It’s a Holly Jolly Christmas…
Setting out on a brisk walk from my car to the big-box office supplies store in hopes to make the holiday shipping timeline, it was no surprise that a parade of others followed, with outbound packages in tow.
Expecting lines to the door I was a pleased to find myself in third position; any celebration was temporary, when it was noted that the two people behind the desk were the only staff on the floor. That’s, two people to oversee 12,000 square feet of retail space, assist customers in-aisle, serve as UPS and USPS service providers, run a print shop, and keep an eye out on the five un-attended registers across the way.
December occurs annually and with it, the cyclical uptick in demand for retail and mailing services. It’s an entirely different scene at corporate headquarters. Marketing departments deploy final assets nationwide, merchandizing teams analyze inventory strategies, and office-closure notices are double checked and scheduled for automatic distribution.
Back in line, it’s around 9:00 am. Yesterday’s due date for a customer has expired and hours before their event, the folding machine jams, repeatedly. A woman’s returns can only be taken to a real UPS store which the associate kindly explains, there are now three others behind me with packages, four others waiting at the print desk, and a stranded customer gets no help at the empty registers. Thankfully there’s currently no “call holding for the any department.”
When you have a retail store where two people end up in a situation where they are to double-handedly process and deliver brand promises to customers, the system has failed.
If you have worked in retail I hope you were never in this situation. If you have managed retail stores you know staffing challenges are not new. As an advocate for happiness at work and a belief that a healthy retail staffing experience can exist, I see opportunities to create a more humane space that is economically beneficial.
Imagine a store that brings in a new wave of overqualified desperate applicants who decide to stay even after their once-dream-job is finally offered to them; retail can be that good.
In the meantime the holiday music must go on.
