The ability of business leaders to motivate and empower their teams is unfortunately rare. While many leaders perform adequately, truly amazing leaders are few. In retail, strong leadership from store and regional managers is crucial for customer engagement and delivering results.
Leadership directly impacts team performance. Stores with exceptional managers often exceed expectations and key performance indicators (KPIs). When a top-performing manager moves to a struggling store, improvements follow, and vice versa. This correlation is supported by Gallup research, which found that managers significantly influence staff engagement. In the US Only 34% of employees are engaged, leading to substantial productivity and profit losses.
Unfortunately, it’s much worse here in Australia with only 20% of employees engaged. Two thirds of employees are disengaged, meaning they are doing an okay job but not bringing their passion and motivation to work.
Gallup claim that it’s the manager that accounts for 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores, indicating a need to dramatically improve employee and manager engagement. Engaged managers tend to have engaged teams.
Here are three simple behaviours managers can adopt to enhance team engagement:
1. Set Work Priorities and Goals: Two-thirds of engaged employees rate this as highly important. Managers should regularly communicate tasks and KPIs, taking 3-5 minutes at shift changes to enhance knowledge, accountability, and buy-in. Often, team members are left to their own devices with little input, which can lead to disengagement.
2. Focus on Team Members’ Strengths: Over two-thirds of engaged employees value recognition of their strengths. Managers should observe their teams and provide positive feedback daily. This quick and powerful reinforcement is always well-received and can significantly boost morale.
3. Be Open and Approachable: More than half of engaged employees emphasise the importance of an accessible manager. Leaders need to be available and supportive, ensuring their team feels comfortable seeking assistance.
Implementing these behaviours can significantly improve team engagement, helping managers become better leaders and paving the way for future success.
Roger Simpson – CEO, The Retail Solution and Author of “The Ultimate Retail Sales Experience” With over 35 years’ industry experience, Roger Simpson is recognized as Australia’s #1 Authority on customer ROI in the retail industry and as a global expert on staff coaching, customer service, and selling skills.
