I think Walmart has already demonstrated that raising the base pay of the in-store work force does indeed improve service. So does treating workers like human beings. And actually spending time training them.

Here’s the thing: retailers must do something to improve the in-store experience. Otherwise they’re going to find their stores are ghost towns. Who needs the grief? So it’s time to get on with it — experimenting and tweaking and re-visioning what the experience is supposed to be.

The incoming administration may be opposed to legislating it, but that administration will also not be able to legislate shoppers to enter stores where the help is indifferent or worse.

A higher minimum wage will not guarantee better service, and so consumer skepticism is understandable. However, I believe that an increase in the minimum wage will enable employers to expect more from their employees, including delivering a better in-store experience. Also, with higher wages, employers should be able to attract more engaged and productive employees.

While higher wages help, other factors like benefits, work-life balance and corporate culture play a significant role in employee engagement, which I believe directly impacts service levels.

Associates that interact with consumers will be higher-level associates but many companies will be forced to lay off employees, or at the very least schedule part-timers much less, to recoup their losses. This means that employees on the floor will have too many demands on their time to provide the exemplary customer service so many of us are banking on.

Keeping enough associates on the floor is as important to service levels as the minimum wage hike. Retail stores will retain better employees, but those employees may be doing double the work.

The quality of in-store service has been and will continue to be a function of the individual and not about what they are getting paid. The integrity and personality of the in-store associate are by far the values that make for the best service and the best brand ambassadors. These are the individuals who earn it and deserve to be paid fairly for their efforts and their value to the brand.

Retailers need to identify, reward and empower these individuals as they are priceless to their brand. Retailers should listen to these folks to understand them and provide them with the tools and trust to enhance their service to today’s digitally empowered shoppers.

Raising the minimum wage will not automatically raise customer service. Customer service depends upon employee knowledge, training and feeling valued. The increase in the minimum wage may help but not if employers were forced and grumble about it. It will also not help if employers cut back on training.

Yes, they should be skeptical. I’m not expecting any improvement in service at my McDonald’s because they are making more money. I might get better service when employees have to start competing for jobs. There are only two ways to absorb a doubling of wages — hike your product prices or cut staff. In many places, cutting staff will be the first option. Smart employers will come up with mechanisms for customers to give applause to great employees, who will move up the food chain.

The minimum wage is not about service. It is simply a minimum wage. Its objective does not include “better service.” But as it pushes wages at the low end up, it may make for greater retention and happier workers. Those two elements do translate into “better service.”

Treating people as human beings always helps raise service levels but, that said, there is no reason to expect that a raise in the minimum wage will automatically result in dramatically higher service levels. And if costs rise along with wages, we are all back where we started.

While I generally favor upping the minimum wage (and paid sick leave) on moral grounds to keep pace with costs of living, the present round of increases seems to present a shock to the system. Small businesses, in particular, are bracing for the worst.

Yesterday I attended a briefing for members of the Arizona Restaurant Association where nearly every operator in the room was anticipating staff reductions and price increases in response.

Large companies will likely make similar moves. Headcount reductions (even if accomplished stealthily by attrition) will ultimately reduce service levels in stores. I’d anticipate cuts in hours and shifts for many of the workers who are retained. Not likely to leave them more motivated.

So, no. I don’t think customer service experiences will improve by causing wages rise to a more dignified level. Retailers who set service quality as a goal will have to do it the old-fashioned ways: train, enable, empower, monitor.

When it comes to customer service, it’s the practice that counts, not the pay.

I don’t think that consumers care one way or the other what people are paid when it comes to service. They just want good service. However, if you make a big deal about employees getting paid more and consumers getting better service, I would imagine there would be skepticism. Furthermore, as the old saying goes, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. Just paying someone more, especially if its a mandated minimum, doesn’t guarantee good service. It takes hiring the right people and training them.

I believe that raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour will increase in-store service levels by the employees getting the raise. However, in-store service overall will deteriorate because there will be fewer employees. Retailers, as well as all other employers, will reduce the labor force or install robots to defray the increased pay per hour. Sadly, that is just the way it is.

Consumers might expect improved customer service from higher paid associates, but they will never get it. They expect it because they will be paying higher prices in order to pay for the associates’ pay increase. Hiring the right people (associates that like people for instance), motivating them, training them, and then supporting associates are the keys, not just pay. Retail was the first job for many people. You learn the fundamentals, arrive on time, take direction, etc.

Paying $15 for retail associates is like paying $35 for a factory worker. The problem is that the skill set is not there. So there will be no customer service improvement, only higher prices which will drive consumers more to online shopping.

I am late to comment on this and I am wondering if any one will read the 26 other comments before they even get to mine. PS: I think this item has gotten more comments than almost any other post in the last year.

Now here is my take:

1. Customer service will get better because company are going to keep figuring out ways to take the employee out of the customer
   service loop.
2. Service will get better because of fewer employees; those that are kept are going to be better because only the best will be kept.
3. In the long run, even fewer employees in retail than today.
4. More Google no-employee-needed stores.

Great discussion here. And I thoroughly agree that wages are only a portion of what’s critical. In fact, I hear from employees incredible frustration with how bureaucratically they are managed — punished with irresponsible surveys, etc.

Retailers should take care, though, in how they respond to a minimum wage increase. They have the opportunity to thoroughly enrage their workers if they make a major “sour grapes” public issue of opposing any change. Because what’s critical to service is having motivated employees. And, regardless of opinion about laws, companies choosing to oppose laws (ones that might not be right) often quite publicly tell employees that they aren’t valued. And that will backfire far more than they might expect.