Do retail employees get enough respect?

A recent Harvard Business Review study found that bosses who want to get commitment and engagement from employees they need to do one thing: Show respect. The global survey of almost 20,000 employees determined that being respected was more important than recognition and appreciation, vision, feedback, and even opportunities for growth and development.

Unfortunately, over half of employees surveyed felt they don’t regularly get respect from their leaders. Those who did were significantly more likely to be engaged, stay with the organization, focus and prioritize better, and enjoy and derive more satisfaction from their jobs.

Other work by HBR author Christine Porath showed that performance plummets in the face of incivility, as it taxes working memory, while performance on cognitive tasks drops. Employees decrease their effort, the quality of their work suffers, and they often leave. And witnessing negative interactions causes customers to take their business elsewhere.

An article in Retail Leader said that nearly one-third of workers are considering leaving their present employer, and part of the reason is the idea that workers are just cogs in a machine. A New York City store associate of Zara, a global fashion retailer with 2,000+ stores, recently started an online petition urging the company to provide part-time workers with enough hours to make a decent living, offer equal opportunity for raises and promotions, and provide a respectful work environment. The petition under the hash tag #CHANGEZARA. currently has close to 1,500 signatures.

zara coworker.org

An article last holiday season in New York’s Daily News focused on thanking retail workers by "treating them with the respect they deserve." The article cited a 2011 study of NYC retail workers by the Retail Action Project that showed more than 50 percent have college degrees or are studying for them. The piece suggested that happy, efficient, and helpful store associates convert shoppers into paying customers and should be rewarded with better wages and by treating them as true business partners.

On the brighter side, a CareerBliss study, as reported in Forbes, came up with the ten "happiest" retailers to work for in 2014: Ross Stores, Costco, Ikea, Neiman Marcus, Apple Stores, Barnes & Noble, TJ Maxx, Verizon Wireless, Lowe’s and Nordstrom. They chose these retailers by evaluating employee reviews on company websites and included factors such as work-life balance, compensation, job security, and company culture and environment.

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Discussion Questions

Is conveying respect for employees a bigger challenge for retail managers than other industries? If so, why is that so and what can be done about it?

Poll

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Bob Phibbs
Bob Phibbs
9 years ago

Conveying respect for others is a big challenge for anyone in 2014. With constant disrespect as the fodder for TV, movies and online videos there is a cheapening of the value anyone places on another.

With many feeling that someone “owes them” respect before they will give it, anyone working with others for their livelihood will be challenged as to how to embolden that in their employees.

Gajendra Ratnavel
Gajendra Ratnavel
9 years ago

This is true for any industry. It is one of our (human) needs to want respect and feel useful.

What is interesting is the leaders in retail are people that came up through the ranks. It may be a deeply-rooted issue that causes this behavior. However, nothing a cultural shift can’t help. The difficulty of course is the transient nature of the bottom-tier jobs resulting in weak relationships and hence respect issues.

Ryan Mathews
Ryan Mathews
9 years ago

Yes, because—more often than not—the employee is treated like a fungible commodity (and a financial liability at that) rather than as a human being.

Because there is no perceived accreditation of credentials, no impressive resumes and no perceived unique skills, employees have no “competency” defenses when their opinions clash with their often barely-trained-themselves superiors.

In many cases there is no way for a low-level employee to plead their case to the boss and no REAL chain of command for grievance review.

Finally there is the all but immutable law of economics. Lots of people are looking for work making it relatively easy to get rid of “problem” employees and replace them with employees that know better than to become a problem.

What can be done about it? Revolutionize retail culture—top to bottom. Everything else is just a bandage.

J. Peter Deeb
J. Peter Deeb
9 years ago

Many retailers have several hundred employees per store and getting all levels of management to respect all of their workers can be a daunting task. One department head with poor interpersonal skills can disrupt morale across the entire store. The store manager or director has to train his managers or department heads well, interact with all of the store’s employees and insure that the best team possible is operating on the front lines. Disgruntled employees can do as much to lose customers as out-of-stocks, dirty stores and non-competitive pricing.

Ian Percy
Ian Percy
9 years ago

There are two “weasel” phrases used in this piece: “GET respect” and “SHOW respect.”

First, what exactly does “get” mean? Do we mean “earn” or is that too much to expect in these days of entitlement? Anyone remember a personal development program on how to earn respect or even an article about it?

Second, what exactly does “show” mean? Show is typically a word implying something a little less than reality, a facade even. “It’s all for show.” “He puts on a good show.” If one truly and deeply respects another, “showing” evidence of that relationship isn’t a planned behavior, it’s a state of being.

In this corner employees longing to “get” respect. And in that corner managers trying to figure out how “show” a behavior that hopefully looks like respect so costly turnover is reduced. But because it too often isn’t real respect, the exchange will never satisfy either party.

Is this peculiar to retail? Heck no.

Max Goldberg
Max Goldberg
9 years ago

Businesses that pay minimum wage, or slightly above, face the biggest challenge of conveying respect for employees. Too often employees at this level are considered expendable and therefore are not shown proper respect. Many retailers who talk about the importance of teamwork fail to walk the talk, with the results being obvious to employees and customers.

More often than not the cause is a cost equation, with management trying to save money and employees trying to make a living. Retail managers should engage employees to determine where the problems lie, and then need to work with employees to find solutions. Transparency is best. Solutions can often be found through open dialogue.

Adrian Weidmann
Adrian Weidmann
9 years ago

The most influential brand ambassador that any retailer has is its employees. Despite all the technology and talk of omni-channel retailing, human interface is, and will always be, the most valued channel for both the shopper and the brand. Retailers need to create a method to recognize and empower those employees that represent their brand in the best possible way. Respecting your employees is just an ante to the game. Defining and managing expectations would go a long way to bridge that gap. All too often employees are perceived as a necessary evil rather than the brand ambassadors they are. Employees will rise to the defined expectations. If the bar is set low the results will follow. Perhaps retailers could use fewer employees and view them as valued professionals that are treated and rewarded as such.

David Livingston
David Livingston
9 years ago

I appears that levels of respect are based on compensation. Higher-quality employees that work for the better paying retailers appear to be more respected. Low-paid employees are treated as a commodity that can be easily replaced. Sometimes it’s obvious that some employers purposely disrespect employees and encourage high turnover. It’s the intended labor model which employers believe works for them. I had a big box retailer tell me once that if you care about people, don’t be a manager here. If employees want respect, they need to step up their game and opt into positions with better quality employers. In order to get respect you need to make your employer need you more than you need them.

Doug Garnett
Doug Garnett
9 years ago

My sense is that managers everywhere and corporations everywhere are challenged when it comes to giving employees the fundamentally human respect they deserve. And there are tremendous exceptions.

I don’t think this challenge is any different for retail employees. Except, for those employees, they are faced daily with the risk of extraordinary disrespect from that sad, ill-mannered group of consumers who confront those employees with very poor of human treatment.

For employees, then, shopper disrespect piles on top of any management or corporate disrespect. And that makes the management challenge uniquely difficult.

Management respect must honor the difficulty these workers face every day with disrespectful shoppers.

Marge Laney
Marge Laney
9 years ago

Successful non-retail businesses ensure that their customer-facing employees who are the keepers of their brand promise are well hired, trained and provided technology that enables them to do their job and serve their customers well. They understand that these employees are where the rubber meets the road and they do it to ensure their survival.

Retailers for the most part don’t take this focused approach. Unfortunately, a lot of retailers just don’t respect the position let alone the individuals. They do not understand that these employees are the ones who deliver the brand promise, not marketing.

I truly believe that no one wakes up each day and proclaims, “I’m going to do a bad job today!” Retailers need to value these positions by selecting the right people, training them properly, and providing them with the technology tools they need to do their jobs well. This “right fit” approach will make many of the respect issues simply go away.

Gordon Arnold
Gordon Arnold
9 years ago

Farm workers, retail associates, truck drivers, waste management employees, factory workers and any and all menial task employees everywhere have been and are considered subservient to those that see themselves as in charge. This is a detrimental problem that exists, even if only in the minds of the working class. To make the issue larger over time it is largely overlooked to the extent that these prejudiced ideals are not just perpetuated in society but they evolve and advance to any necessary level of acceptance required to continue to dominate the perspective of those in charge.

Education, religion, governments and science have been apparently stymied in all of their “advanced” efforts to create an equal harmonious social appreciation by and for all average human beings on the earth. This problem is most evident in the world of retail for even the untrained eyes of an outsider to see for themselves. Any and all individuals working at any position in a retail company must see “all” others as the customer. Any failure to comply will support the individuals’ subconscious discrimination and categorizing of others as possibly inconsequential and add to the detriment and undermining of the company’s need to survive and grow.

The needs for retail to increase reliance on human resources and the legal system demonstrate the time to change executive and management hiring policies and practices in a hurry. The proliferation of mankind’s ability to freely communicate with current and planned information technologies will make it more and more difficult to continue the rampant disregard and disrespect of the average person in society. Society’s opinions can, and for many will, take longer to cure then the time needed to close the company’s doors for good.

Camille P. Schuster, Ph.D.
Camille P. Schuster, Ph.D.
9 years ago

The vast majority of retail workers are not full-time positions leading to a career commitment. As a result, these workers are not given necessary training (they are only short-term so why should we train them for someone else), are often scheduled to fill in times when full-time employees do not want to work, are usually not consulted when store-level decisions need to be made and are often not privy to the method of communication about what is going on with the company.

As such, they often feel alienated, ostracized, and/or shunned. On the other hand, these employees have a high degree of contact with the retailer’s customers and a disproportionate impact on customer satisfaction. Why this imbalance is allowed to exist by store managers and corporate is not clear to me.

Warren Thayer
Warren Thayer
9 years ago

Depends on which “other industries” we’re comparing here, but in general it’s probably tougher to convey respect to retail employees given the generally disrespectful nature of their employment: Minimum wage, changing schedules, not enough hours, poor benefits, no career path, etc. So naturally turnover is high as people look to get out of retail and into something, anything, “better.” This puts a chip on the shoulder of many employees, making relations with management tougher.

Unfortunately, this is the working economic model used at retail today, and I don’t see much on the horizon to change it. There are some quasi-exceptions to the rule, as noted, but they’re not the mainstream. Only thing that seems viable to me, unless you want to cut into margins and truly improve worker conditions in the hopes it will improve business, is training managers how to actually manage in this difficult environment.

Steven Collinsworth
Steven Collinsworth
9 years ago

Conveying respect for employees is no bigger a challenge for retail management than any other industry or business. I have worked on both sides of the aisle in retail stores, for manufacturers in both DSD and warehouse, for brokers and outside the CPG industry.

It is an issue that is virtually universal in its reach, but definitely more at the forefront in some versus other businesses.

I am constantly reminded of the issue about “respect for employees” every time I have the opportunity to interact with leadership across many facets of business. Typically I see arrogance, dismissal of employee concerns and issues, along with the “I can’t be bothered with such trivial matters” attitudes regularly.

Before you dismiss my spin on a possible solution, please read it through. My thought of a solution is by way of the “Undercover Boss” examples from television.

Now that you have picked yourself up off the floor from laughter, the show illustrates the same points on each and every episode. The people at the top are unaware of the constant struggles to perform at a high level due to policies, processes, systems (both IT and work rules), etc., they have instituted over time. Not to mention the personal struggles we all face, both large and small, as well as the somewhat trivial.

My point is that top executives and mid-level managers would do the company they work for, the teams they manage and themselves a huge favor by working at a “front-line” level from time to time. Minimally once a year. They need to understand and act.

These actions can result in the point of difference for their organizations’ future prospects for success.

Ed Rosenbaum
Ed Rosenbaum
9 years ago

Retail does not get a free ride here. Respect is important in any industry or any job. Retail has a problem with the respect many of the employees show the buying customers. I had an issue last week trying to buy shoes. The clerk did not care, brought the wrong shoe then the wrong size and simply stood there looking at her semi smart phone. Yes, I complained to the store manager. He did take action to make me a satisfied customer. What happened to the clerk? I do not know.

Mel Kleiman
Mel Kleiman
9 years ago

No, it is not a retail problem alone. It is a problem of lack of training given to managers.

J. Kent Smith
J. Kent Smith
9 years ago

I’ve been in retail since I was 14 and spent years running a very large store. The hardest job I’ve ever had in the industry was trying to keep the thousands of customers happy who were going through the cash lanes on a busy Saturday. High pressure and thankless. So what to do? Starts with thanks. I think part of the difficultly corporate has in rewarding store management (and staff) can stem from a lack of experience in their arena. I can’t prescribe WHAT can be done—that will vary from retailer to retailer. But having the corporate staff walk in the shoes of the retail staff will at least improve the perspective and empathy and understand the drivers of success (and failure) and what motivates the person who has to do the job day-in and day-out—not in a office, not in a meeting room, but on the front line living the brand.

Beverly Dudek
Beverly Dudek
9 years ago

Simple good manners and politeness cost nothing. It is amazing how so many retail managers forget to validate their employees with a simple thank you for a job well done and are too quick to criticize job performance, leaving the employee unmotivated thus creating an endless circle of failure.

Tuomo Truhponen
Tuomo Truhponen
9 years ago

If a company operates so that “workers are just cogs in a machine” then it is really hard for managers to convey respect to workers. Respect is derived from the way companies see their workforce.

Employees can be seen as part of company’s “outbound flow.” Then they can be seen as “just cogs” but also in a more respectful way as “brand ambassadors” or the key players in customers service.

But employees could be also part of company’s “inbound flow.” Then they can be seen as the eyes and ears of the company, absorbing new knowledge about customers.

In the age e-commerce retailers with traditional brick-and-mortar outlets could develop a competitive advantage from their vast employee base. Thousands of employees in interaction with customers creates enormous amounts of tacit knowledge every day. All you need is tools to tap that knowledge and refine it.

If employees become more important for companies then it is easier for retail managers to convey respect to employees.

Lisa Peatt
Lisa Peatt
9 years ago

Bigger challenge? Perhaps due to the often-thankless nature of the job, it’s easy to excuse turnover as the nature of the business. However the prudent retail manager focuses on honoring each and every fragile opportunity or “touchpoint” with a customer, and mentors staff the same way. Leading by example is key. Treating subordinates the way you want them to treat your customers and one another is crucial. As the the retail manager, the onus is on us to “set the bar” and be the example. We must find a way to respect and encourage each of our subordinates individually, to treat our customers and coworkers with the utmost care and attention at all times, as, after all, that is why we are here.

Obviously it is not just money. Knowing how to motivate and acknowledge employees is a skill that can be taught. All of this easier said then done, of course, being human is not a cake walk, but heart and soul needs to be a part of training and managing, bottom-up and top-down – or there can be no respect.