Training & Development

We recruit and hire those who demonstrate a knowledge of and passion for the incredible places where we operate. In addition, we look for applicable experience in related retail, hospitality, and customer service fields. We seek individuals who are focused on providing a world-class experience for every guest. We hire for culture first as our training and development programs take care of the rest. Our interview process is designed to determine if a candidate’s personality and character align with our core values, which we represent through the acronym GUSTO.

To fill open positions and to staff for peak season, we utilize a variety of recruiting methods, but do not use temporary staffing agencies. We host job fairs, utilize social media platforms, post on local college/university message boards and on Linked In, and work with job sites such as Indeed and idealist.org. Ultimately, we seek people who are outgoing, enthusiastic, and eager to learn.

When appropriate, we are eager to meet the current team and welcome the opportunity to interview everyone who is interested in joining us as we (hopefully) embark on this journey. We believe that with our store support team and their resources, combined with the knowledge and experience of the current retail team members, we will be an unstoppable force. In every location where we operate, the knowledge of tenured team members who have first-hand experience of the operation and a history with the organization proves invaluable.

We have transitioned hundreds of businesses over the years and are particularly sensitive to the anxiety that we know current team members feel during such a process. We strive to support the existing team while seeking the best possible people for any open positions. Change is difficult so we will start the process with what we refer to as a Town Hall meeting for those interested in learning more about Event Network. The purpose of the Town Hall is to introduce key Event Network transition team members from our People Services, Culture, and Store Quality communities who share background information about our company and its history, and values. We explain how the transition process works, what to expect, and who will be there to support. To further relieve the current teams’ anxiety, we have testimonials from EN store team members who have been through
a transition as part of our introductory video. We then take time to answer any questions that arise.

After the Town Hall, we conduct one-on-one meet and greets with those interested in joining Event Network. We intentionally do not refer to these conversations as “interviews” as yet another way to try and relieve the current team’s anxiety. Our People Services team will work closely with the Museum and the current operator to ensure a smooth transition and onboarding process.

The onsite leadership team is the most critical element of our success. It all starts with having the right leader (store director). We focus on finding and developing entrepreneurially minded leaders who will truly take ownership of their business. Those with experience and talent for visual merchandising who also possess strong operational and people management skills are the types of store director candidates we either recruit for or promote from within Event Network. Our store director is supported in the recruiting and hiring process throughout the year by our Store Quality and People Services leaders. We understand the importance of making smart hiring decisions and then investing in the thorough training of our teams. It costs much more (both in time and money) to continually fill and refill open positions than it does to make thoughtful hiring decisions and provide comprehensive training from the start.

Our partners will always have approval of our store director, and we welcome feedback as it relates to our entire store team. We include team and training updates as part of our monthly meeting agenda and always seek opportunities for our team to participate in Museum staff meetings and training to ensure our team members are aware of the latest happenings at the Field so that we can provide a seamless experience for our guests.

Our organizational structure ensures a strong connection between Event Network andthe Museum. Our staffing plan allows for ample coverage during peak periods with hours allotted for operational tasks and training. Because our staff will be so knowledgeable about the mission, collections and exhibitions featured at the Field, there will be no distinction between Event Network team members and the Museum staff. Our goal is always to provide our partners with a retail team who is committed to providing exceptional guest service, consisting of individuals who are brand stewards and true ambassadors for the unique institutions with whom we work.

The flexibility of our on-site structure (staffing model) enables us to react quickly to the needs of the business as well as to special hours for events and pop-up shopping opportunities. We implement our staffing model, which is analyzed down to 30-minute windows within each day, to ensure all day-to-day needs (product replenishment, cleaning, visual merchandising, et al.) are met. Our structure includes a mix of both full-time and part-time team members with an increase in staff during peak season via seasonal hires.

The staffing levels are established to achieve our revenue projections. We use a transaction-based model to build our payroll budget by store. This ensures that we have appropriate coverage to support guest service and operational needs based on the Museum’s operating days, hours, and projected attendance. Additional hours are planned for/added as transactions increase over the base level (which we monitor on a weekly basis) to support additional guests while maintaining high service standards. Our store directors have autonomy and flexibility within their models to adjust their schedules to match information that may fluctuate during the week. Sales, Attendance, Capture Rate, and Average Dollar Sale are the Key Performance Indicators that are used in addition to projected number of transactions for payroll modeling.

The onsite team is supported by our larger store support team, who provide the behind-the-scenes infrastructure that enables our store director and staff to focus on the operational needs of the business and serving our guests. We are a retailer who has made the proper investments in operational infrastructure - people and systems – to ensure that our store teams can deliver strong results to guests (a great shopping experience) and to our partners (total performance); precisely because the onsite retail team is truly able to focus on maintaining store quality and high guest service standards. Our structure, along with how we communicate and maintain accountability, minimizes the “administrivia” required to successfully operate a high-velocity retail business. Our store support (corporate) team provides a wealth of assistance to the onsite team in the areas of buying, product development, supply chain management, store operations, data analytics, visual merchandising, technology, people services, finance, and digital (ecommerce) support.

We invest heavily in training programs, as well as ongoing mentoring and support to ensure that we are providing our team members with the tools and resources they need to succeed—both professionally and personally. Our robust training programs lay the foundation for success and set the expectation for high guest service standards among our team members. Because accountability is equally important, we advocate coaching in the moment and encourage our leaders to take every opportunity to provide constructive feedback as well as positive reinforcement to our team members.

A strong foundation begins with an engaging and comprehensive onboarding process. Our program, One, Two, Three, Floor! for new hires, is designed to engage our new team members (sales leads and sales associates) and provide them with the necessary tools to become successful and productive in their new roles. It ensures new team membersare immersed in the culture, values, and operational goals of both the Museum and Event Network. The program includes hands-on training, electronic modules, video tutorials,
and experiential learning designed to provide practical knowledge of daily operations and customer engagement situations. New hires are paired with experienced mentors to guide them through their initial days, reinforcing a culture of learning and support.

Before working independently, employees complete detailed training sessions related to product knowledge, merchandise offerings, operational best practices and requirements, and customer service expectations. Museum integration is also an important element in our training, and our store teams go through the orientation programs that our partners provide to their new employees as it is critical to providing knowledgeable guest service.

An understanding of the broader Field Museum mission as well as tactical information like where the closest restroom or restaurant is located are key pieces of a team member’s initial training. This emphasis on preparation ensures staff members are confident and
equipped to deliver exceptional service from their first day on the sales floor.

Retail Merchandise Product)Training is also included for new team members to ensure everyone is well versed on the product offering so they can easily answer guest questions, suggest additional items, and upsell where appropriate. Our Product training includes information about the backgrounds of local vendors & artists being featured in store, the sustainability attributes of items, and how certain product assortments support specific exhibitions.

In addition to our One Two Three Floor! training module, our store director will spend time understanding our sustainability and DEI initiatives and their importance not only to the Field but to Event Network and our mission of GUSTO. The store director will also experience ongoing training in the form of several weekly calls with members of Event Network’s Store Support Center. For example, there are monthly “Synergy” calls on which all our museum store directors, buyers, planners and the vp’s of store quality, visual merchandising and operations participate. Our store director will have a weekly call with their senior director of store quality, calls with their operations director and will FaceTime with their visual director to walk the floor virtually to ensure best in class presentations are always maintained.
An additional component to our training and recognition programs is the H.E.R.O.s Guest Service Training.

Event Network’s customer service philosophy is quite simple and straightforward –

Do what is right for the guest, always.

Be an ambassador for our partner, always.

This philosophy is upheld and supported by our store teams who are educated through our exclusive customer service training content. We refresh the theme of this material every couple of years to keep our store teams energized and engaged. Our current guest service training initiative is the H.E.R.O. program which has a special component for our store directors and assistant directors known as Super H.E.R.O. training.

Our H.E.R.O. program is meant to inspire our team members to do what is right for the guest and to take every opportunity to provide exceptional guest service. The program provides real life examples of how to exceed a guest’s expectations and leave a lasting positive impression of not only the store but of their visit to the Museum. We used the idea of the cartoon superhero as a basis for our guest service training, calling out four key elements of successful guest engagement:

Hello (greet), Engage, Recover, Optimize.

All team members receive the H.E.R.O. training as part of the onboarding process. Each of the four elements are defined and reinforced with examples of guest interactions on the floor. Store leaders engage team members in role playing and share tips on how to deliver world class service. All team members are encouraged to “put on their cape” to exceed guest expectations.

Store leadership team members also participate in Super H.E.R.O. training, which focuses on the best way to lead the team to achieve results. We cover how to staff to achieve and maintain high service standards during peak selling hours, how to bring the mission of the Museum to life and how to use our core values as a guide to coaching and rewarding the team.
Should we miss an opportunity to provide a guest with outstanding service, our store directors and our store quality leaders get involved to quickly resolve any issues or complaints. A phone call is made or an email is sent to the guest by a leader of our store team and a formal counseling occurs between the store director and the team member about whom a complaint was made. These instances are rare in our experience but provide teachable moments for our team members and another opportunity to go above and beyond for a guest. We strive to achieve a high level of guest service through
our onboarding program, ongoing training and through the H.E.R.O. program and its incentives.

To ensure that our team members are delivering the level of service that our programs are designed to instill and to measure the effectiveness of each, we partnered with the TruRating Company to implement a guest service data collection platform that provides a snapshot of the “service health” of each store.

We offer a wide variety of incentive programs, both financially and culturally motivated, to keep our team members engaged and to reward extraordinary customer service. Our culture is what helps define us and we strive to foster one of inclusiveness and recognition by incentivizing our teams, not only with financial motivators, but with recognition from peers. We create an onvironment where team members truly become vested within our organization.

We enjoy healthy competitions between stores where we track and reward the highest per cap increases, best TruRating guest engagement scores, and greatest increase versus budget to name a few. Everything from gift cards for each team member to pizza parties at the store have been bestowed on the winning teams. Friendly competition, financial and “fun” awards, and recognition from peers and supervisors alike are the best motivators and we utilize them all to keep our teams happy and feeling valued.

Our store directors, assistant directors and full-time store support team members are all eligible for quarterly profit-sharing bonuses. Our company’s annual budget includes a discretionary bonus pool for each community, and our H.E.R.O guest service program awards $500 quarterly to one lucky, eligible sales lead or sales associate.

In addition, all team members are eligible for and most receive a merit increase as part of our annual performance appraisal process. Quarterly Coaching Sessions are held between every team member and their supervisor to assess performance, determine goals, and measure progress toward achieving those goals. Peer mentors, Positions of Purpose, and classes offered on EN University are all designed to help those who wish to advance within EN to the next level. We are proud of the fact that the bulletin boards in our store teams’ offices are filled with letters of gratitude and thanks from everyone from our president to our partners who routinely express their appreciation to our onsite teams for their commitment to being in service to our guests and our partners’ teams every day.

Our “Culture Council” is an internal group who, among other projects, focuses on ideas for incentive and training programs to keep our teams happy and engaged. EN’s Culture Council is a diverse team comprised of people from every corner of the company — stores and our support center — that is annually elected to help keep our culture evolving and thriving. Our Culture Council strives to foster a working environment where people feel comfortable and confident expressing themselves. This began over 20 years ago as we realized that this input was invaluable to help us thrive as a company and to ensure that every team member has an outlet to be heard (through regularly scheduled “Coffee Lounges” with our CEO, anonymous surveys for feedback, and our open-door policy).

The Culture Council is in many ways the heart of our company. Any full-time team member is eligible to be a part of the Council, and everyone is encouraged to apply.

All team members receive ample access to the tools, training, and support to succeed and grow both professionally and personally. These offerings result in a strong employee retention rate that has fueled our success. Our culture is built upon a foundation of respect and a commitment to help all our team members thrive!