The HR research firm Bersin by Deloitte defines high potentials as employees who have been identified as “having the potential, ability, and aspiration for successive leadership positions within the company.” But many retailers are also leveraging their high potentials in new and interesting ways. Identifying”‘HiPo” candidates isn’t new. Over the past few years, however, this group…
Many organizations that are growing fast focus on just making sure the basics are in place, the brand is being fully represented, and their day-to-day promises to customers are being met. But like all retailers know, that doesn’t make you competitive. At some point, you are going to be looking at same-store sales, not just…
Flat wages and shaky consumer confidence will likely dampen the holiday sales surge for most retailers this year. With Deloitte forecasting a 4% increase in sales this holiday season, versus 5.2% last year, the domino effect is bound to hit seasonal staffing as well. According to Deloitte and a number of other research firms, several…
As we explore the topic of listening, and as we practice “listening to learn” in our workshops, I’ve noticed that participants often still define it in narrow terms. When they think of listening, they think about being intent and paying attention. They don’t think about the more active part of reflecting to gain insight. So reading…
Even though the customer experience is getting more attention now from retailers, the challenge is that the conversation has changed in a number of significant ways in recent years. That means no matter how dedicated or accomplished today’s managers and associates are, they need to know how to adapt and grow their interpersonal skills to…
In negotiation just like other business interactions between people we choose behavior based on assumptions we have about the person and/or the situation. That mindset that we bring influences how we plan, negotiate, influence, create results, and/or see the relationship. The mindset retailers have about what’s important to their customers and markets also helps them focus…
One of the biggest opportunities and challenges for today’s retailers is being able to create a shared vision across all departments and channels about how the customer experiences the retail brand. The potential results from a well-connected, omni-channel operation are staggeringly positive. Getting that to happen at the “people-level” means getting departments to embrace a…
Retail is a labor intensive business. No matter how much technology retailers employ, their employees have a far greater impact on the bottom line. Measuring manager and associate behavior, though, is much harder to do than reporting the end results of a day’s sales, profitability, or ADS, or UPTs. Getting managers to do observations and…
Retailers are quickly embracing big data. They are moving toward connecting and analyzing customer data at an enterprise-wide level. They’re also learning that customers don’t typically differentiate between “clicks” and “bricks” retailer options. In fact, instead of separating them, the best retailers are leveraging the two channels. Recent shopping data between online purchases and in-store…
In a recent conversation with a retailer about metrics I shared the three key elements that have to be in place to measure impact of decisions. In our case, it’s results from training, but these elements apply to the full range of metrics or KPIs you may want to measure. First, do you have either…
