As a retail hiring manager, you know how important it is to stay on top of current hiring trends.
More than ever, companies are focusing on an outstanding customer experience and those who help deliver it.
Consider the following statistics:
About 15.2 million people were employed in the retail sector as of May 2013, the last year statistics were available.
The takeaway: With all the retail competition, including ecommerce, attracting and retaining top talent is imperative for long-term success.
425 million retail employees were retail salespersons, a field expected to experience average growth, with about 2 million retail jobs opening by 2022 due to growth and workers leaving the field.
The takeaway: A friendly smile is not going to be enough, retailers are going to need to hire and train the right type of personalities and people who can help sell and contribute to the financial goals of the company.
In the US, retail workers receive an average retail wage rate of $10.16 an hour or $21,140 annually, likely one of the factors contributing to employee turnover is salary as well as better opportunities.
The takeaway: While competitive pay is important, making employees feel valued and invested in the business is also critical to retention.
Bloomberg reports that retailing has an employee turnover of around 5% a month, costing an average of 16% of their annual wages; part-time workers 67% turnover.
The takeaway: To reduce the cost of turnover, retailers need to improve the valuation of its employees through increased recognition, a viable career path and other positive programs.
Turnover was even higher for part-time employees, with retailers reporting an average turnover of 67%.
The takeaway: Using candidate or pre-employment assessment tools that help you hire for attitude and “fit first” will help reduce turnover in the long run . Training for skills is more easily done than trying to fit a “square peg into the round hole” of your company’s culture.
Millennials, who will make up 75% of the work-force by 2025, are increasingly selective and would not take a job with a company with a bad reputation.
The takeaway: Maintaining a good workplace culture that ensures fairness, supportive management, and brand integrity will help to attract and keep millennial workers.
Younger millennials make up 32% of grocery store workers in their early twenties, with 31% of clothing store workers under age 24.
The takeaway: The challenge for employers will be to retain millennial workers by valuing their efforts, and offering other incentives, such as flexible scheduling, to reduce turnover.
Finding new customers is more than 6x costlier than keeping current customers.
The takeaway: Make sure that your salespeople understand that learning to upsell, cross-sell and paying attention to their customers’ needs and wants will keep driving business to your brand.
With 74% of retail workers leaving for better opportunities, there are two things that a manager can do to improve retention: offer a career path and ensure that new hires are a good fit into the organization.
The takeaway: Use custom, behavior-based interview guides that ask candidates about their long-term goals. A career path can turn a promising part-timer into a sales superstar.
Over 75% of hiring managers use applicant recruiting and tracking software, however nearly half of these use older software.
The takeaway: Keep HR systems updated to identify, interview and track qualified candidates.
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