Category: Business

Staff Retention

Ensuring Staff Retention – Nikki Murran, Director | Grocery Retail

Posted on | by Editorial Team

At a time when staff retention is firmly under the spotlight in Ireland’s retail industry, our Director of Grocery Retail Recruitment, Nikki Murran, analyses candidate feedback to give her thoughts on how to cultivate long-term employee loyalty. 

I recently marked 10 years with Excel Recruitment, and I was amazed by how many people were surprised by this. The recruitment industry can be notorious for high staff turnover, but I always thought we were lucky as we have great staff retention.

But is it luck? Or is there a roadmap, a set of instructions other companies can mirror, which leads to the holy grail of staff longevity?

A hot topic amongst retailers in recent months has been staff retention. One of the most frustrating parts of being an employer or indeed manager is when you invest months in onboarding and training new people, only for them to move on within their first year. It often feels like time entirely wasted – you are only starting to get a return on your investment on the hours of training and they are gone! But why are they going?

Looking at feedback from candidates who have declared themselves “ready to move on” there are some interesting observations that might answer this:

Whilst most retailers indicate the one thing they are doing to retain their people is to increase their salary, it’s very often the last motivation cited by candidates looking for a move. Now don’t get me wrong – if someone feels they are undervalued or underpaid – it’s a top priority! But for the most part, retailers are paying their teams fairly to attract them in the first place. So, whilst salary increases may keep them from leaving – it won’t actually get them to stay if the other factors aren’t right.

Work-life balance is the number one reason candidates go to the trouble of typing out a CV. Since the pandemic there has been a huge shift toward finding a better work-life balance. I don’t think that’s news to anyone. Most of the larger retailers have reduced their management’s contracted hours and many candidates are actively seeking out roles with these businesses. But it’s not all about the contracted hours. Something as simple as a fair distribution of evening and weekend shifts can be one of the best tools to retain staff.

Flexibility is probably the perk we hear most from candidates who decline a job move. In fact, I’m sure it’s part of what got me to the 10-year mark with Excel! With small kids, mornings can be hectic – actually, anytime is hectic – but a little flexibility in my working week means I can balance interviews, meetings, bedtime stories, and school drop-offs. In a store setting, it definitely takes a bit more rota planning and tweaking – but I’m sure many would opt for this rather than doing yet another interview or induction!

The little things go a long way also. While candidates don’t explicitly say it – it’s the small things that add up and ultimately form the culture of the company. They say things like – “I like it here”, “I’m happy where I am”, or “It would take a lot to make me move”. These things don’t cost retailers a lot – it’s showing kindness and gratitude for work done. Small tokens for staff on certain days and staff lunches or parties don’t often seem like a big deal but for such small gestures, these things come up more often than you might think when we ask candidates to tell us about their current jobs.

Another subject that comes up time and again is the annual leave quota. I was surprised initially by the strength of this one, but I have had ever-increasing numbers of candidates turning down job offers as they didn’t want to lose their extra annual leave days. Often these extra days come with length of service. So many retailers don’t offer any additional days past statutory but take my word, the ones that do – have a better grip on their staff. When you think about it, it’s the ideal benefit, as you are giving those days to your most experienced people, the ones you really don’t want to lose. The more experienced and valuable they are – the more days they accrue – the harder it is to walk away from them! (and you!)

I was probably only with Excel for six months when I knew that this was somewhere I could stay long-term. I had gone to my CEO with an idea about a flyer and his nearly immediate response, was “if you think it’s a good idea, do it!” That sort of empowerment may seem unimportant, but to me it was pivotal. I felt valued. As the years have gone on and I’ve brought plenty more ideas his way (some better than others and some truly awful) I’ve always felt heard, I’ve always felt valued, and I’ve always felt like my opinion mattered. It’s hard to walk away from that.

For more information or expert advice please email info@excelrecruitment.com or call 01 814 8747. To view our available roles click here

Quiet Thriving Nikki Murran

Quiet Thriving- Nikki Murran, Director | Grocery Retail

Posted on | by Editorial Team

For the last two years, we have heard across many media platforms, stories of “quiet quitting.” This idea that you coast along, doing the bare minimum, never going above and beyond, well it never sat well with me.

Quiet quitting suggests that you are not emotionally or intellectually involved in your job, but rather you are just doing as little as possible to receive a paycheck so you can go and live your real life outside of work.

What I never understood – is whom is this benefiting? Are people happy just waiting to pass time and clock out? That seems so sad to me. Say you spend on average 40 hours a week at work, say that’s the number of hours you need to clock up to afford your life. That’s basically one-third of your waking hours. Look at that across your life.. who is happy to be unhappy for a third of their waking life? Wishing the hours, and their life away?

With two small kids, an “iron-man wannabe” husband, and a pretty busy career, I absolutely am not one to advocate for doing more hours – but surely, making the best of the hours you are in work is a better option?

Making those 40 hours the happiest they can be makes so much more sense to me.

I have been lucky to have experienced two industries in my career – with the first 10 or so years in retail and the last 10 in recruitment. Neither of these environments lent to “quiet quitting.” If for no other reason than it would have meant letting people down – my co-workers, my team, my customers, my clients, my candidates (oh, and my boss). Leaving them aside for a minute, that feeling of letting others down, it would have made ME miserable.

But perhaps these “quiet quitters” don’t feel the same? I’m not sure. But what I am sure about, positive in fact, is that when you find the right job, the right culture fit, the right balance, you can make those 40 hours a week, much more enjoyable.

I speak to countless candidates each week. Many reach out to me because they are unhappy with their job. What’s interesting to me is how often retailers, with many years of experience suggest that this is no longer the industry for them. For my side, I hate seeing good people leave this industry and so I often encourage them to list what it is they dislike, what is making them unhappy, and what they would like from a new role. 99% of the time we can find all or most of these things in the same industry, just with a different employer. The amazing part? Once I hear back from these once disgruntled retailers, their joy is back. It wasn’t the industry that was bringing them down, just that job.

Seeing this change time and time again makes me think, these quiet quitters? Have they just not found the right role for them yet? The one where they can find joy for themselves in these 40 working hours – where they get to feel challenged, and appreciated, enjoy the comradery of their co-workers, and a belly laugh with a client or customer. Me, I love seeing some candidates progress and come back to me as a client. I love seeing my team advance and grow and be promoted. I don’t think this makes me a sucker. I think it means I am finding as much joy as I can in every hour that I live, including those spent at my desk. And I don’t know about everyone else, but for me, that seems the best way to spend my days!

Which brings me on to this. I read something by Lesley Alderman in the Washington post recently – about “Quiet thriving” and it spoke to me! But it’s not as catchy a phrase as “quiet quitting” – so perhaps it won’t become the new buzzword or phrase. But for me, I definitely think it’s worth a look.

Quiet thriving is taking actions and making a mental shift to help you feel more engaged. Her ideas range from looking for the positive to finding a work buddy, setting goals for yourself to setting boundaries with your boss.

I like all these ideas and love the concept, but ultimately what I took from it is this – It’s up to you – and that’s what appealed to me most. I am a firm believer, that, for the most part – your happiness is in your hands, no one else’s.

In this overheated, employee-led market so many employers come to me asking about how they can retain their staff. Now is the time to speak up – if you have an idea or suggestion that will improve your workplace and bring more joy. Most employers will welcome anything that leads to a happy workforce! (within reason – although I was able to bring my dog into our office which led to more joy than you can shake a stick at!)

And, at the end of all this, if your employer is shutting you down, if you can’t find your work tribe to connect with, then maybe, it’s just the wrong job. Maybe it’s time to call me (unapologetic plug here, lol), maybe a move to a shiny new job will be the thing that brings you your work joy this year??

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Source: Lesley Alderman Article