[Biz] How to improve your store sales performance and reduce staff turnover with zero dollar investment
The thing about the Self-Determination Theory
If you've managed a retail store you likely saw yourself at some point stressed out after two store employees quitting simultaneously, losing sleep thinking about having to hire and train two more people at the same time during peak season while figuring out how to stretch out your current team's schedule - while being aware of max hours worked in a week - to ensure you can still open and close the store on time and have sufficient coverage during peak hours so you won't loose on service quality or sales.
If you haven't managed a store but you're the person running the numbers, there's a chance you already realized that when your staff turnover rate is high you are likely spending a lot more than what was budgeted on staffing costs - on training time (specially when considering the time a new sales person take until meeting the performance KPI's of the rest of the team) or on contract termination packages. And if you haven't run the numbers yet, I strongly encourage you to calculate the cost of your turnover rate.
The point is that staff turnover is at the same time stressful and costly.
Years ago during my time managing a store in Sao Paulo I came across Drive, the book by Daniel Pink, and it was the first time I read about the Self-Determination Theory. I was obsessed.
The idea - to summarize it in a very simplistic way - is that intrinsic motivation is both more stimulating and sustainable (and, in my opinion, a lot cheaper) than searching for extrinsic motivators, such as internal competitions, prizes, gifts, etc., blew my mind and I read everything I could on the topic.
If you're unfamiliar with the Self-Determination Theory, let me borrow someone else's words (and that's wikipedia) to give you the run down:
One mini-theory of SDT includes basic psychological needs theory which proposes three basic psychological needs that must be satisfied to foster well-being and health.[23] These three psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness are generally universal (i.e., apply across individuals and situations). However, some needs may be more salient than others at certain times and be expressed differently based on time, culture, or experience.
Pink uses the SDT to build his argument on intrinsic motivation as a sustainable path to ensure productivity, engagement and, in my experience, staff retention. Which means that a company should offer their employees the ability to keep developing their competences and pursue personal growth; the autonomy to do their work - in any way autonomy can be applied - and the human connection factor.
Pink, Goleman, Newport, Sinek and the whole crew that writes the Harvard Business Review books were some of my best mates during my years as a store manager and gave me the ground to test my best learnings in real life.
Tested them I did in multiple teams - and I'm here to tell you that there's no better tool to ensure high levels of customer service, engagement with your brand, commitment with their peers, performance in sales and retention rate than giving your store leaders the pathway to applying the Self-Determination Theory in their leadership systems.
Competence is feeling both competent and challenged in your role with the adequate support to your personal and professional growth. Surely - and luckily for managers as this isn't sustainable - not everyone that works in the shop floor wishes to pursue a vertical growth in your business. A lot of your store staff just want to pay their bills, go home and keep pursuing their degrees, dream job or just a different career path. Regardless of what's on the horizon for them, the feeling of developing oneself, pushing knowledge boundaries and growing on skills that will be later applicable wherever they wanna go will definitely ensure engagement.
Relatedness speaks to the most innate human need of belonging. In a store this means ensuring teamwork and camaraderie despite the silent competitions or the fact that they are each working for their individual sales goals (something quite common in countries like Brazil where retail staff work for commission over personal sales).
Autonomy, since Covid, is often associated with remote work flexibility. But differently than their colleagues that work in the corporate retail office, the autonomy for retail staff over space and time tends to be more limited. Which is why I invite you to think of autonomy in how they complete their tasks and take charge over their own self-development plan. Let go of micro-management or excessive task lists. Instead, allow them to earn your trust into letting them do what must be done in their own way and time, within the given guidelines, and let them take ownership for their deliverables.
As business managers it is our job to give our store staff the tools to keep growing, relating with one another and earning ownership over their jobs. Once you have this framework top of mind across all your store leaders, rest assured that your store team won't just quit for the store next door that offered an extra dollar for the hour, or a whole weekend off every second month.
Do you work in retail and was this text helpful to you? Let me know in the comments below and keep the conversation going. You can also subscribe to get updates in your inbox every time I publish something new:
I'm a self-directed multi skilled leader with solid experience in strategy and operations of upscale retailers across Brazil, Australia, United States and Canada in the fashion and beauty industries. An ambitious leader and passionate creative at heart, I help upscale retail businesses deliver unique customer and employee experiences.
Currently working as Head of Retail for Haight Clothing in Rio de Janeiro and consulting independently for other upscale retail businesses.
Based in Canada + Brazil, available worldwide.