Retaining Talent
Once an HR department has scored its talent, the challenge becomes retaining that talent.
The Harvard Business Review uses "the 5 R's" for employee retention. These are responsibility, respect, revenue-sharing, reward, and relaxation time.
- Responsibility is a way to show employees that you trust them. Giving someone responsibility is about giving them ownership over the work they do.
- Respect is an essential courtesy for employers and HR departments owe their employees. By conscientiously focusing on respect, HR departments can go a long way in preventing turnover.
- Revenue-sharing is about tying employee earnings to company performance. Many retailers offer small commissions for their employees.
- Rewards go beyond compensation. Company parties, workforce development, and other strategies are included in rewards.
- Relaxation time seems counter-intuitive to the "more is more" mentality in many workplaces. Allowing employees time for themselves will enable them to engage more with the work when they're "on." It also allows them to have energy when they're on the floor.
Balancing Hiring and Training
Rapidly training new hires allows your HR department to focus on hiring. Especially in the time of great resignation, rapid training is more important than ever.
There are plenty of great ideas circulating to help you rapidly train new hires. Forbes published a recent article with some excellent training ideas. Navigating Evolving Technology
As the world becomes increasingly global and digital, HR departments split their time between online initiatives and classic brick-and-mortar strategies.
Nowadays, HR departments are using online platforms, like flair, to easily access and store employee data and allow employees to engage with their schedules quickly. For more about scheduling retail staff, check out our blog post here.
Furthermore, new technologies allow HR departments to increase and expand their hiring efforts via paid advertisements. HR departments need to keep up with online best practices to ensure their employees have a seamless and user-friendly way to interact with the company.
Managing and Securing HR Documents Across Retail Locations
Managing HR documents across retail locations is much easier than it once was. Many HR document management systems can operate online and traverse any retail location. Check out our Employee HUB and book a demo with us!
There are many reasons why managing and securing your HR documents are necessary, not least of which is the legal requirement. Businesses must maintain certain employee documents, such as specific records and tax documents.
Creating Meaningful Employee Experiences
Today, the workforce development industry is dramatically expanding, and part-time jobs are more readily available than ever. A central reason for this is related to all of the critical roles of HR that we've discussed above. When looking at hiring, training, and retaining talent, creating meaningful employee experiences is a significant concern of HR in the retail sector.
According to The Department of Labor, creating meaningful employee experiences in terms of workforce development is key to employee retention and education. Recruitment and on-the-job upskilling can also be aspects of workforce development. However, some HR initiatives aimed at employee satisfaction are not specific to the skills required for the job.
Employee enrichment at, for example, Capital One looks to develop the social and professional lives of its employees. In addition to, for example, helping with education, Capital One offers on-site yoga classes for its employees. The Richmond campus also features a basketball court for physical exercise after lunch.
Other Main HR Challenges in retail business
Besides the challenge of retaining employees and keeping them happy, the high turnover rate of retail employees can sometimes mean interaction with dishonest or otherwise untrustworthy employees.
Probably more than any sector, HR departments in retail need to face the realities of employee theft. Like many other sectors, HR departments should address the possibilities of employee misconduct.
Employee Theft and Misconduct
There are many theories about preventing employee theft, one of the more popular ones now being an increase in employee salary.
Using the 5 R's of employee retention, HR departments in the retail sector can also help themselves prevent employee theft and misconduct. The 5 R's of employee retention are, after all, about empowering employees with ownership over the work they're doing. You won't steal from something you feel you're a part of. Disenfranchisement is a crucial requirement for theft to occur.
Misconduct is broad and includes theft. However, it has minor infractions, too. Being disrespectful to a particularly challenging customer, for example, ranks very low on the list of employee misconduct. However, HR departments still need to give their employees tools to prevent misconduct.