SAVAGE, Md. — After more than a year in the making, ZIPS Cleaners recently rolled out its Certified Trainer program, designed to certify team members as trainers and equip them with effective skills in communication, implementation of training tools and organization.
The "Train the Trainer” program was developed for ZIPS by the company's Training and Development People Manager Jennifer Davis, and Field Training Manager Jennifer Hall. Its intent, the company states, is to create a training culture and mindset and ultimately achieve better outcomes from training sessions from location to location, including consistency in operational procedures, better retention of lessons and instructions and better performance by and retention of employees.
The program emphasizes separate four-step processes for training the trainers (Prepare, Present, Attempt and Achieve) and having the trainers train other team members (Tell, Show, Do and Review).
An inaugural class of 20 corporate and franchise managers and employees successfully matriculated through the program, the company says, held at the 70-unit garment care chain’s Savage, Md., headquarters. All Trainers received a certificate of completing the class.
“This program is off to a great start,” says Davis. “It was designed to build a culture around positive and effective training and improve employee retention and knowledge inside the four walls of ZIPS locations. Based on our turnout and the comments we received when the session concluded, I think we hit a home run.”
“Great trainers and a great class!” says Gina Sanderson, an owner/general manager within the ZIPS franchise system. “It was awesome, and I know my employees learned a lot.”
Next up for the program, the company says, is to continue to motivate, coach and guide training within the locations that sent representatives to the program and encourage additional ZIPS' corporate and franchise stores to enroll more participants in the program. Hall will visit each trainer to present each graduate personally with a Certified Trainer logoed uniform shirt, check on their location’s training area and observe them in action, implementing what they learned.
"I'm truly excited to see this Certified Trainer program come to life,” says Hall, "and I’ll be equally excited to watch it evolve. This is something I dreamed of doing back when I started with ZIPS in 2008. We now have the resources, tools and executive support — exactly what we need — to take ZIPS training to the next level!"
Bob Barry, president/CEO of ZIPS, praised the new program, noting that properly trained and motivated employees are the company's most valuable asset in attracting customers, providing them with exceptional service, and retaining them for years to come.
“Creating a stellar workforce starts with well-trained trainers who know our system cold and know how to teach it to others effectively,” he says. "With our new Certified Trainer program, we now have a formal, thorough way to replicate our brand standards in every employee who joins our team, ensuring their success while promoting optimal operations.”
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