Perspectives 2004

1
Learning. Performance. Impact.
Developing Leaders in a High Turnover Retail
Environment John Gray, Vice President Training,
Rent-A-Center
2
Rent-A-Center Company Overview

• Company Facts
• Founded in 1986
• Headquarters located in Plano, TX
• Over 3,000 Stores
• All 50 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and
  Puerto Rico
• Over 19,000 coworkers
• Annual revenues 2007 2.906 BN
• Rent-to-Own is a 6.7 BN Industry
• Company History
• Since the founding in 1986, Rent-A-Center has
  grown from 16 stores to more than 3,000
• Went public in 1995 as Renters Choice
• In 2005, Mark E. Speese, our chairman and CEO,
  was named an Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst
  Young for the retail sector

3
Rent-A-Center's Operations

• Rent-A-Center (US) Rent-A-Centre (Canada)
• Rent-to-own, rental purchase, or rent with an
  ownership option
• Get It Now! (WI) Home Choice (IL)
• Offers merchandise on an installment sales basis
• Cash AdvantEdge
• Provides short-term loans, check cashing, money
  transfers, and other convenient financial
  services
• Rent-A-Center Corporate Leasing
• Provides furnishings for businesses that need
  short-term living arrangements for employees
• National Product Service
• Provides merchandise warranty and repair service
  to our stores and third parties

4
Training Development at Rent-A-Center

• Training Department
• Report to Human Resources
• Instructional Design/Development/Delivery
• LMS Administration/Helpdesk
• TD Strategy Linked to HR Strategy
• Reduce Turnover/Churn
• Coworker Assessments
• Recruitment/Interviewing/Retention Training
• Coworker Development Log Succession Planning
• Engrained in Culture
• Senior Leadership Support

5
Audience

• Rent-A-Center
• Over 3,000 locations
• 12 Divisions
• SVPs
• Regional Directors
• District Managers
• Store Managers Assistant Managers
• Customer Account Representatives
• Cash AdvantEdge
• Over 280 locations
• 7 Regions
• Regional Directors
• District Managers
• Store Managers Store Assistants

• National Product Services
• 30 locations
• 3 Regions
• Directors
• Managers
• Service Technicians
• Get-It-Now/Home Choice
• 24 locations
• 1 Region
• District Managers
• Store Managers Assistant Managers
• Customer Account Representatives
• Home Office
• VPs, Directors, Managers and Supervisors

6
Business Challenges/Issues

• Unique locations
• Rural
• Inner city
• Growth by acquisition
• Limited impact on training
• Similar practices, different cultures
• Difficulty finding entry-level coworkers
• Difficult job
• High turnover
• Promote from within culture

7
Store Management DevelopmentHistory

• On-the-Job Training
• Things-to-Know Checklist
• Store Manager and Manager-In-Training
• SkillSoft Courses
• Management Skills
• Courses aligned to Assessment Competencies
• Used as remediation
• Desktop Skills
• Developmental Resources
• TD assigned courses identified as a development
  need in competency assessment

8
More Challenges/Issues

• SkillSoft course assignments
• Limited communication of available courses
• Low number of course accesses/completions
• 1 course hour 1 week to complete
• Low motivation to complete assigned courses
• Could take months to complete multiple courses
  assigned based on number of development needs
  identified in assessment
• Limited follow-up by managers

9
Store Management DevelopmentSolutions

• Store Manager Development Program
• Created a program to develop Assistant Managers,
  Lead Assistant Managers, and Managers-in-Training
  to Store Manager
• SkillSoft Courses
• Modified contract to maximize licenses
• Management Skills
• Desktop Skills
• Available for District Managers and Up
• Developmental Resources
• Improved self-development documents available to
  coworkers and managers in the field

10
Store Manager Development Program

• Formal Development Program
• Launched January 2008
• Lead Assistant/Assistant Managers and MIT
• Online and On-the-Job
• Store Manager involved in hands-on
  exercises/activities
• Critical Job Skills
• RAC Core Management Skills
• Required for Promotion
• 26 week program
• Current Participation
• 1,200

11
Maximizing LMS Functionality

• Proactive communication
• Automated email notifications when courses are
• Added to coworkers Learning Plan
• Pending completion
• Past completion date
• Sent to coworker and supervisor
• Improved Manager Awareness
• Approval required for certain courses
• Improved Reporting
• Customized reports to provide organizational
  hierarchy data
• Better views/tools for managers to follow-up with
  subordinates development

12
Expanded Catalog

• Management Skills (SM Up HO)
• SM Job Skills
• RAC Management Skills
• SkillSoft Management Skills (license)
• Computer Skills (DM Up HO)
• SkillSoft Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word
  (license)
• Home Office
• Mapped SkillSoft courses to support continuing
  education
• CPA
• PHR/SPHR

13
My Learning Center Catalog
14
Developmental Resources
15
Impact

• Many programs too new to measure
• Increased involvement of managers in development
  process
• Improved access/completion of SkillSoft courses
• Reduced time spent on non-aligned training
• Maximizing value of SkillSoft licenses purchased
• Slow down churn
• Building a stronger bench

16
Whats Next?

• Home Office Supervisory Training
• Directors, Managers, and Supervisors
• District Manager Development Program
• Roll out in Q2 2008
• Executive Development
• Linked to Succession Planning
• Incentives for Training Completion

17
Best Practices Discussion

• What have you done that youd like to share?