Why is Blinds to Go having difficulty attracting and retaining retail staff?
The newly appointed Vice President of Store Operations of the company, Blinds To Go, has introduced a new compensation plan which is the revised version and is causing trouble or pressing challenge in attracting and retaining employees. This is the major issue or the hinder as it has brought a drastic organizational change, but besides that there are certain other issues that are causing hindrance in attracting and retaining employees.
The issues that are visible in attracting employees include the recruitment standard of the organization which are very high and most of the people who apply for the job seems under-qualified and less attractive as compared to the standards. Furthermore, the unemployment rate is also very low which is although an external factor, but still considered as a challenge in attracting new employees and making the job offering attractive for them to switch. On the other hand, the expansion plans of the company are big as they plan to open new stores with an average number of 50 every year that makes it more difficult to attract employees as the work load seems unattractive.
However, the organization is also facing immense pressure and challenge in retaining the current employees due to some weaknesses that are present internally. The first factor is the uncertainty that exists in the organization regarding the promotion of the employees. The employees are uncertain about their promotion in the organization and those seeking career growth are less likely to stay in the presence of such uncertainty. On the other hand, there is immense pressure on the employees to enhance their performance and perform impressively consistent. This increases the stress on the employees and makes the working environment less attractive.
Moreover, the lack of team spirit in the organization is prevailing due to the presence of competition among employees. The employees are striving to perform better than others in order to stay ahead in the competition, which is eventually destroying the working environment and making it less attractive for employees to stay. The culture is changing and is becoming highly competitive for the employees as the organization is demanding high performance levels in order to gain promotion which is why the work stress is increasing and the employees are seeking new options.
However, according to the current situation the major reason that is causing hindrance in attracting and retaining new employees is the change in the compensation system. According to the new system the employees will now be working for salaries rather than commission, as they were previously getting paid on the basis of the full commission. The old system was attractive to them as it allowed them to earn as much as they can and was one of the major attractions for new employees as well. However, with the change in system the new compensation plan seems dull and is not motivating for the employees.
Blinds To Go Staffing a Retail Expansion Case Solution
The sales associate will now be working on a per hour wage rate which is fixed that is a discouraging factor for them as now they will be focusing more towards customer service rather than generating more sales. A higher base salary instead of commission has been introduced for the store manager as well as part of the compensation plan and the uniform has been mandated that reflects more casual or informal attitude. Besides that a feeling of discomfort has been created among sales associates as they feel discriminated because the store managers will no longer serve the purpose of sale. This discriminatory attitude between the top level and lower level employees is a major constraint in retaining current employees’ especially sales staff and associates.
With the changes brought on the compensation plan, a sense of discrimination and discomfort evolved in the working environment that resulted in a turnover and many employees left the job. The new idea is not viewed as an attractive option by the employees because the commission plan allowed them to be more energetic and enthusiastic towards their job but now the monetary benefit has been reduced and fixed. This created job dissatisfaction and created an urge among employees towards leaving the job which eventually increased the turnover and reduced the employee retention rate...........
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