Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 13

Students who are university educated are simply better prepared through the well-rounded studies being offered in retail
programs. If you have two students all things being equal, one
with a minor in retail and one without, billion dollar companies
will lean towards the former," explains McElhone.
As a result, retailers will benefit from laying the foundations of strong relationships with schools to enable the recruitment of the most talented from among the graduating
classes. One of the challenges, however, is in encouraging
bright young students to choose retail as a career and, once
enrolled in retail programs at post-secondary institutions,
provide them with the tools that will allow them to meet the
needs of today's retailers.
It's a challenge Mario Pascucci takes seriously as co-ordinator of George Brown's
Centre of Business, where he has devoted
the past several years to building up an innovative retail management program that is
tentatively scheduled to be unveiled in September 2015.
"Retail is changing considerably. There will
be bricks-and-mortar forever. People will always want the connectivity of shopping in a
store, so the personal selling component is still
central to this day. But retail is going virtual as
well," he says passionately. "There's so much
more to retail than the sales floor, so many
lucrative and in-demand careers. If you show
people how rewarding a retail career can be
and provide them with the tools to be successful, they'll love the challenges and rewards."

brightest. In numerous polls, students clearly
say that they want retailers to be involved at
the post-secondary school level. By doing so,
the retailer in essence earns the right to employ these students.
Pascucci agrees that retailers will benefit
from forming ties with schools, and indeed is
working closely with several as he builds up
his program which, partly through the active
involvement of the retail industry, will provide what he refers to as "a quantum leap in
terms of the tools students will develop".

Diverse industry

Most people are unfamiliar with the sheer
variety of career opportunities in the field,
which include plan-o-gram design, buying,
logistics, human resources, management,
negotiating, marketing, security planning,
media, Web design, retail consulting, advertising, store design, and entrepreneurship.
It's a vast field that goes well beyond traditional salesmanship, and therefore requires
specialized education and training.
"While management positions will be filled with people
coming from schools with retail training programs, the
breadth of retail suggests retailers should develop relationships with an equally broad range of schools," says McElhone.
"And every retailer will have different needs. Supermarkets,
for example, need butchers and should target institutions that
train butchery as potential partners. Other retailers will have
very different skills that they require. Retailers need to search
out the institutions that fill their specific needs."
Retailers that build strong relationships with post-secondary institutions also have a leg up when attracting the best and

Impressing the rewards of a retail career is key.

"The retailer is the end game and so it's
vital that they work with institutions to build
relevant programs and help lay the foundation for a successful career," he says. "Students want retailers-and I refer to retailer in
the broadest sense possible, physical and virtual-that are involved in the process so they
can plot their futures. That's very important.
Students want to know the realities of the industry and the opportunities it affords, and
only the retailers themselves can provide
them with that information."

www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer | winter 2014 | canadian retailer |

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Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014

Publisher’s Desk
Retail Currents
Sourcing Retail Talent for Today’s Business Needs
Hr: The Missing Piece to the Omnichannel Puzzle
Excellent Customer Service for Everybody
Different Is the Brand
Hats Off to Customer Service
Total Rewards: Beyond the Numbers
Advertiser's Index
Retail Quick Tips
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - cover1
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - cover2
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 3
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - Publisher’s Desk
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 5
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - Retail Currents
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 7
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 8
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 9
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 10
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 11
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - Sourcing Retail Talent for Today’s Business Needs
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 13
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 14
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 15
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - Hr: The Missing Piece to the Omnichannel Puzzle
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 17
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 18
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - Excellent Customer Service for Everybody
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 20
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 21
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 22
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 23
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - Different Is the Brand
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 25
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 26
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 27
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 28
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 29
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - Hats Off to Customer Service
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 31
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 32
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 33
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - Total Rewards: Beyond the Numbers
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 35
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 36
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - Advertiser's Index
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - Retail Quick Tips
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - cover3
Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - cover4
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