The value of workforce in any retail business selling either products or services cannot be disregarded. A good employee is a brand ambassador to any business as they engage with customers in a genuine way, and sell more products. Even in the outsides of their lives, they will still make sure your business reaches out to a lot of potential customers. Motivated and well-equipped staff are proven to have higher worker productivity and be more satisfied with their jobs.
Despite their numerous benefits, some retailers still struggle on how to motivate their employees and keep them that way. The first and crucial step in building an effective and motivated workforce is to hire the right employee, whether you are a small retail boutique or a retail business providing drain cleaning services, hiring a good fit employee is key. When hiring, thinking about the fact that you are constructing a whole retail investment, where employees are key assets.
Invest in Your Employees
Now that you have hired your employee by taking your time, money and resources, to meticulously choose the right person, the next step is for you to grow them into a knowledgeable advocate for your retail company. Regular continued on-job training is a perfect way to invest in your employee as this ensures that you have a well-trained staff. Let your workers realise that you care about the growth and quality of their career by understanding the importance of investment in employee development.
Providing seminars is another proven way to invest in your employees’ skill development. Share organisation charts and figures so that your staffs can plan their future along with your company and promoting from within for supervisory and managerial roles.
Reward your employees financially and they will be more productive, this correlation was even noted by big-box retailers like Walmart. The sales of Walmart rose to $5 billion dollars in the first six months in 2016 after they raised their hourly pay to $10 in 2015. A case of such investment was also disclosed in an article on Harvard Business Review which stated that very successful retail store chains such as Trader Joe’s and Costco rigorously invest in their employees and provide customers with the lowest prices resulted on superior financial results as well as better customer service than competitors. Those companies have shown that bad jobs are not a cost-driven necessity even in the lowest-price segment of retail. However, what is vital is choice and job development.
Secret Shoppers
Using secret shopper programs, like Coyle, or finding your own shoppers through part-time work marketplaces, like Monster is one of the ways to track the performance of your employees. Mystery shoppers give an honest and unfiltered review of how your employees performed by go through the retail experience in your store and report back. Employers can then give feedback to staff and devise strategies to improve retail performance.
Different motivational approach and strategies work for different retail business and also for the individual employee. What might work for business A or employee A might not work for B. The outline strategies in this article is great startup point to motivate your staffs and optimise your company productivity.
Set Goals and Foster Employees to Achieve Them:
When setting a measurement method, supervisors must know what their company’s present condition is and then put up expectations and rules. Managers must have routine check-ins about progress and goals, exactly like any other critical key performance indicator in business. There must be a procedure to help guide employees who are perhaps struggling behind because of unproductive behaviour. A worker’s unproductive hours may come from aimlessly walking around the shop without approaching any customers, taking excessively long meal breaks and toilet trips, hiding in the back storage room or lingering with a client without getting anywhere.
By identifying the areas in which a worker is fighting, employers may work to help the person reach their whole potential and develop as an expert instead of letting them go (and paying for the price of turnover). Your initiative is key in this situation, you can start small with retail goals such as putting through three self-initiated transactions per hour or asking every customer if they want to sign up for a free store loyalty card. Build up from smaller goals and increase the confidence of employees to be pro-active and set their own goals.
Create a Positive Setting and Provide Tools
To inspire your employees to offer your merchandise, your retail area must look it’s very best. Create an area that reflects your brand and also the lifestyle you’re selling to your clients. This environment can help keep your employees motivated and allow them to enjoy everything they do. Space really does matter, if the store fitting rooms are old and dirty, employees are less likely to encourage shoppers to try on items. If your drain inspection cameras are new and high-tech, employees are likely to be excited to use them and do their best as compared to an old out-dated camera that malfunctions. You must set the stage in an appealing manner for you customers AND you staff, a lot of retailers forget that their staff have opinions too. A nice setting with appropriate equipment, together with the ideal mindset of the workers, will, then, enable you to sell more.
