailers and students wishing to studyretailing outside the capital to attend courses. FAS,the national training and employment authority,provides training courses in retailing to unemployedpeople to help them find positions within the retailsector. The authority is presently examining therequirements of training within the retail sector andconsidering its own role within the sector.

The research both in the case studies and the sec-toral study has shown that the social partners arenot involved in training at an enterprise level.Training policy and implementation is solely thediscretion of management. In some organizationssuch as ESB and Marks & Spencers in the case stud-iesthere are structures which allow managementand employees to discuss matters of mutual interest.However, training is not high on the agenda and thematters most frequently discussed are pay andconditions. At national level the same situationapplies: discussions between employers andtrade unions focus on pay and conditions with theresult that other issues are rarely covered in detailif at all.

1.4 Cost, financing and evolutionThe case studies and interviews with trade expertsindicate that there is little in-depth assessment oftraining in terms of its cost to companies. Whatassessment takes place is not based on quantitativemeasures but rather on qualitative measures. Evenwith UK-owned stores in Ireland such as Marks &Spencer, cost/benefit analysis is not attempted

70

3.

72

because management view such an evaluation asextremely difficult if not impossible to measureaccurately. The management of Marks & Spencer inIreland believe that investment in staff brings long-term returns in terms of greater competitiveness,efficiency and profitability.

A similar view of training assessments is held inSuperquinn which, being a "no paper" organization,does not believe in keeping detailed records ontraining.The most important statistic kept is the num-ber of people trained by the training and personneldepartment during the year.

The trend in the future is likely to be that moresystematic assessments of training will become afeature of the large retail companies which providetraining to employees. The factors which are likely toinfluence this trend are rising staff remuneration andtraining costs, declining margins and static sales vol-umes which wil! combine to force management toscrutinize expenditure in all areas of their business.

A debate is taking place within the retail industry onthe issue of a national training programme for theindustry. Thee are a number of proposals fromemployers, trade unions and state agencies cur-rently being considered. To be effective, a trainingcourse for the industry would have to be nationallyavailable and ideally should be certified by a recog-nized vocational educational authority. Trade sour-

71

ces would like to see a training programme whichhas both on-the-job and off-the-job components.Such a programme would benefit both large andsmall companies. It would benefit the large compa-nies because it would largely replace their induction .programmes and allow them to devote moreresources to training in advanced skills. For SMEsespecially, such a course would fill the vacuum whichexists currently in relation to the availability of rel-evant training courses.

One of the most contentious issues in relation to thedevelopment and provision of a national course forthe retail industry is finance. In the manufacturingsector, a training levy is collected from medium tolarge-sized companies and this is used to fund train-ing programmes in the sector. This method of col-lecting funds for training is being opposed by thelarger retail companies who object to paying for thetraining of their smaller competitors. Another meth-od of financing being considered is that all compa-nies, regardless of their size, will pay a percentageof their salary bill into a fund which will be used topay for the development and provision of a trainingprogramme for the retail sector. Financial assistancefrom the EC could help to with the development ofsuch a programme. The availability of a nationaltraining programme would in particular benefitSMEs within the retail industry who presently do nothave access to such training or do not have the re-sources to pay for external trainers.

APPENDIX: INTERVIEWS

Mr. John Long, Department of Labour

Mr. Eamonn Ward, Arnotts Department Store

Mr. Jim Goulding, Irish Hardware Association

Mr. Liam Doherty, Ms. Kea lin Ireland, Federation ofIrish Employers

Mr. John Douglas, Irish National Union of Vintners,Grocers and Allied Trades Association

Mr. John Kane, Mr. Liam Peppard, Services, Indus-trial, Professional and Technical Union (SiPTU)

Mr. Michael Campbell, Retail Grocery, Dairy andAllied Trades Association

Mr. Joe Holmes, National Federation of RetailNewsagents

Ms. Anne Stack, National Federation of TradeAssociations

Mr. Tony O'Connor, Mr. Pat O'Neill, Mr. John Ryan,College of Marketing

Mr. William Gibbon, Ms. Alison Houston, Ms. JulieByrne, Ms. Patricia Hegarty, Mr. Co Im O'Leary, Ms.Mary Whelan, Marks & Spencer Ireland Limited

Mr. Denis Ryan, Ms. Irene Butler, Mr. Brian Lawless,Ms. Paula Bristow, Mr.Paddy Murray, Clery's IrelandLimited

Mr. Derry O'Reilly, Ms. Margaret Quinn, Mr. JoeConnolly,Ms.Siobhan Cahill, tvir.John Foy, Superquinn

Mr. Jim Cushen, Mr. Brendan Burke, Mr. MichaelDuff, Mr. Maurice Hogan, Ms. Ann Downes, E.S.B.

Mr. Pat McKeown, Irish Retail Newsagents Association

Mr. Seamus O'Donnell, Irish Distributive and Admin-istrative Trade Union

Mr. Ray Burke, Musgraves Limited

Mr. Paul Ryan, L & N Limited

Mr. David McMahon, Shaws Department Stores

Ms. Mary Cryan, Brown Thomas/ Switzers Group

Mr. Brian Rafferty, BWG Foods

Mr. Jim Duggan, Easons Limited

Mr. Mel Clifford, Quinnsworth

Mr. Eugene Hanley, Roches Stores

73

CEDEFOP European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training

Training in the retail trade in Ireland(FORCE Programme)

Service industries Research Centre, University College Dublin

Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities

1994 - 73 pp. - 21.0 x 29.7 cm

ISBN 92-826-7830-X

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