Despite the success of the business, JB Hi-Fi faced several key challenges:

• Employees requested up-skilling in their numeracy skills, to help with productivity and decision-making.
• In a fast-paced retail business, extra support was needed to ensure deadlines were always met.
• Employees were not fully empowered to take on leadership roles or make independent decisions.
• Some staff struggled with financial literacy, which limited their ability to manage budgets or understand company financials.

In partnership with Aspire2 Workplace Communication, JB Hi-Fi set out to address these challenges by delivering a tailored numeracy and financial literacy programme. The main objectives were:

• Improve employees’ numeracy skills to boost productivity and ensure tasks were completed on time.
• Develop financial literacy, enabling employees to understand company profit and loss reports, manage budgets, and make informed decisions.
• Empower employees by boosting their confidence in handling numerical data and applying it to daily tasks.
• Create a culture of continuous learning and leadership development

Enhanced Productivity: Employees learned to analyse financial reports, such as profit and loss statements, giving them insights into how their actions directly impacted the business. For instance, one manager noted that they could now assess team performance by converting decimals and percentages, which helped them allocate resources and training more effectively. This led to more strategic decision-making and faster completion of tasks.

Improved Safety and Efficiency: The training also covered essential skills like working out percentages and fractions—skills that were applicable to inventory management and safety protocols. With a deeper understanding of numbers, employees became more adept at ensuring stock was ordered and accounted for accurately, reducing errors and maintaining safety standards.

Employee Empowerment: The focus on financial literacy helped employees manage not only workplace tasks but also their personal finances. Several employees reported feeling less stressed about their finances after the programme, which allowed them to concentrate better on their jobs. One participant mentioned that learning about budgeting and reviewing their spending habits at home directly improved their ability to focus and be more efficient at work.

With newfound numeracy skills, JB Hi-Fi employees were able to move forward with additional leadership training. Employees expressed greater confidence in managing meetings, prioritising tasks, and providing feedback to their teams. By understanding the financial impact of their decisions, they were better equipped to lead their teams effectively.

One employee shared:

“After completing the numeracy part of the course, I started using mental maths rather than relying on a calculator. This not only made me faster at handling day-to-day tasks but also helped me mentor other team members who struggled with calculations.”

Additionally, employees were more empowered to suggest improvements in processes, such as refining how documents were presented to make key data easier to interpret. These skills contributed to more streamlined operations, further boosting JB Hi-Fi’s efficiency.