The Retailer Autumn Edition 2021

THE RE TA I L ER

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REVISIT AND REVAMP YOUR APPROACH TO RETAIL LABOUR PLANNING

Chris Matichuk General Manager StoreForce

T he retail landscape has changed more in the last 18 months than it has in the last 10 years. Stores have been tasked with many new activities to support digital sales. Store performance is also being measured dif- ferently – through a combination of brick- and-mortar and digital sales. These changes have impacted labour planning in a big way. Retailers need to consider that legacy labour planning methods may no longer fit with the current operation. There has never been a bet- ter time than now to revisit and revamp your labour models. Below are some different labour planning methods to consider. These methods take into account the retail trends of today. These trends include changing customer behaviours, and the new sell and non-sell activities that have emerged recently in retail. They also consider your employees and how you can give them greater choice and flexibility. These labour planning methods will help ensure your store is staffed with the right people at the right time, and with the right quantity required for your store’s customer patterns. Non-sell activities now account for upwards of 50% of overall labour hours. Additional non-sell activities are driving the need for a large piece of the labour pie. New tasks performed in store include BOPIS, picking and packing, appointment booking and virtual appointments, to name just a few. Now is a good time to review your selling and non-selling activities and update your scheduling profiles to reflect the current in-store activities. Non-sell activities now account for upwards of 50% of overall labour hours.” ‘‘ 4 Labour Planning Methods to Consider in Specialty Retail Review Sell/Non-Sell Split of Hours

Available Capacity Most stores will have some available capacity within their existing store schedules at specific times of day that can be used for non-selling activities. These are the times when customer patterns don’t align with minimum staffing requirements, based on other policies. Before adding more labour hours to your stores, consider your available capacity to perform additional tasks in-store. Try to forecast each store’s daily available capacity and provide visibility to them. These elements will help increase your labour efficiency. Labour Banding Labour banding groups together similar – or like-stores, based on common characteristics to assess labour spend and productivity. The assessment focuses on identifying opportunities to re-balance labour. It objectively defines labour standards by groups, to allocate the right number of labour hours to each store. These standards first ensure that retailers maintain a base coverage. They then use productivity to invest hours based on sales volume. This exercise drives results by funding those stores with the greatest opportunity. It also provides a more consistent service level across all stores within the group. Labour banding is the foundation for labour planning in speciality retail.” ‘‘ Labour banding is the foundation for labour planning in speciality retail. It objectively balances the hours to be spent within your brands, stores, and seasons. Rebalancing hours away fromover-funded stores to under-funded stores identifies opportunities for increased sales. These opportunities result in a more consistent customer experience across all stores. Labour Pooling In markets with a density of stores, consider labour pooling for increased scheduling flexibility. You’ve invested time, energy, and money to train part-time employees on processes, product knowledge, and brand values. So, provide them with opportunities to work additional hours. Pooling employees allows them to work in multiple stores within the same city. This provides efficiency for your stores and flexibility for your employees.