The retail industry is constantly changing. From the e-commerce revolution to the rapid increase in competitors such as Walmart and Amazon, retail has become one of the fastest changing sectors in the world. When it comes to retail, everything begins and ends with the customer experience; yet, many corporations are still struggling to develop their business processes around the customer journey.
There are many factors involved in creating customer experience leaders. Many of these aspects start with establishing the HR strategy, with the first step requiring a clear alignment of the business strategy to organizational competencies. An organization must define its perfect workforce and create an appropriate strategy to develop and retain it.
Every strategy could turn into a simple dream without a proper implementation plan and a set of tools required to execute it. A talent management software designed specifically for the retail industry is one of such tools. Below we will discuss some of the ways that implementing a such software can help retail businesses overcome some their most common challenges, which will ultimately lead to reshaping the customers’ journey and improving the customer experience.
Recruitment – The retail industry constantly faces a set of recruitment challenges that range from identification of the right people to increasing the talent pool and managing a successful recruitment process at scale. When organizations implement online recruitment tools, they face a new set of challenges when they find these tools to not be designed for retail and not address the unique needs of the millennial workforce. A great talent management software designed specifically for retail can optimize the process, reduce costs, and attract a greater pool of qualified candidates.
High Turnover – The retail industry has one of the highest employee turnover rates. While some of this turnover is expected due to the nature of the business, a lot of it can be controlled through a set of programs, ranging from employee engagement management to leadership development. An HR software designed for the retail industry can provide insights into employee turnover and help you design and implement a strategy for reducing it.
Seasonal Demand- Seasonal shifts in traffic and income greatly affect the retail industry. During these peak times, many companies would list scheduling as the most tedious task. Unfortunately, scheduling errors can greatly affect your customers and their experience in your stores. Software such as enterprise scheduling and time and attendance make managing your workforce easier and help you ensure shift needs are met, labor budgets are maintained and employees aren’t over or under worked. Great HR software can take it a step further and provide your team a view of the enterprise from the operational management perspective, showing operational metrics such as costs and identifying areas for improvement.
Compliance- Retail organizations must comply with all laws and regulations just like all other companies but the nature of the workforce makes compliance challenging for many retail organizations. After all, the workforce is large, diverse, mobile, and spread out. Staff could be hard to reach or communicate with from the corporate office, resulting in corporate offloading many compliance tasks to individual stores. An HR solution designed for retail can easily overcome such challenges and significantly improve the compliance program. With the right amount of planning and collaboration, compliance can become a less stressful task and let you get back to improving the customer journey.
The customer satisfaction is one of the main focuses in retail, but a customer’s experience at the store begins and ends with the people. Integrating talent management software into your HR department is the first step at making great strides to improve common challenges such as high turnover, seasonal scheduling demands, recruitment and compliance.
About Workuments -Workuments is a highly distinctive portfolio of HR, talent management, and rapid application development software focused on technological excellence and innovation. The Workuments Performance and Competency Management is a key building block in the Workuments suite designed specifically to assist HR with aligning its people process with organizational strategy. For more information, visit workuments.
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