Is working for HR the same across all industries? Decidedly not. Each industry has different expectations from its employees, which requires its HR professionals to develop unique strategies and policies. The retail sector, in particular, sets itself apart from others with its high level of customer interaction and specialized training programs.
Hitesh Sharma, the Head of People and Culture for Quest Retail Private Limited, certainly agrees about the unique challenges within the retail industry. Having spent most of his 15 years as an HR professional in retail has allowed him to observe the unique nature of HR operations in retail keenly.
Over the years, Hitesh has also worked in H&M, Spice Retail, Airtel, and PeopleStrong. An expert in HR strategy and HR Operations, he is uniquely aware of the changing expectations of people, depending on the region and industry.
In his conversation with ThePeoplesBoard Team, Hitesh shares his experience in the retail industry, talks about the unique challenges in retail, and reveals common tips and tricks for the trade.
TPB Team: Given your varied experience, how do you think working as an HR professional in the retail industry is different from being a part of any other industry?
Hitesh Sharma (HS): Being part of HR professionals in Retail you work very closely with business and customer experience, which is not feasible in other industries like IT, Finance, energy etc. In the Retail industry HR professionals work as Business Enablers which works together with business to achieve organizational goals.
A successful HR professional in Retail must work very closely with Store teams, be on [the] ground, and understand the needs [of] both internal and external customers, and act accordingly.
TPB Team: What are some unique challenges HR professionals face in the retail industry?
HS: Front end retail positions require limited formal education, it makes it harder for HR to find candidates with necessary skills and experience. Retail often relies on seasonal workforce too during certain months of the year, which sometimes create challenges in scheduling, training and retaining the workforce.
Employee theft and misconduct are common concerns in retail, putting a strain on HR resources and potentially leading to legal issues. HR needs to be very stringent with the documentation process and act on preventing measures.
TPB Team: High employee turnover has always been a point of challenge in the retail industry. How can HR professionals help combat this issue?
HS: High Turnover is a common challenge in all industries and a certain percentage of employee turnover will always be there.
[The] Action plan of employee turnover cannot be same across the group level, we need to divide this into 3 parts:
- Front end / Entry level role – Focus more on better in hand salary, respectful workplace, Monthly incentives, better training structure and high engagement at shop floor.
- Mid/Senior Managerial role – Focus more on Development plans and growth plans within the organization, cross-functional training and learnings, involve[ment] in new projects and part of [the] decision-making process, needs recognition of their work, employee-friendly policies and high engagement at [the] workplace.
- Leadership role – Focus more on autonomy and authority to drive goals, don’t accept micromanagement, Long term employment benefit, Provide a safe place to try new things without fear of failure.
TPB Team: In retail, most employees interact directly with customers. How do you ensure effective onboarding and training of every employee to prepare them for their people-facing roles?
HS: In this case, we generally divide training into 2 parts:
- Classroom training – [In the] First 5 days of joining, all new Joinees undergo classroom training where we have a dummy setup of a store, and we provide complete training of SOPs and Products with different types of role play.
- On-the-job training – Trainer assigned in each store who also works as Buddy for the new Joinee for the first month with a structured training program of 21 days with weekly review from Store Manager or Cluster Manager.
TPB Team: How much of a role does employee engagement play in employee-customer interaction?
HS: This [employee engagement] is one of the most important factors to keep employees motivational and engaging on the work floor. This can also work as a tangible metric to assess overall performance of employees on the shop floor.
TPB Team: How does HR address the common employee grievances in retail?
HS: Before we talk about how HR handles grievances, first thing we need to ensure that we should have proper policies, process notes and SOPs in place. Employees should be provided proper induction / training during their first month of joining so that there is less probability to raise common grievances in the first place.
[The] Second most important thing is to provide training to employees who have a team handling role on how to handle the first level of escalation and understand Do’s and Don’ts under that situation. This will help to solve the issue/grievance at [the] initial stage only, and every small thing HR is not involved.
Third – Repeat refresher sessions on common practice[s]/ policies/ SOPs. This helps to solve queries in one go and work as a knowledge-sharing session.
In any case, HR should be easily approachable to employee[s] for any grievance or query, and employee[s] should not feel any barrier or hesitation to connect with HR
TPB Team: What is your personal motto when it comes to tackling HR challenges in the retail industry?
HS: My personal motto as an HR is to build organization – To be [an] employer of choice & Place of endless possibilities. I work as an enabler to drive business through [a] value-driven organization.
TPB Team: Can you share some tips for those looking to enter the retail industry as an HR professional?
HS: If you want to be a successful HR professional in retail then you should be open to work from Shop Floor rather than sitting in a corporate office. Work with an entrepreneurial mindset, be business enablers and build a strong cultural foundation.
Always remember – Happy and Motivated Employees = More Sales = More Profit.
