Calculated risks towards growth

Client need

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a retail company had no choice but to lay off 80% of their employees in the first half of 2020. To help reengage their employee population and help the business recover post-crisis, the company partnered with BTS to co-create a virtual offsite.In the past, the retail company partnered with BTS to run in-person strategy simulations for their store managers. Given the notable success of past programs and seeing the value from the mindset shifts and behavior change of participants, the organization chose to partner with BTS again – this time for a much larger audience.The goal of the company’s offsite was to democratize commercial acumen in the organization’s store population and help develop a culture in which employees feel empowered to take calculated risks in pursuit of growth and improved customer experience.

The solution...

BTS partnered with the organization to design a half-day customized hybrid simulation experience delivered virtually, with some participants joining individually and others co-located in stores across the country.

The experience

• Tailored to the context and culture of the business – as a sporting goods retail company, the simulation was designed as a metaphor for a sports event in which participants competed throughmultiple “quarters” of a game.
• Leveraged self-paced modules and virtual tools – each “quarter” had different activities ranging from learning reflections to ‘what-if’ scenarios and decision-making tools.
• Involved real-life scenarios leaders face on-the-job – participants practiced both soft skills such as handling behavioral and leadership challenges, and hard skills such as calculating Return on Investment (ROI).
• Seamlessly integrated with the organization’s new communication platform, Microsoft Teams.
• Reached 2,500 employees in target regions across the country – including co-located teams and individuals joining virtually.

To ensure long-term learning and on-the-job integration, BTS created a ‘deep practice’ decision-making tool, based on key store metrics. The tool enables results to be seen in real-time, allowing participants andsenior management to identify opportunities for improvement across regions. Leaders can use the tool directly from their mobile devices back in the store to continue practicing decision-making and running ‘what-if’ scenarios throughout the year.

How it works

• Leaders enter assumptions on store key performance indicators into the tool.
• Then they can enter a set of investment assumptions and compare multiple scenarios.
• The tool will calculate the ROI on the ‘calculated risk’ based on the assumptions entered, enabling users to build confidence in their decisions by using data.

Outcomes of the event

• The organization loved BTS’s ability to deliver multi-modality learning that created a very educational environment and reached the entire store population.
• The company also believed in BTS’s ability to model the business’s ‘calculated risks’ concept that was integral to their store strategy.