Training and Development: Role of Organized Retail Organization in Bridging the Skill Gap

An organization can achieve the competitive advantage by regularly upgrading the workforce skills. Training and development cater to the need of enhancing the employee skill and is one of the most important tasks that the organization can engage. Unlike any service sector organized retail industry operates in a dynamic environment. The changing customer demand, opening up of markets, technological developments and ever increasing competition, all affect the retail business. Training is an important aspect of human resource management in retail, where training need arises as a result of inducting new employees and skill building of existing workforce. To improve employees‘ skills, organizations must invest in their training. Skilled Manpower is an issue each industry in India is struggling with and retail remains no exception. This paper will explore how retailers are redressing this issue particularly imparting training and development programs fostering learning at various Managerial and non-managerial levels. Also using the qualitative data, this paper will attempt to analyze the kind of the training methods adopted by some of the best organized retailers keeping in view the training need assessment of the employees.