‘Tis the season. It’s one of our favourite times of the year, as it is for many other people. However, for retail workers, this isn’t always the case.
We love retail, don’t get us wrong. But over the holidays retail can become hectic, to say the least. Big crowds and people pushing past each other. Holiday parking and holiday traffic. Customers with patience wearing thin waiting in long lines and then offloading all their holiday stress on you. The first time “All I Want for Christmas Is You” plays it’s great. 500 billion times later and suddenly you miss the sweet sound of silence. If you have worked in retail over the holidays, you know what we’re talking about.
Often amongst the hustle and bustle, it’s forgotten that employees bear the brunt of the holiday rush. It’s obviously expected that this time of year will be stressful in retail. However, the culture around stress in the workplace has become all too commonplace. Stressed-out employees don’t do anyone any good. It lowers productivity, affects customer service and has been found to cost Australian businesses more than $10 billion annually. Not to mention your staff are only human and they have a life outside of work.
Now is the perfect time to talk about how to help employees better cope with stress and stress less over these busy trading periods.
Think Ahead
There is a lot that can be done before the actual stress hits. First things first, make sure that management is trained to spot the difference between healthy and unhealthy stress levels. It’s one thing for employees to feel a little under the pump, but it’s another thing to have emotionally drained employees who don’t have time to eat their lunch.
It’s important that those at the top put additional strategies in place to keep morale high over these busy periods. Forbes contributor Cheryl Conner suggests six different things that employers should focus on:
- Be empathetic
- Recognise and reward good performance
- Create a fun company culture
- Consider providing additional non-monetary benefits
- Look internally first when promoting
- Ensure employees understand and appreciate the company’s vision
We talk a lot about the importance of seasonal hiring. This is because we really believe that one of the best ways to avoid overly stressed staff is to actually have enough staff. Make sure to prepare effectively and have enough staff to deal with the flood of customers. Not only will your employees be able to cope better, but customers will receive better service. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Stay on Top of Stress as it Happens
As much as you can prepare and plan out to minimise unnecessary stress over Christmas, stress is somewhat inevitable in retail. Don’t lose hope though. This just means it’s important to constantly manage and monitor stress levels.
Make sure employees get a break. And again for anyone in the back. Make sure employees get a break! It’s counterproductive (and illegal) to have employees missing their breaks. When they are able to have a breather and regain their energy it has a big impact. Make sure there’s somewhere quiet away from the hustle and bustle for them to relax on their break. If you’re thinking, “but we need everyone’s help” it comes back to making sure that you have enough staff.
Finally, don’t forget that it isn’t all doom and gloom, it is Christmas after all. It’s great news that retail is continuing to boom over Christmas and other busy periods. Just make sure to take some extra care and look out for your staff.
If you’re looking for help with your hiring we can help – contact us here! Good luck and happy recruiting!
Comment