Rationale Statement & Historical Perspective
The retail industry is in a period of significant transition. These changes affect virtually every facet of the industry, including customers, associates, merchandising philosophies, management styles and functions, as well as the many technologies used. The magnitude and pace of these changes are staggering to those involved, and seem to accelerate on a daily basis.
Traditionally, the retail industry has relied on internal, "on-the-job" training programs to prepare employees for a variety of positions within their organizations. Most often these programs have been available to employees on an "as needed" basis and have involved "trial and error" types of learning, with the general acceptance that the new skills would be mastered "over time".
Such "on-the-job" teaching is still effective and appropriate for most entry level positions where the focus is basic skills, but is no longer efficient or sensible as a means to fill the ever-increasing, more complex skills needed by managers/supervisors in the retail industry.
In addition, the cost and time required to teach the foundational management competencies to employees who are already in management positions has become prohibitive and many retailers have determined that they are no longer able to continue with such an approach. In fact, retail companies today are very eager to find employees who already possess these foundational management competencies and are able to "hit the ground running" when managerial positions become available.
Some companies responded to this critical need by turning to public and private educational institutions to conduct on-campus recruiting. In addition, many companies developed relationships with colleges in their geographic areas to deliver high quality, solid foundational coursework that would compliment company-specific training programs.
In fact, a number of Retail Management Certificate Programs now exist on college campuses - programs that have helped to provide many food industry employees with some of the competencies required for success at the management level within the retail food industry. However, in the early 1990’s, two major issues emerged with respect to the programs being offered:
- Availability - Due to the small number of involved campuses, the majority of food industry employees have been unable to access the courses.
- Consistency – The variety of programs offered were unlikely to possess substantially similar curriculum and certificate requirements. This consistency is critical for WAFC endorsement and recognition across campuses.
To address these two issues, the Western Association of Food Chains established a special education committee. The group, in support of the WAFC’s mission statement and education initiatives, made the following recommendation:
In order for the WAFC to formally endorse a college certificate program for its associates, the program must be accredited, have substantially similar curriculum across campuses, and be offered throughout the WAFC membership states, thereby providing the vast majority of food industry employees with greater access to a consistent Retail Management curriculum.
In 1998, the largest WAFC member state,
Together this group collaborated to develop the model curriculum of foundational and advanced topics for managers in the food industry. The advisory group also assisted the
In the year 2000, the Western Association of Food Chains announced that years of hard work and collaboration with the California Community Colleges had resulted in the completion of the new WAFC Retail Management Certificate Program. This food industry-endorsed program consists of ten courses, encompassing several business essentials, including the "soft skills" of management and communication required for career success.
Beginning with the Fall 2000 semester, over half of the community colleges in the state of California began offering the courses that will satisfy the WAFC Retail Management Certificate Program requirements, and simultaneously sought state-level approval to offer the college certificate at their campus as well. The WAFC looks forward to seeing colleges throughout all 14 WAFC member states implement this specially-endorsed curriculum for food industry employees in their communities.