Five Ways to Approach Training and Education
By Coley Herrin
Workforce Development is Vital for Success in Distribution
Wholesale distribution has been through an enormous number of transitions in the last few years. The industry faced everything from a global health crisis to “work from home” trends to yo-yo interest rates and soaring product costs. It has been a wild ride.
And oddly, these new developments have been juxtaposed by some icing on the cake for wholesalers and retailers, such as rapidly growing housing markets, cash and credit availability for home renovations, and an appetite to develop new buildings in the numerous markets across the Southeast.
According to the most recent Fiscal 50 Project by The Pew Charitable Trusts, “population growth in southern states outpaced all other regions in the second full year of the COVID-19 pandemic” with Florida as the fastest growing state.
On the flip side, distributors struggled for roughly two years to get their hands on the products needed to fulfill customer purchases and projects during the height of the pandemic. The supply chain essentially halted, leaving businesses of all sizes reeling from the economic conundrum of demand vastly outpacing supply.
Tough Times Fuel Creativity
The only way to stay afloat as a business was to embrace a survival mentality, and that meant being both decisive and creative at the right times. As a regional wholesaler and retailer of plumbing supplies as well as kitchen, bath and lighting products, PDI shared in this experience.
Suddenly, a large number of customers were hunkered down at home, which meant the company would need to meet the demand of serving both clients investing in home updates and tradespeople providing services.
The company’s leaders chose to maintain normal operations with some adjustments, providing a reliable and in-person customer experience while adapting to customer preferences for distancing and other safety measures during this season. The leadership’s mentality was that: “People are still going to want to shop for fixtures in person, and homeowners will have problems that our tradespeople will need to service and repair. We want to be available to get them the products they need.”
Calmer Waters Return
In 2022, the supply chain leveled out and distributors were essentially flooded with the products they had ordered. Many companies were left with a surplus of stock, and that meant wholesale plumbing distributors needed to return to the fundamentals of selling if they wanted to continue to move inventory.
Adding to the financial and logistical challenges that suppliers and distributors experienced, the hiring market shifted dramatically as a result of the emergence of a new mentality around work and balancing it with a personal life and rising living costs.
Crisis Led to New Training Strategies
The evolution of the job market led PDI to re-examine the way it trained and developed employees, which required getting back to the basics to prepare everyone from delivery drivers to counter salespeople and inventory managers to engage successfully with customers. An even bigger hurdle would be keeping newly hired talent on board long enough for training techniques to make an impact.
Today, the company employs a multifaceted approach to developing talent through a dedicated management training program, employee on-the-job training, continuing education and professional development through a centralized learning management software that contains 1,800 educational modules available to all employees.
Reflecting on some key lessons learned over the past few years, below are five recommendations for plumbing distributors and retailers that are struggling in the areas of hiring, training and workforce development.
1. Examine the Current Training Landscape
Analyze the current situation and solicit employee feedback about training and education opportunities. Identify where there are weaknesses, such as a lack of organized internal communication from the top or proper onboarding of team members into customer-facing roles. Prioritize actions based on which challenges need addressing first and develop both a short-term and long-term plan for improvement.
2. Invest in Both Soft and Hard Skills
Employees are often hired based on their hard skills — the capabilities that a manager would say that person “brings to the table” — without much consideration for their personal characteristics. However, soft skills also play an important role in workforce development; these are an individual’s traits that shape how they work and interact with others. In order to set team members up for long-term success, work to provide training and management of employees that builds upon both sides of the skills equation.
3. Incorporate a Mix of Learning Styles
Everyone has a different way of absorbing and retaining information, so it’s crucial to include various ways for employees to receive training on new products and processes within the company. Diversifying the training methods for employees ensures that you will address individuals who learn best through visual, auditory, kinesthetic, written word or some combination of these primary learning styles.
PDI is implementing a 360-degree approach to training by building a dedicated 15-by-30-foot mock house at its Lawrenceville branch where employees can experiment with projects like plumbing water lines and drains, adding venting solutions, and installing lighting fixtures and appliances.
4. Incentivize Employee Training
PDI has seen a 280% increase in participation in continuing education since implementing an incentive program. Friendly competition encourages colleagues to complete required or recommended training and education. Gamify the training progress among employees through leaderboards, badges, points and prizes to increase employee engagement.
5. Don’t Forget to Train Managers
Another important aspect of ensuring success across the board is to make sure that managers are properly trained on how to successfully engage with employees. They need to understand the business, the purpose of their department and their role, and the importance of the role that each employee within their team needs to play in order to yield business results.
If resources are available, then develop a management training program for future leaders within the business. PDI’s Management Training Program hires entry-level employees and puts them through a rotation of roles in shipping, receiving, inventory control, inside sales, showroom sales, purchasing, e-commerce and other departments over the course of 15 to 18 months. Upon completion, trainees typically obtain a full-time position based on where their competencies align with current opportunities at the company. This strategy enables management trainees to experience every aspect of the business and garner a full understanding of the inner workings of a wholesale distributor.
Final Thoughts
The difficult truth is that many distributors across the Southeast lack the resources or leadership necessary to manage integrated initiatives like these. However, there are simple ways for smaller companies to train their frontline employees with long-term success in mind.
Reach out to vendors and invite them to demonstrate products in-person and provide training materials. There is also nothing wrong with leaning on experts and manufacturers sharing information through tools like YouTube.
AI can also be a help thanks to tools comparable to search engines where an employee can input a question and receive a step-by-step guide. And, finally, consider getting involved with the American Supply Association (ASA), Southern Wholesalers Association (SWA), or other trade groups that put an emphasis on workforce development for the betterment of the entire industry.
PDI has found that offering extensive continuing education opportunities gives employees at every level the ability to grow professionally and personally. In other words, the more well-rounded and developed an employee is, the more satisfied a customer will likely be, leading to improved sales and performance across the board.
Coley Herrin is president & CEO of PDI, a family-owned distributor of plumbing supplies and retailer of kitchen, bath and lighting products and appliances based out of Lawrenceville, Georgia. PDI employs roughly 400 people at 27 locations across Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee.
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