Even with more than 400 retail locations, our popular grocery chain customer’s commitment to people permeates their organization. Their vision statement even prioritizes people as their actual core business, with groceries as the secondary focus. Today’s new supply chain realities, beginning in the pandemic, provided an unexpected stress test for that statement: How can one of America’s largest private companies continue providing local, fresh and high-quality products to their customers from the myriad of small businesses that produce those goods? In response, the Grocer initiated a program to develop those vendors – not just so they could keep the store’s shelves stocked, but so they could remain empowered to grow as independent and sustainable businesses.
Understanding where the gaps really are
The Grocer’s HR team had an existing platform to provide training for internal employees, covering topics like Code of Conduct, harassment, safety, etc… and while it was helpful for compliance and organizational alignment, it became increasingly clear that there was a disconnect in the communications between the buyers and the external suppliers. The Grocer’s procurement teams were immersed in the day-to-day practice and jargon of business and production, but the small-business suppliers were – in some cases – complete novices with retail vocabulary and processes like invoicing, purchase order execution, forecasting and business models, inventory management, and leveraging capital. The pandemic ‘ripped the band-aid off’ and exposed where these small businesses were most under-prepared. The Grocer’s Supplier Diversity Department saw the gap as an opportunity to provide value and be of service to people in the supplier communities who needed more fundamental training.
These small brands were experiencing the acute growing pains of needing to quickly scale from a stand at a farmer’s market to being on shelves in 150+ local stores. Business and retail-specific expertise were desperately needed, so the learning team worked with OpenSesame to identify 25 learning modules to integrate with the Grocer’s learning platform.
“The training gives those suppliers a one-up in their businesses – the content we get from OpenSesame are those courses that they would need to pay for at a University”
Supplier Diversity Manager
Rollout with authenticity to attract learners
Once the skill gaps were identified, it would have been easy to flip a switch and simply require training for their suppliers as a matter of course. Instead, the Supplier Diversity team created a pilot program for a group of 12 suppliers to gauge interest and see what training modules would be most utilized. According to the Grocer’s Supplier Diversity Manager “it was like we struck a match…”. The pilot participants fell in love and quickly adopted the training into their businesses. From there, the organization recognized that the procurement teams (those who worked closest with the small-business suppliers) were best positioned to continue introducing the training program within the communities and identify additional suppliers that would benefit the most from the training.
Right away, and somewhat surprisingly, the pilot learners consumed ALL of the courses. It was so successful that when the learners were surveyed, the feedback brought ‘happy tears’ to some of the rollout team. One supplier even stated “this is why I do business with (Grocer). Because you care.” Another learner, head of a well-known product brand, went into the learning program vocally skeptical of the need for a business planning course. After completing the module, however, they reported wishing it had been longer!
The hybrid approach
Their learning program consists of more than 50 course modules – about half of these courses are created by internal subject matter experts and business teams, focusing on organization-specific processes and systems. The other half are from the OpenSesame catalog, serving as “supplementary training”. This hybrid approach has allowed the organization to identify where they need to build
training and where they can maximize their investment in curated off-the-shelf courses–creating a comprehensive professional development program for the small businesses.
The Supplier Diversity Manager explains, ”It might be a service provider or stay-at-home mom who just wanted to continue the legacy of their Grandma’s recipe… they entered their product into our contest and won, suddenly they need real business skills. They may not be able to commit fully to taking a course or paying for school but through our program, it’s not intimidating. They get real feedback and the training gives those suppliers a one-up in their businesses – the content we get from OpenSesame are those courses that (the small businesses) would need to pay for at a University.”
More than delivering the right courses
The craving for course content was always there, and leveraging the procurement teams as “the front line” to deliver what the small businesses needed was the most appropriate and authentic way to deliver the training. However, as any L&D team will tell you, sometimes the day gets away from a learner and they need a little nudge. Here again, the Grocer leads with an authentic desire to be of service and works with their learners to help them finish the courses by sending reminders or extending deadlines as necessary. Quizzes at the end of modules are appreciated and help the learners truly capture the information.
Momentum for continued growth
This pilot learning program has already created a positive impact – not just on the supplier community’s ability to scale their businesses, but it has also revealed the need for similar training programs throughout the organization. With help from our Customer Success team, the Grocer will be scaling the program using a blend of in-house training and curated content from the OpenSesame catalog.