I’m often asked how I can reduce turnover in my store. And it’s a great question because turnover costs retailers money. When you hire someone, get them trained and then they turn around and quit, it is like a stab in your heart, right? Now you have to start all over – find the right talent, go through the interview process, get them trained. This takes you off the selling floor, away from your customers and your team. Turnover is costing you between $2000 and $4000 per person, at a minimum. If you own your retail business, this number is painful. If you are the store manager of a business that someone else owns, it might not have as large an impact on you, but I know your time is valuable and you want to continue starting over!
So, the idea of reducing turnover is an important notion that we should take seriously. There are three things for you to consider.
1. Stop Unnecessary Turnover Now: Find Out Why They Are Leaving.
When you think about reducing turnover in your store, you may say to yourself, well, I have no control if somebody doesn’t want to work here, they’re not going to work here. And there are reasons why people quit. Let’s talk about those first. One of the reasons is you might be a retailer that attracts high school and college students, and of course, they’re probably going to leave and go back to school if they’re not attending school locally. That is something that you should consider when you’re hiring people. Does it make sense to hire temporary people who will leave? Perhaps that means they’ll come back. So that means you’re going to have bench strength of part-time people who will come back at Thanksgiving and at Christmas. That might be a good thing but you definitely need to have balance between the people you are hiring, otherwise you’re constantly starting over.
We don’t have control over all turnover, but we do have control over quite a bit of it. I’ll call that Own vs. Influence”.
- ACTION: Talk to your current team. Ask them what they like about working in your store and what do they dislike? If they could change something, what would that be? What we often don’t want to hear the answers, but the insights from people on the team or people who’ve worked on the team prior will be eye opening. This is important information for you as a store manager so that you can get real honest feedback on what’s good, what isn’t, and what can you change.
2. Look In The Mirror: Is Your Leadership Style The Problem
Let’s look at your leadership style. Isn’t that so hard to stop and look in the mirror? But this is really important. What is your leadership style? Are you the leader that others want to follow? Do you provide instruction & direction and let them do their work? Or do you bark orders and micromanage every step? Only you can answer these questions, but it’s an important component. We’ll talk more about how not to be a micromanager in future videos. Sometimes we just micromanage because we want a good outcome. We’re not trying to be a jerk, but the reality is the impact to others when we act like micromanagers is the same, regardless of what our motives and intentions are.
One proven style of leadership is positive leadership. When you are positive, encourage others, recognize progress, reward good performance, invest in the team, develop their skills, employees want to be around you. While this sounds easy, it is not simple. Truth is, retail is stressful. We often can be positive when things are going well. It is when things go sideways, that our worst selves can be revealed. There will be more blogs coming about being the leader others want to follow. In the meantime, I highly recommend The Power of Positive Leadership. We each can own the leader we are and work to develop our skills. Reading good leadership books is a great way to grow ourselves. Take the time, invest in yourself! It is the best investment you will ever make.
Be the leader others want to follow.
3. Be The Store Everyone Wants to Work At.
What can you do to reduce turnover now? What about making it easier on your team? In #1 above, I suggested that you talk to each member of your team to see what they do/don’t like about working at your store. What did they say that you can action? You might be saying to yourself, “This is their job. My job is not to make it easy. I pay you. Show up and do your job!” As someone who was a store manager for many years, I can understand this mentality. Here the reality. Leadership has changed. It is no longer about expecting people to do what we say and be happy and stay. We must invest in our teams, care about them, show empathy. These are the difference makers to reducing turnover now.
We live in a new post-pandemic world. Retail changed considerably. We’ve got to be empathic towards the people that work for us. It is not just about showing up because they are getting paid to. This leads to enormous turnover. Look at each member of the team and consider their situation. What small adjustments could you make that would make YOU the employer of choice? Small adjustments that are impactful to the person will make a difference. It will help them see that you understand their situation and care about them. When we care about our team, they will care about you in return. Here is what I believe to be true.
Reduce Turnover Now: Get Their Hands and Hearts.
- Employees who feel valued give more than their hands (the part you pay for), they give their heart. If we just demand they show up for work when scheduled, clock in, do their job, clock out, go home, we really only get their hands. What do I mean by that? When I say we get their hands, it means we get the work that we ask them to do, the work that we require them to do, that we tell them to do, they’ll give us that.
- When they feel appreciated and valued, what else do they give us? They give us their heart. And their heart means they’re willing to do anything you need. They’re willing to provide an extra shift here or there. They’re willing to stay and work overtime. They’re willing to even suggest ideas of things that can be done differently because you’ve created a culture and an environment where people can thrive. And they don’t quit!
You Own It: Three Ways To Reduce Turnover NOW.
I want you to think about these three things and, ask yourself, “can I do better in one, or two, or in all three? I promise that if you can address these three core issues, you are going to see a reduction in turnover in your store because you are going to be the retailer that people want to work for.
Now, I do know that there are retailers out there who pay more than you. This is outside of your control. Your corporate partners own how much you can pay and, and what benefits are offered and if there’s time off and the discount, right? But the things that we’ve talked about today are the things that you own. You can influence your corporate partners with what you need from them, but you own your own behavior and what happens within the four walls of your store. I can’t wait to hear how this works for you and if you start to see some turnover reduction. But in the meantime, if you have questions, email me at Rachel@runninggreatstores.com.
