How grocers can tackle employee turnover
Employee turnover is a challenge for any business, but for retailers, it’s a supercentre-sized problem.
According to 2024 research from Mercer, the retail and wholesale industry has the highest turnover among all sectors in the study, with a 25.9% turnover rate. In the grocery sector specifically, a 2021 report from Brookfield Institute found that employee turnover averages 30% per store in Canada. In the U.S., this figure is even higher, with turnover rates reaching 48%, according to The Food Retailing Industry Speaks 2022 report by FMI.
When grocery store employees clock out for good, it creates wide-ranging challenges for retailers. One immediate consequence is the cost of training and onboarding new staff, which requires a substantial investment. Operationally, a revolving door of employees can slow processes in areas like the checkout and inventory management, ultimately impacting productivity and the customer experience.
READ: Four ways grocers can boost enthusiasm and dedication in their workforce
“Retailers have to spend time and money recruiting and training new employees, and the company doesn’t really get productivity out of an employee for several weeks or months after they start… so they’re actually costing the company more than they’re adding in terms of value,” says Bruce Winder, a retail analyst, advisor and speaker.
“Only when [a new hire] starts to hit a learning curve where they can do things quickly and efficiently, do they start to generate positive value for the company. So, it does cost a lot… and it’s something that retailers would like to reduce, if possible.”
In retail, turnover tends to be viewed as a cost of doing business, simply because of the nature of the industry. “Retail in general will always have a high turnover because a fair number of workers are students and part-timers—not all, but a fair chunk,” says Winder. “Part of it is retailers are targeting folks who are usually younger and are in a transition in their life.”
Beyond that, however, is the stark reality of work on the retail floor. “It’s a demanding job—it’s not a job that’s easy,” says Winder. “You’re on your feet all day. You’re having to talk to people, move boxes around, stock shelves. So, it’s not a job for the faint of heart.”
Keeping employees happy and engaged
To combat these challenges, grocers can implement tactics to boost morale and keep their front-line staff engaged. Retail consultant and speaker Kevin Graff says one truism in the workforce is people don’t tend to quit when they are winning. So, employers should make their employees feel and be successful.
“We can do that with intensive onboarding,” says the founder of Graff Retail, which provides sales and leadership training for retailers. “People quit really fast in the first 30 days and after 30 days it slows down.” The reason for that is their employers didn’t onboard them properly, give them the proper training and coaching support, and make them feel like they are a part of the team.
“So, the anxiety that they have with doing the job is way too high,” says Graff. “It’s easier not to come to work when you don’t know what the hell you’re doing… [On the other hand], organizations that do a great job of onboarding their staff have lower turnover rates.”
Another tactic, especially for younger staff members, is to “never let them work just another shift,” Graff says. “For an employee today, that’s the most boring thing in the world. There’s no purpose, there’s no engagement.” He suggests retailers create an environment where there’s something new happening on every shift. That could be new training, reaching a goal as a team, or task-oriented challenges, like stocking shelves, that have rewards.
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“Whoever is managing that night shift to stock the store has to let it be not just another shift,” says Graff. “There’s got to be fun, there’s got to be recognition, there’s got to be challenge, there’s got to be purpose in it.”
Winder has similar advice, suggesting grocers provide new assignments every now and then. “If you’re doing the same thing over and over, humans get bored of that,” he says. “But if you can move people around a bit and create task variety, that can really help in terms of enrichment on the job.”
Beyond that, Winder adds that treating people well—with dignity, respect and positive reinforcement—will go a long way. “It doesn't cost anything to say, ‘Good job.’ It doesn’t cost anything to say, ‘Hey, I really liked how you handled that.’” This underscores the importance of hiring and hiring good managers. “A lot of people quit because they don’t like their boss,” says Winder. “If you’ve got a decent boss who treats you with respect and is fair, that’s probably going to be enough to stay.”
And yes, money talks. “I always say to people, ‘You should never pay your staff minimum wage because what you’re basically saying to them is if you could pay them less, you would,’” says Graff.
Notably, in September, Walmart Canada announced an additional $92 million in pay increases for eligible retail and supply chain hourly employees, as well as frontline managers. It followed an earlier $53 million investment in higher wages for store associates.
“I think companies can continue to do a good job of offering a fair salary and fair benefits for what they get,” says Winder. “Another thing that might keep people around longer, particularly if they’re a little older, is some form of profit sharing, bonus structure, or share option where employees can buy shares in the company, and they may match a certain percentage. That usually keeps people around.”
