Invest in a nation of shopworkers

There is a retailing theme running through this months issue of Human Resources. The link between the sector and great HR is not obvious. Retailing is a brutal business even at the best of times and these are a long way from being the best of times. Revenues are under pressure as never before, with bargain-hungry consumers adjusting quickly to a world in which prices fall as often as they rise. Costs, meanwhile, have been squeezed harder than a tube of Carol Smilies toothpaste in order to preserve profit margins. Now retailers are scratching their heads and looking for new ways to make a difference. And the most enlightened see only one lever left: their staff.

Retailing has hardly been a sector noted for its low staff turnover or high levels of employee satisfaction. Rock-bottom pay and long hours have all too often seen to that. But now a shift in thinking is taking place. Debenhamss 100 department stores employ 23,000 staff and, as the groups CEO Belinda Earl tells Human Resources, a small incremental development of each person can result in big improvements in the companys overall fortunes. HR informs everything we do. It would be crazy not to have it represented at the highest level on the board, she explains. And because it is, people development, resourcing and employee relations are all issues debated long and hard at the top table.Along with her people chief Jane Guillaume, she has been steadily pushing her HR agenda to the limits to find new ways to meet commercial targets.

Further along the high street, Gap employees have also been feeling the difference of a new concern for employee welfare. Thanks to its TV commercials full of manic jitterbug dancers dressed in khakis, this retailers image is modern and youthful. And now the employer is starting to become just as image-conscious when it comes to attracting talented staff and keeping its crop of workers happy. Theres clearly a lot of stress in retail and Gaps employee assistance programme (EAP) has been designed to help its predominantly young workforce cope. The EAP is no longer a luxury item for the retailer. As Debra Corey, Gaps director of international compensation and benefits, explains, If our employees are more satisfied at work, they are going to stay, so theres a return on investment from a retention perspective. If we can retain 10% more of our staff from a programme like this, then its helping the business. Even in this most brutal of businesses, it seems, the centrality of people policies to commercial success is being recognised.

Finally, I would like to remind you that the deadline for entry to our eighth Human Resources Excellence Awards is approaching. You can enter via the entry form that accompanies this issue or by downloading it from our website, www.humanresourcesmagazine.com.

Trevor Merriden, editor