The replacement of staff costs businesses a significant amount of their turnover. And to this end there have been some interesting studies on the precise cost of replacing staff according to industry. Today we look into this in particular regard to retail and how we fill these sorts of positions more effectively for our clients.
One Fifth of Annual Salary Goes on Staff Replacement
American Progress released some fascinating data on the cost of staff turnover – mainly that the typical cost of turnover is 21% of an employee’s annual salary excluding jobs that require specific skills such as those of physicians.
When it comes to the retail industry, or jobs where annual salary is £20,000 or less – that figure goes down to a turnover cost of 16% of an employee’s annual salary.
If we take this one step further, it takes on average £2,354 to find, hire and train a replacement employee on an hourly rate of around £6 – £7 per hour.
We can see the cost in retail – where turnover can be high – can mount up fast. So here’s how we believe one can recruit more effectively to lessen the staff turnover costs in this industry.
1. Begin with the Customer
By knowing your customer you can glean insights into the type of person they would interact best with (and hopefully buy from!) within retail. This can help frame your candidate search and is something we actually believe is applicable throughout all recruitment, not just retail. Some questions you might consider are:
• What are the primary demographics of my customer?
• What are their hobbies and tastes?
• What sort of person would they empathise with and enjoy being around?
2. Go to the Hire
Although by no means exclusive, millenials often occupy retail positions. And to this end, ecommerce and retail recruitment often targets this demographic.
By going to where your candidates are likely to be, you can gain a bigger reach – and a more suitable range of applications. Additionally, if you have a precise picture of the type of candidate you wish to attract – you can go straight to them. Forums, specific job boards, recruiters such as oursevles with huge reach, social media and university campuses all serve their purpose in capturing millenial footfall should this be your target – and the perfect candidate.
3. Technology Trumps
If you’ve been to the Apple Store you’ll notice it’s teeming with tech wizards around millenial age all behind the counter – and they seem to be enjoying themselves! We’re in an age of tech, and should the option be there, affordable POS systems such as this, could entice them, retain them, and drive turnover cost down.
Flexible Working
Finally, something we see growing demand for. Although retail is governed by largely 9-5 hours, if there were job sharing options or flexibility incorporated this could prove a draw for candidates. Particularly if other competitors do not offer this. Consider the perks you can give that will stop your ideal candidate from looking anywhere else.
Our team see firsthand how recruitment costs can spiral, particularly in retail, and the above are all less costly options in retaining great retail staff. If you’re still looking for other options, our prices are some of the lowest and we feel the best value available, and you can also consider continuous recruitment if your industry has notoriously high turnover.
Castle Hill House