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How much time do you spend training staff in your newsagency?

This is a boring topic that many will tend to not read. Please resist that thought. Employee training is important. Employee training can help you save time, reduce theft, increase sales and retail good employees.

Through my newsagency software company I see data on engagement by retailers and their employees on a comprehensive free online software use training curriculum. The curriculum includes more than 130 videos structured into topics based on work role, live online training workshops and other activities.

Ranking seven different retail channels, newsagency businesses rank the lowest for using the free tools. Garden centres rank the highest, making the most comprehensive use of the free training resources.

I am not talking here about a large time investment. Some training videos run only five minutes.

Through engagement data I can see some businesses put a new employee through between an hour and three hours of training, earning the employee a certificate and ensuring a level of competency. This matters if training is not done and mistakes are made that cost the business money.

Regardless of the software you use, my sense is that an employee working 30+ hours a week in a newsagency ought to undertake at least twenty hours of professional development a year to improve their skills and their value to the business.

I’d note my suggested 20 hours is lower than the 2% the federal government suggested years ago for employee training annually.

Hour much time do you invest in formal employee training or professional development each year?

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Newsagency challenges

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