The year is 2022 and the world of Retail is the wild, wild west. If enduring a global pandemic is not enough, try adding extreme supply chain shortages, mask mandates, The Great Resignation, and now inflation to the equation. Retail employees are in high demand and are even harder to come by. Retaining great talent should be at the top of every manager’s priority list, and unfortunately the current labor shortage means the occasional “congratulations” and a free lunch will no longer cut it for your employee incentivization strategy. In 2022 you should be rewarding your top earners with cash. Here’s why:
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1. Cash is king
Let’s be real, working in retail is tough! Between the increased likelihood of COVID exposures, the fast-paced environment, and inherent challenges of customer-facing work, the promise of payday is what keeps your team showing up each day. You might come across a unicorn who is as passionate about the products and industry as they are about getting paid, but chances are, your employees applied for their job for the paycheck.
Many retailers in 2021 raised their wages to retain staff, Target, Best Buy, and Under Armor to name a few. Everyone likes a raise, but many businesses aren’t in a position to boost employees’ compensation across the board.
With all these competitors offering better wages, signing bonuses, and benefits packages, ad-hoc pizza parties pale in comparison. Luckily, there are many ways outside of wage increase that will ensure your employees are feeling appreciated and motivated.
Here at SparkPlug, we have perfected the use of behavioral science to incentivize retail employees. By tying cash bonuses and rewards to sales productivity, SparkPlug lets businesses align their employees behind clear goals and expectations, giving your team the motivation to show up each day focused on hitting sales goals in order to maximize their take-home pay.
2. Tying cash bonuses to work-performance is powerfully effective
As a manager, you should want your staff to be motivated and passionate about the job. This will directly reflect in your sales, camaraderie, and general environment at work. If your employees are not feeling appreciated, you will immediately see this reflected in their work. Employees that clearly understand how their individual contributions translate to success for the business and more money in their pocket are motivated to ensure that the business hits those goals.
Cash is the best incentive to motivate your staff and make them feel of value to your business, and cash rewards are most effective when tied to measurable metrics of success.
3. Employee loyalty is fragile and has to be earned
Let’s face it, your employees are not tied down to their job, especially when everyone is hiring. Your staff will seek out (and find) other opportunities if they are not feeling valued or paid appropriately. There are countless incentives being offered to employees (signing bonuses, benefits, raises) and to stand out and retain your best people you need to make them feel that they are not only needed but valued. Offering well-structured incentive programs where they can maximize their earnings based on performance is a way to stand out from the competition and secure employees who may have a wandering eye.
The core of a great sales team is a manager who appreciates their staff and knows their worth. You can only say thank you so much. Using cash rewards tied to employee performance is the best way to show them that you care for the work they do, that the business values their efforts, and that their earning potential is only limited by the work they are willing to put in.
At SparkPlug, employees are our motivation. We give businesses better tools to leverage the influence employees have over customer purchasing behavior at the point-of-sale. We allow employees to be paid outside their hourly rate based on the value they provide to the business. By incentivizing a workforce that perceives itself as undervalued and underpaid, SparkPlug has a dramatic impact on employee retention, product sell-through, and business profitability.
Learn more about how SparkPlug can help your business with employee rewards and incentive programs. Get started here.
