Continuing the 360° Retail theme that I started in July this is the next instalment - that when completed you will have the fundamentals of a 360° Retail Guide.
Staff & Operations
In retail one of the biggest assets is of course the staff. These are the customer facing element of the retail business. They hold such value that they can, without realising it, make or break a consumers trust, respect and loyalty to a retail brand. This can also be related to online as a website's presentation, delivery and experience can do the same. My good friend and Conchango colleague Dan has written an excellent piece here around this
In that same breath then why do so many retailers see them as an "evil but necessary" piece of the puzzle? That is a quote from an actual Director of a well known retail brand that described his staff in this way over a few too many G&Ts - however the fact that he described his staff this way is one of the fundamental roots of why a lot of retailers are struggling in terms of turnover, loyalty, progression plans and ultimately having a long and lasting career in Retail.
It has almost become a dirty word or something to be ashamed of where you hear staff expressing their embarrassment that they work in "a shop" for example.
What has happened in retail from when I was so happy, excited and enthusiastic about working in a "shop" than my youthful counterparts 20 years later?
Environment - The retail environment back in 1988 was very much a thriving place - stores were optimistic and had plans and visions of the next 5 years as we headed towards the new millennium. Diversification was being discussed that perhaps maybe instead of just selling "X" I could complement and enhance my offer by also selling "Y" and "Z".
Prime example of this happening in the late 80's has to go to Tesco. Back then a real passionate businessman and retailer Ian MacLaurin had worked his way up through the Tesco management scheme to become the MD and then CEO - who transformed the grocery chain into a multi-million pound retailer. I worked for Tesco back then and could see the seeds of change - even though they were at that time around the 5th biggest UK Grocery retailers (way behind everyone really). Terry Leahy replaced Mr MacLaurin and continues to drive Tesco with the same enthusiasm and diversity that keeps Tesco as one of the biggest retailers in the world.
So look at that example, you join and learn about retail, products, staff, turnover, profit, EBITDA, trading, buying add this into FMCG and WOW you get excited about the challenges that face you in todays multi-touch world. However this is where some of the issues lie. From the various retail roles that I did back in the 80's I could see my peers and their levels of responsibility form buying and merchandising. Campaign modelling, store layout based on the reams and reams of paper print outs showing the local trends in the store - mixed with national TV funded campaigns. The number of roles that were open to a new and enthusiastic retail junior were almost limitless - did I want to be consumer facing or back of house with stock and reporting...
As communication and business intelligence improved and especially as the web and intranets became the norm - the focus was on central functions and being able to control the retail footprint from a single source under one vision and goal was of course a good way to minimise FTE costs in store, overly complex staff structures where you may previously had a "Head Buyer", "Category Buyer" "Format Buyer" and then "Buyer" all under a single department - then multiply that by 500 stores and you were knee deep in complex staff structures that when the recession kicked in 1987 was deemed that large retailers would need to protecting themselves by investing in a single point of control. Head offices were created to house a multi-talented team of buyers, merchandisers etc... taken initially from the better performing stores to continue the work on a national level.
The stores became more processed and task driven and less able to control their own environments and began to see themselves as either shelf stackers or till slaves - less full time staff meant that retailers could be flexible and increase their perceived FTEs and drive toward longer opening hours and with central driven merchandising plans and buying the head offices became fatter and the FTE increased heavily with full timers to the point that I recall in one retail organisation had at one point a more staff in their head office than in their entire Scottish operation.
Recruitment for retail is now driven towards seasonal, part-time "little jobs" to give the person some additional money - be it students, mothers or whoever - there seems to be a real negative approach to retail. So how can this be addressed? Where are the next Terry Leahy's and Ian MacLaurin's coming from? Both of the these gents worked their way through the Tesco management scheme - probably getting their hands dirty along the way with all areas of the business operational aspects.
I have seen so many people move into head office retail roles straight out of University after their MBA and sit within a large retail operation and they to apply theory to the real life practical elements of retail - many examples I have seen fail and I think at last count around 80% leave within 24months - as they can not get to terms with the supply chain, instore mechanics or the aging IT infrastructure that is reliant on communications from store to HQ and anything that goes beyond the norm is an infrastructure nightmare and normally 6 months work!
So what is the answer?
How do retailers get the Pride back into the term and career "retailing"
Well few things to consider maybe a good start:
- Brand - what is your brand, how is it perceived on the high street, what does your brand message say about the company - which in turn relates to how people percive the working environment
- Proposition - what is it that you are offering potential employees - and once you have them what are you offering them as a long term goal and objective, how can they influence your business
- Career not Job - A career sounds more fruitful and long term - a job seems like a stop gap to something better (a McJob being a great example of a stop gap - but McDonalds have one the best retail management schemes going just now)
- Service oriented - as some of the inevitable developments such as central control and management the retail offer becomes a lot more service orientated - delivering the brand identity through your staffs interactions and conversations with the consumer is therefore key. Anyone can work a till, but can you interact with all areas of teh community and still give the same enthused emotive responses each time 8 hours a day 5 days a week??
- Individuality - retailers are part of their communities and environment - from the smallest to the largest - your staff will normally live among these communities - what can your store do to help and act within that community. Yes there are process and procedures as well as footprints that the stores must adhere to - but where is the soul and life of the retail environment - the individual store nature that differs the store between Edinburgh and Southampton?
- Retail Theatre - your staff can help create this theatre - with their approachability, outing the consumer at ease, helping them make informed choices and ultimately delivering a high level of customer service.
There are many more areas to address in this topic and many more books and courses that can help drive towards your 360° Retail - but as Retail is Detail - best to make sure that your staff are motivated, trained and ready to help take back the Pride in the name of Retail!