Spencer's Staff Development Model in Retail Jewelry

Introduction

This essay analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the Spencer model of staff development as it pertains to the retail jewelry industry. By understanding the fundamentals of staff development and the Spencer model's principles, the goal is to correlate their relevance to a jewelry retail department. Staff development in the retail industry encompasses many areas; however, even though the jewelry business shares many characteristics with clothing or shoe retail, it also requires more focused staff development because of its end product, the sophistication of its consumer base, and its heightened security and integrity requirements.

Jewelry retail is more of a "one-on-one consultancy" process, where sales staff are appointed to deliver individualized, consumer-focused service. This means that under-training or inexperience can and does adversely affect the overall sales process. The field is highly specialized and therefore requires a strong foundation in all of the following areas: staff and store presentation, customer service standards, business planning, goal setting, in-store promotions, advertising, operations, systems, roster management, staff selection, ongoing coaching, incentive and closing sales techniques, budgeting, and staff accountability. Training and staff development are therefore the essence and foundation of both individual and overall organizational success.

The Retail Jewelry Industry and Its Staff Development Demands

Before focusing on Spencer's methodology, it is important to understand the retail jewelry industry itself. The industry functions as both a work-based and self-paced learning environment. Successful individuals learn directly from the work and sales they perform, meaning that internal motivation is a core aspect of staff development. Without an inherent desire for self-improvement and an ability to take responsibility for one's own learning, it is very difficult to excel. The initial hiring and recruitment process must take these attributes into consideration. A competency-based trainee, for example, must demonstrate the appropriate skills, knowledge, understanding, and attitudes in relation to the tasks at hand and must be able to perform to the standards that have been established through centuries of industry practice.

The industry has many written and unwritten rules — or competency standards — that clearly establish the proficiencies required for effective workplace performance. These standards also serve as ongoing benchmarks for staff development, training, assessment, and quality control. Being deemed competent means not only that an employee can learn and retain the necessary knowledge, but also that they understand how that knowledge fits into the broader organizational picture. Competency-based criteria in the industry go beyond mere assessment; they distinguish what each individual must learn at their own pace from what must be provided through formal staff development programs.

A major area requiring constant vigilance in the jewelry industry is customer service training. The objective of this staff development area is to clearly define the written and unwritten industry and company codes of conduct. Every employee must fully understand these rules and be able to communicate them to peers, staff, and at times even customers. This standard helps identify potential problems and establishes non-negotiable service benchmarks so that customer outcomes consistently exceed expectations. Ongoing coaching, seminars, weekly workshops, and both in-store and external evaluations are all part of this effort. Customer service is by far the most important aspect of staff development in this industry and reaches all levels of staff, from part-timers to owners and managers.

One might assume that sales training would rank a close second, but that is not the case. The reason is the inherent security challenges associated with the industry's products. Security and theft prevention are the second most critical areas of staff development. The primary objectives in this area include eliminating financial loss caused by fraud, optimizing store layout and sight lines, implementing surveillance systems, conducting audits and stocktaking procedures, reducing shrinkage, preventing credit card fraud, and training staff to handle hold-ups, break-ins, hostage situations, and armed intrusions. In many ways, jewelry retailers are more vulnerable than banks, because merchandise is rarely stored out of plain sight the way cash reserves are in a financial institution.

Another area that is often taken for granted is the need for high levels of social and economic business ethics. Jewelers — regardless of size — carry a significant responsibility to the community because they hold expertise in an area that society holds in high regard. For centuries, the industry has had to ensure that profit-making activities remain within the bounds of fair practice and ethical trade. The industry must learn from cautionary examples such as the Enron scandal and its implications for Arthur Andersen. There is a moral, legal, and ethical obligation to establish industry standards that reflect and codify society's values, including compliance with Federal Trade Commission regulations and vigilance against deceptive advertising practices used by unethical competitors.

The industry also requires constant staff development in areas of technical expertise, including repairs, stone setting, and knowledge of precious metals. The repair segment alone is a multi-billion-dollar global industry requiring a thorough understanding of customer specifications, whether the request involves sizing a ring, repairing a chain, replacing an earring post, or resetting a stone. Similarly, staff must develop a thorough working knowledge of gemstones and be equipped to recommend appropriate stones for specific pieces. Just as critically, staff must understand the karatage of gold and the fineness of silver and platinum, since minor miscalculations in these areas can result in significant financial losses for either the business or the consumer.

Spencer divides his development process into ten specific steps, each falling under one of two broad categories that he believed would assist an HR department in identifying and cultivating key skills. His reasoning was that by prioritizing these steps, organizations could more effectively transform their workforce. Upon evaluating the ten steps, it is useful to introduce a further subdivision. Spencer organized his steps into action steps and attitudinal steps; within the action steps, a distinction can be drawn between maintenance and monitoring actions on one hand, and proactive development actions on the other.

Spencer's Model Overview

Recruitment is logically the first step in the HR process, though Spencer's position here does not fully align with much of the existing research in the field. Spencer argued that an organization takes on the identity of the people it hires, and therefore finding the right person for the right position is the most important recruitment objective. While it is true that individuals are often hired for a specific skill set, they rarely possess all the essential competencies required by a new role. Spencer acknowledged that new employees typically require remediation and skill-building to learn their employer's way of operating, regardless of prior experience. In the retail jewelry industry, this may or may not hold true, since the industry's standardized code of ethics means that experience gained at one location can sometimes transfer meaningfully to another.

Action Steps: Maintenance and Monitoring

The purpose of the HR department should extend well beyond simply finding the right person. HR must also stay connected to the individual, the department, and management in order to guide and initiate teaching, training, and coaching functions that allow new recruits to become valuable, integrated members of the organization.

Induction, the next step, contains three smaller stages. A new hire must be introduced to the organization and its formal policies and procedures. Often, HR staff end their involvement at this point and hand new employees off to supervisors or intake personnel, sometimes passing along unresolved issues in the process. Spencer, however, argued that HR professionals should take the process further — familiarizing the new hire with organizational culture and ensuring a complete transition into the team.

One of the highest costs to any organization is finding, hiring, and training new employees. Therefore, efforts made early in the process to fully acclimate new members ultimately represent cost-saving measures. The largest proportion of employee turnover occurs shortly after hiring: "Most new employee turnover occurs within the first few weeks, and you can trace that back to the way they were or were not oriented" (Tyler, 1998). The orientation process is therefore a key component in establishing a bond between the new employee and the organization. A fully acclimated individual is far more likely to become a productive contributor, form positive psychological contracts, and maintain higher levels of organizational commitment.

Supervision follows induction, and many HR administrators treat it as an unwelcome responsibility. While individual department supervisors are typically responsible for this function, Spencer argued that HR professionals should remain in contact with new recruits during this phase. This ongoing engagement would allow HR to meta-evaluate the selection process and determine whether additional training or skill development is needed. According to Spencer, supervision should not be considered optional, as all members of rapidly changing organizations will encounter new challenges that may not be addressed by their immediate department supervisor. Because immediate supervisors tend to be task-oriented, the impetus for developmental change may need to originate from the HR department.

Evaluation is a concept that employees often approach with reluctance, yet it serves as a critical checkpoint for determining whether an organization is progressing toward its goals. Spencer argued that evaluation should not be limited to staff performance alone — the HR department should also evaluate its own effectiveness in finding the right people and helping the organization reach its collective objectives. Evaluations that are purely objective risk losing their human connection, while purely subjective evaluations devolve into unstructured personal opinions.

The concept of 360-degree evaluation has gained wide acceptance in the performance review field precisely because it integrates multiple perspectives — objective and subjective alike — to produce an accurate picture of the person being reviewed. This approach incorporates self-assessment alongside input from subordinates, peers, and supervisors. By gathering feedback from all directions, hence the "360-degree" label, the individual is encouraged to look beyond self-perceived boundaries and gain insight into how their actual behaviors are perceived by those around them.

The next three steps — planned individual development, planned professional development, and career planning — are closely related, as they all involve helping the individual chart a course for their future within the organization. These steps help the person identify connections between their own values and core beliefs and those of the organization, and discover how their unique talents will be best utilized. A shared and important word runs through all three stages: planning.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this essay analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the Spencer model of staff development as they pertain to the retail jewelry industry. By examining the fundamentals of Spencer's ten-step framework and correlating them with the industry's existing staff development practices, it becomes clear that while some of Spencer's ideas translate well to the jewelry retail context, there are also significant areas of tension. Jewelry retail's "one-on-one consultancy" model means that some of Spencer's recommendations align naturally with the industry's needs.

However, Spencer assigns too much responsibility to the HR function and insufficient emphasis on the role of the new hire's immediate coach or manager. This highly specialized industry requires a solid staff development foundation across multiple areas, and while HR should facilitate and coordinate training, supervisors and immediate managers should drive decisions about which individuals need specific development interventions. Training and staff development remain the essence and foundation of individual and overall organizational success — but HR should not be making all the decisions unilaterally in this domain.

Tyler, K. (1998, May). Take new employee orientation off the back burner. HR Magazine.