The turnover is because the majority of the retail employees are students and people looking for extra money. Due to the nature of these jobs and these employees moving towards more promising and high-paying careers, a shift system is needed. Thus, the turnover, along with the growing demand for retail items, leads to a constant and high demand for retail workers, who are necessary for the basic operations, bookkeeping, and customer handling at a retail store.
All this, however, doesn’t explain the need for shift change procedures in retail.
Retail workers are working on a temporary or part-time basis, and to efficiently manage this random bunch, a manager (or managers who themselves also work shifts sometimes) must execute a proper shift change procedure.
Another reason why shift change procedures are necessary, apart from the workers’ temporary or part-time jobs, is the fact that workers can’t be on their toes at all times. Any retail worker can’t cater to customers from the time the store opens till the time it closes, during the whole week. If a retail store is opened at 9 am, for example, and closed at 11 pm, then no worker or manager can work for 14 hours. Hence, the need for an efficient shift change procedure. If the shift change procedure is well-planned and executed, then there will be staff present at the retail store at all times, and their best.
In case an employee calls in sick, the manager will have to change shifts or call in someone else, as he/she will have a replacement or another employee to depend on or fall back on. But, if there was no shift change system and the retail store had limited employees available at particular times, then the manager might have trouble finding someone to fill in. Or the store would have to be short-staffed, which might become a problem if a lot of customers come in at the same time.
The advantages of the shift change system:
- No one is overworked, so less chance of employees falling ill, and they will be in better spirits while dealing with customers.
- The system is well-managed and leaves little room for error as an employee will have to complete a specific set of hours or shifts per week.
- Staff will always be present at the retail store at all times due to the store having an amalgamation of temporary, permanent, and part-time employees.
The disadvantages of the shift change system:
- There can be a lot of confusion when an employee calls in sick, and the manager has to switch all the shifts and check with everyone to see who is free and can take the shift.
These were the most widely recognized advantages and disadvantages of having shift change procedures in retail. But, even after viewing these, you won’t have a clear idea about what shift change procedures are. Better to have a look at the kinds of shift change systems that retail stores have the choice to use.
The shift changes in retail:
Five main kinds of shifts are being employed in retail, including morning shifts, mid-day shifts, and evening shifts. The other two kinds of shifts are the On-off work pattern, which entails employees working consecutively for days and then taking the next couple of days off. The second kind is the schedule format, which can have fixed shifts and flex shifts. In fixed shifts, employees work on one shift (morning, evening, etc.) but on different days. While in flex shifts, the employees can work in various shifts on different days, whichever is available to them. One thing that managers need to be careful about is to make sure that all employees fulfill their designated number of hours and are given a fair number of shifts.
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