Changes in the Retail landscape have meant that companies have had to adapt or collapse if they don’t meet the changing expectations of consumers. But a business can’t change if it’s people aren’t ready. In this episode, these changes are explored and Mike shares how River Island’s approach to L&D has had to adapt too. 
  
KEY TAKEAWAYS 
Challenges 
Resale and in particular fashion is facing real challenges with competition and changes in the buying trends of consumers. As a business, we have to focus on serving our customers better. 
In retail ,recruiting and having the right people with the right expertise is vital and there are challenges in attracting and keeping the right people. 
Retail is still about how people feel - both the customer and the people within the business. 
Our employees may not our customers but we need to take the mindset methodologies and the approaches we apply with customers and use them for the people who provide the service to the end-user. 
Learning 
There are so many different ways we can support people in getting access to the information they need at the time they need it, feeling connected with the organisation and that they have meaningful work and are developing professionally. 
People do want to learn but they will only learn when they have the autonomy to do so and can link it to developing their competence and expertise. This then, in turn, drives the motivation to go out and find learning for themselves. 
If you can guide and support people towards confident and competent doing then you will have their attention. 
When you create a program for everything you create rules and barriers for people wanting to engage and then what we offer as learning and development becomes a blocker to actual performance. 
As L&D professionals we need to have a suite of tools and solutions that we can mix and match to suit the individual need and we need strong enough relationships with our colleagues to follow it through, understanding what the problem is and working collaboratively to solve it. 
We should be able to attribute hard business metrics to the things we are doing and we can only do this if we have credible relationships with our colleagues and are trusted to work with them. 
Data-driven learning 
There are lots of different ways of using data but it’s helped me to tell stories with credible points. 
We need more people telling stories about how data is helping them. 
Data is the foundation of digital from which the approaches and tech are built 
If you can talk with authenticity and not talk about the tech, but talk about the value then you start to change hearts and minds and gain traction. 
It’s about challenging yourself taking your opportunities learning from other people and don’t be afraid of taking a jump and being brave. 
  
BEST MOMENTS 
‘The bedroom is the new changing room’ 
‘I wanted to feel that buzz and excitement about contributing to real business change’ 
‘The way and means in which  learning and development serve an organisation would be better served in listening more’ 
  
VALUABLE RESOURCES 
The Learning & Development Podcast 
  
ABOUT THE GUEST 
Mike Collins 
Mike Collins is Senior People Experience Specialist at River Island and podcast host on The Lancashire HotPod. Previously, working for RBS for 10 years winning numerous awards for the work he had been involved in. Mike has also worked for CIPD training provider DPG plc, specialising in social & collaborative working and developing L&D qualifications. 
  
GUEST CONTACT METHOD 
You can follow and connect with Mike via: 
Twitter: @Community_Mike 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/communitymike/ 
Instagram: layzmc  
Podcast: https://www.thelancashirehotpod.com/ 
 
ABOUT THE HOST 
David James 
David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. 
As well as being the Chief Learning S