Human Capital: Workforce Turnover a Pain Point

Workforce turnover is a real problem for most retailers, according to the latest exclusive Retail Leader survey. Nearly two-thirds (61.5 percent) of retailer respondents state that their turnover situation is a concern, and that it presents ongoing challenges in overall operations, while more than one-third (38.5 percent) said they are not concerned about their workplace turnover situation, and that they are comfortable with how they keep employees and/or replace them when needed.

Retailers have good reason to be concerned about the problem of turnover: More than one-third of retailers report that they see 50 percent or more of their floor employees leave during an average year, with 17.9 percent saying 50 to 75 percent of floor employees do so, and 20.5 percent saying 75 percent or more do so. Nearly one-quarter (23.1 percent) of retailers claim to lose 25 to 49 percent of their floor employees in an average year, and more than one-third (38.5 percent) claim to lose less than 25 percent in an average year.

Replacing these workers is not an easy feat for most retailers. While less than one-quarter of retailers believe replacing workers who leave is easy—with 2.6 percent calling it very easy and 20.5 percent calling it somewhat easy—more than half of retailers say replacing workers who leave is difficult: 48.7 percent say it is somewhat difficult, and 12.8 percent say it is very difficult.

To keep employees content and avoid excessive turnover, nearly all retailers (92.1 percent) rely on verbal recognition, providing praise and positive reinforcement for jobs performed well. To a far lesser extent, retailers rely on salary increases (55.3 percent), end-of-year

Does your local jurisdiction (city, county, state) have a minimum hourly wage increase over the federal minimum ($7.25) in place or proposed?

Does your local jurisdiction (city, county, state) have a minimum hourly wage increase over the federal minimum ($7.25) in place or proposed?