5 Strategies to Boost Employee and Client Retention

Retail employee turnover rates are among the highest across all industries at nearly 67 percent for part-time retail employees, and it’s grown amid the pandemic. On average, these turnovers cost businesses $3,328 to find, hire and train a replacement. Not only that, disruption in frontline employees can negatively impact customer service and thus retention. This is why it’s critical for retailers to understand that what’s happening on the inside of an organization is often felt on the outside by its customers.

Luckily, there are a few workplace management strategies that retailers can integrate into their operations to help boost employee and client retention:

1. Prioritize Open, Two-Way Team Communication

If there is one thing companies cannot lose sight of, it's effective and efficient workplace communication. In fact, 80 percent of the American workforce feels stressed as a result of ineffective company communication. Meanwhile, improved management transparency can lead to up to 30 percent higher retention. Effective communication helps retailers identify workplace issues and gaps in employee engagement or performance, gauge team and customer satisfaction, and more. One way to support two-way communication is to provide an easy-to-use, one-stop platform that eliminates confusion and operational errors that stem from juggling too many touchpoints.

2. Centralize Workplace Operations

There are many pain points in workplace operations that directly affect employee retention. One study found that 40 percent of workers said they left a company because they lacked access to state-of-the-art digital tools. In addition, 45 percent of employers complain that outdated technology keeps them from being productive.

It’s important for retail employees to fully understand the systems in place so they can use their time most effectively. This becomes exponentially harder when they are tasked with managing too many platforms at once. Investing in a centralized, one-stop-shop approach to workplace operations will increase productivity across the team and better serve the business as a whole.

3. Establish Clearly Defined Team Roles and Responsibilities

In order to have a productive workforce that encourages customer and employee loyalty, all employees must know their roles inside and out to properly execute the company’s vision and deliver consistent and strong customer service. This helps employees understand how the quality of their efforts feed into the overall success of the company. Employees crave meaning and ownership in their work with 49 percent of employees stating that they would trade a portion of their salary to continue in their role with an added sense of purpose. When a team is striving toward a common goal, productivity spikes, improving customer satisfaction.

4. Re-evaluate and Modernize Employee Training

The training process is one of the most important pieces to fostering a well equipped team, especially in an industry with high turnover rates. Yet, only 37 percent of companies consider their training to be effective. Proper training takes education and experience, that’s why for long term results, employee training should be continuous. Using a performance and assessment based training program that provides employees with feedback and rewards for skill development is a great step to producing desired workplace outcomes.

5. Foster a Positive Workplace Culture That Thrives on Teamwork — Not Competition

A strong workplace culture can directly impact employee productivity, making positive culture a key factor for business success. In order to build a positive culture, management must offer opportunities for employees to engage with their leaders and peers. In fact, 71 percent of executives say that employee engagement is critical in their company’s success and companies with a highly engaged workforce are 21 percent more profitable. Once a workforce is engaged internally, that same engagement can be reciprocated externally, increasing customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

Addressing major pain points like employee and customer retention in retail can seem daunting, but taking the time to evaluate your operations strategies is the first step. Building a more positive and employee centric workplace will help you retain top talent and in turn, retain your customer base.

Matt Goebel is a multi-unit franchisee and the founder and CEO of Woven, an all-in-one workplace management tool for multi-unit franchising founded to keep franchise operators focused on growing their businesses.