I was in a retail clothing store recently and observed the way that staff operated. It was part of a large chain of stores and the staff were smartly dressed, although rather disengaged. The store space was probably around 150 square metres and I counted nine staff operating out of two tillpoints. What was surprising was the fixed nature of the till staff. One person was checking and restocking. All the rest were huddled around the two desks talking incessantly to each other. Customers were wandering around, but no-one was approaching them to assist them choose items. Even the changing rooms were largely neglected. In the twenty minutes I was in the store I counted eight potential customers and only one purchasing items.
This reminded me of so many times as a management consultant I could not only see poorly deployed and only superficially trained staff, but also a huge safety margin “just in case we get busy”. All this drains profits and actually encourages behaviors like gossiping that is such an irritating phenomenon in client-facing businesses.
In most businesses busy periods can be predicted and therefore there will be scope for the wise use of part-time staff and those on zero hours contracts (where legal). It would also be far cheaper for many companies to invest more in training in order to cut staff numbers. Deployment is also the key. Why is it that in Asia retailers often place a staff member outside the door to invite and welcome customers, whilst in many parts of Europe staff all too often hide away in stock rooms and seldom offer to be a personal shopper for promising prospects?