Retailers keen on hiring the best and brightest should start emphasizing their company mission more in interviews. A study by Deloitte recently found that 60 percent of millennials chose their current job because the company had a “sense of purpose”. Your employees increasingly want to believe their job matters, and they are looking to you for proof.
So how can you show your retail employees there’s a larger purpose to their work? Here are three ways you can start today.
Show How Essential They Are to Your Company
Through the course of a retail associate’s day-to-day routine, it is easy to lose sight of the larger role they play in their company.
Consider the story of the NASA janitor and President Kennedy. When the President asked the janitor what he did, the man replied that his job was to help put a man on the moon. That employee understood his job and valued it. Help your employees do the same by reminding them of the important role they play in your company’s mission. Retail sales associates are the face of your brand in your customer’s eyes. Their interactions can make or break customer’s relationship with your brand so reiterate how essential their role is to the success of your company and do it frequently.
Invest in Your Employees’ Lives
Another way to inspire your retail employees is to show them you care not only about their careers, but their life outside of work as well.
One company that does this well is QuikTrip. The convenience store chain is repeatedly ranked as one of the best places to work in the United States, partly because of their incredible benefits. For example, they encourage employees to invest in their education by offering tuition reimbursement.
When companies like QuikTrip put an emphasis on their employees’ futures, they’re showing they value their lives outside of work. It’s why companies like QuikTrip have incredibly low turnover rates – their voluntary rate is 8% a year versus the industry average 60% a year.
Help Your Retail Employees Help Each Other
When employees lack camaraderie with their co-workers, they tend to view their role as a job they have to do. But when there is good rapport among your retail staff, they want to come to work because they are engaged and excited to be a part of a team.
You can encourage these supportive professional relationships by offering team-building activities or something simple like using a group messaging app with your team. Mobile communication tools are a great way for retail employees to stay engaged and build their own unique tribe.
