Identifying and rectifying the challenges faced by the Retail recruitment agenci

Posted by SSR Consultant on March 24th, 2020

The retail industry is amongst the top leading sector when it comes to generating employment. Around 12% of all the jobs existing in the current market are from the retail sector only and so there exist huge recruitment challenges too. The retail division comprises of all the stores that sell goods to the consumer for their personal use and not for further selling. It incorporates kiosks, small markets to supermarkets. Recruitment in this sector means hiring an appropriate candidate which is good with managing, associating, and selling skills and which is a tedious task.

Challenges with the retail recruiting

• In bulk-hiring- As stated in the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 15 million people are employed in this sector and the number seems to be going up at a rapid pace. It is the second-largest job force in the USA, which means they need to fill in a lot of vacancies very often and at regular intervals.
• Attracting and retaining a diverse workforce- There is a direct link between diversity and profitability. In a survey in the North and southeastern parts of the US, it is found that higher diversity whether racial or ethnic tends to increase the revenue margins by over 85 % compared to non-diverse workforces. Diverse units are not just helpful in enhancing sales but they tend to drive innovation better. But incorporating and retaining diverse force is not just an issue with the retail sector but with various other industries. Recruiters even find it hard to ideally form a diverse force due to lack of knowledge of what exactly it looks like. Here the Retail recruitment agencies come in handy as they have a better understanding of demographics.
• Battling high employee turnover rate- Turnover rate costs around 00, which is one in top five comparing with other sectors. Everyone knows how costly a recruitment and training process is. There are various reasons for it like not recruiting the right candidate, better opportunities elsewhere, poor higher management, and lack of essentials for employees.

Ways to overcome the above challenges

• Preciously writing job descriptions- It is important to mention the appropriate job description in attracting an ideal candidate for the role. Properly highlighting the technical abilities and cross-functional expertise would better help the right candidate find your place.
• Looking past the retail sector- It may sound a bit out of the box thinking but it has been proven that employees from diverse background such as teaching, students, retired force employees, etc. has shown an impeccable results in this sector. The retail recruitment agencies are better at finding those candidates due to their advanced knowledge of judging people from various backgrounds and suiting an appropriate one for your company. The candidates from diverse backgrounds are intended to bring in a new perspective and better innovative ideas.
• Build your employer brand and highlight employee value proposition- Better employer brand- Give your candidates a better reason to choose you over others and differentiate your firm by building a firm employer brand. This will help them evaluate why they should work for your firm rather than your competitor. Besides this, defining the employee value proposition would highlight better opportunities which would ensure their retention. 

 · Use video interviewing- Incorporating video interviewing in the selection process- With the help of advanced technology recruiting has been made a bit easy process. Like video conferencing with employees would surely save a lot of time and money and simplify the recruitment process. Various advanced retail staffing agency has incorporated this process and has a team of individuals who are best in dealing with it.