With opening
up of FDI, growing consumerism, unprecedented awareness, and a youth-hefty
customer base, India is perceived as 'The Most Promising Land' for the Global
and domestic retailers. Retail is one of the highly manpower intensive
industries. With tremendous growth rate in Indian retail industry, the present
scenario depicts a high demand for manpower to match the scope of roll out plans
of various players in the near future.
A number of
texts have appeared in recent years promoting the advantages of using high
involvement human resource practices as well as on the use of High Performance
Work Practices, which can improve the knowledge, skills, and abilities of a
firm's current and potential employees, increase their motivation, reduce
shirking, and enhance retention of quality employees.
Success of
retail firms is dependent on a motivated workforce; hence these retail firms
are trying to use different job motivators to keep employees motivated and
satisfied. The most important motivators used by retail stores are working
conditions, skill development, recognition, role clarity, career growth and
support from management.
More than 60%
of any retail organization consists of fresh talent. These are entry level jobs
specially the sales force. Youngsters join the retail industry at lower
salaries, get some experience and then move on to better jobs or back to
education. The work pattern of retail industry requires employees to put in
long hours of work, which generally cause fatigue and lower motivation among
employees. There is increasing work pressure, in particular from work overload,
time pressures and deadlines, staff shortages and turnover rates and long
working hours. Many retail companies are struggling to come out of this
situation by emphasizing on the career path in their organizations through
strong human resources initiatives, trying to create emotional bond with
employees, using retention tools like raising salaries, offering
incentive-based targets etc. They have realized that effective retail store
management depends on motivated, satisfied and loyal employees who will be
productive, maintain work schedules, and develop tenure with the firm. In order to motivate, keep satisfied and
productive employees, retail store managers must know which dimensions of the
job are most important and most satisfying to employees. However, the
concept of motivation is a complex one, therefore in this article, rather than
providing a comprehensive overview of motivation and its possible determinants,
we would try to find out some “Out of the Box” motivators, which can really add
to the productivity of Indian Retail employees.
Over the last
few years, the world of Human Resource Management has changed drastically due
to globalization, with organizations being assessed against international
standards and best practices. Consequent to downsizing and expansion,
diversification of workforce, new organizational forms and benchmarking, the
emphasis upon people has increased. Therefore, organizations, including in retail,
have realized that these changes have a profound influence on their performance
and the key to quality performance is the organizations' ability to motivate
its people towards desired actions and behaviors. Since organization has to
produce its outcomes through its people, there is emphasis on motivation and
concern for people through assessment, regular feedback, ongoing support and experience-based
initiatives. Motivation is important because of its significance as a
determinant of performance and its intangible nature. Organizations might
perceive motivation as a strategic issue since it impacts directly on
organizational cost, productivity and business performance.
Motivation is
an imperative matter in most organizations as it is a vital factor in getting
employees to increase performance. Motivation is of interest in the work
environment because it influences work performance and productivity. Keeping
employees motivated can be done in various ways and infact lot of attention is
given to it especially after learning from the foreign practices, but it is
important to recognize that individuals are motivated differently and quite
often it is complex to know what
motivates employees. Most managers do not know what motivates their
employees because they do not realize that individuals in the organization have
unique motives for working. Therefore, communication
is needed on a continuous basis in order to know what best motivates their employees.
Every
employee has a separate set of needs and these needs keep on changing as per
the time passes. It’s a very common
practice that people don’t like what they have, but always see what others have
and desire to get them. This is what disturbs the motivation cycle. Also a particular
factor, which is a major motivation for an employee, may not be a motivating
factor for others. In India, we say “ROTI, KAPDA AND MAKAAN” are the three
basic needs for anyone and these are so far the best motivators for any
employee to perform his best. But from a negative side, this is the most common
factor which motivates people especially the entry-level employees to change
their jobs just for a small hike in their salaries.
One study
done to measure the motivation for various levels of employees revealed that
front line sales persons are less satisfied with organizations. There may be
different reasons for this outcome. The findings indicated that employees'
satisfaction is significantly influenced by compensation along with working
conditions and support from management. Other motivators used by organizations
were unrelated to satisfaction with organization. One of the reasons of it may
be that front line sales employees in retail stores are from age group of 20-25
and are working to earn their livelihood to satisfy their basic needs. At this
stage extrinsic motivators become more relevant over intrinsic ones.
Organization needs to consider this fact while designing motivators for sales
employees.
There is
incongruence between what employees want and what organizations are providing. Major
motivators commonly used by organizations are working conditions, skill
development, recognition, role clarity, career growth and support from
management. Compensation, work life balance and amount of work are not giving
much emphasis by organization. Employees perceive that they are not getting
adequate compensation and because of more work and long hours of working they
are not able to keep work life balance. Further, compensation has been found
one of the major factors affecting employees' satisfaction with the
organization. To enhance employees' productivity, there must be congruency
between managers and their employees' perceived importance of rewards.
Motivating
employees to perform well and achieve goals is the constant challenge of every
retail manager. Either by connecting with internal drives or by providing
external incentives, managers can successfully incite action and motivate
employees to work harder and achieve better results.
In
order to provide the "above and beyond" type of customer service, a
retail store should deliver to be successful. It must begin by creating happy
employees. Retailers that develop long-term incentives, perks, and rewards for
its staff, often see benefits like less employee turn-over and better customer
service. There are various small-small things that employer can do to motivate
their staff and give them a feeling of being a part of the organization.
1. Discounts on Merchandise: This perk may be the
easiest for a retailer to establish. Offer workers a small percentage off on
any product you sell.
2. Company Parties: Holidays, inventory, or exceeding sales
goals are all good times to throw a party. Plan the party away from the store
or host a small gathering in the break room.
4.
Event Tickets: Businesses often receive promotions on discounted on shows,
sporting events and even movie tickets. Give these event tickets to your staff
as rewards or incentives for meeting sales goals.
5. Free Food: Who doesn't like to eat? This favorite
low-cost perk can be as simple as bringing in pizza, or burgers, a few times
each month. Some retailers even buy lunch every Friday for scheduled staff.
5.
Break-room Entertainment: If you don't have the room (or the budget) to put a pool table or
carom in the break-room, consider a television set with DVD player.
6. Random Acts of Kindness: Not all perks need to
be planned. A simple recognition of a job well-done can go far in improving
employee morale.
7.
Offer More Flexible Hours: Ask your staff to let you know in advance of your scheduling
what days they will need off. Discuss your willingness to make it work for
them. If business is slow, offer some bonus paid vacation time to your best
salespeople. The appreciate and surprise benefit will motivate them to become
more loyal to your organization and they will return the favor with hard work
and more determination to succeed.
8. Encourage Creativity: When times are slow hold
more sales meetings to discuss new promotions, advertising, inventory, customer
service, and future goals. Always get input from your staff at these meetings
and have some fun with a creative brainstorming session that puts every one's
ideas to work.
9.
Be Open, Not Intimidating: Let your staff know that your door is always open to support
them and listen to their ideas and concerns. Create a family atmosphere where
people can feel they trust and support one another through the good times and
the bad.
10.
Have Fun: All work, and no play, can make for a dull day. Don't take your
business too seriously. Lighten up, relax and enjoy some free time when your
retail business is not in full swing. If you can't stand being around in during
the down times - get out of the store and take a short vacation or attend
workshops to build your business. Make sure to plan for a lot of relaxation
time to refocus.
11.
Remember Birthdays and Anniversaries: Recognize and celebrate
with your staff often. Host an annual anniversary party for all the sales staff
that have been with your retail store one year or longer. Make them feel
special with surprise gifts and a very special evening out on the town. Or host
an off-site meeting at a restaurant or a picnic in the park for their entire
family.
Do not forget your ex-employees. We all forget our ex –
employees, but than they are the ones who still carry the brand name and speak
a lot about.
12. Try Small
Reward programs like:
a)
Dinner with the head for the organization for the best performer
of the month. This really gives confidence and motivation to the employees to
perform.
b)
Free parking to the best performers or may be free pick and drop
for a month for the best performer of the month.
13. Create a Succession Plan for Employees:
The
best way to keep any employee self-motivated is by creating and following a
succession plan for all levels of employees. It’s not only about a plan but its
very much about proving the same. A very good initiative taken by one of our
client is that they show the succession plan during the interview at an entry
level job which shows how a customer support associate can reach to a level of
Store Manager within 32 months with a 150% hike in package if he performs his
tasks meticulously.
14.
Give Them What They Really Want: As you create benefits and perks for your
staff, be sure they are relevant and appropriate for your staff. You may feel
you're being generous when you buy pizza for employees staying late the night
before inventory, but they may not see it that way. An extra day off or
allowing the worker to come in later one day may be a better offering of
goodwill instead.
The best way
to know what your staff would prefer is to simply ask them. Make a point during
the next meeting to take ideas and suggestions for perks they would like to
receive. You may be surprised to learn it is some simple perk you can easily
implement in your retail shop.
These
findings suggest that retail organizations need to understand employees' needs
and expectations and to design motivators, which are in congruence with
employees' expectations
Inspire and
motivate your staff through example, education, training and incentives. You can turn a mediocre employee into a
business attribute, but the burden is on your shoulders. After all, the speed
of the leader is the speed of the pack. You must be positive and enthusiastic.
Do not bemoan the state of the economy or make excuses for lagging sales.
Negativity is toxic and contagious. Tweaking your world view to a more positive
outlook will benefit your staff, your sales, and your blood pressure. If an
employee has a suggestion for a promotion, don't tell her why it won't work.
Rather, brainstorm a way to make it work.
Enthusiasm = Positive Emotions
Positive Emotions = Happy Customers
Happy Customers = More Sales and More Profits For You
Note: This article was published in "Images Retail" magazine, July 2013 issue.
About the author:
Barkat Charania, is the Chief Executive Officer of a speciality Retail Recruitment Company “Beyond Talent”, founded by an industry stalwart, Mr. Susil S. Dungarwal. Barkat has over a decade’s experience in placements & Head hunting, and has been an avid follower of the Retail sector. Beyond Talent Management Pvt. Ltd. currently, works with many leading retailers, for fulfilling the talent crunch across various verticals of Retail on a pan India basis.
