Tool Box
Issue No. 44 - December/January 2008
What you pay for low-cost sales staff
by Ali Uren
Many retailers have been guilty of selecting staff on price alone and in light of recent economic woes this is only likely to increase.
For any retailers reading this article who are considering hiring young staff because ‘the price is right’ I ask you to stop and consider for a moment. No doubt there are many young people who are great at what they do within the retail sector, but unfortunately when reviewing the retail landscape I find this is becoming a rarity. Retailers who hire inappropriate staff often compound their problem by not providing quality learning and development opportunities.
Now more than ever retailers are going to need staff who have the personal traits and maturity consumers are looking for, as well as the ability and confidence to sell in a tough economic environment.
Hiring staff at low wages is likely to attract candidates who are young and inexperienced both in a
personal and professional sense.
Young staff is suitable and appropriate for certain categories - teenage fashion and fast food, perhaps - but for many retailers youth is not a good fit for the brand or the end user.
Retailers who will weather the storm and become even better businesses as a result are the ones brave enough to pay the premium and recruit people who will add value to their operations.
Now, this is not an exercise in Gen Y bashing but one which highlights some common shortcomings associated with “cheap” labour. Let’s look at some of the key issues about employing young people:
• They often have had little experience working closely with people from different cultural, socio economic or religious backgrounds. This can often lead to misjudgment, a lack of acceptance and incorrect assumptions about people, both teammates and customers.
• They often regard serving people as ‘lowly’ and accept a sales job to pay for their weekend entertainment. This lacklustre attitude is evindent in how they eng...
