Retail has one of the highest turnover rates in any industry. The Hay Group reports a median turnover rate of 67 percent for part-time retail employees.[1]
I doubt any of us would be too challenged to list the problems driving this high turnover:
Yet turnover is just as bad for the store as it is for employees.
A study by the Center for American Progress found that it costs, on average,$3,328 (or 16 percent of one year's salary) to find, hire, and train a replacement for one minimum-wage employee. Of course, the actual costs are much higher, including lost funds for hiring, onboarding and training costs, the cost of errors and lower productivity during the training period, and the impact on the company culture and other employees' productivity.[2]
Many of these problems are increasingly solvable through today's workforce experience tech. In fact, a study showed that from 1997 to 2014, companies considered employee experience leaders outperformed the broader stock market, generating an annualized return nearly double the SAP 500 index.[3] And Gartner quotes a 2015 Aon Hewitt study that finds that "a 5 percent increase in employee engagement is linked to a 3 percent increase in revenue growth in the subsequent year."[4]
4 Ways to Help Your Employees Engage
Retailers need to take four important steps to help employees engage in a way that drives the customer experience:
All these capabilities make the store a more congenial environment for today's employees of every age and level. By following these four steps, stores are preparing to drive a better customer experience through a better associate experience.
For more information, take a look at our new white paper, "Transforming Retail Associate Productivity with a Customer-First Experience."
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[1] "Hay Group Study Finds Employee Turnover in Retail Industry Is Slowly Increasing," Korn Ferry/Hay Group (May 2012).
[2] "Employee Retention -The Real Cost of Losing an Employee," by Christina Merhar, Zane Benefits (February 4, 2016).
[3] "Digital Business Requires an Excellent Associate Experience to Drive Retailer Success," Gartner.
[4] Gartner, ibid.
[5] "Shoppers Would Rather Consult Smartphones than Consult Store Associates, Survey Finds,"Internet Retailer(December 2010).
[6] "13 Reasons Why You Hate Shopping," by Gary Ambrosino (2016).
[7] "5 Best Practices for Workforce Productivity," by Emad Rizkalla.