Why staff morale is crucial for every office

One of the biggest challenges in the retail industry is keeping high staff morale.

Due to the hard nature of the work and a demanding public (with some difficult shoppers making matters worse), it is difficult to keep morale high and this is one of the main reasons that there is a high turnover of shop floor staff.

If you are a shop manager and you often have issues related to staff morale then read on for advice.

The value of high morale

Morale is important no matter what industry you are in. Often you hear about the importance of morale in the office, but it is also essential to have on the shop floor in order for the shop to run efficiently and to maximise sales. When morale is high, employees will work harder, be friendlier to customers and help to create a positive atmosphere in store which is vital to success. It will also promote employee loyalty and reduce staff turnover which is important because the recruitment process can be difficult, stressful and expensive.

Improving morale

It is clear why morale is so important in retail, but it is not always clear how you can go about improving it particularly due to the challenging nature of the work. Fortunately, there are a few proven methods which could have a large impact on the success of your retail store. Much like in an office, employees need to feel valued and that they are doing a good job which means that providing regular praise for hard work is important.

Incentives

While praise is effective, you will also want to create incentives to push staff to work harder and have target related goals to meet. One of the most effective ways to do this is through using app-based reward systems like Perkbox. This will give employees a reason to work hard and receiving rewards (along with praise) will provide a significant boost in morale.

Sense of community

Another effective way to boost morale and keep it high is to create a sense of community amongst employees. Socialisation is key for morale yet often retail employees are working independently for long periods of time. Create a feeling of community by encouraging communication, by starting conversations and by organising regular social events for staff, such as parties or team building activities.

Morale is important to success no matter what industry you are in. Keeping morale high is particularly challenging in retail which is one of the main reasons that many stores struggle with staff turnover. It is for this reason why it is worth taking measures to improve morale amongst employees and this could help your store to find more success, plus it will also create a positive environment with the store and make working each day enjoyable.