The retail industry is competitive and always changing. Managing the workforce is critical to the success of the organization. A good workforce management process can help create a sense of calm and stability in the organization. This is extremely important and is sometimes underestimated. When there is peace and clarity in the organization, employees enjoy their work more, and that affects everything. Customers are served better and all tasks are performed in a structured and consistent manner.
Retail is all about attracting customers and generating sales. It is therefore essential to have the right amount of employees in the right place at the right time. Too few employees can lead to lost sales and customers, while too many employees create unnecessary costs and inefficiencies. With good workforce management, you can strike the right balance by matching the amount of staff to customer demand.
In addition, a good workforce management process can increase employee satisfaction. By ensuring the right amount of employees at the right time, employees can do their jobs better and pay more attention to customers. This can lead to higher customer satisfaction and a more positive experience.
But how does a good workforce management process create calm in the organization? A good workforce management process contributes to creating calm in the organization in several ways. We name the main ways and give some examples.
A good workforce management process uses historical data and current data to predict customer demand. This ensures a predictable and stable schedule for employees. Employees know when to work and what to do, allowing them to plan better and experience less stress.
Example:
A supermarket can use historical sales data (via an automatic link to the POS system) combined with current data to predict expected customer demand and schedule the number of employees based on this expectation. This provides a predictable and stable schedule for employees, while taking conditions into account. Supply and demand are aligned. Employees know what is expected of them and this provides clarity and peace of mind.
An efficient workforce management process can help optimize operations and reduce waste and inefficiency. This can lead to higher productivity and profitability.
Example:
With a good workforce management process and good data, you have insight into your organization's productivity and can compare and benchmark at the department and store level. This allows you to quickly see how you are performing and where there is still room for growth.
A good workforce management process can increase employee satisfaction. By providing employees with a predictable and stable schedule, they can better plan their personal lives and maintain a better work-life balance. This can lead to higher employee engagement and loyalty.
A good workforce management process can help the organization adapt to changing conditions and trends. By monitoring employee performance and gathering customer feedback, the organization can respond quickly to change and adapt to new challenges.
Example:
A hardware store can adjust the number of employees in response to changing customer needs, such as an increase in customers during the spring and summer months or during the recent Corona lockdowns, for example. By monitoring employee performance and gathering customer feedback, the organization can respond quickly to changes and adapt to new challenges.
In the retail industry, managing the workforce efficiently is critical to the success of the organization. A good workforce management process can lead to peace and stability in the organization by ensuring predictability, efficiency and productivity, employee satisfaction, and flexibility and adaptability. You also make the best use of the limited availability and capacity of personnel in this tight labor market.
Setting up an effective workforce management process can be challenging, but it is well worth the investment. In fact, it delivers much more, and thus the investment pays for itself quickly. It is even quite possible to build a business case with the expected payback period. Experience shows that this is often faster than you think.
So, by implementing a good workforce management process, the organization can better achieve its goals and differentiate itself from competitors in the market.
