The
only thing unusual about your predicament is that you have told
higher management to consider getting rid of the employees who are
not pulling their weight instead of handling it yourself. Usually,
it must be the Store Manager makes these decisions and acts upon
them in order to rectify the situation. Your retail store is not the
place for anyone who is lazy. There is always a lot of work to do
and customers to satisfy. Lazy people require some form of
performance management. Whether it is you, or someone else in
management, action has to be taken if you want your store to do
well.
You
need a zero tolerance zoning chart and maintenance plan. This means
that you draw up a map of the store every day/shift (obviously photo
copies are a good idea) and you list A) the name of the person(s)
who will be responsible for the maintenance of that zone and B) a
list of tasks/duties to be done in that zone.
Each individual must be required to initial beside the task/duty
they have performed and management must check that everything has
been accomplished at the end of the day/shift or whatever time
period you deem acceptable. If the plan is not followed and there is
no legitimate reason for it (i.e.: extraordinary sales) then you
have to use disciplinary measures. Don't waste your time trying
to find another way. Everyone does what needs to be done, period.
I
must tell you that many high volume stores get 'trashed' throughout
the day. You need to make sure you have enough staff to handle
sales, customer service and maintenance. If your situation warrants,
you could explore the idea of having staff on the floor who
specifically handle maintenance. One warning here: if you decide to
have maintenance staff on the floor do not ever give them the idea
that they do not have to provide customer service. They must still
be dressed and groomed properly, wear name badges, greet customers
and offer assistance to any customer who seems to need it. Anyone
and everyone on your sales floor must understand the customer is
first...always. The maintenance staff could be trained on how to
handover a customer to a sales associate. There are special
techniques to be used in order to avoid the customer feeling like
s/he has been pawned off. So, be careful.
Our
'Winning at Retail Management' Guide contains a chart entitled 'The
Daily News'. It is an excellent organization tool for retail
Managers. Also, you may want to sign up for our free newsletter.
Check out RetailWise on our website.
Good Luck and Enjoy Retail,
Bobbie
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