One of the biggest challenges facing every retailer is how to attract and retain top talent. Having the best people in your retail stores is an absolute winning strategy, as these people, consistently offer the best service to your valuable customers. Now finding this top talent certainly isn’t easy, however I believe too many retailers fall short in this critical area. There are a number of reasons for this and I have provided some guidelines on how to improve the recruitment process. Kindly click each blog title below to know more.
And if you think it’s hard now to recruit good people, it will only get harder as companies improve their processes and become more in tune with what the new generation of talent want out of a future employer. Recent research by XpertHR uncovered that finding high quality talent is the top challenge for HR leaders in 2019 and beyond.
Just as important of course is how do you keep your top talent as they are key players and add enormous value. Here are some thoughts on ways to keep them motivated and wanting to continue working for you.
1) Invest time in getting to know their aspirations and goals. This has many benefits, one being the team member will feel valued and that you care about them. You can then explore ways to help them achieve their goals whether they be work or personal.
2) Provide regular feedback on how they are performing. This has to be a lot more frequent than the old and stodgy annual performance review. Millennials in particular want more frequent updates on how they are doing and are often more open to hearing feedback on what they need to improve on, rather than just positive feedback.
3) Provide flexible working conditions. This can be easier for the traditional office role and not so easy for retailers, however later starting times and weekend work may be attractive for some and not for others. Having these discussions could open possibilities that you hadn’t thought about.
4) Encourage the early adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology. Top performers want to work for companies that are innovative and creative, and retail has a huge opportunity to be a leader in this.
5) Be a company that stands for something that matters. Millennials in particular will often choose one company over another because of their stronger social responsibility. They even rate this above table tennis tables and free lunches!! Furthermore how can you engage with your local community and get the team involved? This value will become even more important as times goes on.
6) Actively create a diverse workforce. A diverse workforce brings a competitive advantage and will help future proof your workforce. According to a recent survey from DCA-Suncorp, they found that a diverse and inclusive team is:
- 9 times more likely to innovate
- 10 times more likely to be highly effective
- 4 times more likely to stay
- 19 times more likely to be very satisfied with their job.
Now that provides some powerful reasons to explore diversity in much more detail.
Recruiting and retaining top talent is a big challenge so I hope the above 6 tips help you with your search for these top performers. Your customers and results will be major beneficiaries.
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.
