Survey reveals over 90% of employees would move jobs

Discovering, nurturing and retaining top talent is an area of increased focus for many clients that we work with. After all, it’s challenging and has a direct impact on your bottom line. Our study, the largest of its kind of the retail industry, was designed to provide leaders with useful information on what engages and motivates staff. We also examined what will keep staff committed to their current roles as well as job seeking trends.

We surveyed over 500,000 employees working in job roles ranging from store managers, regional managers and operations directors to retail support roles working in fashion & footwear, jewellery & accessories, food & convenience, value & discount, DIY, trade & wholesale, mobile phone and electrical. The valuable insights that we discovered will help you strike a balance between keeping costs down and staff happy.

Our survey revealed that just 9% of those working in the retail sector would not consider moving jobs, with 44% actively looking for a new role. Moreover, 50% believe their good work goes unrecognised, and only 20% feel their opinions count. When asked what would keep them committed to their current role, the top factors which respondents listed were a salary increase, clear career progression and a better work/life balance.

More positively, 61% of respondents revealed that they find their line manager’s leadership style effective or very effective. However 44% don’t feel they have someone at work that encourages their development. In relation to training, just over half of respondents receive internal training and development opportunities, yet 28% don’t receive any external training and development opportunities. As training and development opportunities are listed as one of the top benefits people in the sector search for when job hunting, perhaps it is time for the sector to re-evaluate in order to improve staff retention levels?

We’re sharing these fascinating insights with you to support your recruitment, remuneration and retention planning within the retail sector.