Myer has cleared the air over a pledge made by its chief executive at a recent conference held by the Australian Centre for Retail Studies (ACRS), which stated the company was “investing $25 million into staff training”.
Myer CEO Bernie Brookes opened the ACRS ‘War for Talent’ conference series in Sydney and Melbourne recently, aimed at addressing employment challanges in the retail sector.
Brookes emphasised that while retailers were facing “tough times” it was essential for businesses to invest in nurturing staff talent and that “investing on the way down is as important as it is on the way up,” underlining his plans to inject $25 million into Myer staff training programs.
Myer general manager of corporate affairs Jo Lynch told Ragtrader, which covered the seminar, that the investment would be on broader terms.
“We’re not specifically putting $25 million into staff training,” she said.
Lynch confirmed a majority of the investment would go towards taking on new staff. While she said the company would not roll out a store-by-store training program to improve its service, it had increased the time new staff would spend in induction programs.
Lynch said Myer was investing significantly into building a more sustainable retail platform by improving its signage and placing extra staff in targeted areas where they could expect to see a return - including intimate apparel and footwear - though the size of the investment was still undetermined.
For more on the retail seminar, pick up a copy of Ragtrader’s September 23 edition.
