Tales from the Retail Sector: Lessons for Everyone
July 1, 2010
Newsletter from n-gen, the next generation of people performance
n-gen presented at the Retail Council of Canada's STORE conference on May 31, 2010, so we thought it apt to focus this newsletter on the retail sector. However, even if you are not in the retail sector, the challenges that this sector faces are similar to the types of challenges that you may face.
What is unique about the retail sector, from which every sector can learn, is that retail is often the 'early warning system' of people practices. Particularly true when it comes to understanding, responding to and managing the expectations of Gen Y employees. The retail sector tends to have the greatest percentage of Gen Ys at the front-line level. Retail is also an interesting macrocosm of all organizations, because it is still common to have significant numbers of Traditionalists working with Baby Boomers and Gen Xers (BBs and Gen Xers -especially at the corporate levels). This newsletter is devoted to challenges found in the retail sector, which equate to challenges found in every sector.
Challenge #1
Retention of Gen Ys: All for one & one for all
During the strong economy of the early 2000's, many of our retail clients would lament their ability to retain younger employees, from front-line to supervisorial roles. They blamed the economy and the apparent intrinsic disloyalty of Gen Ys to an organization. Leaders would say "for .50 cents, they will move across the food court/mall hall to another employer." This is parallel to complaints we have heard across industries, the sum of money might be different, but the reality was the same - Gen Ys appeared to have a choice, and more often than not, they took it.
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Challenge #2
Happy parents-Happy Gen Ys
The percentage of HR colleagues, managers and supervisors who have challenges dealing with parents of Gen Ys is increasing yearly. Initially in workshops, one or two hands went up and everyone else laughed when we asked the question: Who has had a parent call? Today, 25% -50% of hands go up and everyone else looks shocked.
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Challenge #3
Do I work for you, or should you work with me?
Perhaps the greatest challenge in any organization in which there are shifts, is scheduling. This is never more apparent than in retail. Gen Ys expect work to fit into their life, rather than life fitting around their work schedule. For managers and supervisors who are responsible for scheduling, managing scheduling expectations of all employees is often a job in itself.
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Let's Give Back!
This month, n-gen is teaming up with Green Toronto to help in the revitalization of Toronto's parks, and we'd like for you to join us! We have arranged a private wildflower planting, mulching, and weeding event, followed by a picnic lunch. The event will take place on June 15, from 10am-12pm at Cedarvale Ravine Park. For more information, or to sign up, please contact Tracy Yan.
http://www.ngenperformance.com/