Retail’s new reality: Fewer colleagues, higher expectations

By Olivia Robinson, Head of UK & EU at VoCoVo

Staffing challenges continue to bite across retail, creating pressure that increases during peak trading periods, such as Christmas, which is fast approaching. And as teams get smaller, retailers could potentially be exposed to lower morale, reduced work satisfaction, increased opportunities for shoplifting and poorer customer experiences. But where budgets dictate difficult resourcing decisions, technology can support in addressing these issues by supporting colleagues in their day-to-day responsibilities and maintaining the service levels that customers expect.

The wide-reaching impact of skills shortages

Skills shortages can impact retail operations in several ways. Let’s face it, life on the shop floor can be tough – and busy. Extra work placed on smaller teams can affect morale, increase chances of burnout and fatigue, and force colleagues into cutting corners just to keep up. Left unchecked, team members could end up leaving not just that retailer, but the industry. Skills shortfalls also present security concerns. Skeleton staffing levels may lead to an increase in shoplifting incidents, as quieter shopfloors present greater opportunities for criminals to go unnoticed. To help plug the gaps and ease this strain, retailers often turn to hiring. These colleagues then need training and hands-on support to hit the ground running.

Training is crucial when retailers want their colleagues to take on new responsibilities, such as working in new areas in-store or relocating to nearby stores to cover shifts. But it’s also time-consuming and requires resources that retailers often don’t have at their disposal. But new colleagues and those taking on new responsibilities need to be agile and confident enough to work outside of their comfort zone. This is why when faced with the challenge of a skills gap, knowledge sharing is the answer.

Equipping colleagues with knowledge 

Communication tools can offer the foundation for knowledge sharing and training. With every colleague connected to each other, the time needed to shadow other colleagues can be drastically cut. This is because individuals can call on more experienced colleagues for help with a customer query or a new task instantly, without the need to leave a customer a walk across a large department store floor. In busy seasonal periods, new hires or temporary staff can quickly get up to speed by asking questions to senior colleagues from their first day.

On-the-job support and training can empower confidence among colleagues, helping them to meet customer expectations and identify and address shoplifting incidents or other in-store emergencies. For example, if the payment system experiences an outage and the store needs to shift to a manual process, communication tools allow instructions to be delivered clearly between colleagues. Regular updates on the situation can be relayed to every team member, which can then be communicated to concerned customers.

Responding to market challenges

Retailers may not be able to control the labour market, but they can control how they respond to it. By equipping their teams with the tools to share knowledge and stay connected, they can ease the burden on smaller teams, boost confidence and maintain service standards. Integration of new technologies, such as communication tools, can retain existing colleagues and even serve as a competitive advantage by attracting the best talent. In an environment where expectations are rising and resources are tight, practical support through communication and training can enhance both the colleague and customer experience.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock. Supplied by VoCoVo.