Overhaul Your Associate Training Program
Featuring Deborah Masten, VP and Director of Associate Development, JCPenney

By adding on-demand educational video training, JCPenney improved associate competency and eliminated travel costs for training.

When you train associates in a high-turnover retail environment, it can be economically wasteful. On the other hand, it's perilous to not train your employees. By not training associates, you jeopardize the service your customers receive, which is something retailers are not willing to risk. A study by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) found that companies investing $1,595 per employee per year on training attained 24% higher gross profit margins than companies that invested only $128 per employee per year.

In retail, some training methods (e.g. face-to-face training) dig deep into your budget due to travel costs. As a result, many retailers opt to train and communicate with associates from one location and use technology to reach associates in many geographically dispersed retail locations. JCPenney employs distance learning because reaching 155,000 associates at more than 1,020 locations is arduous. The retailer's VP and Director of Associate Development, Deborah Masten, continually improves the effectiveness and functionality of JCPenney's distance learning. Most recently, Masten enabled on-demand training sessions, which used DVR (digital video recorder)-like technology that allowed training sessions and mass communications to be recorded and replayed by associates at their convenience.