Enhancing and improving the retail employee experience

In the throes of a labour crisis, retailers across the country need to develop a deeper understandingof today’s employee needs in order to secure future success and growth // By Shelby Huatala

As employee needs are changing, retail companies are encouraged to adapt in order to provide enhanced working conditions, which include flexible work schedules, more vacation time, and greater transparency with staff concerning company changes. And, it’s becoming increasingly critical for retailers to respond to these evolving needs, says Suzanne Sears, President of Best Retail Careers International Incorporated, who recognizes a number of issues that employees are facing at store level, adding that retailers must develop a deeper understanding concerning the things prospective employees are looking for while job hunting, and how they can improve the experience they offer.

Adaptation required

“Retailers need to adapt to a new environment and evolving employee needs,” she asserts. “Employees don’t need retailers. Retailers need employees. And, more importantly, they need to provide their employees with a reason to devote themselves to the company and the brand. Simply giving them a paycheque at the end of the week just isn’t good enough anymore. It’s a tough time to be in retail. The whole idea has got to be about giving rather than taking. The retailers that provide more for their employees generally do better than those that don’t.”

To provide a better space where employees want to work, Sears suggests providing flexible time, more time off, and the offer of more than minimum wage with increased benefits.

Flexible time

“Retailers hate uncertainty and want to be able to get prospective employees in and working as soon as possible,” she says. “But if they don’t offer flexibility, then they aren’t going to attract any of the talent that they need. Retailers absolutely have got to start offering flexible time whether they would like to or not.”

Sears goes on to explain that time flexibility provides employees with greater control over their schedules and ensures that they aren’t locked into a set number of hours worked each week. It allows them to find more of a balance between work and life, she says, which is what many among the younger generations are looking for perhaps more than anything else.

More vacation time

“You can’t sell the two-week-a-year vacation time to prospective employees anymore,” she asserts. “It’s not an enticement. People might take the job, but they’re usually gone as fast as they can leave. Retailers have got to get used to giving their employees three to four weeks off every year. And they are going to have to get used to the fact that people don’t want to work 52 weeks a year. They just don’t.”

If retailers don’t want to provide more than two weeks off per year, Sears suggests providing the option to employees to take an extra week off, unpaid. Traditionally, Sears says this has not been customary, but suggests that it’s a good idea for employers to start offering it.

More than minimum wage

Minimum wage in Ontario is currently set to $15.50 an hour, but Sears says this is not nearly enough to attract the best talent.

“I get a lot of push-back on this,” she says. “But retailers have to start offering salaries that are meaningful. And even though the minimum wage is $15.50 an hour, you are really not going to be able to promote that wage to very many people. That is still only about $620 a week. Nobody can live on that money.”

When living expenses are rising, the minimum wage just doesn’t cut it. Sears suggests that most retail workers who work in a city such as Toronto don’t actually live there because they can’t afford to. It’s a combination of circumstances that Sears says is keeping people away from the industry. In addition, she says that a disproportionate number of women with children are opting out of working within the industry, unable to earn enough to pay for the required daycare costs.

Despite gender, however, the cost of living in Canada is rising, and Sears says retailers need to do better, offering a suggestion of sorts.

“Retailers have got to pay their employees more,” she says. “Either that or offer more comprehensive benefits. It’s just a fact of the matter when trying to attract talent to retail organizations today, particularly those of frontline positions.”

Sears says that another benefit retailer could consider offering is a vacation savings fund, in which employers match the amounts their employees pay into it.

“If the employee places in one dollar, the employer places in one dollar,” she explains. “It encourages employees to work because the more they do, the more money they save to go on vacation. It’s a tremendous benefit that costs next to nothing for the retailer. It’s certainly less expensive than giving out raises. But companies are just so rigid. They’ve got to learn how to flex a little, which is traditionally very difficult for them.”

Respect is key

“Retail employees, in general, don’t feel valued,” she says. “They also have concerns related to their health and safety as a result of COVID-19. And those concerns aren’t going away. As a result, there’s been a shift in priority. Employees didn’t feel as though their employers were taking care of them during the pandemic, and so they are taking care of themselves now. It’s a sentiment that’s spawned a ‘me first’ mentality among workers. And unless retailers can convince them that there is a lot in it for them to join their brand, they won’t be interested. Retailers have got to elevate their treatment of their employees, raising the level of experience that they receive and rewards they enjoy for being part of the team.”

One way by which retailers can make their staff feel more valued and respected at the workplace is by regularly including them in decisions that impact the company and their jobs.

“Retailers could be very successful and unleash unlimited potential if they included their staff in their decision-making,” she says. “Including them in decisions around wage setting and the development of training programs can be hugely beneficial toward gaining a better understanding of employee needs and the ways in which they can best meet them.”

Leveraging technology

Technology is key when it comes to training employees. But could retailers be using it more on the floor?

Sears suggests that employees should be able to use the technology they already have - their smartphones. By using smartphones, employees are equipped with the tool necessary to look up an item right away instead of traveling to the back of the store to find an answer. It would also allow them to show customers other items in the store, enhancing engagement with and focus on the customer, while also eliminating friction from the employee experience.

“Some retailers undervalue the idea of arming staff with their phones,” she says. “What could be better than staff that are already armed with all of the information they need to service the customer? But, a lot of companies don’t see it that way and don’t want their staff to use their phones while working. It’s a lost opportunity to enhance the in-store experience and give customers a reason to return.”

Enhancing perception

In the end, Sears says that retailers have to do better, enhancing the perception of a job in retail, offering top talent a reason to work for the brand. Otherwise, she adds, they’ll continue to experience turnover and a lack of the talent they require.

“People want to feel valued within the job they do and by the employer that they work for. This means paying them a living wage, providing them with the flexibility that they require in order to live a productive and happy life outside of work and competitive benefits. Anything short of this is not going to entice anyone to the business today and retailers will continue to fall flat with respect to the experience they offer to both the customer and retail employee.”