Leading for Results in Retail:
Developing Emerging Leaders at a Pharmacy Retail Corporation
Abstract
A pharmacy retail company needed to accelerate the transition from store leadership to district leadership. Insight Experience developed the Leading for Results in Retail business simulation, which emphasizes strategic prioritization, leveraging partnerships, and transferring accountability to others. This program has enhanced the skills of emerging district leaders, resulting in improved service scores and increased operational effectiveness.
Challenge
The client sought ways to better support store-level managers as they transition to district roles with responsibility for multiple locations. This shift requires leading from a distance and relying on others to achieve results. New district leaders, though skilled in operational tasks, often struggle with strategic prioritization and cross-functional collaboration for collective success. Recognizing these gaps, particularly in coaching and leadership, the client focused on enhancing the effectiveness of its district leaders to drive consistent performance and service quality across stores.
Solution
In collaboration with the client's Talent Development team, Insight Experience designed an integrated program featuring a business simulation to provide hands-on leadership practice in a safe and risk-free environment. Retail and pharmacy managers who are identified as emerging leaders are immersed in a realistic fictional environment where they lead a virtual district, making strategic decisions and practicing coaching techniques. The custom simulation, tailored to the company's operational context, uses familiar terms, data, and scenarios to ensure relevance and engagement. Participants, working in teams, lead four unique stores, each presenting distinct leadership challenges and coaching opportunities.
Over the two-day program, leaders alternate between role-playing, collaborative problem-solving, team discussions, and large-group reflections to enhance their strategic focus, collaboration, and coaching skills. Peer feedback complements the hands-on experience, fostering continuous learning and improvement. This simulation not only refines participants' abilities to drive business results but also strengthens their prioritization, communication, and customer service skills.
Learning Objectives
As a result of the Leading for Results in Retail program, participants hone skills to:
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Think strategically about their time and focus across the district.
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Build their coaching skills through observation and practice.
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Learn from each other about best practices, pitfalls, and new ideas.
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Develop talent by looking at current and future needs of the individuals and the business.
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Experience how their leadership impacts business results.
Design Highlights
The Leading for Results in Retail simulation is designed to mirror real-world challenges faced by district leaders. Key design elements include:
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Realistic business scenarios: The simulation fictionalizes a real district and real stores, with actual business processes, reporting tools, and terminology from the client company, which provide participants with scenarios that closely resemble their day-to-day operations. This fosters a transparent connection and relevance to their roles.
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Role specificity: The simulation is tailored to the unique roles of the retail and pharmacy district leaders, presenting challenges and opportunities specific to their responsibilities, including cross-functional collaboration.
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Peer collaboration and competition: Participants are grouped into teams, representing fictional districts. This setup facilitates peer learning through small-group collaboration and introduces a competitive element to spur engagement and motivation.
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Immediate feedback: Participants receive immediate feedback on the interpersonal and business impact of their decisions, highlighting the direct consequences of their actions.
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Integrated coaching model: The client’s preferred coaching model is central to the simulation, allowing participants to practice and enhance their coaching skills in real time.
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Multimedia integration: Real-time data dashboards enrich the simulation experience, making the learning process dynamic and interactive.
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Facilitator-led discussions: Expert facilitators guide discussions throughout the program, linking the simulation experience back to key learning objectives and the company’s real-world strategic goals.
Program Agenda
This two-day leadership development program begins on day one with a Personal Styles Assessment and an introduction to the simulation framework. Participants engage in the first simulation round, practice essential leadership conversations, and conclude the day with a team-based debrief and discussion on prioritization strategies.
Day two builds on these insights, starting with a focus on leadership purpose and more conversation practices that are then debriefed as a group. Participants refine their skills through a second simulation round, collaborative prioritization exercises, team reflection, and peer feedback. The day culminates with actionable takeaways to apply in real-world scenarios.
The program incorporates several client-led portions, ensuring alignment with the organization’s leadership culture and core values.
Key Content
The Leading for Results in Retail simulation was built around a core educational model that emphasizes the practical application of leadership and management theories in a controlled, risk-free environment. The content is strategically designed to reflect:
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Client-integrated framework: The simulation is built on the client’s unique business framework, incorporating specific KPIs, operational metrics, functional distinctions, and strategic objectives. This structure allows participants to experience decision-making aligned with the real parameters of their roles, reinforcing the practical relevance of the training.
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A leadership development focus: The curriculum centers on developing such essential leadership skills as strategic thinking, effective communication, and proactive problem-solving. Each activity within the program is aligned with specific leadership competencies the client wants to instill in its district leaders.
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Scenario-based learning: Participants encounter various scenarios that simulate real-world challenges, such as managing underperformance, navigating complex customer interactions, and implementing corporate initiatives at the district level.
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Customization and flexibility: The model allows for customization to meet the specific learning needs and styles of different groups, adapting scenarios and content depth based on participant feedback,
facilitator assessments, and organizational changes.
Simulation Overview
Insight Experience designed the simulation to give the client’s emerging district leaders a hands-on, immersive learning experience. Participants are assigned to fictional districts, each comprising several stores with unique challenges, opportunities, and store leadership teams. This setup encourages leaders to engage in complex decision-making and problem-solving.
Throughout the simulation, participants interact with fictional team members and customers reflecting real district leadership challenges. Leaders face a series of decision points affecting various aspects of district performance, including store-level leadership engagement, metrics like NPS, and business outcomes such as retail and prescription sales. These decisions, based on real-time data, require leaders to balance multiple priorities and outcomes.
The simulation provides immediate feedback on decisions through changes in key metrics, allowing participants to see the consequences of their choices and adjust strategies in subsequent rounds.
Participants assume roles as either retail district leaders or pharmacy district leaders, based on their expertise, and collaborate with their functional partners to navigate typical challenges like staffing, customer service, and compliance.
By participating in simulation decision-making in teams of five to six, a large cohort feels more intimate. Participants often highlight the value of individual feedback from teammates and close networking opportunities as key benefits of the program.
History and Results
This custom-built program has evolved alongside the client’s changing leadership needs and has been updated to emphasize the need for partnership between functional leaders, offering distinct learning experiences.
The program won a 2015 Gold award from the Brandon Hall Group in the category of Best Use of Games and Simulations for Learning.
The peer evaluation functionality in this simulation received a 2022 Bronze Learning and Development Technology Award from the Brandon Hall Group in the category of Best Advance in Gaming or Simulation Technology.