Workstar

8 October 2007

Specifically targeted to the needs of a changing retail industry, Australia's leading learning, recruitment and development specialist Workstar announces its new brand Retailstar. Drawing on its innovative online learning, recruitment and communication solutions and national network of retail specialist trainers and assessors, Retailstar stands to revolutionise the way people learn and perform in the retail environment.

The Australian retail industry employs over 1.5 million people and is the largest employer of young people between the ages of 18-25. Within this industry, Workstar have identified the important role people play as ambassadors for the brand, salespeople for the product and deliverers of customer value. Retail staff also have a major impact on store performance through loss prevention and safety compliance. Embracing the philosophy of profit through people, Retailstar aims to leverage the genuine desire of store staff to do well by combining it with competency, support and the right tools to produce optimised and sustainable profit results.

Retailstar facilitates retailers in all aspects of people engagement, from entry level recruitment and the induction of values aligned individuals through to management leadership development. As a seamlessly integrated system it removes pressure from infrastructure and budget management allowing a greater focus on core business activities.

Based on the principle that the right learning environment in a retail business dramatically lifts retention, creates an outstanding reputation for clients as an employer of choice and produces the highest levels of productivity possible, the Retailstar launch also coincides with the release of a series of six online short courses delivered through a Retailstar online learning delivery and measurement platform.

The six courses include Shopready, Shoptalk, Shopsafe, Shopwatch, Shopview and Shopsafe, and have been developed to be the first level of knowledge a retailer would expect for their staff in a shop environment. They were created to ensure retailers can maintain a high level of training across 100% of their staff.

Workstar's Executive Director, Gerard Manion states, "we see the major benefits to retailers of this brand as being increased productivity and sales, reduced training costs, increased staff retention and reduced product theft. Retailstar allows businesses to identify strengths and weaknesses in their staff and ensure the implementation of company 'best practice' is consistent. This translates into increased staff training compliance and workplace safety, and a measurable return on the company's training investment".

As part of the Retailstar brand, accredited training options include Certificate II, III and IV courses in retail and wholesale supervision, management and operations. These are AQF accredited certificates, and will add to the 5500 nationally recognised accredited traineeships which Workstar delivers over a year.

To support organisational growth and change initiatives Retailstar can also assist in the development of strategies and solutions to build people capability. Retailstar will work with retailers to design learning, engagement and communications strategies, design and deliver blended learning solutions, implement learning management systems and review and design HR and learning business processes.

Together these solutions offer the ability to deliver and measure the effectiveness of training and recruitment for the retail industry. Workstar believes the brand has an unrivalled scope in the marketplace and will be key to delivering improved profit performance for retailers.

Being no stranger to the retail industry, Workstar's impressive client list includes McDonald's Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, Bunnings, Repco, Rebel Sport, Elizabeth Arden, Angus and Robertson, Australian Kitchen Industries and the Nuance Group. Workstar's proprietary software 'Versity' platform, already utilised by companies such as McDonald', Repco and Rebel Sport, also provides retailers the opportunity to create a custom built online community for learning and communication for retail clients. The platform allows the option of integrating online recruitment, and gives retailers the ability to track and measure employees' progress through learning modules.

About Workstar

Workstar and its subsidiaries are part of the TodayCorp group, providing total learning and development solutions to people and businesses of all sizes. Many of the region’s leading employers use Workstar’s award winning technology, learning content and consulting services to deliver increased sales, productivity and compliance, whilst reducing training and recruitment costs. Workstar has also been awarded major national and international multimedia projects in education and training and has received global recognition for its solutions and impact on business success.