The Retailer Winter 2018/19

“Retailers who incorporate the desire for added flexibility on both sides of the fence – the employer and employee – into ongoing workforce management strategies will have the best possible chance of retaining top talent in such a competitive industry.”

Flexibility throughtechnology Retailers who incorporate the desire for added flexibility on both sides of the fence – the employer and employee – into ongoingworkforce management strategies will have the best possible chance of retaining top talent in such a competitive industry. In order to do so seamlessly, the latest generation of workforcemanagement technology comes into play. Workforce technology reduces the difficulties attached tomanaging gig economy employees – and all employees for that matter. For example, leveraging capabilities such as AI andmachine learning to free up people fromcarrying out repetitive tasks such as scheduling or managing and approving absences, leaving retail staffwithmore time to spend on developing customer relationships and improving the in-store experience. Having themeans to accurately plan and amend shifts based on customer demand and employee preferences leads to greater satisfaction and makes themmore likely to stay for longer. Again, it is about balancing the needs of the companywith the needs of employees. At the end of the day, if you take care of your people, theywill take care of you. Maximisingpotential, masteringfluidity Retail may be facing a fewbattles, but there is no reasonwhy organisations cannot adapt to the increasingly fluid demands of customers if they are open to embracing digital transformation, by blending the potential of both the gig economy andworkforce management technology. Ultimately, driving revenue is themain goal for any retailer: if businesses are aware of how their employees like to operate and arewilling to adopt the technologies and processes that bring greater efficiency and flexibility, the eventual impact on that all-important bottom linewill be hugely significant.

Lisa DeStefano // lisa.destefano@kronos.com // +1 978.244.6318

the retailer | autumn 2018 | 41 t e ret ile | winter 9