Why Employee Retention Efforts in Retail Should Start Earlier Than You Think

Steve Katz 

Hi everybody, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to listen in on our Hilco Global Smarter Perspective podcasts. I’m your host, Steve Katz. And if this is your first time joining us, we’re glad you could tune in. We’re gonna have a really great conversation today talking about the retail environment and how essential it is right now to have a solid process for doing a lot of things related to new hires, like interacting with them from the very start communicating with them, supporting new and prospective employees all throughout the process. And for that discussion, we have Mike Dwyer, Executive Vice President and head of operations at Hilco Consumer – Retail joining us, Mike, welcome to the podcast.

Mike Dwyer 

Good to be here, Steve.

Steve Katz 

Well, we’re glad to have you on. I think we have some really interesting things to talk about today. And, you know, everybody in their careers has been an employee of something, even if they’re their own boss today, or if they’re at the top of the hierarchy. And, you know, we always hear about how much more cost effective it is to retain an employee, as opposed to replacing them. But those discussions usually center on established employees and keeping them happy and engaged over time, I think what you wanted to share today is more about making sure that they’re happy and engaged, maybe even before they come on board. And then once they’re a new employee, kind of fresh out of the gate, how you keem them happy and engaged, as well. So can you just kick us off, maybe give us a little, a little top line of where you’re coming from on why that piece of employee retention is so important, right, from the very start.

Mike Dwyer 

Sure, Steve. you know, typically employers spent a lot of time focused on, you know, retention, as the you know, when the employees work for the company, how do we keep them excited? How do we keep them, you’re working for us? And, you know, they don’t spend as much time on the front end, which is when we have the candidates coming in to interview, how do you really protect and bring them on board, because there’s so many options these days. So employee retention in retail, as in other industries begins early on and a candidate’s interaction with the company. You know, from the very start, it’s important for an organization to have the mindset that the candidate is also evaluating the employer, and may well have other options from which to choose.

Steve Katz 

Yeah, for sure.

Mike Dwyer 

They are maintaining this mindset is particularly important in the current post pandemic environment, where there’s a shortage of candidates has provided them with more independent and negotiating power in this process. You know, so for the candidate candidate, first impressions matter, you know, a retailer can make a great one right out of the gate, by bringing the work place to life for candidates during that interview process. You know, I like to do in office and walking interviews, because that enables a candidates to meet the existing employees they’ll be working with, see their environment, while also being interviewed and evaluated in the office. Plus, it gives them an understanding of, you know, what does it feel like to be in that office or in that situation on a daily basis.

Steve Katz 

Yeah, absolutely.

Mike Dwyer 

And before and after the interview, it’s in the retailer’s best interest, we highly responsive to questions or concerns candidates may express in person, no responding in a timely manner with information and addresses any points race is an open and direct manner provides candidates with confidence, that they’re interviewing with a company that has an outstanding culture and values to people that it hires, you know, when they don’t respond timely, or get back to the candidates or leave them hanging out there. It really leaves a bad taste in my mouth and thinking when I joined this organization, is that how the communication is going to be internally where people don’t respond? Or my opinion isn’t valued.

Steve Katz 

Right. Yeah. You know, I think that’s, those seem like very logical things. But I can say from personal experience, often times they’re not, you know, they don’t become actual practice. And you would think that an HR organization or you know, a business unit within a company, you know, in tandem with their talent representative for that division to accompany would have those things buttoned up and processes for that, but clearly, it doesn’t happen because I’ve also heard a lot of stories from other people, including my kids as they interviewed and landed jobs that, you know, that did not occur. So certainly how I think anyone would want to be treated as an applicant, and when they first walk in the door, what what should a retailer focus on from a retention standpoint, you know, after the candidate, you know, signs that offer letter, you know, they’re signed, they’re ready to join the team, what’s, what’s the, what should the focus be at that point?

Mike Dwyer 

Once everything’s signed, just like anybody else, you just got offered a new job, you’re ready to get started and the candidate is very excited. On the flip side, the company also has to be equally as excited, it makes sure that they have a thorough plan to onboard the candidate into the company. No, you wouldn’t want to show up to work on your first day, and you’re not greeted by anyone, you don’t have the proper equipment to get started, you know, that that wouldn’t really feel good. And what retailers need to understand is during this process, even though the candidate accepted, the offer to join, they were still interviewing other places. And it’s very easy for one of those other organizations to pick up the candidate for not having a great experience in the first 30/60/90 days. So it’s extremely important for organizations to have a very detailed onboarding plan that starts with day one, explaining to that candidate, you know, who are they going to meet with? Do they have the proper address to the right office? Do they have any type of equipment, they’re going to need their phone, their computer, things of that nature, you know, just like anybody else would expect when they show up to the first day on the job.

Steve Katz 

Yeah, I think that, that’s also an interesting point. And it’s probably changed to some degree with some of the remote working, although perhaps less than the retail space, but, you know, as a new employee, I think it’s always reassuring to know that the company is very buttoned up, and that they have a plan for you. And if you know, if you get your laptop, you know, by FedEx, you know, before you ever report into the office, and you can set all that stuff up, you feel, you know, good about the fact that the company is followed through, but you also it excites you, it gets gets you excited for for being in the office and being a part of that organization, so…

Mike Dwyer 

Which is an even more critical point that, you know, if, since we are doing a lot of remote work now that, you know, the, you have the proper calendar invites set up that you have somebody that is good with talking with the new hire over, you know, whatever platform you’re using to ensure that they are getting a one on one interaction, since they’re not in the office. So again, another critical point just to help them acclimate with the culture of the business.

Steve Katz 

Yeah, yeah, good point. So I guess the next step would be, you know, the actual onboarding process itself, which is part of what you’re probably talking about there, you know, additional thoughts on that?

Mike Dwyer 

Yeah, you know, 91% of new employees are willing to quit a new job in a first month of it turns out not to be what they expected. Simply do not like the company’s culture.

Steve Katz 

Interesting.

Mike Dwyer 

A surprising number of employees, 33% in fact, actually resign in the first 90 days.

Steve Katz 

Yeah, those are interesting statistics. Okay, so what else?

Mike Dwyer 

So that’s surprising, you know, some of the basic things on a new employee’s first day, or even first week that should be taken care of, are typical messes, you know, anybody that starts a new job, you know, they would like to get their paycheck on time. And, you know, however, they sign up for it, you know, is it coming in the mail? Or is it going to be direct deposit, you know, so that’s one example of something that the company has to make sure that, you know, the paycheck’s on time at the right location and in the correct amount should be like a number one priority, you know, completion of any type of forms, as far as you know, benefits, 401k’s, things of that nature, you know, again, the new employee is looking to get all that information filled out and accurately in the first day, so they can make sure that their family is taken care of, if they have a health incident that occurs. So, you know, from a company standpoint, somebody has to make sure that every box is checked. And not only that is checked, but it’s checked on time, because these individuals are counting on the organization to guide them through the onboarding process to meet all their personal needs.

Steve Katz 

Yeah, you know, back in the day, as a lot of people probably have done at different points in their careers, I lead some fairly large, geographically diverse teams. And I know, you know, one of the things that we always focused on was structured training, assisting new hires, also to understand their career path options, you know, specifically at the company, like, Where would they be able to head based on where they were starting? What were their options, so they didn’t necessarily feel locked in, if within the, you know, that first 90 days, they didn’t love what they were doing, but they maybe loved the culture, you know, understanding the fact that there were some different paths that they might be able to pursue within the company. And a big part of that was assigning mentors to help them navigate the landscape and things like that. So everything, in essence was focused on maintaining open communications and a constant two way dialogue. What are your thoughts related to that, as it evolves within the, you know, the organization for a new employee over time?

Mike Dwyer 

You know, employee recognition and appreciation is vital to retention, you know, whether it’s, you know, the onboarding process, or, you know, someone that’s five years with the business, 10 years, 20 years with the organization, but it can’t just be a buzzword, you know, so I think sometimes organizations, they really push, you know, recognition and appreciation as more of a task, and it really has to come from the heart and be genuine. And, you know, there’s a lot of avenues that leaders can take to make sure that their employees are recognized and appreciated. You know, there’s, there’s milestones, you know, when a team member hits their 30th, day, their 60th day there, or 90, if they are, you know, you’re just sending them an email or, you know, shaking their hand, say, hey, you know, been your 90 days is fantastic, you know, or six months at a year, you know, following up that those milestones are met, you know, there’s other things, as far as you know, birthday is one thing I do, I have all my direct reports, birthdays on my calendar, so I make sure I send them, you know, a small gift or an email on their birthday, just to let them know that I’m, I hope they have a happy special day. And then there’s other things not just from, you know, you know, appreciation and recognition, but it’s also just being a good boss, right? It’s, you know, are you flexible, are you open to, you know, getting feedback from your team and providing feedback to them? If they have something that they have to do in their personal life, you know, Are you understanding and flexible with that, so I think it’s always going back and to like, I think you said it before, you know, you want to be, you want to treat others the way you want to be treated. And I think between making sure that they’re appreciated, and you give them recognition for a job well done, that will help retain your employees.

Steve Katz 

Yeah, I think those are all, as you said, very important, and there are a lot of new forms, and processes and technologies that are being utilized for employee recognition. You know, it’s not just all like, this is your basic benefits package. I know, some employee, some employers are kind of, you know, part of their, you know, competition with their competitors for employees right now is, you know, what kind of unique perks can we give them and, you know, so that those are standing out, but then also, the rewards platforms and the peer to peer recognition type of platforms that have been developed and are being utilized within companies are adding to a sense of inclusion and, you know, building community and making people want to stay. So all really, really important, particularly, I think, in the retail business as you as you’ve discussed there. So anything, we’re kind of running out of time, so I just wanted to check in anything else we did not cover that you wanted to convey to the audience.

Mike Dwyer 

I think it’s really important, you know, for senior management to get the buy in from the team and other leaders in the organization, you know, this retention starts at the top down. So you have to make sure that you’re in tune with what is happening in your organization, and you’re having the proper engagement and understanding of the culture, which is portrayed out there to ensure that you are retaining the talent of your new employees and existing employees. You know, in our in our experience this it’s not likely to happen universally without first setting this expectation and then providing team leaders with tailored training and how to manage and engage new hires for success, specifically, within, you know, retailer stores, warehouses and office environments. Another way to set expectations is around, you know, leader performance evaluations should include KPIs reflective of these duties, as well as 360 degree or internal feedback. You know, most employees that go to work, they, they want to understand how they are doing, when they come into work. So if, if you have an organization that doesn’t get, you know, regular, honest feedback on individuals performance, it’s very hard for them to excel. The organizations I see that have outstanding performance in their organization are the ones that give consistent, candid feedback to help their employees improve on their overall performance.

Steve Katz 

Yeah, and I think you hit on something really important there, which is making sure that you know, managers at you know, whatever level manager they are, have not only been trained but have the buy in to what you’re trying to accomplish and understand what you’re trying to accomplish it because if they don’t as you said, you’re not gonna able to push it through the organization in any kind of a meaningful way. So that was that was a good I think a good point to end on. So listen Mike, thanks for your insights. I can only imagine some of our listeners are probably gonna want to reach out to you to discuss their specific situations or challenges they might be having in regard to retail employee retention right now. How can they best get in touch with you?

Mike Dwyer 

I can be reached either by email or phone emails. MDwyer@HilcoGlobal.com. And my phone number is 847-313-4784. All right, perfect. Thanks again, Mike. And listeners. As always, we hope that the Smarter Perspective podcast provided you with at least one key takeaway that you can put to good use in your business, or share with a colleague or client to help make them that much more successful moving forward. And remember that you can check out more great podcasts and articles featuring timely insights from Hilco experts like Mike at HilcoGlobal.com/smarter-perspectives. So until next time for Hilco Global I’m Steve Katz.