Workforce in Motion:Recruiting, Retaining and Engaging the New Face of the Retail Workforce

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The New Face of RetailIn the past decade or so, an entirely new store associate has emerged onto the retail scene. Today’s new associates are both well versed and confident in their ability to put technology — particularly mobile technology — to work for them to enrich their daily lives. They embrace and integrate new gadgets, devices and applications into their lifestyles unlike any preceding generation.

Consider how retail workers might spend a typical night off the clock. A good number of them are likely to invite friends to dinner via text message or a mobile Facebook post. They may decide which restaurant to visit using Yelp, make reservations online via OpenTable, check in upon arrival via Foursquare and, once seated, determine what to order with help from Urbanspoon. During dinner, they may take photos to share on Instagram, write a quick review of the restaurant on Zagat or even tweet about their meal to all their followers on Twitter.

Unfortunately, when they clock in for work at their local retail store, more often than not they are forced to disconnect, unplug and abandon these tools. All too often, bulletin boards in back rooms are used to post schedules for the coming week. Swapping shifts to accommodate unexpected conflicts requires a phone call to the manager. Many workers will punch a paper card, or swipe a piece of plastic on a time clock and then look for a manager to receive their shift assignments. At the end of the shift, most of these workers will fill out a paper or electronic form to document the completed tasks, and possibly even write a note to the boss requesting a day off.

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Play Work

dinner @ 7?

dinner @ 7?

Great appetizers!

Yum!

Reservations @7

Swapping shifts

Swipe in with time clock

Fill out form to document

completed tasks

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Millennials EmergeNo matter which labels we use to describe millennials, they are 80 million strong in the U.S., and they are rapidly emerging as the dominant generation in retail’s workforce. According to a recent study by Millennial Branding and Payscale titled Gen Y in the Workplace, millennials are five times as likely as any other generation to hold retail merchandising and sales jobs. As early as next year, millennials will make up a third of the total workforce; in seven years, they will represent half of all retail workers. Clearly, they are a force to be reckoned with, and the sooner we recognize the unique expectations and desires of millennial workers, the sooner we will be in a better position to recruit, engage and retain the people who represent the new face of retail.

Millennials are five times as likely as any other generation to hold retail

merchandising and sales jobs

in seven years, they will represent half of all retail workers

Millennials will make up a third of the total workforce.5x

2014

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Expectations and Objectives: Separating Myths from MillennialsOften referred to as the “Me Generation,” millennials in recent years have been stereotyped as self-centered, entitled and lacking the loyalty of the generations that preceded them in the workplace. However, close scrutiny of the vast amount of available research paints a very different picture of this rapidly emerging force.

A survey by PwC titled PwC’s NextGen: A Global Generational Study fully dispels the myth that millennial workers have a sense of entitlement, finding instead that they “have grown up not expecting their organizations to meet all of their needs, including job security, [and] they are as equally committed to their work as non-millennials.”

While most surveys also indicate that millennials desire more recognition at work than other generations, a 2012 survey from MTV Research titled No Collar Workers, casts these expectations of feedback in a different and positive light. According to the report, their expectations of feedback and coaching stem from “millennials’ call for meaning, mentorship and meritocracy in a workplace that channels what they bring to the table.”

Their expectations of feedback and coaching stem from “millennials’ call for meaning, mentorship and meritocracy in a workplace that channels what they bring to the table.”

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Additionally, millennials’ well-documented desires for a fun and social workplace indicate a desire for a positive work experience, a desire that all generations share and one that most businesses aspire to create.

Work/life balance is also important to the typical millennial, with most studies confirming the relative importance of personal learning, development and flexible work hours over monetary rewards.

Finally, while many millennial myths have indeed been dispelled by the recent research, one stereotype holds true in virtually every study: Technology is an important aspect of every facet of millennial lifestyles, including their employment choices. Unfortunately, most employers are failing to live up to their expectations, with almost half of millennials surveyed by PwC indicating that their managers did not always understand the way they use technology at work.

Technology is an important aspect of every facet of millennial lifestyles, including their employment choices. Unfortunately, most employers are failing to live up to their expectations, with almost half of millennials surveyed by PwC indicating that their managers did not always understand the way they use technology at work.

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Retail RamificationsWhat then do these expectations mean to retailers looking to recruit, engage and retain millennial workers? While the list of implications is long, three items jump out as high-priority issues that need to be addressed:

Without question, the time has come to evaluate mobility. Millennial workers have grown up with small screens in their hands, and in addition to expecting their employers to engage via mobile devices, they are also ideally suited to adopt mobile applications. and the good news is that tasks at every level of the enterprise — from back rooms to the sales floor to the warehouse to the district manager’s office — can be completed more efficiently and effectively with the help of mobile technologies.

one way to satisfy today’s workers’ desire for better work/life balance is to offer more flexible scheduling options. Self-service schedule management tools, including shift swapping and bidding for shifts, especially when delivered via mobile devices, gives workers much more control over the shifts they work and streamlines the schedule management process — a win-win for employees and retailers alike.

the days of simply scheduling to adhere to cost budgets are fading fast. Modern tools with sophisticated and automated scheduling capabilities enable much more sophisticated scheduling capabilities that enable store managers to develop schedules that closely align resources to demand patterns, whether the demand is for sales associates or service personnel needed to fill online orders. once schedules align better to demand, the entire store can begin to function more efficiently and effectively, enabling better customer experiences and also helping to create the type of harmonious and rewarding work environment that millennials desire.

1. Mobility Matters 2. Start Evaluating Self- Service Scheduling

3. Schedule Modeling Makes for a More Efficient Workplace

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Workforce Management Technology: The Key to Meeting Millennial Expectations?

From mobility to schedule optimization, modern workforce management (WFM) technologies help retailers adapt to the desires and expectations of the emerging millennial generation. Yet WFM technology adoption remains inconsistent. The December 2012 survey by Retail Systems Research titled WFM 2013: The Store Employee in the Customer Age, found that while nearly three-quarters of retailers with annual revenue greater than $5 billion rate themselves as having high capabilities in most aspects of the employee lifecycle, that percentage drops dramatically as annual revenue declines. In fact, only 41 percent of mid-market retailers ($51M-$999M in annual revenue) rate themselves as having high capabilities in the most basic function of time and attendance.

Little or No CapabilitySome CapabilityHigh Capability

Labor Analytics

Task Management

Forecasting and Scheduling

Budgeting/Planning

Hiring/On-boarding

Recruiting

Absence Management

Time and Attendance

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

58% 41% 1%

33% 50% 17%

33% 59% 9%

32% 65% 3%

30% 59% 11%

23% 64% 13%

19% 48% 33%

16% 53% 31%

Source: RSR Research, December 2012

Company capatibility at various points in employee lifecycle

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To dig deeper into retailers’ plans to close the WFM technology gap identified by the Retail Systems Research study, we surveyed more than 150 retailers between December 2012 and January 2013. By conducting this research, we hoped to gain insights into two questions:

1Has the industry recognized the need to employ technology to help adapt to the needs of an evolving and demanding workforce?

2Will the industry (finally) embrace mobility for its associates?

diggiNg dEEpER iNto thE ExpEctatioNS oF MillENNialS

Dave Bruno, Director of Product Marketing at JDA, discusses the emerging impact of millennials on the retail workforce and the key aspects of retail’s response.

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WFM Health CheckTo begin the analysis, we asked retailers a handful of questions to assess the health of their workforce management processes. In short, we found a broad range of tools — with a correspondingly diverse range of capabilities — in place today:

44%use manual systems, home-grown systems or spreadsheets to manage workforce scheduling and optimization, while

24%utilize specialized scheduling systems.

only

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Adding to the challenge, most retailers struggle with disconnected views of labor across the enterprise, with only 16 percent of retailers surveyed having automated scheduling systems that manage labor across the entire organization:

Store and distribution center labor

All hourly labor across the enterprise

Distribution center labor only

We do not have an automated capability

Store labor only

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

34%

16%

26%

16%

7%

What aspects does your automated scheduling capability cover?

84%of retailers surveyed do not automate the scheduling of labor across their entire enterprise.

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Retailers as a Whole Are Wholly Unsatisfied

The list of workforce-related shortcomings that retailers are experiencing every day is long and varied:

Central planners unable to consider store-level workforce capacity when assigning tasks

Poor results implementing plans according to model

Balancing site-level workloads and budgets

Inability to jointly schedule traf�c-based and task-based labor

Unplanned/unbudgeted labor costs

Limited modeling of workforce needs for seasonality, promotions or new marketing expansion

Lack of automation in scheduling workforce

10 20 30 40 50

41%

32%

31%

29%

26%

19%

15%

What shortcomings and/or deficiencies are you experiencing in the area of workforce scheduling and optimization capabilities?

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Not surprisingly, ineffective and disconnected systems that result in long lists of missing capabilities have led to widespread dissatisfaction with workforce scheduling and optimization.

45%of retailers surveyed are either “completely” or “highly” satisfied with their existing workforce scheduling and optimization capabilities.

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The Good News: Mobile Is on the MoveA large percentage of retailers see mobility as an opportunity to improve their workforce management practices. If 2012 was unofficially “The Year of the Mobile Consumer,” then 2013 appears to have the potential to be declared “The Year of the Mobile Associate.” In fact, 52 percent of retailers surveyed indicated that they intend to spend more money on mobile workforce technology than they spent in 2012, with 18 percent indicating they intend to spend significantly more (15-50 percent more).

Planned mobile workforce investment 2013 vs. 2012

34%30%

14%

4%

6%

4%

Less

Greater than 50% More

The Same

1-15% More

15-25% More

25-50% More Source: JDA 2013 Retail Workforce Mobility Snapshot

64%of retailers surveyed plan to increase spending on mobile workforce tools this year.

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The Road to ROIWhen asked which functions retailers feel mobility can impact most, they cited functions from a wide swath of the business. While most align with millennial expectations for technology as a tool for empowerment, retailers’ priorities are, as expected, more customer-centric than employee-centric, with self-service scheduling ranking far behind customer service:

How would you weigh the functions that mobility can impact?

Customer ServiceTask Compliance

& Visibility

District Staff Communications Endless Aisle for

Associates

Self-Service Scheduling

4.163.73

3.683.56

3.16

Source: JDA 2013 Retail Workforce Mobility Snapshot

Each function was rated from 1 to 5 with 1 being the highest priority.

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When asked which mobile apps have the highest potential ROI, however, employee-centric apps outranked customer-centric apps by a significant margin:

Mobilizing paper processes, improving the timeliness of communications

Mobilizing task assignment and execution, compliance, visibility

Providing “endless aisle” capabilities to sales associates

69%

61%

55%Source: JDA 2013 Retail Workforce Mobility Snapshot

Mobile apps with the highest ROI potential?

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Coveted Capabilities Retailers planning to invest in mobility this year have developed a long list of capabilities they intend to implement throughout the store, including applications for both store associates and store managers: Use smartphones to complete

and assign tasks

Use smartphones to view and adjust schedules

Use smartphones to view KPIs & metrics in real time

62%

46%

44%

Store manager mobile capabilities by year-end?

Use smartphones to complete tasks assigned to them

Use smartphones to access clienteling tools to assist customers

Use smartphones to view KPIs and metrics in real time

Use smartphones to enable cross- channel fulfillment in the store

58% 49%52% 36%

Source: JDA 2013 Retail Workforce Mobility Snapshot

Source: JDA 2013 Retail Workforce Mobility Snapshot

Store associate mobile capabilities by year-end?

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The Road AheadTo capture the opportunities inherent in workforce mobility and overcome many of the shortcomings most retailers are currently facing with their workforce scheduling and optimization practices, we see a large number of retailers planning to invest in WFM technology:

60%40%No plansPlanned

Do you have plans to implement/upgrade your workforce scheduling and optimization capabilities?

22%

13%

5%

Early stages

12-24 months

Expect in 3-5 years

For those retailers struggling to get by on outdated systems with limited mobile capabilities, the clock is ticking. if current trends continue as predicted and millennials comprise one-third of the retail workforce by next year, having the right tools and technologies in place to recruit, engage and retain these employees will be critical to survival.Perhaps now is

the time to think about upgrading?

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Blueprint of Key Capabilities for WFM to Attract, Retain and Engage Employees

Modern workforce technologies can provide retailers with a blueprint for overcoming the challenges presented by the growing presence of millennial employees in the workplace. From optimized scheduling to mobile task management, the list of capabilities that directly address the expectations of millennial workers necessary to build a next-generation retail model and enables the effective delivery of consistently exceptional customer service is a requirement for long-term survival.

Time and Attendance?

The old days when time and attendance was all about punch cards and payroll interfaces are long gone. It’s a different story today. Modern technologies enable employees to clock in and out via tablets, POS registers and even their phones. Collecting and analyzing punch data, reducing labor costs and improving compliance are the key time and attendance strategies for industry-leading companies today. In addition to interfacing with various input sources, an integrated approach to time and attendance, demand forecasting and scheduling optimization helps reduce labor costs, manage schedules, track benefits accruals, administer training and perform job costing.

Scheduling

Manually juggling staffing decisions based on demand, union rules, government regulations and employee preferences can be a daunting task. Throw in the need to track and reward performance

Time and Attendance?

Scheduling

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and it’s just about impossible without the right tools. Modern scheduling tools can help forecast and schedule labor resources according to demand patterns and employee preference — a significant demand for millennial workers — as well as track their performance, and reward their achievements.

Task Management

With so much work to be done and while attempting to balance the right corporate objectives with sales and service tasks, can you ensure you always have the right people doing the right tasks to meet corporate objectives? Task management solutions can help you ensure that the right people, with the right skills, are working on the right tasks, with store-specific compliance data and feedback.

Mobility

An integrated mobility platform can enhance every aspect of WFM technology, driving adoption, efficiency and productivity in every corner of the retail store. From self-service scheduling to shift swapping to task management, leading mobility platforms engage the millennial worker on devices they have grown up with, deliver the scheduling flexibility they desire, and make them more productive and engaged employees.

Task Management

Mobility

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About JDA Software Group, Inc. About Retail TouchPoints

JDA® Software Group, Inc., The Supply Chain Company®, offers the broadest portfolio of supply chain, retail merchandising, store operations and all-channel commerce solutions to help companies manage the flow of goods from raw materials to finished products and into the hands of consumers. JDA’s deep industry expertise and innovative cloud platform help companies optimize inventory, labor and customer service levels. As a result, JDA solutions have become the standard for the world’s leading retailers, manufacturers and distributors. To learn more, visit jda.com or email info@jda.com.

Retail TouchPoints is an online publishing network for retail executives, with content focused on optimizing the customer experience across all channels. The Retail TouchPoints network is comprised of a weekly newsletter, special reports, web seminars, exclusive benchmark research, and a content-rich web site featuring daily news updates and multi-media interviews at  www.retailtouchpoints.com. The Retail TouchPoints team also interacts with social media communities via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.