Send to KindleLeadership in a retail store is difficult for two reasons. First, store managers seldom receive much training in the concepts of leadership. Second, many company personnel policies make it difficult for a store manager to create an effective team. Store managers often don’t control the hours of part-time workers or the number of full-time staff. Manpower is often determined by sales and stores usually receive an allotment of hours depending on recent sales revenue modified by projected holiday or other peak periods. The result is part-time associates whose hours, and therefore paycheck, are dependent on the number of hours a store receives from headquarters. Is there a better way? I believe there is through a two-pronged approach, but this solution requires a considerable paradigm shift
First, retail companies must invest in real leadership training for store managers. Yes, this is an expense, but the return is much greater. Employees who are led by leaders who understand and practice good leadership concepts are more likely to be engaged in the success of the store and less likely to move along whenever another offer or opportunity arises. This point is critical to making the second part of this approach successful.
The second part of this solution involves a complete re-evaluation of how manpower is allotted to individual stores. Like any organization, a store requires a certain amount of manpower to run efficiently, such as managers, floor personnel, stockroom workers, and cashiers. This requirement is increased by the number of 8-hour periods the store is open. Of course some days are busier than others (which ones are somewhat dependent on the type of merchandise sold, special offers, etc) but every store has a baseline of required staff to effectively remain open and viable. I define that baseline as the number of staff required over an average week. This should be full-time staff with sufficient pay and benefits to meet basic human needs! Why? Such a cadre of full-time people provides the store manager a staff that is more likely to be engaged in making the store successful. Also, some stores have a plethora of managers and assistant managers who are essentially doing what a regular full-time, non-management staff should be doing. The store manager needs a certain number of subordinate mangers but they shouldn’t be the majority of the full-time staff. Now, the part about leadership training. Good leadership is essential to creating an effective full-time staff. The store manager must have the leadership skill to form a real team. Also, the full-time staff should have stability. By this I mean a predictable schedule and opportunity to really become good at a particular part of the store.
What about a part-time staff? A smaller part-time staff would still be necessary to cover peak periods, holidays, sale events, etc. But, part-time numbers would be smaller and more seasonal.
Now before the accountants have heart failure, let’s look at the cost involved. Leadership training for management and increased pay and benefits for more full-time staff will increase costs; for a time. But, the additional cost would be offset some by the lesser part-time expense, though that offset is not sufficient to cover the increase. Another partial offset is realized by reducing the number of managers in a store. Though full-time employees are more expensive than part-timers, they are still cheaper than managers so savings will be realized over time through attrition. The rest of the increase will be covered by two factors and will be amortized over a longer period of time. The first is simply the increased efficiency of a store staffed by people who are more likely to be engaged in its success. The other is a significant decrease in the expense of employee turnover. This expense is often overlooked in retail but can quickly add up to a very large number.
When retail store managers are trained to be leaders and have a dedicated full-time staff, the end result will be a better store producing a better margin.
