4 Ways To Reduce Turnover in Retail

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A 2022 McKinsey survey found that around half of frontline retail employees and a third of frontline retail managers were looking for a new job in the coming months, noting that employee turnover in retail has remained at 60% for a long time.

High employee turnover is associated with retail, but while this may be true, it doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it and improve your employee retention rates.

If you want to increase the number of employees who show up for your business and stay, these tips can help you offer a great workplace culture and improve employee relations tools.

Improve Onboarding

It’s retail; how hard can it be? Just because it’s retail, it doesn’t mean you don’t need to train your employees on how to do their jobs, and this starts right from the beginning with your onboarding process and the training you offer them from day one. Retail training, which includes health and safety, best practices, and standards you expect them to uphold, is crucial for tasks like restocking, organizing deliveries, operating till points, and maintaining store cleanliness. Ensuring your team knows what to do and how to do it correctly and safely can help you to ensure they feel supported as they start work for you.

Improve Scheduling

From an employee’s perspective, nothing is more frustrating than a poorly managed schedule. By paying attention to each person’s availability and the store’s demands, you can create a more balanced and organized work environment. This not only reduces employee stress but also ensures that tasks are completed to a high standard.

Take the time to understand the store’s needs and then allocate each person according to their availability and the store’s needs, ensuring fairness in shift allocation at all times. This means considering factors like seniority, personal commitments, and individual preferences to ensure that everyone gets a fair share of favorable and less favorable shifts.

Solicit Feedback

Feedback should be a two-way street; you should not only be giving out feedback but asking for it, too. Are there any issues you need to be aware of, anything that is impacting an employee’s ability to carry out their job role? Anything you need to change or do better, or do they have any suggestions of things that would work better to get the desired results? Ask for feedback and take it on board even if you don’t like what you hear. When giving feedback, be fair and ensure it’s constructive; don’t criticize instead of finding a solution for the issue, and be understanding if there are problems so you can work on a suitable resolution with your employees.

Know Your Staff

While you don’t need to be their best friend, understanding your staff’s unique strengths, work habits, and preferences can significantly improve your relationship with them. This knowledge can help you assign tasks more effectively, creating a more harmonious workplace and reducing turnover.

You might have someone who performs better at checkout, meaning you can trust them to be at the tills when needed and deliver excellent customer service. Another team member might excel at organization, meaning they can be better utilized in the stock room or handling routes and schedules. Make it your business to understand how your team works together, what they’re best at, and how you can help them improve the tiger workplace environment for improved results and less turnover.