The Western Association of Food Chains (WAFC) is a non-profit association committed to advancing education and training for the next generation of grocery industry leaders. It accomplishes these goals through two primary mechanisms: the USC Food Industry Management (FIM) Program and the Retail Management Certificate (RMC) Program.
Many industry executives have graduated from the FIM Program, in which high-potential associates spend a semester at the University of Southern California immersed in courses to develop advanced management and leadership skills. The RMC Program, meanwhile, matches store associates with local community colleges to take eight courses on digital skills and other core retail management capabilities. These credits can be transferred to universities and applied to an associate's or bachelor's degree if desired. All of this is funded through donations to the organization and proceeds from the annual WAFC convention.
AlixPartners began working with the WAFC in 2023, after an introduction from a former client that sits on the WAFC's board. The organization's ask: How do we redefine our strategy to accelerate our mission and make even more of an impact? And how can we quantifiably demonstrate that impact to show the success of our programs?
While the WAFC has been around for more than 100 years, it had never undertaken a major strategic review—our pro bono work to rethink the company's growth trajectory would be the first. To start, we interviewed nearly 50 WAFC stakeholders to discern what was and wasn't working. With pain points identified, we then created a more robust strategy and tactics around fundraising, communication, and program management, along with new levers to drive engagement from the board, students, and the alumni base.
From a communications perspective, we are supporting a rebranding of the WAFC to better reflect the organization's drive towards education in the grocery industry and building the next generation of grocery leaders. We are also refreshing the WAFC's offerings and programs and their delivery methods to facilitate stronger community outreach.
To generate data on the success of the WAFC's programs, we combed through thousands of LinkedIn profiles and blinded company data to compare program graduates against a control group of retailer and consumer goods employees who didn't participate in either program. Looking at a 15-year timeframe, we found that FIM graduates are 108% more likely to stay at their company longer than non-graduates (an average of eight years longer) and three times more likely to advance their careers to a senior leader or executive role (52% of FIM graduates we analyzed are currently in such a role).
"Over the years, there have been some misnomers about our FIM graduates receiving their education and moving on to other companies," said Pat Posey, Chief Operating Officer of the WAFC. "AlixPartners' research helped us to prove that FIM graduates stayed longer—which we always thought was the case, but we lacked the data to speak to it. AlixPartners changed all of that for us."
For the RMC Program, we found that graduates have a 28% longer tenure at their current company than non-graduates (around five years longer on average) and have achieved twice as many promotions since being hired compared to non-graduates. RMC graduates are also compensated 33% higher on average than non-graduates. As part of our strategic work with the WAFC, we aided the organization in enhancing ramp-up programs for associates that need English-as-a-second-language (ESL) support through the "English at Work" program.
"AlixPartners helped us to see the value in funding this program and understanding the best way to participate," Posey added. "It's enlightened the way we think about education—first teach team members the language, then sharpen their skills through RMC, and then get them ready for the C-suite with FIM. This gives people the belief that they can move forward and advance in their careers—the sky is the limit!"
AlixPartners, as well as individuals on the grocery team, have become direct donors to the WAFC by contributing to fund scholarships. This aligns with our grocery team's ethos of helping to evolve and reshape the industry beyond the core client work that we do. By doing good for an industry that matters to us, we have deepened our relationships with grocery leadership teams, leading to inbound commercial activity.
"We went through a vigorous process to select the consulting firm to take on this project—and without question, we picked the right partner," Posey said. "AlixPartners has helped us gain exposure to new ideas and processes that we would never have been able to achieve without their direction. Their speed of execution was amazing—they have changed the way we think about our business."
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