LEADING FROM THE FRONT

It’s a double edged sword for senior managers in the nearly $ 20 billion organised retail industry – sales over the past few quarters have been broadly sluggish, given the slowdown in the economy, and at the same time, how do you ensure your customer-facing front-end staff remain motivated. This front-end staff generates revenue for a retail chain and also serves as a key link between a customer and the retail chain. Clearly, there is no straight forward solution to the above problem, but senior HR managers and top managements in retail chains are unanimous that merely assessing an employee on whether he has achieved the sales target for a particular period is not going to be a viable solution. In addition, monetary recognition is no longer viewed as the only criterion for rewarding employees.

Agrees Aasheeta Chhabra, Head Business Development, Chhabra 555 Fashions, “Performance appraisals have seen a dramatic change in recent times, and several new attributes have been included, to ensure a holistic, 360 degree evaluation of employees.” And, to solve this peoplecentric problem, organizations are utilising an array of new motivational tools and appraisal systems.

HR MANTRAS

Front-end employees in several retail chains are by and largely, educated only to matriculation levels and often don’t understand the ‘big’ picture of the retail industry, in terms of evolving consumer needs and the growth of other distribution channels. Apart from that, during the boom years of the organized retail industry a few years earlier, the attrition rate at the lower end of the hierarchy was at very high levels, and in several instances, the customer-facing staff did not receive much training during this period. The impact of these twin developments is becoming increasingly visible, in the current operating environment. HR managers are acutely aware of the current problem and while evaluating the contribution of an individual staff member to the broader retail organisation, have recently introduced several additional performance variables. For instance, appraisals are no longer on an annual basis, but have shifted to quarterly and monthly reviews. In addition, while individual and group store targets are important, but attention is also being paid to customer service levels of an employee, product knowledge, personal attributes and customer feedback.

Udit Mittal, MD, Unison International, a HR and recruitment company, highlighted that several retailers have started awards like employee of the month or quarter, best client servicing employee and allied recognitions, to motivate staff continuously. Striking a similar note, Rajive Ranjan, MD-India, S Oliver, pointed out that in tune with their German parent’s strategy, a yearly gala awards night is organised especially for the front-end staff. Ranjan also highlighted that they strive to ensure that this staff get their due recognition, given that they generate revenue for the organisation.

RECOGNITION AND REWARDS

No doubt, monetary incentives have been utilised for motivating front-end and other staff, but retailers are increasingly utilizing other techniques too. J Suresh, CEO, Arvind Brands, highlighted the ‘Arvind Express’ and selected associates are promoted to assistant store managers, and posted in different locations intheir distribution network. And, the opportunity to be promoted to the management staff and contribute in a broader capacity to the overall organisation helps employee morale, added Suresh. They are not alone. Future Retail has ‘Seekho’ which enables consistent performers to fasttrack their career via a MBA in Retail. Shoppers Stop, too, has outbound programs and training at international destinations for its top performers. 

In addition, retailers are also offering their staff non-monetary awards like coupons and discounts from other brands and services that they have tied up with, to boost employee morale. Dr V P Singh, Director - HR, Devyani Food Street, said, “While the power of monetary awards can’t be under-stressed, but rewards and recognition takes care of higher needs of staff.” And, despite the steps taken, if an employee is not able to achieve sales targets or organisational goals, they are often sent for retraining and counselling sessions, to help improve their productivity. If none of these measures succeed, retailers have no option, but to retrench that employee. Summing up, Vikram Raizada, Executive Director and CEO, Tara Jewels, said, “The key is to hire right and ensure that your staff truly understands the longterm goals of an organisation, and accordingly work in that direction.”