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Diploma in Garden Retail

Serious about a career in garden retail

Diploma picture Do you want to develop your career in garden retail?

 Do you want to demonstrate your knowledge to current and future employers?

 Do you want to gain a recognised qualification in garden retailing?

 Do you want to learn more about retailing in a garden centre?

 Do you want to develop your knowledge of plants in the garden centre? 

If the answer to any of these questions is “yes” then the HTA Diploma in Garden Retail is for you. Completing the Diploma will enable you to achieve the Level 3 Diploma in Retail Knowledge (Garden Retail). This is the only specialist qualification for Garden Centre staff and provides a unique opportunity for you to demonstrate your knowledge and progress your careers. 

Will my business benefit? 

We know that businesses who invest in training for their staff are 2 ½ times less likely to go out of business than those who don’t.

 Businesses who offer training and development to their team members are more likely to recruit and retain good quality staff. 

Well trained team members deliver better customer service, and improved product knowledge will enable you to offer better customer advice, leading to customer loyalty and an increase in repeat sales 

Completing the Diploma will give you a broad understanding of the whole of the retail operation, which will enable you to solve problems and make dynamic decisions. 

Improved horticultural knowledge will help your garden centre to increase sales and reduce waste by improving the health and saleability of the plants 

What will I study? 

There are twelve modules in the Diploma. Some of these are focussed on retail skills, while others will enable you to develop your horticultural knowledge. All of the modules ask you to apply your knowledge to the garden centre environment. Studying at your own pace you will work through a workbook, completing activities within your own garden centre, while recording your answers in the workbook 

The activities will require you to be pro-active in finding out how your garden centre does things. You may need to research different aspects of retailing or horticulture and record this in your workbook. You should aim to complete about one module per month, completing the entire Diploma in about one year. 

The 12 modules are: 

1

Selling in a Retail Environment

This module will help you to understand the concepts of range authority, features and benefits, and how to use these concepts to improve your selling skills

2

Promote and Monitor the Growth of Plants

This module will help you to improve your knowledge of the skills required to keep the plants in the plantarea healthy and looking good, and also how to advise customers on their care

3

Product Knowledge

This module will help you to understand the product range within your garden centre, and how this matches the needs of your customers. It will help you learn to interpret the different sources of product information to inform colleagues and advise customers

4

Developing Retail Teams and Personal Effectiveness

This module will help you to understand the importance effective teams, and how to become a valuable team member yourself

5

Customer Service

This module will help you to understand the importance of excellent customer service, and how you can contribute to delivering it

6

Managing Risk

This module will help you to understand the hazards and risks in your garden centre and how to carry out a risk assessment to manage these risks and comply with the relevant legislation

7

Monitoring Customer Transaction and Paypoint Activity

This module will help you to understand the operational management of the payment systems within your garden centre. You will learn how to set up an efficient system of tills and how to resolve common problems

8

Plant Naming and Identification

This module will help you to understand the binomial system of plant naming, and how to use the features of a plant to identify it. This knowledge will enable you to talk to customers about plants in an informed and authoritative way

9

Managing Stock

This module will help you to understand how stock levels are managed within your garden centre and how to identify the optimum levels of different types of stock

10

Security and Loss Prevention

This module will help you to understand how and why losses occur in garden centres, and the procedures your garden centre has in place to minimise these losses

11

Taking Delivery of Plants in a Retail Environment

This module will help you to increase your knowledge of the specialist post delivery requirements of plants. You will also learn about the legislation which governs the movement of plants and the use of plant passports

12

Controlling Pests and Diseases in a Retail Environment

This unit will help you to identify common pests and diseases, how to manage them in the plantarea including carrying out a COSHH assessment, and how to advise customers in treating pests and diseases at home

 How will my work be assessed? 

When you have completed your first module, HTA will send you details of your assessor. You will then post each of your completed modules to your assessor who will mark them. If your work is complete and to the required standard then it will be verified and returned to you. Each complete module will contribute to your achievement of the final qualification. 

If some of your work has not been completed to the required standard, then your assessor will return it to you to re-do, and you will be able to resubmit it. 

When you have completed all of the modules, you will need to send your final completed workbook into HTA for verification, and you will then be awarded the final qualification.

 What support will I need? 

You will need time within your workplace to complete some of the activities in the workbook. You may also need access to some information from different departments within the garden centre. This may include information such as sales data or policies. 

You will also need the support of a mentor in the workplace. This may be your line manager, or someone else. Your mentor’s role is to meet with you regularly to ensure you are continuing to make progress, and help you with any sections of the workbook you are finding difficult. 

Why study with the HTA? 

The HTA have been at the forefront of providing bespoke training into garden retail for 14 years. The new Diploma in Garden Retail builds on the success of the HTA Retail Plant Care Award and the HTA Retail Shop Care Award. HTA have also driven the development of the bespoke qualification, and will deliver it through the Diploma in Garden Retail workbook. The Diploma in Garden Retail is the most flexible and effective way of demonstrating that you are serious about a career in garden retail.

For more information contact Penny Worner, Diploma Co-ordinator, on penny.worner@the-hta.org.uk, or 01189 303 132

 



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Last updated: 04/06/2010 12:04

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