8 retailers taking employee engagement to the next level
Looking to retain your staff, increase revenue and drive memorable customer experiences? While there are many resources and technologies you can invest in that may provide a competitive edge, there is one resource that is infinitely valuable and often overlooked: your people.
Investing in your employee experience to improve employee engagement can have a huge impact on the business outcomes that make or break frontline industries. As virtually every frontline industry battles ongoing staffing issues, these numbers make investing in employee experience and employee engagement a no-brainer. In fact, according to The Deskless Report, 40% of leaders plan to invest more budget into employee engagement in the coming yearwhich means organizations that dont start to invest more in employee engagement will quickly lag behind.
Have we convinced you to take a look at your frontline employee engagement tactics? Lets start with a little inspiration: here are great examples of retailers with high employee engagement who are reaping the benefits of engagement, team performance and customer satisfaction.
1. Best Buy
has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to the in-store experience and employee engagement. On a recent podcast, how Best Buy empowers their frontline staff to act in a way that reaffirms the values of the organization.
He explains that Best Buy enables this empowerment by communicating to employees that [] the only thing you need to know is to be amazing. Whatever you think that requires for our customers we trust you. Empowering the workforce as Best Buy does creates better employee morale and, as a result, a better customer experience.
Best Buy is also very effective at engaging their employees in idea sourcing. As of last year to create a more interactive shopper experience, where people can test out the latest technology, from VR to drones or new video game systems. The concept for the new store came from sourcing employee and customer insights and ideas. For Best Buy, listening to their employees and customers ultimately allows them to move with retail market trends more effectively.
2. Golf Town
works hard to improve employee engagement and the associate experience across their stores by working with their people. In fact, they recently collaborated with their store managers and associates to rebuild their core values: team, winning, adaptation and authenticity.
Using their digital communication platform, Golf Town improved communication between upper management and frontline workers and increased engagement on in-store initiatives, such as events, promotions and new offers. Within five days of launch, Golf Town achieved 78% adoption across their entire frontline workforce and have been able to achieve a 75% response rate.
Its played a big role in helping us shift the culture and elevating the associates connection to their team, company and our brand, says Golf Town president, Chad McKinnon.
3. Patagonia
has always been focused on a strong core vision. But last year, founder Yvon Chouinard took it to the next level when he created permanent legal structure to ensure that his company can never deviate from that core visionthat for-profit business can work for the planet. that 98% of the company’s stock had been transferred to a non-profit that will make sure that the company’s annual profits are used to fight climate change, and the rest of the stock will fund a newly-created Patagonia Purpose Trust. That unwavering focus has helped the retailer build a community of employees that are engaged and passionate about that vision.
“Building the best product while causing the least harm is at the heart of what we do,” explained Chouinard . “A Patagonia employee is someone who can treat work as play, finds fulfillment in independence, and is obsessed with quality, whether thats in a shirt or a store display. We spend a lot of time hiring the right person for a job or sourcing partners in businessso it isnt so much about trying to ‘instill’ our philosophy into a person as it is finding those who already share our values.”
Patagonias deep care for the environment has also led them to provide support for any of their employees who want to learn about the environment. One way that they do this is by funding up to programs for any environmental non-profit, which this year resulted in 10,000 volunteer hours for 43 organizations.
4. REI
This consistently ranked in the top 10 companies for employee engagement, with some of the most passionate and happy employees out there. An REI Employee Engagement Index reports that 92% of employees go beyond what is required to help REI succeed and that only 18% of employees were seriously considering leaving REI at that time.
One of REIs biggest efforts to improve the employee experience is through their company campfire. This initiative was launched to improve two-way communication between upper management and store clerks. REI also supports its employees by offering . Employees get an additional two days off per year to go outside and get inspired, as well as the third day off when on Black Friday for their employees.
5. Sephora
has mastered employee experience by focusing on three key aspects: training, technology and development. All cast members (their internal name for frontline staff) start with training on the three main product categories (perfume, makeup and skincare) starting on day one, and continually get retrained on new products, techniques and trends. Sephora is so committed to training that they even developed with three locations globally, offering training to the frontline and corporate employees alike.
In addition to making their cast members industry experts, Sephora provides them the most cutting edge technology to use in store. From (their digital shade finder) to handheld registers, cast members are using world-class tech as often as they use a makeup brush, which makes their jobs easier and more enjoyable.
Finally, Sephora prides itself on providing mobility for its cast members; whether thats between positions, stores, departments, or even countries! One cast member has even grown from a Beauty Advisor to becoming the General Manager of France through Sephoras commitment to growing, training and developing their top talent.
6. Wegmans
is ahead of the curve when it comes to employee engagement, experience design and culture. , Wegmans VP of HR, stated that our employees are our number one asset, period. The first question you ask is: Is this the best thing for the employee?. In fact, Wegmans awards $6 million a year in scholarships, and list for over 20 years.
They also go above and beyond in making sure their employees have the resources and know-how to be experts in their area of work. Deli workers are to France, Italy, Germany and Wisconsin to learn about cheese, while butchers are sent to Colorado and South America to learn about beef. Wegmans is a prime example of extending the employee experience beyond the store, by providing a life experience to workers.
While competitors are skeptical that companies can both increase profits and invest in the employee experience, Wegmans has grown to become a $6.2 billion-a-year company. Plus, state that theyre proud to tell others they work at Wegmans. That sort of brand advocacy is priceless.
7. Zingermans
The is so passionate about employee experience that it launched a spinoff. Zingermans Community of Businesses includes 10 independent businesses in the Ann Arbor area: bakeries, a Korean restaurant, a cheese shop, a candy store, even a travel food tour service. And among them? , a training consultancy that drives the brands employee training program while working with other brands looking to take their employee experience up a notch.
At Zingermans, employee engagement isnt a nice-to-have, its a must-have. The more engaged employees are and the more they understand where youre trying to go as an organization, and the more bought-in they are to where youre going, the more they understand how they can have an impact, , founding partner of ZingTrain.
The complex ecosystem of employee experience at Zingermans includes a written vision, decision transparency, a training compact, and much more. Most people want to do a good job. They want to make a contribution. Yes, there are people that just want to punch the clock and go home. But I dont think thats most people, says Bayless. People spend a big chunk of their life at work. They want to be engaged and feel like theyre building something, and that their brain is being used. I think that for a long time people just didnt think that was possible at work, so they didnt ask for it. But I think people always would have liked it.
8. Lowe’s
For home improvement retailer , part of their approach to employee engagement is empowering their people with the right information to take customer service and transform it into a next-level customer experience. In , Dave Sansavera, Senior Director of Learning and Development at Lowes, told a story about a customer that was looking for electrical push connectors, and asked an associate from a different department for help.
The customer was asking about how to use them and the associate said, This isnt my department, but Ive got this tool and we can figure it out together, Sansavera said. The associate then used 91心頭利 on their device to find the information the customer needed, and they watched informational videos together. The customer later filled out a satisfaction survey (10/10!) and even sent a note to the store manager. “Thats how you earn loyalty. Thats how you really solve customer issues, he said.
Customer service is simple, Sansavera explained. A customer comes in, you say, Hi! and I help you get what you want. But taking it to another level, taking it to that care and really helpingthat ties back to empowerment.
The takeaway?
If you want to improve the customer experience, focusing your efforts on the employee experience should be your first step. Which example of amazing employee engagement are you going to try first?