How to build a team

1. “How To IMMEDIATELY Build a Rock Solid Foundation
For Professional Associates”
A Plan to Build, Coach and Develop Leaders and Future General
Managers which will result in:
ı Increased Tenure, Associate Passion and Excellence.
ı Increased Culture and Proper Execution of ? Proven System in Detail
ı Increased Sales, New Customer Deliveries, Customer Ownership, Revenue
and Store
Profit
The first thing that cannot be over-emphasized is the importance and necessity of good, quality
coaching right from the start with a new associate. The first week of an associate’s employment
with us MUST be solely devoted to learning our culture and the proper way. A new
associates first impressions, opinions, and evaluations of whether something is deemed
important
or necessary will be made during the first “formative” week.
Our most important focus MUST be to be to increase retention and tenure of associates
going through our manager in training program, and to develop our associates.
It can easily cost upwards of $22,000 to lose an employee through lost revenue, training
costs, expenses to rehire, and having to start fresh with a new employee to fill the open
position.
Following Ken Blanchard’s outline for developing personnel based on One Minute Leadership,
new associates need a very high level of directing and coaching with most of the focus on
coaching. One of the worst things that we can do is to throw a new hire or someone going
through the manager-training program right into the “fire” of their new position. Delegating the
new position responsibilities to the associate before they are ready increases the likelihood that
the employee will feel overwhelmed, frustrated, and confused and will more than likely result in
the employee resigning within the first 90 days. If the employee does “stick” it through, they will
do so with a great loss and understanding of the true fundamentals and procedures of their
position and the company. With the rapid expansion of the company and the plan to reach 2000
stores, and 350 new stores by year end, it is crucial that we do everything in our power to coach
our new associates in order that we have the most skilled and prepared employees to open and
work in these stores. When we commit to a new associates development we will not only lower
our costs as a company, but we will be able to dramatically improve our revenue and profits,
and most importantly our relationships with our customers and the ability for us as a company to
maintain our culture, program and system in the future. Having a new associate resign
from us due to lack of coaching, or the employee feeling frustrated and overwhelmed
in their position is counterproductive for our whole Teams work environment, and the
advancement of our culture. Having a well coached, highly skilled employee will allow
us to continually grow and to become the market dominant company in our industry
that we aim to be, recognized by our customers and peers, AS the standard bearer of
integrity, honesty, and fairness.

2. 1. BUILD THE FOUNDATION - 1st Week INITIAL ORIENTATION:
New associates MUST go through orientation training with accountability to the General Manager,
Regional Manager, and Divisional Staff regardless of previous experience or Level, BEFORE starting
their new position.
The First 3 Days of orientation will be training provided by E-University using interactive web
Conferencing along with teleconferencing, assigned tasks, online quizzes, and tracking. There will be
2 required classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Review quizzes will be taken at the end of each class, and results will be available to all levels within
the supervisor hierarchy for accountability.
Specific tasks will be assigned at the end of each class for the new associate to complete that
corresponds to the orientation outline.
One on One direction, coaching and follow-up will be should be made available from the RM, GM, or
Divisional staff with each new associate to ensure the orientation is being completed, and to answer
any questions with the new associate.
When initial orientation is completed, the new associate will take a final test, and a certificate and
name badge will be mailed to the new associate showing completion.
2. SEMI-PRO CLASSES (Sales Manager, CSR, CAM or MT) PHASE II
Training – 5 Weeks of Ongoing Training
After the new hire completes their orientation there will be a 1.5-hour web conference class
given on a specific subject related to their position (Sales or Accounts Department) once per week
for 5 weeks, Classes will repeat every 5 weeks. Classes will be available at different times on
Tuesday and Thursdays. A new employee can enter the ongoing training at any point, as each
week will be a different subject related to their position.
When the new associate completes all Semi-Pro classes, and passes the test, they will receive a
certificate showing completion, a name badge signifying their level of learning and
accomplishment.
3. PRO CLASSES (Sales Manager, CSR, CAM or MT) Training
5 Weeks of Ongoing Training
Once a new associate completes Semi-Pro training they can begin Pro training. Pro Training will
be advanced training on their position. Completion of Pro training will ensure that the new
associate has learned all of the fundamental skills to properly execute their new position, roles
and responsibilities.
Pro (Like Semi-Pro) will be a 1.5 hour web conference class teaching specific skills related to either
sales or accounts. New associate must attend 5 weeks of class to graduate. A new employee can
enter the ongoing training at any point, as each week will be a different subject related to their
position. Pro Classes will be available at different times on Monday and Thursday.
When the new associate completes all Pro classes, and passes the test, they will receive a
certificate showing completion, a name badge or lapel pin with signifying their level of learning
and accomplishment.
4. ONGOING Training ( E-University, Special Trainings, Self-
Paced Classes, 15 Minute Overviews)
New or tenured associates should attend every available group training to ensure continued
Education and preparation to develop their skills and to better their performance with us.