Business Improvement Proposal

From: Logan Meredith, Trainer

Date: March 1, 2016

Subject: Proposal to implement workshops for owner and staff

Over the years Plato’s Closet has certainly made a name for itself in the second-hand clothing market. The gently used clothing and accessories that are purchased and sold by the store must meet a strict and detailed criteria. This includes, but is not limited to the following: items must be top-name brands, in-season, trendy, clean and in good condition. This provides the customers of Plato’s Closet the opportunity sell their items and revamp their wardrobes with products of a quality equal to that of a department store but at a greatly reduced price. The Greenbrier Plato’s Closet is especially known for its approachable, friendly and helpful staff. While working at Plato’s Closet I have enjoyed learning and experiencing the unique and demanding qualities of the retail world, as well as that required of a training position. As the trainer, I was committed in providing effective and efficient preparation for the new and current employees. However, there has been a decline in the overall quality and retention in trainees due to shortened training schedules and lack of communication between floor staff and managerial positions.

According to the company’s hiring log, in a period of 5 months, 30 new employees have been hired and fired. This issue is not only taking a toll on sales but is causing tension between employees, hindering the ability to operate as a team. My time and learning experience studying management at Virginia Commonwealth University has taught me that without proper training, new employees are almost certain to fail as they are not able to process the information quickly to advance in their position. Furthermore, since the decline in the quality of training, communication between the owner, manager, key holders, trainer, and staff has been unclear and almost non-existent. The lack of communication has caused the ability to assign tasks and then have those task successfully completed, to be severely undermined.

I believe there are 2 potential solutions to this problem and they are as followed: first, adding more training shifts to be held in the mornings before we open and second, to implement workshops catering to the companies most troubled areas. Both of these proposed solutions should happen sequentially with additional hours of training occurring first to build a solid staff and follow up with workshops to reinforce better work ethics solid communication. Implementing workshops would not only boost employee morale but it would also create a better work environment. Also, with additional training hours, employees are granted more time to absorb and learn the information without the pressures to be perfect in such a short amount of time. In the remainder of this memo, I assess the cause and effects without sufficient training and communication and I also evaluate the costs and benefits of each and then provide a brief overview of a plan.

Overview of the Cause and Effect Without Sufficient Training and Communication

There are a number of causes regarding the breakdown of communication and inadequate training. These issues have the potential to negatively impact the success of a company such as; lost time and money due to mistakes, unhappy employees, loss of customers, high turnover, animosity, low work place morale, and zero teamwork. Sufficient training and effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills are valuable and vital in the workplace. Active communication plays a prominent role developing long lasting employee motivation which in turn creates a better workspace. Without communication this can lead to poor relations between employees and an unfriendly work atmosphere. As a result, employees will reciprocate their feelings to the customers which will drive away business. If communication skills are poor, employees lack enthusiasm in doing their tasks and will question the value of every assignment given. Poor business communication skills will also discourage the employees because they will feel frustrated and out of the loop. And with frustration comes conflict, as employees can argue with each other or defy management because of insufficient training. As of right now there are no workshops in place and the employee turnover rate is now higher than ever. Every time an employee is hired and then fired a few weeks later; time, money, and energy is wasted. While spending time trying to train and retrain the new hire or manage personality conflicts between the new hire and existing staff, the business suffers. All that time spent on the new hire will drain productivity. And if you end up having to let the employee go, you will incur to conduct another employee search and hire another replacement.

Details About the Additional Training Hours and the New Workshop

On average, each new employee starts off with 3 shifts of 5 hours a week. As of right now only 1-2 hours each shift are solely dedicated to uninterrupted training. When we become busy, which occurs frequently, there is only time for 1 hour of pure training. As the shift becomes hectic the new employees become overwhelmed and unable to perform causing late shifts and frustrated co-workers. Multiple seasoned employees have come up to me and stated their thoughts and frustrations due to lack of training. By adding additional hours, this will not only help the new employees adjust but will also increase employee retention. I would be willing to work with each new employee 1 hour before we open each day ensuring 2-3 hours of pure training each shift. While planning a workshop may seem daunting, but there are a number of resources and programs to assist you with every step.

During my research I have found many DIY workshop sites to help put together custom workshops for different problem areas in the workplace. But if there is no time to DIY a workshop, the American Management Association (AMA) would be a great choice. According to the American Management Association website; AMA offers a wide range of exclusive benefits, including preferred pricing on seminars and up-to-date management and business information to help you keep your professional development ongoing and promote management excellence for all employees. AMA promotes the goals of individuals and organizations through a comprehensive range of solutions. Individuals, teams, organizations and government agencies all can benefit from their unique approach to experiential learning through doing. In each session, they adapt their world-class curriculum to meet your individual training requirements as well as your organization‘s pressing business needs. AMA has identified four skills that have been articulated within each organization as priorities for employee development, strategic planning, and talent management; critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication.

Benefits of Implementing the Workshops

Once the in-house additional training is underway AMA could come in and provide professional assistance to refine the business as a whole. One of many positive benefits gained from successfully implementing the communication and training workshops will be well-established organizational communication that will improve relationships.  By doing so, the result of a team that works together is high productivity, integrity and responsibility. Employees know their roles on the team and know they are valued. AMA has provided a chart stating many of its inclusive benefits when utilizing their workshops.

Costs of Additional Hours and the New Workshops

On average, each new employee is paid a minimum wage of $7.25/hr and normally starts off with 2-4 shifts, each shift averaging 4-5 hours which equates to about $150 (before taxes). For the past 5 months, 3 new employees started every 2 weeks which totals 6 new employees a month. Every new employee was fired within 1-2 months of hiring causing the Manager and Assistant Manager to work overtime searching for new potential employees. Every month, 6 new employees that are hired and fired cost the business over $1000 due to the Manager and Assistant Manager working overtime in order to find new employees. Below, I have created a chart to show you how those hours add up.

Currently, there are 15 unused hours for training. At minimum wage it would cost just $110 a week or $880 for 2 months of proper training leading to employee retention, saving the business over $12,000 in hiring fees a year.

Once there is good employee retention, the new workshops could be implemented by the American Management Association. For a small business membership, AMA provides many tools and benefits for only $2,195 a month. The new workshops would help toughen skills that each employee needs to develop and help decrease any weak links within the company who depend on others to complete rudimentary work tasks. A structured workshop creates a supportive workplace and better means of communication. AMA strives to effectively target each problem individually boosting employee performance and sales. By improving employee performance, their overall attitude and morale will increase in a positive way increasing sales tremendously and keep employee retention high. In order to implement these plans, I propose you and I have a meeting to discuss when and if additional hours should be granted. I predict the training could be underway as soon as possible and as for the workshops, within the next 6 months.

Conclusion

Although Greenbrier Plato’s Closet is known for providing excellent customer service in with its helpful staff and welcoming atmosphere I would like to reiterate that in order to keep employees and boost sales, more training shifts and team building workshops would be a great asset for the future of the business. I hope my suggestions in this memo were well received and the benefits are seen as incentive to follow them. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the proposed solution and working with you to help lay the groundwork for the new training opportunities and workshops. Thank you for your time and consideration and please do not hesitate to reach me should you have any questions. Please contact me at meredithlm@vcu.edu or call me 757-375-2838.

Sincerely,

Logan Meredith