Retail Stores Could Have a Happier Xmas!

One of the biggest contradictions in the world of retail becomes even more acute at Xmas. All retailers know the relationship between the sales and service skills of their staff and the level of customer spend and customer loyalty.

Many however, invest little to get this right. I work with companies to improve effectiveness in this area and am always amazed by the Xmas ‘blind spot’.

We as consumers have our own worries and stresses and therefore are more aware of (and talk about) good service and helpful people – even more so when we are shopping to a deadline in crowded spaces. We are also very sensitive to poor service and unhelpful people.

Even with companies that do spend some time developing the skills of their people, the Xmas ‘blind spot’ can exist.

It goes like this: “we are so busy at Xmas and have to put on temporary staff, so we have no time to give people the skills to capture more business and delight the customer.”

I believe this has an impact on people’s desire to go back to the shop for the next 11 months and to recommend it to others.

I would like to hear from people about their Xmas shopping experiences, either positive or negative, that supports this and also the effect is has on where they choose to spend their money.

Generation Y Reject The Treadmill

As part of my work I complete diagnosis of work patterns and behaviours in a range of organisations. Generation Y has been criticized for its lack of loyalty and effort in the workplace. I believe it is wrong to generalize and I have certainly seen a lot of quality people doing great things.

When I interviewed people in this age group about work aspirations, I find their views are strongly coloured by the working lives and experiences of their parents and their parents’ friends and peers.

So what impression do Gen Y get of this group? It is mostly negative and this has a huge impact on how they view work in general. The points below are a brief summary of the key things that they see:


1. People tolerating managers that are aggressive and apply pressure rather than provide support
2. People working with a lack of resources and the subsequent stress (this is largely seen as the ‘profit before people’ culture that we live in, where shareholders and investors expect returns of 12 – 15% per annum when the economy is growing at 3%)
3. Conflict between the ‘people are our greatest asset’ mantras of many companies and their actual day to day behaviour
4. The human fall out:

1. Working long (mostly unpaid) hour
2. Ill health
3. Depression
4. Stress
5. Fractured relationships
6. Regret

It is no surprise that Gen Y reject this as a life style choice and has different attitudes to work. Sometimes this attitude is reflected in their intolerance of the way in which they are being asked to work and subsequent job shifting, sometimes it is impatience with poor management practices. There is also the desire to have input and change things for the better.

Whatever the reaction, positive or infuriating, we must accept it will not be the same and forcing people to comply with a ‘treadmill’ existence will create conflict.

So, is this a healthy rejection of the extremes of capitalism, or just a lazy ‘have it all on a plate’ generation?

If you would like to find out the best methods for managers to manage Generation Y watch our video "How to manage Generation Y".

The Management Key to Improved Performance

Based on my work with many organisations, there is a clear and high correlation between management behaviour and commercial success.

Whilst this is not surprising, what is interesting is the level to which this is true. Management and specifically senior management determine culture, behaviour, attitude and discretionary effort* by the things they do, irrespective of other, conflicting messages.

A brief example is this; many organisations talk about an inclusive and coaching culture, as opposed to the old 'command and rule', which most recognise as corrosive to long term motivation. In our studies, we found that unless management modeled these behaviours and more importantly, had the underlying beliefs that drove this behaviour, the companies efforts at 'culture change' were wasted. This was irrespective of the quality of the employees and the 'change agent' activities.

It is true to say that management show what they believe to be important by the questions they ask. No manager will consistently show concern for people and use 'coaching style' interventions to involve and resolve unless their values and beliefs are aligned to this behaviour.

Equally as interesting is the development of this trend. The figures are different compared to 1988. This is mainly because of the characteristics of Gen Y having more influence on the workplace. Gen Y place value in managers who help them to be better at their jobs, not those who tell them what to do.

*Studies have shown that 40% of effort in the workplace is discretionary and that people can exist on 60% contribution if they are not engaged and motivated. In most organisations this is the difference between poor /average performance and beating the competition.