Employee Engagement in Retail: Measure and Improve

What is employee engagement and why is it a top priority for your company? As already discussed in the article "How can you ensure that your retail employees are satisfied?", this topic is of central importance, not only for increasing productivity. In short: Employees who feel connected to their workplace perform better, stay with the company longer, and motivate others. For this reason, no modern company can remain profitable in the long term without regularly reviewing employee engagement and taking appropriate measures to improve it when necessary. 

Therefore, below we will look at how employee satisfaction is measured, how the results should be interpreted, and what options are available for increasing it.

How can you determine the level of engagement among your employees?

The most common method is to conduct regular surveys. Traditionally, these consist of an (online) questionnaire, but today they are increasingly also conducted on mobile devices with the help of passive, “data recorded by sensors in the background” as part of a so-called “Smart Survey”. Regardless of the medium on which the survey takes place, employees assess various aspects of the working environment:

• Organization of the workplace: Premises, temperature, ventilation, lighting and daylight.
• Work materials: Clothing, shoes, tools, etc.
• Pay and future prospects: Naturally, employee pay and opportunities for advancement also have a high priority. 

In addition to these satisfaction surveys, feedback from direct supervisors about employee well-being is another good way to objectively assess the level of employee motivation . Every company uses different standards here. The types of feedback received by management also depend on the working methods of the respective branch management. Therefore, we will next look at a general example of how the surveys mentioned above can be evaluated in order to consider suitable measures for increasing engagement.

How should the results of employee surveys be interpreted

You can divide the level of satisfaction and, consequently, the motivation of your employees into four assessment levels:

1. Unmotivated – Employees feel in no way connected to the company and may even become a disruptive factor, as they can demotivate their colleagues or their mood may have a negative impact on work.
2. Not very motivated – Employees are not opposed to the company, but their motivation is severely inhibited by certain factors.
3. Motivated – Employees  feel connected to the company and are motivated to perform well.
4. Highly motivated – Employees feel strongly connected to the company, and their high level of motivation also has a positive effect on other employees in their surroundings.

If your employees are only slightly to moderately motivated, action is needed. Employee pay may be limited by the budget, and while certain natural limits apply to the organization of the workplace – the local location in an urban area, the need for a factory hall, etc. – you still have it in your power to give your employees the feeling that the company is investing in them. In the final section of this article, we will look at the options you have for promoting this feeling cost-effectively.

What options do you have for increasing employee engagement?

Before turning to specific tips for increasing employee engagement, we would like to address one central point: If the impression arises in a working environment that management literally does not want to “put money on the table” to improve employee well-being, this impression can become entrenched as a negative corporate culture that may be difficult to reverse. This does not necessarily mean that expensive investments are required to maintain employee engagement, but employees should definitely feel that the company is interested in their well-being. Fortunately, even small gestures can have a major impact here, preventing such a negative impression from arising in the first place. So where can you start? As we already mentioned in “Motivating employees without money”, maintaining a good work-life balance always has a positive effect on engagement. Make sure your employees have enough time and opportunities to recharge after work so that they can start the next working day with renewed energy.

Another way to increase engagement within your budget is to provide high-quality work materials. Employees who spend much of the day standing or moving around will appreciate being equipped with high-quality clothing and shoes in which they feel comfortable. Everyone knows the feeling of slipping into our favorite sneakers in the morning or putting on a comfortable shirt – we automatically feel better. Naturally, depending on the industry, there is a certain degree of standardization in work clothing. Whether to strengthen the sense of community or out of necessity due to specific workplace conditions. The latter may include slippery floors in retail, for example.

Slip-resistant shoes in retail

Speaking of work materials, suitable footwear also has a major influence on the well-being and therefore the engagement of your employees. After all, where goods are inspected by customers and placed in shopping carts, mishaps will naturally occur. A broken bottle containing liquid on the floor, spilled canned goods – two examples from the many situations in which it benefits your employee engagement to be properly equipped. This is where Shoes For Crews comes in. We have made it our mission to reduce risks with slip-resistant shoes. Employees whose feet hurt after half a day at work are not able to be as productive as someone who can move around the workplace with ease. The numerous stylish SFC models offer the greatest possible level of comfort – In this way, you can protect your employees and enable them to work more comfortably. Please feel free to contact us at any time for more information!