Do retail employees get enough respect?

A recent Harvard Business Review study found that bosses who want to get commitment and engagement from employees they need to do one thing: Show respect. The global survey of almost 20,000 employees determined that being respected was more important than recognition and appreciation, vision, feedback, and even opportunities for growth and development.

Unfortunately, over half of employees surveyed felt they don't regularly get respect from their leaders. Those who did were significantly more likely to be engaged, stay with the organization, focus and prioritize better, and enjoy and derive more satisfaction from their jobs.

Other work by HBR author Christine Porath showed that performance plummets in the face of incivility, as it taxes working memory, while performance on cognitive tasks drops. Employees decrease their effort, the quality of their work suffers, and they often leave. And witnessing negative interactions causes customers to take their business elsewhere.

An article in Retail Leader said that nearly one-third of workers are considering leaving their present employer, and part of the reason is the idea that workers are just cogs in a machine. A New York City store associate of Zara, a global fashion retailer with 2,000+ stores, recently started an online petition urging the company to provide part-time workers with enough hours to make a decent living, offer equal opportunity for raises and promotions, and provide a respectful work environment. The petition under the hash tag #CHANGEZARA. currently has close to 1,500 signatures.

An article last holiday season in New York's Daily News focused on thanking retail workers by "treating them with the respect they deserve." The article cited a 2011 study of NYC retail workers by the Retail Action Project that showed more than 50 percent have college degrees or are studying for them. The piece suggested that happy, efficient, and helpful store associates convert shoppers into paying customers and should be rewarded with better wages and by treating them as true business partners.

On the brighter side, a CareerBliss study, as reported in Forbes, came up with the ten "happiest" retailers to work for in 2014: Ross Stores, Costco, Ikea, Neiman Marcus, Apple Stores, Barnes & Noble, TJ Maxx, Verizon Wireless, Lowe's and Nordstrom. They chose these retailers by evaluating employee reviews on company websites and included factors such as work-life balance, compensation, job security, and company culture and environment.

• Half of Employees Don't Feel Respected by Their Bosses - Harvard Business Review
• Respect And Appreciation Key To Motivating Disgruntled Employees - Retail Leader
• Zara: Treat Retail Employees With Respect - coworker
• The undervalued retail worker - New York Daily News
• The 10 Happiest Retailers to Work For In 2014 - Forbes