Title:  Avoca Learning & Development Specialist

Job Description

Avoca operates 13 Stores locations, a Central Bakery & Kitchen, Central Stores, and a Weaving Production Mill. After all this time, the ethos of Avoca remains the same. We cherish our time-honoured traditions, which have been lovingly passed down through several generations. Today, there are third generation weavers working at the Mill. Our skills might be steeped in a long and rich tradition, but our attitude is to look to the future. Now heralded as one of Ireland’s most exciting retail stores, there are Avoca ceramics, clothing, perfumes, soaps and more from our own design studio. We have a host of award-winning cafes and restaurants, Food Markets crammed with artisanal ingredients from near and far, as well as a best-selling range of Avoca cookbooks. There are also gardens to explore at many of our stores, as well as florists and garden centres. The list goes on. And all of this from a modest handwaving mill, established in a rural Irish village in 1723.

Job Responsibilities

• Complete an Annual frontline Learning & Development needs analysis based on but not limited to the Avoca Talent Score card data, annual engagement survey results & the annual Avoca HR People Strategy.
• Develop and communicate the agreed annual frontline Learning & Development plan to all stakeholders.
• Deliver training programs/initiatives specific to business needs and client expectations.
• Support in the delivery of an engaging ‘Warm Welcome to Avoca’ induction and onboarding across the Avoca business, part of which will be co-ordinating the ‘new starters ‘monthly Mill Heritage visit.
• Create and deliver training to elevate the overall customer experience & journey, ensuring consistent seamless service and exceptional standards across all locations.
• Work collaboratively with key stakeholders to design and delivery Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure all hospitality & production colleagues adhere to our stringent hygiene, and safety regulations, whilst delivering consistent quality across the board.
• Support where required in the development, design and delivery of Aramark (parent company) learning and development initiatives.
• Ensure all stores, Central Distribution Centre (CST), Central Bakery & Kitchen Production Unit (CBK), Avoca Mill & Head office have sufficient ‘Train the Trainers’ to support in the role out of training during each colleague’s employment lifecycle.
• Create a centre of learning & development excellence store.
• Ensure where required ‘refresher training’ is designed and delivered.
• Ensure the business is 100% compliant for all mandatory and compliance training e.g. Health & Safety, Business Conduct Policy (BCP) with the relevant stakeholders to safeguard our colleagues and customers.
• Responsible for the creation and management of monthly dashboards for tracking and reporting purposes, to be shared with the senior business leaders regarding all learning activities.
• Create interactive and visually appealing training content, including but not limited to graphics, animations, videos, live demonstrations.
• Ensure all training is delivered within agreed timelines, and of high-quality standard.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of all learning experiences delivered using agreed metrics and methodologies e.g. customer feedback, mystery shopper results, etc. to continually refine and continuously enhance the customer experience.
• Talent Development
• In conjunction with the relevant stakeholders create & deliver development programs to ensure there’s continuous development for frontline colleagues.
• Promote a collaborative environment during the learning experience to enhance colleague knowledge, understanding and engagement.
• Identify external Apprenticeship programs or other accredited programmes that would be of benefit to Avoca and co-ordinate the nomination and attendance of Avoca colleagues in line with budget constraints.
• Identify with relevant stakeholders where no external apprenticeships are available could an internal apprenticeship be created and delivered.
• Co-ordinate the attendance of Avoca colleagues to relevant Aramark programs e.g. Make Your Mark etc.

Qualifications

• Qualifications & experience relating to learning or instructional design & delivery circa 5+ years.
• Experience of creating and delivering training using blended methodology, including digital, virtual and in person.
• Operational experience in Hospitality / Retail.
• Ability to work with and internal and external stakeholders to delivery all identified needs.
• Ability to work under pressure with agility and resilience at pace.
• Demonstrate outstanding written and oral communication skills.
• Build rapport with all stakeholders.
• Worked with authoring tools and Learning Management Systems (LMS).
• Work independently and as part of a team; use own initiative.
• Attention to detail.