Retail Employee Engagement | The Parker Avery Group

With the holiday shopping surge fast approaching, supply chain issues a top concern, and the stark realization that retailers are still struggling to fill holes in their store labor schedules, it is paramount that retail employee engagement is given top priority.

Retailers need to consider how to improve employee retention to be successful in a high-speed changing environment. As an example, amid the ongoing labor shortage, Target is focusing on flexible scheduling and providing more hours for current employees, while cutting down the seasonal hires this holiday season. Incentives to earn an extra $2 per hour if team members work on high-velocity days through the holidays is another strategy Target is using to reward employees for hours worked on peak days.

KEY FOCUS AREAS

Clear and Empowered Roles

Face-to-Face Communications

Collaborative Team Technology

Further, leading companies understand that employee engagement is a top factor in building and strengthening associate loyalty as well as reducing turnover. This tenet is even more critical today.

In today’s digital age, companies must be mindful that the lack of person-to-person interaction plays a role in eroding employee engagement. Retail employers must find ways to create a sense of meaning and connection with their internal customers: their employees. This approach to retail employee engagement takes a balance of clearly outlined roles that empower associates to strengthen their skills and feel like they are contributing to the brand, coupled with face-to-face interaction and leveraging the technology that speaks to their internal audience.

Companies that are known for having high employee engagement focus on the following:

Clear and Empowered Roles

Well-defined roles that outline specific responsibilities and enable associates to understand how they contribute to the brand’s success
Opportunities to strengthen employee skills and abilities that support their professional purpose and fulfillment
Distinct and communicated paths to employee development and upward mobility within the company

Face-to-Face Communications

Ongoing communication through consistent small group meetings to share ideas and solicit feedback
Scheduling individual touch points with leaders to discuss performance and career growth
Creating social events to help employees bond with others to build a sense of community

Collaborative Team Technology

Leveraging internal social media platforms to keep employees informed, discuss issues, share ideas, and conduct surveys
Informing on new initiatives with blogs, podcasts, and videos that are open to all employees
Investing in an employee experience platform to encourage teams to celebrate one another through shout outs and earn rewards for performance

No matter what techniques you focus on to promote your own retail employee engagement, authenticity is the key. Above all, employees want to be appreciated for their efforts and feel they are contributing to a success story. There is no question that happy employees create better customer experiences thus driving consumer loyalty, higher revenues, and a better bottom line.

If you have any questions about your own initiatives related to retail employee engagement, training, or organizational design, please reach out to us. We would welcome the opportunity to help.

Contributor

Carrie Habel
Senior Director

The Parker Avery Group is a leading retail and consumer goods consulting firm that transforms organizations and optimizes operational execution through development of competitive strategies, business process design, deep analytics expertise, change management leadership, and implementation of solutions that enable key capabilities.