The sky is the limit

Investing in our associates through career development opportunities is a point of pride at Sam’s Club, and it’s something we’ve continued to focus on over the years. Part of this focus has been taking a critical look at what the data tells us about where our associates are and where they’ll likely be heading.

We know that approximately 75 percent of our salaried managers started as hourly associates. Knowing so many of our hourly associates will eventually become managers, our field learning and development team went to work, and in 2020, we set a goal to develop and grow current and future managers.

Focus group research revealed front-line associates wanted customized learning and career development opportunities that prepare them for future roles without spending hours in a training room.

With that in mind, we designed a Manager Quality — or MQ — training program that provides opportunities for continued growth and development for all front-line associates, whether they are currently a manager or hope to become one. And our aim was to create immersive training experiences that seamlessly tie to their flow of work.

But we didn’t stop at designing a new MQ program. We also considered how associates would access it. So, we simultaneously launched Sam’s Field U, a single entry point for all professional development programs and resources at Sam’s, including MQ.

The online platform also includes two of our other key programs: Manager in Training, or MIT, and Career Futuring.

MIT prepares team leads for a future in management through training in membership, merchandising, “fresh” and “specialty.” By the end of the program, team leads can receive up to a semester’s worth of college credit from various universities partnered with Live Better U, our tuition-free college program. Meanwhile, Career Futuring provides associates with essential knowledge and tools to pave their future at Sam’s Club by focusing on career exploration, future ways of working and lifelong learning.

The timely launch of Sam’s Field U makes it easy to keep associates engaged and reward their curiosity as we introduce MQ to the mix. The web-based platform limits the time they take to locate learning, increasing the use of available resources and ultimately giving back valuable time for on-the-floor learning experiences.

Overview of the MQ program

Again, the MQ program was crafted for all associates within our clubs, from hourly to management. It was created around a simple framework of training associates in four pillars: how to identify, develop, manage and foster intrinsic reward.

Each pillar (Identify, Develop, Manage and Reward) has foundational concepts that are applicable to all club roles. However, MQ is not one-size-fits-all. Beyond the foundational concepts that everyone receives, the content is targeted to role, and associates have the flexibility to create a customized learning journey within each pillar based on the needs of their role. Additionally, the five-week program strategically incorporates different learning styles with a blended learning approach of instructor-led training to gain depth, flow-of-work for practice, and simple videos and audio for real-time reminders.

Furthermore, within the pillars, the content focuses on business-critical topics such as difficult conversations, managing conflict, effective interviews, meaningful individual development plans, time management and financial acumen.

The pilots

Before rolling an MQ program to full chain, we needed to test, learn and iterate. So, in July 2021 we piloted MQ in 91 Sam’s Club locations with more than 1,000 associates, from hourly to management. The pilots covered all the modules of the program, from effective communication and meaningful individual development plans to effective interview skills, time management and financial acumen.

During the pilots, our field learning and development team conducted simple pre- and post-surveys to gain insight into the depth and applicability of the content by role. Here are some of the findings:

• Pilot participants expressed excitement about participating in training specifically targeted to their development.
• They rated themselves high on skills they had little to no training on. For example, in a three-question pre-survey for our pilot module on effective communication, this would be a typical survey result:
  These pre-survey results reinforced the need for the MQ program. We realized that an assumption was made pre-pilot about baseline education on how to communicate effectively. But from the pilots, we discovered we needed to start with very basic training before going in-depth. At the end of this pilot experience, associates expressed that they craved even more content, and 100 percent of participants reported the training made them feel better equipped to communicate effectively.
• Associates reported that the most valuable part of the training was the format being interactive and mirroring what they need to do day to day, as well as getting to put what they learned into action as they work with their teams.
• They consistently mentioned and looked forward to short, bite-sized learning.
• They expressed that the addition of training on the topics we identified could improve the experience of new associates and the longevity of their careers at Sam’s Club.

The pilots revealed that we were on the right track with our strategy and content. But we realized a key area we needed to iterate on: instilling our company values within the content.

Incorporating values-based decision-making training

At Sam’s Club, we have what we call Leadership Expectations, which are attributes we want every leader to possess. They outline how we turn our values into actions so we can better deliver results for our members, including delivering on culture, diversity, equity and inclusion.

Iterating from the pilot experience, we decided that every associate journey in MQ would begin with a week-long training on values-based decision-making, or VBDM. Once enrolled, associates are able to access these microlearning modules through a mobile device, and they learn how to immediately apply our Leadership Expectations to decisions they make in clubs every day. The microlearnings cover why VBDM matters, what VBDM is and how to model VBDM. Once associates complete the VBDM content, the values training doesn’t end there. For the remaining four weeks, we decided to embed it into all four pillars of MQ.

The launch

After the success of the pilots, our MQ program launched in October 2021, targeted at approximately 95,000 front-line associates. The completion of MQ is a recognized accomplishment for them as digital badges are issued after completing each pillar and the entire program. The digital badging enables associates to showcase their achievements on social channels and on a digital wallet, allowing them to promote and amplify their personal brands.

In November, the first cohort of 32 assistant managers earned digital badges in the Manage pillar, and we expect to issue up to 60,000 digital badges to MQ graduates in 2022.

Learning culture and strategy outlook

Investing in our associates through career development and great learning programs to help them reach their career goals is something we are proud of at Sam’s Club.

As we continue to evolve, the outlook for our learning culture and strategy is more centered around a clearly defined user journey starting with a single entry point to Sam’s Club’s learning ecosystem — Sam’s Field U. From there, associates conveniently access all our training programs and resources, including our new MQ program, which was designed based on the data we have on our associates. With 75 percent of our salaried managers starting as hourly associates, we are excited to continue rolling out MQ to as many associates as we can. That way, at any point in their career, they’re not only able to prepare for their next role in management, but they can thrive in the management role they’re already in.

Armed with strong learning programs, including MQ, as well as a great platform for associates to easily access and navigate through them, the sky is the limit.