Teams motivation could be the most important single manageable key to success and business profitability within a retail environment. It is far too important to be managed without consistency depending on the personal characteristics of the manager or the person in charge. To add value to your business and your consumer experience in the end must be embraced and managed on a day-to-day basis. The effect on the business profitability can be extraordinary. There are many effective ways of motivating and engaging employees. Of course, there are also innumerable ways to demotivate your teams and it is mutually important to identify the root causes of this that most of the time lies in poor practices that once identified can easily be avoided.
A dissatisfied employee is unlikely to welcome in a positive and proactive way a potential consumer.
Some managers prefer to drive being in charge rather than leading teams to success and this reveals itself in a edgy and unpleasant store atmosphere for both co-workers and customers alike. Anxiety destroys confidence and pride of each employee towards its job; its effect on productivity is harmful and destructive in the end.
Management of course should be highly enthusiastic, articulate, and lively although each person has its own personality and comes across in a different way, it is also true that it “is not one’s personality that affects others but how this person is perceived in the group context”. Honesty, impartiality, and openness are essential. True empathy in your employee’s problems is valuable.
One of the very best ways to motivate is to intentionally try to help bring out the very best in your staff and to do everything in your power to develop leadership talent and knowledge. It is also an amazing development opportunity for yourself in being able to point to successful people knowing that you contributed to that success. This kind of environment comes through to all your people and enhances the perception of your retail unit.
Motivation, training, and coaching are closely related. They should start from the day of onboarding. Regulations as well as rewards are part of the motivation path. All should be thoroughly and constantly explained to be effective and make an impact on your teams performance.
Loyalty and pride are infused by making people feel valued, and they are important to the business; that their opinions count and listened to; that they are respected as persons and treated accordingly and that they will share the success if the business is successful. This means keep your people involved. Involved people will do their best.
Another general area of motivation relates to competitions within the store team itself. These add interest and excitement to the day-to-day routine. Contests on productivity or achievement of certain KPI can be planned, whilst sane competition within the business is alive; managers are also achieving goals and targets trough team effort.
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