How the Recent Bankruptcy Announcements Can Negatively Impact Your Healthy Business and Ways You Can Avoid it
This topic seemed timely, especially for those of us in working in retail each day. It feels as though we are now regularly hearing about more and more store closures or retailers filing bankruptcy. There continues to be talk about a retail apocalypse and whether retail can continue in its current form. The answer to that question is relatively simple; retail can’t stay in its current form. Retail must change; it must evolve; we must become something different. And we are seeing some retailers already explore new options that redefine success.
One of the biggest obstacles and concerns that come from all of these store closure news articles is, employees begin to wonder whether their job is safe or if their store will close. People feel as though they must compete with fellow team members to ensure they are the ones that will be safe if a selection process occurs. Some may hoard information or ideas to protect their position. Energy is then focused internally on oneself instead of on the overall business or on the team’s success.
As a leader identifying this challenge is really important. Limiting this singular, inward focus, is how you can move your business in the right direction and avoid not just a closure but thrive in an uncertain world.
Here are three things you can do as a leader to ensure you’re helping your team focus on the right things and not the fear of whether or not their store or business will close.
Communicate and Educate
The absolute best way to keep your team fully engaged in your business and not be distracted by what is shaping in the industry around you is to communicate transparently and frequently. Even when you think the information may seem minor, share it. When there is external news that may be related to your business or could have an impact on your customers - proactively bring the topic up and speak to the effect it may have on your company.
The more you share, the better. Take the opportunity to educate your team on some of the key financial measures your company has. Teaching about the importance of cash flow, debt, and other expenses can not only quell some fears, but you may also find ways to learn new ideas from your team on how to manage those areas. There are multiple examples of retailers that weathered previous market downturns by engaging more with their teams and involving them in the decisions that were being made to steer the company clear of troubles.
Reinforce Your Vision
Building on the communication platform is the need to connect actions to your vision. Speak to how the vision you have for your store, district, region, or company will address other market pressures. Customer experience is a popular buzz word in all areas right now. I say buzz word, but it is the reality of the retail space today. We all must create a unique experience that is relevant to our business for our customers. What is the reason they will shop with you in your physical locations?
Connect your team members to each other through the vision. Help them understand that the business wins when everyone works together. This can help remove the draw of competing with one another within the organization for positions they fear will be eliminated or reduced.
Share Successes
Everyone likes to hear stories that support what they are doing. Success stories can serve so many valuable purposes. It is a way to reinforce behaviors. They can serve as training tools as well as something for others to aspire to achieve. When you can tie the successes to the vision and what you are talking about on a daily basis, the team will recognize that everyone can be successful. There is some balancing required here to ensure that everyone sees their ability to be a part of the success and that it is not just one person that is always the hero. The important part is to show that working together leads to customers choosing to come back and spend more.
The retail landscape will continue to change, likely dramatically, from what we have been used to. There will be more store closures; there will be further bankruptcies. But, we also see companies that began as an online-only business branch out and open brick and mortar stores. Believe it or not, there is growth in retail. Target, Wal-Mart, and TJX have all recently reported growing sales numbers in their retail stores. Not coincidently, each of these companies has prioritized a seamless experience between their web offerings and the store experience. Instead of competing within the business, they are complimenting it, and customers are noticing and appreciating it. You can make this a reality in your business as well. At every level, you can make a difference with your team - you don’t need to be the one making the highest level strategic decisions. You just need to engage and communicate with your teams, create a safe environment for everyone to flourish and continue to prioritize the customer’s connection to your location.
What are you doing to keep your team engaged and working together?
Join other retail leaders in continuing their development journey with Effective Retail Leader.com. SUBSCRIBE today to receive FREE leadership tips directly to your inbox and monthly newsletters that provide many tools to help further develop your leadership skills all at no cost. JOIN NOW!
No spam ever - just leadership goodness.