Introduction
Every industry has its unique recruitment process in some sense or the other compared with other industries. Retail is surely one of the most interesting ones. It is the largest sector in the form of sales projection, which is about $26 trillion by the end of 2019. But what makes recruiting in this sector different from others?
The prime reason would be, the candidates, which mostly do not belong from a similar background, they are from all walks of life. Even the diversity that this sector is equipped with, from food to fashion to technology makes its recruitment quite difficult. Whether you are an in-house recruiter or recruiting with a Retail Staffing agency, there are a few points that are needed to be analyzed before hiring a candidate:
Incredibly High Hiring Volumes Every passing year, the number of workers is growing in this sector by leaps and bounds. As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, around 16 million people are involved in this sector which estimates to about one in ten jobs in the USA comes alone from this sector. This is what makes hiring volumes high as recruiters find it hard to go through a massive amount of paperwork like resume, cover letter, etc. with 100% precision. Hence they transfer this bulky work to the highly skilled retail recruitment agencies. They help in eliminating the tedious tasks involved with scanning initial paperwork, so that in-house can assist in their core job.
Lots of Competition You will find a retail firm everywhere, due to the diversity of products under their belt. Hence, to attract the best talent to your firm when competing against the massive retail giants such as Amazon, WALMART, etc. you need to pull up your socks. Because it's not just about hiring candidates, it's about hiring the right person for the right position. Organizations need to create a realistic job preview for candidates. This enables both parties to secure the fit is right before making any decisions. Small companies are always in search of candidates that are multifunctional so that they can easily adapt to the changing environment, although a survey suggests that 80 percent struggle in finding such employees.
High Turnover This is the biggest trouble that the retail recruitment agencies face, retaining the experienced workforce. LinkedIn data suggests that the retail sector has the second-highest turnover rate in the job market. A survey by Hay Group suggests that instead of higher pay, employees leave their jobs for better opportunities. This should be considered by a recruiter before hiring a candidate.
To manage the aforementioned scenarios and to constantly hire great people is a difficult task. Few organizations have technology, processes, and people in place to ensure that the scene takes place constantly but others do not have it in place hence lag. So these firms need to constantly look for better ways of recruiting. This is where retail recruitment agencies come in handy. They offer a lot to their client to ensure they have a great hire. Let's look a few of their offerings:
High Turnover This is the biggest trouble that the retail recruitment agencies face, retaining the experienced workforce. LinkedIn data suggests that the retail sector has the second-highest turnover rate in the job market. A survey by Hay Group suggests that instead of higher pay, employees leave their jobs for better opportunities. This should be considered by a recruiter before hiring a candidate.
To manage the aforementioned scenarios and to constantly hire great people is a difficult task. Few organizations have technology, processes, and people in place to ensure that the scene takes place constantly but others do not have it in place hence lag. So these firms need to constantly look for better ways of recruiting. This is where retail recruitment agencies come in handy. They offer a lot to their client to ensure they have a great hire. Let's look a few of their offerings:
Workforce Insights – The retail staffing agency helps in tracking the success of hiring efforts and workforce. This helps the organization in undergoing regular insights into the recruitment process and helps you to know their performance and where you can improve your hiring.
Scalability- The seasonal fluctuations are experienced by almost all the retailers, especially during holiday or festive seasons. Taking the help of outsource service providers ensure that consistency is maintained in your business. They ensure that you are never short of quality candidates, whenever in need.
Management focus- The manager's concern should not be over recruitment, these outsourcing agencies allow him/her to focus on their core job. Although recruiting could be termed as their part but it isn't their specialty. Hence it could be perceived as a chore and should be handled by a well-equipped staffing partner.
Conclusion
Retail is a sector that has experienced several kinds of changes in the past. Due to the emergence of e-commerce, there would be more such changes in the coming years. The recruitment industry would also be facing a whole lot of challenges such as sheer numbers, stiff competition or high turnover rates as defined above and so to manage these all issues retail recruitment agencies could prove to be very useful if chosen wisely.