By George Anderson
A survey conducted by StorePerform Technologies found that nearly half of all retailers plan on hiring summer help. That's the easy part. It's training them that causes the most headaches.
More than half (54 percent) of senior retail executives responding to the survey said their major concern when hiring seasonal workers was the training that was involved in getting new hires up to speed. In many cases, stores make the investment in resources and time only to have employees leave after a short period on the job either by the individual's choice or that of the company.
The average amount of time retailers spend training new store-level hires is 20 hours. According to StorePerform's research, 46 percent of retailers conduct hands-on training and 15 percent use hard copy manuals.
Having well-trained employees is especially important, say executives, because of the time invested (one to six months) in preparing for promotions and the critical role store-level execution plays in a program's success.
The most important holidays from retailers' perspectives are:
1. Christmas
2. Thanksgiving
3. Labor Day
4. Easter
5. July 4 and Memorial Day (tied)
6. Valentine's Day
7. Halloween
8. New Year's Eve
9. President's Day
"Solid SEM (store execution management) paired with a well trained staff paves the way for improved sales volume and the opportunity for employees to spend time with their customers," said Srikant Vasan, president and CEO, StorePerform Technologies in a released statement.
"SEM reduces staff turnover and increases staff productivity," he added.
Moderator's Comment: How can retailers train seasonal employees to get the most from them during the limited periods of time they are expected to work in stores? Should the training for seasonal workers be any different than, for example, full-time employees who are expected to be with a company for a longer period of time? - George Anderson - Moderator