Given recent circumstances, retailers are facing perhaps their most complex set of challenges yet. With vaccines and easing lockdown restrictions, the return to brick-and-mortar stores has been a mixed bag while it’s become increasingly obvious that e-commerce is a phenomenon that’s here to stay. On top of that, retailers have their own industry-specific challenges and act largely as their own businesses. In Hong Kong alone, retail sales plunged by a record 24.3% in 2020.
As most retail employees deal directly with customers, turnover and similar HR challenges can be particularly damaging to retail businesses. The importance of personnel to retail businesses is exactly why most should move on to an HR software solution.
In this article, we’ll look at the top reasons why implementing an HR software solution is a must for retailers everywhere.
Streamlines hiring
When it comes to hiring, an HR software solution can easily filter out candidates based on metrics set by the employer such as: years worked, skillset, start date availability, and so forth. Putting these filters into place serves as an efficient way to sift through candidates, freeing up HR managers to focus on more pressing matters and only speak to candidates who already meet the most basic of requirements.
HR software solutions can also track every step of the hiring process, encouraging transparency. From the time a candidate first applies to the final interview rounds, having a clear record of the hiring process protects a business in case there are ever accusations of unfair hiring practices.
Takes care of seasonal demands
Retail is notorious for relying on certain times of the year, such as Christmas and the summertime, for a huge chunk of their sales. Thus, some employees could be hired only on a short-term basis.
An HR software solution can take onboarding from a process taking multiple days to one that just takes a few hours at most. Solutions such as Workstem make it so that creating a complete employee profile can be done with just a few clicks. These personal files are then centralized in one neat database, making it hassle-free to update an employee’s status as needed. If needed, Workstem is also capable of calculating the payroll of employees paid by the hour.
Workstem’s solution even supports tracking of roster-based shifts, a common practice in the retail industry. With Workstem, HR managers and supervisors get a management system that is flexible and able to update work schedules as they go.
Enable remote work
Though the word ‘retail’ is usually associated with brick-and-mortar stores, the pandemic has shown that the two don’t always have to go together. As a number of retailers move their operations online, more of their employees will start to work remotely.
It’s crucial that an HR solution these days must take into account that employees could be working in multiple separate locations. With Workstem, employees even have the option of using a mobile app to clock in, update leave requests, and much more. Similarly, managers can also use the supervisor version of the app to monitor employee attendance and update employee rosters. With Workstem’s tech solutions, no longer will employees and their leaders be tied down to a PC.
Overall, modern HR software solutions have too many benefits to be overlooked by the retail industry. As the world of retail becomes increasingly complex and competitive, HR software solutions provide just the edge a business needs to leapfrog ahead of their competition.
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