Retailers nurture commitment and retention by understanding the psychology of store staff
So how do retailers nurture the knowledge, skills and attitudes they require while keeping payroll costs under control? How do the best retail organisations retain people who are experienced, knowledgeable and motivated without increasing the wage bill?
Answers to these questions are based on understanding the psychology of store staff. Everybody is motivated by money, but not just money. We all need other reasons to turn up and do our job, and having worked with a number of leading UK retailers, the business psychologists at Criterion Partnership have identified three good reasons why retail assistants might find their work fulfilling even if the pay is not that special.
Confidence
Retail staff feel more motivated and committed if they have confidence in their own product knowledge and customer service skills. At Specsavers, Optical Assistants also need a sophisticated level of technical understanding so that they can advise customers on frame styling and how to get best use from their spectacles or contact lenses. But product knowledge and customer care training can be expensive for retailers.
To address the need for training in a cost effective manner, Criterion Partnership worked with Specsavers to set up the In-Store Training Programme. In each store, an experienced member of the team became the nominated In-Store Trainer, who then received weekly modules designed to enable retail staff with no prior experience of training to deliver high impact, interactive training sessions. In-Store Trainers were also invited to participate in regional “Development Days” once per quarter and an annual “In-Store Trainers’ Conference”: these provided a platform for In-Store Trainers to refine their training skills AND offered a fantastic opportunity for In-Store Trainers to be recognised and valued for their work in building the knowledge and confidence of the whole store team.
“Becoming an In-Store Trainer is a great way for experienced team members to grow in their roles and enable the rest of the store team to deliver outstanding customer care.”
Nicky Barnes, Training Co-ordinator, Specsavers Optical Group
Making a difference
Retail staff find their work more fulfilling if they feel their personal efforts make a difference to individual customers. Understanding the motivational power of “making a difference” should shape the design of all training and internal communications which target retail teams. When Criterion Partnership was asked to assist with the engagement of pharmacy teams in an integration and re-branding exercise, we knew that team members would be less influenced by business arguments for the planned changes and more influenced by communications which explored how individual customers would benefit. The task was to inspire pharmacy team members to adopt new practices and procedures and to embrace a new brand: “Your Local Boots Pharmacy”. The communications and “Engagement Days” designed by Criterion Partnership were carefully invited pharmacy team members to understand how the customers they already knew would embrace they planned changes. The more the team members understood the benefits to customers, the more they embraced the re-branding programme.
‘‘The insights and interventions provided by Criterion Partnership helped us achieve remarkable results’’
Glen Savage, Internal Communications Manager, Boots UK
A sense of direction
Having invested in the recruitment and training of store staff, retailers have a clear need to retain experienced retail assistants and to sustain their commitment over the long term. A great way of doing this is by formulating a Career Development Programme. This is typically a structured number of career levels, each of which is defined by behavioural criteria. When a new retail assistant starts work, they acquire specific skills and knowledge which result in them attaining the first career level. This is usually recognising through certification and congratulations but not necessarily through remuneration. Having achieved the first level, retail assistants need to acquire further skills and knowledge in order to attain the next career level.
In the work Criterion Partnership conducted for Specsavers, the career levels reflected different roles within the store as shown in the graphic. The criteria used to define each level fell into three categories:
• Customer Focus
• Professional Focus
• Systems Focus
The Specsavers Career Development Programme means that all members of a store team have a sense of career, rather than just a “job”. Enhanced self esteem and confidence result from progressing through the levels, each of which is carefully defined so that, with experience and self development, team members can offer more and more value to customers and to the business.
Criterion Partnership created a similar Development Programme for Community Pharmacists in collaboration with Alphega Pharmacy UK. This programme is also structured around levels which are defined by criteria, all of which are formulated to enable pharmacist to nurture and grow their business. The criteria which comprise the Alphega Pharmacy Development Programme fall into four categories:
• Finance
• Operations
• People
• Patient Care
“Criterion Partnership helped us to create a structured development programme which invites our pharmacists to learn and grow in the four key areas of business performance. This is now the central plank in our proposition and means we can inspire pharmacists to pursue new goals and achieve better results than ever before.”
Rachel Marchant, Pharmacist Consultant, Alphega Pharmacy UK
By working to ensure that these three factors are addressed when employing staff, retailers will succeed in building the trust and motivation of their sales assistants. This will result in a talented workforce, who are loyal to the business and ambassadors of the brand, with business benefits in the form of reduced staff turnover and outstanding customer care. If you would like to find out how Criterion Partnership can help you on this journey please contact us on 01273 734000.
