Written by Keith Quigg, Chief Executive Officer, Activate Group
One of the constant pressures in retail comes from the ability (or inability) of businesses to find not only capable staff members, but talented people who will become their future leaders. The understanding of the roles and opportunities in retail is poorly promoted, largely unattended and often missing from many strategy plans.
Liquor, like any industry sector, has a significant need to find and develop new talent. The rigors of this sector require a different talent set to other sectors and like many industries, the exposure for those talent sets is limited. Staffing numbers in liquor stores are often small with a strong focus on merchandising and customer attention, with leaders often unaware of the talent that faces them.
In larger stores with higher staffing numbers, the focus is on mass merchandising and front-end connection with the customer. The attention to the individual is equally limited but the opportunity is perhaps wider as concentrated roles are in play. None of these focuses, however, have talent-exposure criteria.
Joe Berry Award connects retailers with talent
Within the program plans for the annual Joe Berry Award is the connection with companies who have faced the talent finding issue. Most of these companies, from the FMCG, mass merchandise and supplier sectors, have realised that other elements must be injected into their employees’ development. While clever programs are constantly delivered to develop skills for the allocated roles, the levels for talent exposure remain low. Taking talent exposure head-on has brought about the need for external development, where each employee can exercise their commitment to a career without the pressure of internal company programming.
For the individual, the opportunity to write and submit an essay on a chosen topic is manna from heaven. Everyone benefits. The employees’ career can escalate quickly as their talent is recognised, the employer is provided with a focus on the individual’s talents, and the industry finds new leaders.
The Joe Berry Award is a program for the whole-of-industry, where talented employees within liquor can compete with those of food, pharmacy, hardware and wholesale on an equal footing. The recognition of up-until-now hidden talents is the same for every individual who enters and the same for whomever employs them.
The opportunity exists for the whole sector to be connected and to benefit from – not only does the individual get coverage, but the employing company equally benefits by being exposed as a progressive thinking organisation. If you would like to discuss how this talent exposure is achieved, I am happy to have that conversation with you – enquiries@joeberryaward.com.au.
The 2025 Joe Berry Award will be judged and presented on 12 June in Sydney. This year, our location is the SCG – Noble Dining Room and there is room for everyone. If you’re a leader in the liquor sector, arrange a guest ticket and see for yourself how impressive and impactful this award program can be. Network with past winners and finalists, meet with leaders from sponsoring companies and find out why, year after year, they continue to attend.