While the retail industry is one of the largest employers in Canada, there are many negative perceptions that career opportunities are limited to part-time, low paying front line jobs for students. While it is true that many people “fall” into retail as a short term solution, the industry also offers a wide range of career opportunities from front line to senior management, marketing to human resources and everything in between.
There are also many employees who have chosen retail as their first choice career option. Many are drawn to retail due to its interactivity, opportunity and creativity. There are some who seek out the industry because of what it can offer, and there are others who attract employees through promoting retail as a career, and not just a stop-gap job. It’s when both sides, the employee and employer, find the other that real retail careers begin to flourish.
The Employee Perspective
Meet Meagan Warren, ‘Merchandising Marvellette’ (aka Store Manager) for Deep Cove’s LaLa’s, a single location gift and home décor retailer. She happened upon a front line job working at LaLa’s when she was 19 - just out of high school, and fell in love with the industry. The combination of the creative and business, as well as the social aspect, appealed to the young associate enough to begin contemplating a future in retail. Fast forward nine years and she is now an up and coming retail star that has entered the industry with fervor.
Luckily enough Warren’s employer, Kristina Egyed, recognized in the young upstart the opportunity to mentor and develop someone who has all the right mix for a future in the business. Egyed took Warren under her wing, began bringing her to buying shows and industry events and started involving her in the buying and merchandising side of the business. With great foresight, her employer’s total support, Warren went on to complete her business degree and commit to a future with LaLa’s.
Like Warren, there are many retail employees who have great perspective on what they were initially attracted to, what they love about the industry and why they made it their career choice. From talking with many of them, here are a number of themes that emerge – all of which bode well for the future of retail.
The Sky is the Limit: The industry is recognized as one with a significant focus on promotion from within; this means employees have lots of opportunity for upward mobility and the speed of advancement for people with the right skills is fast. Success stories of cashiers moving up the ranks to General Manager are not uncommon. Think back to retailers within your sector who have moved their way up throughout the rungs to President, CEO or Head Honcho of any kind. The chances are pretty good that they too, began on the front lines.
Unlimited Opportunity: According to Warren “the industry has huge potential for young people, yet many have a stigma that retail is not a ‘business career’”. From the ‘inside’, she understands what many retailers already know – that retail is a multi-faceted industry that includes and demands a wide variety of skill-sets and abilities. Such positions include: sales, management, buying, inventory control, merchandising, marketing, information technology, finance, human resources, distribution and more. This diversity means that within the wider industry, not only can employees move through the ranks, but they can also constantly be learning new areas of the business.
As an astute mentor, Egyed promoted Warren’s passion for the industry and encouraged her to go back to school to acquire the business skills necessary to apply to the industry. As a result, Warren is now recognized as an integral piece of Egyed’s succession plan – all because the passion was both identified and cultured. As in Warren’s case, it was the challenging work and true involvement in the business that keeps staff interested and allows them to take on some ownership. This has come to be in the LaLa case, where many customers ask if Warren owns the store, she responds with “no, I don’t own the store, I just love it like it’s mine.”
Challenging Work: Employees, and particularly the younger generations, love the stimulating retail environment. The work is diverse, challenging, fast paced, offers variety and often involves solving complex problems. According to Warren, another attraction to the industry is that retail is a creative outlet combined with a business background.
Wearing Several Hats: Employees working with smaller outlets can get involved in more aspects of the operation. Warren recognizes that even in a small store, there are many opportunities to grow and in fact, the ability to move up is even faster since it is like having every department from a big ‘corporation’ in one single retail outlet. The challenge for employers is that it takes more effort to get often transient workers trained and involved in more than just the front line of the business. Where getting involved truly pays off, is when the employee starts taking a little more ownership and begins to see the job as more than simply a temporary position.
Show me the Money: For employees with the right skills and passion for the industry, the rewards can be great. Many employees feel they can get out of their retail career what they put into it. With base pay, incentives, bonuses, commission plans, other perks and recognition programs, the rewards can be significant. The fact that many operations are seven day a week also offers employees great flexibility to balance growingly demanding life needs.
However, what is becoming more and more obvious with the Gen Xers and Millennial Generations, is that though compensation is important, and seeing a career path and understanding what training and skill sets they can gain through any given position is paramount. When interacting with current staff or hiring new ones, they may ask ‘what will my compensation be’? However, what they really want to know is ‘how am I going to benefit as an individual in this role with your company’. Today’s employees are seeking out more from any position, and in this day and age, retailers are in an optimal position to give them what they need.
The Employer Perspective
Retail is a people business and retailers who know this, credit their success to the people they hire, develop and promote. Leading employers now recognize the need to market themselves as great companies to work for in a dynamic and opportunity rich industry. Employee branding has become as important as branding for the customer. Some companies such as Tim Horton’s and Home Depot spend enormous amounts on branding themselves as ‘the place to work’ for a number of different reasons. Understandably, those brands have budgets for these kinds of things that others would only dream of, but there are many things retailers can do to position their openings and retail in general as a positive and valuable place to work.
With an interesting perspective of a young employer, Dai Manuel, Partner of Fitness Town with eight retail location and two commercial companies in BC and Alberta, knows what it means to pursue a career in retail from the bottom up. Beginning in a part time sales position and growing into an ownership position as Chief Operating Officer, he is now the employer looking to attract, retain and develop his own staff. Understanding and being a part of the younger demographic, Manuel not only chose retail as his career of choice, but offers an attractive environment for others to also flourish within the industry.
The following insights were offered by both Manuel and other leading retailers who have made a commitment to their staff, and learned how to develop and retain their people from within. Employers with these skills ultimately showcase the opportunities in the industry and support employees to consider and commit to a career in retail.
Engage: To get the right people to stick around and want to grow with the business, employers need to involve them in the business, the vision, where it is going and how they can play a role in the company’s ultimate success. Nobody knows this better than Manuel who suggests that “employers need to give ownership to their staff, trust them to make the right decisions and give them the tools and training to be empowered and ultimately, successful.” Employees today have a lot to offer, and would like to contribute; they simply need to be asked and shown that their input is valued. Once this dialogue begins, many employees may be surprised and what they can learn from their staff, who are often some of their biggest untapped resources.
Brand Passion: It is a commonly held fact that the front line staff of any organization need to represent retailers’ brands. The nice thing about working in retail is that many within the industry are able to combine passion with work. Gardening retailers hire those with green thumbs, and music stores look for aspiring musicians.
The fitness movement on the west coast continues to flourish, and as a result there are many who have committed to the lifestyle and working in a health related business is simply an extension of that. “We like to hire athletes, coaches and those with a passion for living a healthy lifestyle to work in our business so that they can ultimately represent Fitness Town’s brand” says Manuel. These well trained staff not only have product knowledge and a passion for the products, but are also ideal in representing ‘buy in’ to an active lifestyle, which is passed on to the client. Passion for the product and the brand is key - those with passion, move up quickly and have the ability to motivate and share their passion with other staff within the business.
People Leadership: Employees in the retail sector who progress quickly, generally have an innate passion for people. They value their customers, of course, but more importantly they possess people leadership skills. According to Manuel, their success, retention and employee growth is a result of the strong team culture they have developed with both purpose and commitment. Identify those front line associates with people leadership skills and ensure they are on a fast track for development and promotion. However, on the other hand, be cautious on promoting an employee who has been with the company a long time into a supervisory role without the appropriate leadership skills. In this case, identify their unique skill-set and allow for their further development in that area, for example the creative employee having some ownership of merchandising and displays.
Hiring Profile: With the challenge of the current labour shortage, the temptation to hire any applicant can be strong - but resist the urge to just “fill” a vacancy. People who have quickly moved up and grown their retail careers often possess the following traits: energetic, take initiative and leadership, communicate well, relate to people, work well in a fast paced environment, are creative and possess analytical skills. Be clear on the role you are hiring for, and identify the negotiables and the non-negotiables. A bad hire can do more than just set you back a few weeks, but has the ability to create dissention amongst the masses. Commit to your process, and taking the time for the right hire.
Learning and Growth Opportunities: In order to encourage staff to stay and grow with the business, they need to be kept challenged, learning, and provided with a variety of opportunities for advancement. Through this process, Manuel has found that you can show staff and change the perception of the public, that retail is not just a ‘stepping-stone’ job on your way to another career, but a real opportunity to get involved in the business community. By training people, giving those who excel the opportunity to advance, rewarding them well and sharing in the success, retail employees will be able to tap into the aspirations that many individuals seek, and will want to commit and grow within a very dynamic retail industry.
Changing the perception of retail as a viable career begins with retailers themselves. Those already working in the industry, such as Manuel and Warren, know of the opportunities and the various roles that exist in any given retail businesses, and have been rewarded with promising careers.
These are two very positive success stories; however, BC and Alberta are facing the challenge of a thriving retail industry coupled with a shortage of skilled workers. An environment such as this makes focusing on the staffing side of any business increasingly important. The challenge is to be able to identify and develop an often transient staff into people who are not only going to stay, but actually thrive in the business. It takes both sides to create and realize these opportunities, however it begins with the employer being open to identifying talent from the start. Many of your staff may just be surprised to find out what could possibly be in store for them through a career in retail. Just keep in mind… It worked for you!
