The talent development team at NCG is continually building our library of online courses that can help co-op staff get up to speed on best practices for an array of retail skills. Co+op U is a one-stop shop for NCG training and professional development programs. Co+op U offers more than 100 interactive courses that can be taken at any time and allow staff to choose the topics they need most for their current situation or development needs. Here’s what’s new:
New Supervision Courses
Our Supervision Series, which is designed for supervisors new to their role and focuses on effectively managing staff and being more influential leaders, has two new courses available. Check out Understanding Performance and Supervising Peers today!
Grow Sales with Recommendations
Yes, you can have real conversations and make personalized recommendations by merely talking about food and sharing product knowledge with customers. This new course is full of examples that demonstrate how to authentically engage with customers leading to improved customer experience and increased sales. All employees are encouraged to take Grow Sales with Recommendations and practice using their new skills on the sales floor.
Customer Experience Series Coming in July!
Training on customer service skills is one of the most frequently requested topics from NCG co-ops. The talent development team has been working on designing a customer experience series, and the first five courses will launch in July. This series is intended for all co-op staff to learn the factors that impact the customer experience and to improve their customer service skills. New courses in the series are Introduction to the Customer Experience, Customer Perceptions, Customer Conversations, Making Shopping Easier, and a Virtual Store Practice. These short, interactive courses were designed using real customer feedback from NCG co-ops’ customer satisfaction surveys.
Redesigned Series: Merchandising and Co-op Orientation
The Merchandising Series and the Co-op Orientation series have recently been revamped. The redesigned series offers a fresh new look, shorter and more engaging courses, new thought-provoking interactions and more opportunities to practice. We encourage you to take these courses — even if you have previously taken them — to refresh your knowledge and skills. They are short and worthwhile!
Merchandising Series includes:
• Introduction to Merchandising (8 minutes)
• Building Impactful Displays (7 minutes)
• Endcaps, Case Stacks and Floor Displays (17 minutes)
• 7 Great Practices for Displays (5 minutes)
• Signage Speaks (10 minutes)
Co-op Orientation Series includes:
• What is a Co-op? (7 minutes)
• Cooperative Roles (5 minutes)
• The Origins of U.S. Co-ops (7 minutes)
• Food Co-ops in the United States (5 minutes)
Closed Captioning
eLearning courses in Co+op U now offer closed captioning, allowing us to deliver effective and meaningful learning experiences to deaf and hard of hearing learners. Closed captions provide the same skill set development and knowledge base expansion other members of our learning audience receive, which will allow deaf and hard-of-hearing learners to achieve their learning goals. All learners can turn closed captions on or off, depending upon their personal preference.
Start Learning Today
Co+op U’s on-demand offerings are convenient, more efficient, and less costly than in-person training. There is no user license fee and no cost for the e-learning courses. Anyone with a Co+op U user account can take advantage of our ever-growing collection of education available on-demand. Learners will need a user profile, which they can create on the Co+op U login page by clicking the Register here link. Any user profile which has not been used within 13 months will be inactivated, but can always be re-activated if needed. Questions can be directed to talentdevelopment@ncg.coop.
Looking for more resources that can help you or your co-op staff learn and improve their skills? NCG offers a variety of self-paced, online, and in-person training opportunities. Check out the course catalog to view all of our professional development offerings. Happy learning!
