NCLR Customer Service and Retail Program

Overview

Overview

The NCLR Customer Service and Retail Initiative aims to provide standardized and certified education and training to Hispanics who are interested in working in the customer service and retail industry.  This industry is one of the largest employers of the Hispanic population, with 12% of customer service representatives and 14% of retail workers being Latino.  However, these workers are often employed at the bottom rung of the career ladder with limited growth and options for upward mobility.  Through NCLR’s partnership with the National Retail Federation Foundation (NRFF), NCLR Affiliates have been able to access and adapt NRFF’s standardized and certified curriculum in their training, which provides program graduates with credentials to find decent-paying jobs in the customer service and retail industry.

NCLR/The Home Depot National Hispanic Hiring Partnership

The NCLR Customer Service and Retail Initiative was initially designed in partnership with The Home Depot to help meet their hiring needs for qualified bilingual employees ranging from store associates to store managers.  Locally, The Home Depot human resources managers and NCLR Affiliate organizations are working closely together to match qualified candidates with specific hiring needs.  The Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement retailer and second largest retailer in the United States.  Founded in 1978 in Atlanta, Georgia, The Home Depot currently operates in 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, ten Canadian provinces, and Mexico.  In 1998, The Home Depot opened stores in Puerto Rico and recently opened two sourcing offices in China.

Affiliate Peer Exchanges and Technical Assistance

To advance the work of its Affiliates and ensure that Latino-serving organizations add value to their communities and local retail employers, the WFD team has adopted a capacity-building and technical assistance strategy that focuses on peer learning and information exchanges.  Specifically, Affiliates are invited to learn about highly effective customer service and retail programs operated by their Affiliate peers through structured site visits, technical support sessions, and presentations by industry experts.

Additionally, in association with the National Retail Federation Foundation, NCLR organized a “train the trainers” session where seven selected NCLR workforce development Affiliates that are currently implementing training in the customer service and retail sector were provided with tools to train and certify their program participants.  Upon successful completion and graduation from training programs, program participants are eligible for the National Retail Federation Foundation certificate that credentializes their skills in the customer service and retail arena; thus, helping them find jobs more easily.

Impact

In 2009, with funding from The Home Depot, NCLR was able to support three Affiliates in San Antonio, Texas, Chicago, Illinois, and Cleveland, Ohio to provide training in the customer service and retail industry.  Collectively, the three Affiliates trained 200 participants in six months and placed them at average wage level of $9.50 per hour.  Graduating participants who passed the NRFF standardized test also received a certificate.