Kellie Greer, Senior Manager, Global Service Training, joined Wayfair in 2016 as a Service Trainer, and has since held a variety of roles in Training & Development. In 2023, she relocated from Bangor, Maine to Athens, Georgia to lead Wayfair’s Global Training & Development Center of Excellence. She began her career in elementary education; for 20 years before joining Wayfair, Kellie held roles in classroom instruction, curriculum design and implementation, with several leadership positions included. Now, her focus is to build on Wayfair’s culture to develop its employees professionally, and get the most out of them.
Read her interview below to learn how her team’s driving Wayfair’s business forward and how she is keeping up with the latest technologies like AI and Machine Learning.
What do you enjoy most about your job and why?
Our people, our passion for innovation and the opportunity to solve problems. I love coming to work every day and interacting with the fabulous Wayfair team. Being on a support team gives me the opportunity to work cross-functionally with multiple teams including Operations, Talent, Product and Engineering. We’re able to come together to solve complex problems to provide solutions to improve our internal and external customer experience. Innovation is at the forefront of our problem solving, and during the last year we have included AI, Machine Learning and Spatial Computing (a technology that combines the physical world with digital information to create immersive experiences) as key components of our learning solutions.
What is the impact of Training and Development on Wayfair’s Success?
Training and Development plays a critical role in Wayfair's success by directly influencing several key aspects of business performance and long-term growth. Our well-designed training programs enhance employees' skills, knowledge and competencies, job performance, decision-making and productivity across the board. We also know that when employees receive continuous learning and development opportunities, they feel valued, boosting engagement, job satisfaction and motivation to perform better. This results in a workforce able to handle customer issues more effectively, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.
What are the benefits of using AI and Machine Learning in Service Training?
AI and Machine Learning are exciting powerful tools in the learning and development space. Thanks to this tech, we can provide personalized Learning Paths and automated feedback tailored to each employee, as well as take data-driven insights which results in impactful scenario-based training. AI can analyze individual employees’ strengths and weaknesses to create customized training modules, ensuring more effective learning and providing real-time feedback during simulations or role-playing scenarios. This helps customer service agents correct mistakes instantly. Machine Learning analyzes vast amounts of data from customer interactions, generating a wide variety of customer interaction scenarios, giving agents practice responses in realistic and diverse situations.
As a leader in this space, what’s your advice on how best to approach training and development?
As a company, Wayfair is committed to employees’ growth and development, offering a wide range of instructor-led and self-paced learnings. Wayfairians should be actively working with their direct leaders to engage in discussions mapping out short and long-term learning options. When making these personalized plans, be sure to balance career development and personal growth.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not at work?
I enjoy cooking with my family - we spend a lot of time creating meals and memories with friends and extended family. I also enjoy traveling near and far. There are so many amazing hidden gems to discover in Georgia, and each weekend my husband and I try to visit a new town or restaurant. We also spend a lot of time outdoors with our three dogs, Chapo, Pablo and Olive.
What's your favorite item you've bought from Wayfair?
I love shopping on our site and over the years I have purchased a lot of amazing items for my home. One of my favorite items is the
Kalorik Air Fryer Oven. It has streamlined my kitchen countertop appliances and is super functional and practical.