Retail Workers Give Low Ratings of Their Company as a Place to Work; New Hay Group Insight Research Shows That Product and Service Quality Are Significant Areas of Concern for Retail Employees

Business Wire, Feb 14, 2006

PHILADELPHIA -- Many retailers are looking for answers as to why holiday sales were not as high as expected. New research by Hay Group, a global consulting firm, can shed some light on some of the underlying employee issues in the industry.

The Hay Group Insight Employee Survey Benchmark Report shows that employees in the retail industry provide one of the lowest ratings of their company as a place to work compared to other industries. Product and service quality are other notable areas of concern. A little more than half (53 percent) of the retail employees responded favorably on whether the company adapts well to changing market conditions. This compares to almost 60 percent as a general industry average.

"As retail becomes more and more competitive, stores are open longer hours, staffing is stretched and associates have to work harder and more varied schedules -- mandatory weekends, late hours, and split schedules," said Craig Rowley, vice president and head of Hay Group's Retail Consulting Practice. "This clearly has an impact on working conditions and climate."

However, the Hay Group Insight Benchmark Report also found that employees in retail report job satisfaction that is clearly favorable and slightly above the general industry norm. Contributing to workers' feelings of job satisfaction is their strong understanding of how their job relates to their company's overall direction. Retail employees also rated very highly that their job provides them with interesting and challenging work.

Retail respondents gave higher rankings than the general norm in two key areas: they have a clear idea of expected results (88 percent) and poor performance is usually not tolerated (53 percent).

"Retail is one of the few industries that can and does measure performance down to the store level (even down to the department level) on an hourly basis and takes action based on this information daily," continued Rowley. "And because of this ability to monitor and track performance so closely, it's not uncommon to see a 'two bad seasons and you're out' culture in retail."

However, the retail industry's lowest scores were in the competitiveness of their salaries, where less than 20 percent responded favorably. This number was approximately half the general industry norm.

"This is not surprising," said Rowley, "given retail's focus on cost control, and the heavy use of part time employees in the industry. Best practices retailers deal with this by having very effective career progression programs that rapidly promote the best performers to higher paying jobs."

With the exception of career counseling, supervisors in the retail industry are rated on par with the norm. However, the esteem with which employees hold other members of their work group, at least when it comes to cooperation received, is not as high relative to the average across all industries.

"Human resource executives should take a look at compensation, turnover, tenure, and career advancement opportunities in their organizations and analyze how they compare to their competitors and top performing companies," said Tom Agnew, a senior consultant with Hay Group Insight. "This was not a one or two question 'quick poll.' In these employee surveys, we ask a broad set of questions, helping companies better understand what drives their performance and results."

This retail research comes from Hay Group Insight, the firm's employee survey group, which maintains a database of approximately 1.2 million employees in over 400 organizations worldwide in a variety of key industries.

About Hay Group Insight and Hay Group

Hay Group Insight (www.hayinsight.com) is a global leader in employee and customer opinion research. Through customized survey programs focused on organizational objectives, we help organizations attract and retain talent, improve operating efficiency, manage change more effectively, and enhance customer loyalty and business performance.

Over the last 30 years, Hay Group Insight has assisted more than 4,000 organizations. The breadth of our experience enables us to identify best practices for our clients, not only within their own industries but also across industries.

Hay Group (www.haygroup.com) is a global consulting firm that works with leaders to transform strategy into reality. We develop talent, organize people to be more effective, and motivate them to perform at their best. With 79 offices in 44 countries, we work with over 7,000 clients across the world. Our clients are from the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, across every major industry, and represent diverse business challenges. Our focus is on making change happen and helping people and organizations realize their potential.