In a competitive marketplace, retail organisations must be agile, flexible and innovative in order to survive, and succeed. WeThrive provides retailers with the tools they need to listen to their best asset – their people.
Retailers are living in a new era – one that combines uncertainty with constant change. Consumer expectations are growing, while competition to attract and retain the best staff is also on the up. During recent times the role of HR Directors has also evolved. Their role encompasses so much more than the organisation ‘supporting activities,’ with a marked increase in business planning and recommendations. Strategies for decreasing employee turnover and attrition as well as increasing employee productivity are firmly on the agenda. In a sector with different types of workers in multiple locations, retailers need an agile employee engagement solution to get to the heart of how employees are feeling no matter who they are.
“The survey tools I’ve used previously have been really hard work in comparison to WeThrive with lots of rules regarding what you could and couldn’t do. WeThrive is incredibly user friendly and very straightforward to set up, we got a response rate of nearly 100%, so we were really pleased.”
Cathryn Petchey, HR Director, Mulberry
“WeThrive has been great for taking the temperature of the organisation and now it’s an integral part of not only our employee engagement strategy, but also our overall business strategy. We have gained clear insight into the issues that affect the happiness of our teams and, where necessary, how we can improve things for them.”
Paul Cons, CEO Konditor and Cook
Shop workers are the face of your business. They have the closest interactions with customers, and thus shape perceptions of the organisation. On a day-to-day basis, they will help execute the customer-facing component of business strategy so if employees’ emotional commitment to the organisation is weak then the customer experience is more likely to be poor.
Line Managers play a significant part in ensuring these workers are committed to the cause. Recent research from Gallup highlights that Managers are responsible for as much as 70% of the variance in employee engagement.
Long hours and work during key holiday periods are synonymous with a number of customer facing retail jobs. It’s imperative that retailers help their staff achieve a good work-life balance where possible, if this isn’t achieved then lack of motivation, high stress levels and low motivation is often the result. Of course this is a huge challenge for HRDs but it starts with ensuring that staff feel valued and are regularly listened to.By implementing an employee engagement and feedback programme, HRDs can drive strategic change across the business, benefiting productivity, retention and brand perception as a result.
