Current tech tools don’t make the grade for retailers.
As retailers are gearing up for what they hope is a highly profitable holiday season, they need to pay attention to more than just inventory and potential customers. To be successful during the holidays, retailers need a fully staffed team to man the floors. But according to a new study by WorkJam, the current tech tools retailers have to maintain staff schedules aren’t cutting it.
In the Factoring People into the P&L Equation study, employee engagement platform provider WorkJam found that just 17 percent of retail managers rank their stores’ hourly associates as very motivated and engaged, with 47 percent reporting that at least 5 percent of their staff quit in an average three-month period.
WorkJam’s study found 72 percent of retail managers are not very satisfied with their workforce management (WFM) system’s ability to create schedules that accommodate both store labor needs and associates’ preferences. Because of this, 88 percent of managers deal with understaffing on a weekly basis. With the holidays right around the corner, understaffing is not an issue retailers want on their plate.
The study asserts that “poor staffing practices are one of the largest barriers to hourly employee engagement, and it also happens to be one of the most crucial elements to the hourly worker experience. However, the tools and processes retail managers currently use are falling short.” In fact, 62 percent of managers say they have had associates quit over ongoing scheduling conflicts – conflicts that will just get worse as they enter the hectic holiday shopping season.
“Employee engagement needs to be more than a ‘feel-good’ corporate initiative for retailers,” explained Steven Kramer, co-founder and CEO of WorkJam. “Most retailers don’t realize the significant financial impact employee engagement has on their bottom line. If they want to increase profitability, they need to start at the root cause and adjust how they engage their workforce.”
The study surveyed 250 retail store, district and regional leaders across the US and found that 88 percent of managers reported being understaffed on a weekly basis, with 46 percent reporting that their stores are understaffed at least 10 hours a week. And 55 percent of managers said that the head office either never or rarely acknowledges good work on the part of hourly employees.
“With wages on the rise and employees and lawmakers demanding more flexibility and predictability, retailers must take a serious look at improving the engagement of their workforce,” said Joshua Ostrega, co-founder and chief operating officer of WorkJam. “With better engagement, retailers can mitigate the frequency and costs of under-and overstaffing, inefficient back-office processes and employee turnover.”
