Lower Turnover Begins With A Culture Of Engagement
By Steven Kramer, WorkJam
Effective communication is the cornerstone of any successful relationship, working or otherwise.
Unfortunately, only half of retailers have a direct line of communication to their frontline employees. This disconnect has major implications for the work environment and the relationship between the corporate office and the floor — often leaving employees feeling disengaged.
Currently, the popular methods for communicating with associates are flawed. Because of a lack of corporate tools available, managers and employees implement their own solutions. Too often, communicating or trading shifts is a mix of Facebook groups, break room bulletin boards, and group texts. Not only does this lead to unstructured and chaotic communication, but these solutions all pose major compliance risks to employers. While this is a headache for corporate, it’s also the employees who suffer the most, feeling unheard, disorganized and out of the loop. For many workers, a poor work environment can be the main reason for departure. Since the industry suffers from high turnover and compliance rules, this pain point needs a solution.
Significant improvements can be achieved by creating a digital relationship with employees via a digital workplace platform. A digital workplace platform allows for communication at scale via targeting the right employees, adds structure to communications, and can update the necessary backend systems in place. In order to improve the day-to-day work environment for frontline workers and reduce turnover rates, retailers should consider the following communication tactics via such technology:
Continuous training. As competition within the industry intensifies, so does the desire to offer highly personalized customer service experiences. These big changes in expected responsibilities can frustrate and overwhelm associates. It’s no surprise, then, that without adequate training initiatives, they will begin to look for employment elsewhere.
To avoid burnout, retailers should provide employees with both easily accessible training materials, and with incentives to complete and absorb those materials. With training and development being integral workplace assets, a streamlined education method is critical. Beyond onboarding, a digital, unified communication platform allows current employees to stay invested and up-to-date as they take on new roles and responsibilities.
Two-way communication. To communicate the goals and vision from corporate leadership to the frontline workforce, the retail industry must rethink its one-way, top-down communication pattern. Talking at, rather than speaking with, frontline workers is not a best practice, and by doing so, leaders lose out on valuable insight to be gained from the floor.
A two-way digital communication strategy ensures that retailers and associates are in communication alignment. When there is a conversation between parties, rather than a one-way message, employees are engaged and workplace culture improves. No matter the industry or title, employees appreciate feeling like they are heard.
Structured support and encouragement. Retail isn’t easy, and employees experience some tough days on the floor. Therefore, it’s important to make recognition a priority. Having hard work and achievements acknowledged and praised by leadership is an effective way to let workers know that their efforts are appreciated. More than just a morale booster, a culture of support and encouragement contributes to less employee burnout and lower turnover rates.
However, delivering this praise at scale can be difficult when leadership is not physically present. When considering how to best communicate recognition to employees, a single digital workplace platform should be top of mind. With a properly implemented and streamlined process of internal communication, retailers can expect a more positive workplace culture in their stores.
The core of retail is creating an experience for customers. And when frontline workers suffer, so does the in-store experience. But through engagement and encouragement, workplace culture becomes one of positivity, and so does the customer experience.
Steven Kramer is CEO at WorkJam, with 20 years of executive leadership experience driving business results and developing disruptive technologies for the retail industry. In 1999, Kramer co-founded iCongo, a leading global software provider for omnichannel retail and B2B commerce solutions, which merged with hybris Software in 2011 and became the largest independent provider of e-Commerce solutions with 27 offices worldwide, 1000+ employees and more than 600 customers. hybris Software was purchased by SAP in 2013. While innovating in omnichannel and the connected consumer, Kramer identified a gap between traditional workforce management systems and how retailers actually hire, schedule and manage their hourly employees. With this in mind, he co-founded WorkJam and is responsible for the strategic direction of the company. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University.
