5 Ways to Make a Retail Career More Attractive to Jobseekers

Retail’s hiring crisis is trundling on and most retailers are yet to catch their first glimpse of a light at the end of the tunnel. Recent statistics suggested that as many as 26% of retail workers are considering quitting their jobs and 70% of retail executives expect labor shortages to be the biggest roadblock to growth in 2022. 

So why are retailers struggling to recruit and retain? The factors include stress induced by an increased workload, an isolated working environment, feeling unsupported and the perception of retail as a ‘dead-end’ job.

This blog post will list 5 ways to improve the employee experience to make a career in retail more attractive to potential hires.

1. Emphasize opportunities for learning and development 

A survey of 1,000 frontline workers found that 34% of millennial employees felt they had a lack of career growth and employees who don’t feel supported in their professional development are three times more likely to be searching for another job.

Employees want to learn and progress, so a job which will give them the opportunity to do that will be far more attractive. But traditional learning tools are not adapted to the typical working day of store employees, who are always on their feet and constantly jumping between tasks. Store teams are busy and have hefty workloads. If learning can only be done by going to the back office to complete an online course, a paper workbook or a classroom training session, it’s not accessible.

To create learning opportunities which are accessible within the reality of store employees’ day to day roles, retailers should use microlearning accessed via a mobile app.

This way, store employees can learn without leaving the shop floor and have all the information they need to perform their best at their fingertips. A training platform that creates tailored learning pathways for individual employees and links them to progression is the ideal solution for highlighting how employees can develop their career within the company.

Related Whitepaper: 5 Steps to Effective Learning for Frontline Teams

2. Build a connected community

The sort of people who are good at working in retail are people who are sociable and feel energized when interacting with others. For this top talent, a retail role will be most appealing if it involves an enhanced opportunity to connect with people, which means coworkers as well as customers. Establishing a sense of community within the workplace is crucial, but this can be challenging when store employees are scattered across various locations and shift patterns.

A digital workplace is the best way to build a retail community as it allows store employees to interact, socially learn, celebrate successes and build connections no matter where or when they work. Digital workplace features like comments forums and newsfeeds connect employees to the wider organization, allowing them to build relationships and feel a sense of belonging.

Related: A Day in the Life of a Connected Retail Employee

Maximize time spent on fulfilling tasks

Nobody applies for a retail job because they like the idea of sitting in a back office counting stock or flipping through a folder to find the instructions for setting up a new VM display. The appeal of a retail career is the opportunity to interact with customers and curate the in-store experience. But since the dawn of the pandemic, the store employee’s day has been weighed down with more and more administrative tasks, like fulfilling online orders, organizing curbside pick-up and reading through enhanced and ever-changing health and safety guidelines.

Digitizing and automating monotonous admin tasks like health and safety checklists, inventory reports and checking campaign materials are set up correctly frees up time for employees to spend on more fulfilling tasks, like helping customers.

Related: The Complete Guide to Retail Task Management

Create constant feedback loops

Only 28% of millennial frontline employees find it easy to understand whether their work meets company expectations. This can lead to stress, anxiety or an attitude of indifference towards responsibilities. All of these prevent retail employees from being fully engaged in their role. 

In contrast, feedback loops allow employees to feel supported in meeting business expectations. Tools which allow continuous two-way communication enable employees to understand what is expected of them, receive regular feedback, ask questions and express any concerns. This shows employees that the work they do is valued by the company and makes them feel appreciated.

Use fun and engaging workplace tools

This one is a no-brainer: if the tools that employees use as part of their working day are tools that they want to use, the employee experience will be better. When employees are engaged and enjoying their work, they will feel more fulfilled, perform better and be less likely to quit. Having the right tools in place to create a great employee experience will be a huge draw for jobseekers.

Tools which will engage employees are tools which are formatted in an interactive, playful way. Most store employees are regular users of social media, so modelling a digital workplace tool in the social media format is the perfect way to get them excited about using it to connect with the company, share knowledge and receive updates. Using gamification within training tools such as quizzes, battles and leaderboards makes learning social and fun and helps employees perform better and progress faster.

Investing in a modern, streamlined and fun all-in-one tool which employees can use to learn, communicate and work more productively is the ultimate solution for improving the employee experience and making a retail career more attractive to jobseekers.

YOOBIC’s digital workplace tool is used by 300+ retailers including Boots, Carrefour, Lancôme, Lacoste, Logitech, Lidl, Peloton, Puma and Vans to empowers store teams and maximize the employee experience. To find out why, schedule a demo!