Only 44% of retail employees polled in PwC’s 2023 Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey said they find their job fulfilling, with 27% likely to change jobs in the next 12 months. While these are global data points, they provide valuable insights for Irish retailers.
The survey also found that retail workers are less likely to view many key skills—such as critical thinking, collaboration, leadership and digital aptitude—as important. And they’re less confident that their organisations will help them build those skills.
Our recent Irish Consumer Insights Pulse Survey indicated that shopping in-store remains the most popular channel for Irish consumers, ahead of purchasing online. When asked to rank their top shopping priorities, 55% of Irish consumers rated knowledgeable and helpful sales assistants as an important in-store shopping attribute. Retailers can’t consistently give shoppers better service and more personalised attention without attracting—and retaining—engaged, motivated and skilled workers.
Three moves can help them do that:
Invest in training as a means of differentiating your company. When you spend money helping employees learn and grow, you change the employee value proposition, boosting retention and becoming more attractive to potential hires. You also energise your workforce, helping them view their roles differently in shaping the customer experience.
Make sure the training will stick. Long training sessions don’t work. Instead, invest in shorter and more accessible formats, like short video content and interactive media. Meet workers where they’re already consuming content. That increases the odds that your new ideas will make an impact.
Model the level of engagement you want. It’s not plausible to ask employees to engage with customers if they’re not engaging with each other or their managers. Management teams must foster stronger ties with and among frontline employees.
Retail employees are the public face of the organisations they work for. Managers need to invest in those employees to reduce attrition and foster a more fulfilled workforce, which can yield the kind of in-store experience retailers need to remain competitive in a challenging environment.
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