Henry Wilkes, owner of Southern Drugs, Inc. has just completed plans to expand his pharmacy geographically...

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Henry Wilkes, owner of Southern Drugs, Inc. has just completed plans to expand his pharmacy geographically to include ten more outlets within the next 2 years. Now he needs to develop a training program for the new store managers he is expecting to hire. As an owner of 15 discount chain pharmacies, Mr. Wilkes has been quite successful in competing in small rural markets in Louisiana and Georgia that needed both prescription and over-the-counter medicines. Wishing to capitalize on his formula for success, he decided to attempt to market his merchandise in limited sections of the Midwest. To do this, he had to hire pharmacists to be store managers for each outlet. Southern Drugs, Inc. was started by Mr. Wilkes nearly 10 years ago to be a discount pharmacy that also sold wide varieties of over-the-counter medications and health and beauty aids. As he quickly discovered, however, there was an abundance of such retailers already selling these nonprescription items, and the price competition was keen. Consequently, he made some changes in his plans and began to sell only the highest- quality items, and to offer an extensive non-prescription service. In this way, he believed he could concentrate on the finer specialty shops and avoid the intense price competition for nonprescription merchandise. Prescription drug prices were likely to remain high price-competitive. Even with these changes, there is considerable competition within his current market. As a result, chain store managers have had to learn how to display their merchandise better and to respond to a variety of customer questions. Not having the expertise in store layout and merchandise, many managers welcomed the training Mr. Wilkes provided. Some, primarily pharmacists who had hospital experience, however thought that training in nonprescription areas was unprofessional, and did not want to be held responsible for such sales. In expanding his business, Mr. Wilkes knew that he could not do all of the training himself. He believed that if an attempt were made to made open chain outlets to build sales in the Midwest, it would take the efforts of a full-time training staff. In this way, more stores could be opened, and managers of existing outlets could be retrained periodically. Currently, Southern Drugs, Inc. has two full time human resource people with training experience. However, neither has the merchandise expertise to do the training jobs. Accordingly, Mr. Wilkes needs to create a step-by-step training program that will allow him to train future managers and retrain current ones. The new employees that Mr. Wilkes plans to hire have some experience in retail sales and merchandising. Nevertheless, in his opinion, they need to be trained in the higher quality lines and the finer points of customer service. 1. What should the training program for the new store managers at Southern Drugs, Inc. consist of? 2. What should a retraining program for current managers consist of? 3. What is the scope of employee training program and the various training methods? Henry Wilkes, owner of Southern Drugs, Inc. has just completed plans to expand his pharmacy geographically to include ten more outlets within the next 2 years. Now he needs to develop a training program for the new store managers he is expecting to hire. As an owner of 15 discount chain pharmacies, Mr. Wilkes has been quite successful in competing in small rural markets in Louisiana and Georgia that needed both prescription and over-the-counter medicines. Wishing to capitalize on his formula for success, he decided to attempt to market his merchandise in limited sections of the Midwest. To do this, he had to hire pharmacists to be store managers for each outlet. Southern Drugs, Inc. was started by Mr. Wilkes nearly 10 years ago to be a discount pharmacy that also sold wide varieties of over-the-counter medications and health and beauty aids. As he quickly discovered, however, there was an abundance of such retailers already selling these nonprescription items, and the price competition was keen. Consequently, he made some changes in his plans and began to sell only the highest- quality items, and to offer an extensive non-prescription service. In this way, he believed he could concentrate on the finer specialty shops and avoid the intense price competition for nonprescription merchandise. Prescription drug prices were likely to remain high price-competitive. Even with these changes, there is considerable competition within his current market. As a result, chain store managers have had to learn how to display their merchandise better and to respond to a variety of customer questions. Not having the expertise in store layout and merchandise, many managers welcomed the training Mr. Wilkes provided. Some, primarily pharmacists who had hospital experience, however thought that training in nonprescription areas was unprofessional, and did not want to be held responsible for such sales. In expanding his business, Mr. Wilkes knew that he could not do all of the training himself. He believed that if an attempt were made to made open chain outlets to build sales in the Midwest, it would take the efforts of a full-time training staff. In this way, more stores could be opened, and managers of existing outlets could be retrained periodically. Currently, Southern Drugs, Inc. has two full time human resource people with training experience. However, neither has the merchandise expertise to do the training jobs. Accordingly, Mr. Wilkes needs to create a step-by-step training program that will allow him to train future managers and retrain current ones. The new employees that Mr. Wilkes plans to hire have some experience in retail sales and merchandising. Nevertheless, in his opinion, they need to be trained in the higher quality lines and the finer points of customer service. 1. What should the training program for the new store managers at Southern Drugs, Inc. consist of? 2. What should a retraining program for current managers consist of? 3. What is the scope of employee training program and the various training methods?

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