Fair Trade and Your Staff
There are many ways to engage your staff members around Fair Trade. Here are a few suggestions.
Get your staff up to speed
It can be as easy as distributing our one-page handout at your next staff meeting. For more in-depth training, consider a presentation, video or guest speaker from the local Fair Trade community. Contact us at retail
fairtrade [dot] ca for the resources you need.
Hold a Fair Trade Treasure Hunt
Do you and your employees know what Fairtrade certified products you carry? Why not make a game of it? Have your staff members team up and find as many Fairtrade certified products as they can in a set amount of time.
Practice the sales pitch
During a training session, have employees practice selling a Fairtrade certified product to one another. What would you say to a customer to convince them to try it? How would you explain to a customer what Fair Trade is? Consider holding a Fair Trade sales contest among your employees, or tracking how long the team takes to reach a common sales target.
Change company habits
Make Fair Trade part of your corporate culture. If you supply coffee, tea, sugar, etc. for the break room or for meetings, why not make it Fairtrade certified? If your staff members wear uniforms, ask your supplier about Fairtrade certified cotton.
Celebrate Fair Trade Fortnight
Hold a special event in-store, get everyone involved, and take lots of pictures! Check fairtrade.ca/fortnight for updates about each year’s campaign.
Enter the Canadian Fairtrade Awards
Nothing brings people together quite like working towards a common goal. When that goal is winning the Canadian Fairtrade Awards, so much the better! Your employees can help your business and products gain recognition and bragging rights, so make use of their talents. For more information on the awards, click here.