Retailers are emerging from the pandemic into a world where customer expectations are higher than ever, but a tight labor market has made staffing a challenge. Retailers need to adapt to the next normal quickly or they risk alienating returning shoppers. This Retail TouchPoints report looks at some of the most important advice and initiatives retailers need to pursue as they build and maintain their workforce both now and into the future, including:
- Job offers beyond the norm: With retail in competition with hospitality and entertainment, they need to include new benefits like childcare to attract the best prospects;
- Taking employee satisfaction to the next level: Making associates not just happy but connected to their job can reduce turnover and improve customer service, both important considerations under modern pressures;
- Investing in leadership: Cultivating leaders across the enterprise, from the store level through the upper echelons of corporate, builds better workers and companies alike; and
- Make the store reflect the community: Someone who wouldn’t want to shop at a particular store is even less likely to want to work there, so foster stores that work and fit in with their communities.
