Mosaic Brands, the business behind some of Australia’s biggest womenswear retail chains — Noni B, Millers, Rivers, Katies, Autograph, Rockmans, beme, W.Lane and Crossroads — is giving frontline retail staff the opportunity to gain a Certificate III or Certificate IV in Retail through a new online training program. Starting this month, Mosaic Academy will upskill team members in the areas of retail service, sales and management. We recently spoke with Mosaic Brands’ CEO Sc
Scott Evans about the role of frontline retail staff at the company and what impact he thinks the training program will have on staff retention and topline sales.
Inside Retail: How do you view the role of frontline retail staff at Mosaic Brands?
Scott Evans: Our retail team puts the customer at the heart of everything they do, and it’s a sales-focused role. We have amazing team members and we want to continue to grow and develop them so we all continue to be successful.
IR: What are some of the biggest challenges retailers face in training frontline staff currently? And how does Mosaic Academy address them?
SE: With the acceleration of the digital world, we need to keep pace with change. Our Academy is designed to provide bite-sized online development opportunities for our teams, putting learning at their fingertips, as well as practical on-the-job training to gain skills and knowledge they can use every day.
IR: What are some examples of skills that team members will gain through Mosaic Academy?
SE: Our unique and internally crafted training modules include all the retail skills our team need to be successful, whilst paying particular attention to the elements you would expect around safety and security in a Covid world, service and sales, customer loyalty, health and wellbeing, as well as a focus on team work. We will also offer best-in-class leadership modules on managing challenging customers, building great sales teams and leading difficult conversations.
IR: How do you think the Academy will impact Mosaic’s ability to retain staff and its financial performance more broadly?
SE: In today’s ever-changing and evolving world, engagement is vitally important across the entire retail sector. Our newly created Academy is dedicated to not only the development of our wonderful people, but also increasing engagement with our teams, which ultimately drives customer experience, sales and success. Our team help our customers express their love of life, embracing the truth that every occasion is a special occasion worth feeling fabulous for.
