By now, you must have been living under a rock to have not heard about The Great Resignation. It swept through the UK mid-21 seeing resignations at their highest levels since 2009, and a real shortage of bodies to fill jobs. Has it impacted you?
It seems that the pandemic (it, that shall no longer be named) was quite the career eye opener to many. Some people decided on profession changes, some opted for better work-life balance, while others felt they may just be more appreciated elsewhere. In fact, in our last survey exploring the mindset of retail workers, appreciation levels had fallen from 64% to 48%. And 63% of the staff surveyed were considering quitting their job.
With the great resignation still a huge area for concern in 2022, how can retailers, who are already juggling everything from omnichannel and warehousing to logistics and customer experience get it right?
We all know that customer experience is high on the priority list for retailers. And we know customers can be extremely fickle.
‘The queue was so long’
‘The fitting rooms were a mess’
‘They only had one cashier on the tills’
‘No one was around when I needed to ask a question’
Sound familiar?
It is fair to say that the majority of great customer experience will come from well trained staff who love their job. So, with more people resigning and appreciation levels dropping the simple mathematics point to customer service levels falling. This decline in customer experience will impact customer loyalty which in turn hits revenue.
So, what can be done about it?
The first and probably the most important step is to open communications with your staff. Let them know that you appreciate them, they are your greatest asset after all. There are many tools that can be adopted quickly and simply that allow dialogue between employee and employer, that will help create a better work life balance, allow staff to swap shifts when they really need to, be ill when they are or attend their best friend’s wedding – all without fear of retribution. Our report found that 65% of respondents had gone to work sick, and 59% had missed a social event or holiday due to poor scheduling. Is it any wonder then, that appreciation levels are plummeting?
Retail companies must place employees at the centre as well as customers, as they won’t get to their centricity goals without employing both as strategies. Everyone wants to work for a company where they feel valued and that doesn’t see them as disposable or temporary, but an asset vital to ensuring company growth. A job they are excited to go to, not just turn up for because they must.
These are achievable goals.
So, if everyone wants to work for a fair organisation that treats them well, what’s holding companies back from doing just that? Monetary concerns can no longer be the excuse because the constant cost of hiring, and training must surely be higher than that of retention? Plus, retention promises better experience, and better customer service… It really is a simple circle when you connect the dots.
Our takeaway? Communication with staff is essential for employee centricity and retention, which are key to customer service and profits.
Still to be convinced? Take a look at how we helped Coop Norrbotten.