We recently met with industry giants from retail and hospitality for some inspiring roundtable conversations.
Key takeaway of the day: great leadership could be the secret sauce to levelling up employee retention and business success across the sector.
On 9th May, Great Place To Work UK, in partnership with , hosted our first-ever Great Culture Collective ā an in-person event at the Kimpton Fitzroy hotel in London, run under Chatham House Rules, exclusively for leaders of top-performing organisations within the Retail, Hospitality & Leisure sector.
Our aim: create a safe space where delegates could network, share their experiences, and learn from our collective people-related data and insights around the sector.
Below, we share key takeaways from the inspiring discussions that took place.
As soon as one of our delegates uttered this statement, all heads in the room began nodding in harmony. We all knew what it meant: effective leadership is the key to a great employee experience ā and, in turn, better productivity, loyalty, and customer service.
And itās desperately needed.
Currently, nearly a third (31%) of employees working in retail, hospitality and leisure often think about looking for a job at another organisation.1 This matches the sectorās 31% average turnover reported by the CIPD.2
In terms of impacts on profitability, itās estimated that employers will need to spend Ā£3,800.00 to replace an employee on an hourly wage of Ā£11.44.
Take a large-sized organisation (such as a hotel or supermarket chain) with 10,000 employees, and the total cost to fill the gaps would be a staggering Ā£11.78 million.
As one delegate shared with us:
āAt the end of the day, Iāve always been struck by the saying: weāre an industry of people serving people. This sector needs more of us looking after our people properly. Give them the tools, the flexibility they need to feel great about coming to work every day. Our managers are so crucial to how employees feel about work. It doesnāt matter whether the employee is working in Head Office, if theyāre on the floor with customers, in distribution, or whateverā¦If you start with managers, you can tick off loads of what employees are asking for. This helps us, as the business, but we also then do better by our own people and the people we serve.ā
Source: Great Place To WorkĀ® UK 2023 Population Study
According to UKG research, 41% of retail employees want more flexibility than what is typically offered in the industry.
In fact:
Service employees are client-facing, and how they behave with customers can be greatly influenced by how they feel at work. Suffice to say when managers provide their teams with appropriate self-scheduling tools and increased autonomy in how individuals may adjust their working hours, the result is a more effective, efficient, and happier workforce, leading to more positive interactions with their customers.
Of course, this goes hand in hand with improving employeesā digital literacy.
In 2023, the World Economic Forum reported that 60% of employees globally were worried about losing their job to AI in the next 10 years.3
Alongside an upgrade to current tech and processes, employers who upskill digital literacy across the workforce will go further in strengthening the employee experience because this supports employeesā development, psychological wellbeing, and sense of job security.
As a result, employees experience higher levels of wellbeing and, in turn, a stronger intent to stay.
Source: Great Place To WorkĀ® UK 2023 Population Study
What may be considered fair treatment for one employee, or a certain team or department, may not be the same as another.
Great leaders take time to get to know their peopleās individual needs as well as the needs of their collective team. This may involve tailoring the organisationās benefits offering and/or work environments for different groups across the business.
For example, what one colleague may need for compassionate leave may differ greatly to another employeeās needs for the same type of leave. Giving managers authority to flex the number of days for individualsā bereavement could have substantial positive effects on each personās wellbeing and employee experience.
As one delegate shared at during a roundtable discussion:
āWeāve seen so clearly that different expectations can even come from different generations within the same department. I think itās so important to say: āItās okay to be different. We can handle different without it causing chaosā. And if we ³¦²¹²Ōāt do something that employees want or asked for, to be courageous in telling people that we have looked into it, we ³¦²¹²Ōāt afford that right now, or that wonāt work unfortunately in our type of business, or for that specific type of roleā¦but we are willing to speak uncomfortable truths as much as sharing what can be done. This is what builds trust and loyalty.ā
Managers are fundamental to the employee experience because their daily interactions with employees and teams significantly impact their peopleās perceptions of their employer and, sometimes, the wider industry.
āSome of us have been in this [retail] business for over 10 years. We know that retail and hospitality is more than ājust a jobā,ā shared another delegate. āBut itās so hard to prove that to our people unless more of us become genuinely great workplaces for everyone who works with us.ā
| Related: How to Manage a Multigenerational Workforce
Ensuring that your employee experience mirrors your customer experience will role-model culture internally, which can then be reflected externally, thus helping employees to deliver the best service to their customers.
One award-winning hotel brand, for example, has recently revamped their back of house to provide employees a similar style and level of comfort in their break rooms and cafeterias as the rooms and leisure areas offered to the hotelās guests.
This makes their people feel valued, respected, and helps keep employeesā motivated to provide exceptional service throughout the day.
Another example comes from a retailer whose core messaging of is around loving employees as they are, which is mentioned at every key touchpoint along the employee journey, beginning at the onboarding stage. Itās an inclusive company value that instantly allows colleagues to feel welcome and encouraged to bring their whole selves to work. This then fuels feelings of belonging, driving increased engagement, job satisfaction and loyalty.
In a people-first culture, great managers can bring out the best in their teams by displaying empathy and focusing on individualsā preferences and needs. This then allows them to live by the Platinum Rule: treat the employee as they would like to be treated.
And yes, delegates did acknowledge that this may require financial investment ā whether it be in upgrading technology available to employees, enhancing benefits packages or physical work environments, or upskilling leaders to become better managers.
But it pales in comparison to the grave cost of losing talented people ā to competitors or another industry entirely.
Empowering people to give of their best ultimately benefits the bottom-line: a win-win.
Every employer, regardless of sector, wants to experience reduced turnover, improved customer satisfaction, enhanced productivity and teamwork, and a positive brand image.
These insights from our first Great Culture Collective provide a compelling basis for C-suite Executives to recognise the critical role great culture and leadership plays in shaping employee experience and retention.
"I've written a gazillion pages of notes, which has been fantastic! If this was every month, I'd be here every month." ā Great Culture Collective delegate
>>>Watch our webinar: The Leadership Behaviours That Drive Success (20 min)
Sources:
1 Great Place To WorkĀ® UK 2023 Population Study
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