Seeing The Light - The Importance Of Dynamic Visibility Across HR, Payroll, And Operations

By John Orr, chief strategy officer, Dayforce

For several years, the critical importance of attracting and retaining store associates in a high turnover industry has made headlines. Retail will never be a low turnover industry. The view that retention should be measured only by achieving long-term stability may be shortsighted; tripling employee retention, for instance, from an average of three months to nine months would mean significant savings for the employer. For example, an intensive retention and talent management effort at the Applebee’s restaurant chain reduced hourly turnover from 146% in 2000 to 92% in 2003 and restaurant general managers’ turnover from 20% to 8% during that same period. The one-year gain just from retaining more managers was estimated conservatively at $1.6 million — significant considering the margins of the industry.

Employee retention is one of many important topics being discussed among best-in-class retailers. Retailers know in order to address the pressing issues facing their operations, they first must have visibility and speed to action to keep up with the dynamic fast pace of their business. Given that employees represent approximately 60% of controllable operating expenses - and more importantly are the face of the retailer who is focused on the quality of its service, having consolidated real-time visibility across all aspects of an employee is a critical element in retail profitability and success.

This document will introduce how retail is experiencing convergence across formerly disparate functions in human resources management, workforce management and payroll management and what retailers need, want, and desire in order to further expand its execution and improve profitability by first exploring what the industry is expressing its needs to be and how they will close those need gaps.