Retail workers have been on the frontline of the pandemic since the beginning and much has been written about the day-to-day challenges that they face.
Now 18 months on, fatigue, stress and exhaustion are becoming more common amongst our front line workers, and these feelings will only be exacerbated as retail continues to open. On top of this, the new phenomenon of ‘the great resignation’ is now very real as workers reconsider what is important to them and what their career path might be in a post lockdown world.
With team members becoming less engaged, and fatigue setting in ahead of the busy Christmas period, the question is, what are retailers doing about it? How are they managing the ongoing workload pressures faced by retail teams, especially as retail starts to open up and staff is required to check customers vaccination status?
For managers, it can be difficult to know the best way to keep their teams engaged and motivated during these times, especially with so much focus on just keeping the doors open.
Despite this, leaders cannot afford to take their eye off their people. That’s why a renewed focus on worker engagement is more important than ever – be that better communications, greater employee appreciation and more learning and development opportunities.
At Grant Thornton we work for some of the biggest brands in retail and what we know is that by taking the time now to listen, re-engage teams and make meaningful actions, you can help retain staff and improve job satisfaction.
The pandemic has bought forward challenges that we couldn’t previously imagine, however, the reality is that these challenges are here to stay. Now is the time to invest in your staff and protect your future workforce.
