Leading retail talent can be tough—the industry is in flux during a tight labor market. But with the right approach, you can make competitors play defense while you're building winning teams.
Analysis from LinkedIn shows employer demand for retail workers is on the rise.2 This makes hiring more difficult, especially in areas like New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle that have a shortage of retail workers.
Savvy recruiters can build omnichannel sourcing campaigns and leverage CRM technology to build candidate relationships. With the latest recruiting cloud platforms, you can meet candidates where they are on their channel of choice and drive proactive engagement with internal and external audiences to build your talent pipeline.
Engage associates with the training and peer support they need to succeed at the onset. The latest technologies enable intelligent, mobile onboarding experiences personalized to each employee—unlike anything your employees have experienced.
Word of mouth is a critical hiring tool; if your current employees don’t succeed, it will be harder to recruit their friends.
Recent research by Harvard Business Review found that providing workers with stable scheduling improved both sales and productivity. At the same time, retail employees value flexibility and the ability to juggle other commitments such as school. Promoting a balance of stability with flexibility can help you compete for hard-to-find talent.
Mobile and social recruiting are imperative in retail—where applicants are more likely to be part of a younger generation. But how do you utilize these technologies faster than your competitors, with an employee value proposition that really resonates?
As you consider these new ideas for your talent strategy, think about how they fit with your business plans and goals. Then identify the capabilities you need for HR to produce results. With the right talent and culture together, your retail business will be poised for success.