P&O Ferries – A New Kind of Training

Continuing to take our business from strength to strength, DUFRY’s latest business venture in joining forces with P&O Ferries proudly positions us as an expanding and leading global travel retailer. Our Learning & Development team had the task of implementing the first-ever training session for fleet staff. In March and April, the team, consisting of Spencer Kirkwood, Sarah Hopkinson and Sharon Cookson (Division 1), put on their sea legs and headed to Dover and Hull to train 130 P&O Ferries staff and service managers, in preparation for the phased launches of the new World Duty Free stores.

The team kicked off the training with introductions to World Duty Free, Dufry and ONEDUFRY, ass well as a “bite-sized” learning of the sales training given to our own staff. Training on-board from Dover to Calais was a unique experience for the Learning & Development team as it was not only their first time training non-World Duty Free employees, but also it was interesting to conduct a training session in the middle of the ocean for of a few hours! “Three Focus Domains of driving employee and customer experiences,” as well as how to drive business results, were key parts of the training. The interactive groups in both Dover and Hull were asked to think about and describe what great service feels and looks like to them, as well as what makes them happy at work. “Six steps of sales and service” was a core part of the P&O Ferries staff training, and as the Learning & Development team were aware that the staff’s main function on-board is to ensure the safety of passengers, the training was tailored to fit with the P&O Ferries culture and also link with the existing DUFRY culture.

Whilst fleet staff’s priority is primarily the safety of the customers, it is equally important to create a DUFRY customer experience throughout all of our ventures. Being able to recommend and demonstrate products to suit a customer’s needs is crucial and helps leave a great impression of the experience in-store. One of the challenges that the Learning & Development team faced was the physical aspect of the training itself, as the locations are different to our familiar airport backgrounds. The team had to get used to training in these different locations and to the fact that as they are on fleets, the staff are not as accessible as our airport staff. To work around this, the P&O Ferries managers are being trained, so that they can then cascade their learnings down to staff on-board. This also helps ensure a hassle-free and po­sitive travel experience at all times for staff and passengers. The Learning & Development team started the training as soon as possible to ensure that P&O Ferries were given a strong and clear indication as to who World Duty Free and DUFRY are and acquired a comprehensive understanding of our key guiding principles and values. We both have key similarities as “care” is a core principle, which means the P&O Ferries culture can be built on and linked to that of Dufry, allowing for a united and universal shopping experience throughout the fleets and creating an overall positive experience for both the staff and our customers.

By Ema Murphy