Planning and Leading for an Uncertain Future
Over the past couple of weeks, there have been well over one million retail jobs that have been furloughed or eliminated. That is a scary statistic, whether you are part of those or not. It creates extreme uncertainty and makes it difficult to know how retail will operate in the future. As a leader, what are you to do? How can you provide support for your team, when you may be concerned about what impact these changes and announcements will have on you?
Outside of a few specific channels within retail, most stores are closed, and companies have announced furloughs and layoffs. High profile retailers like Kohls, Macy’s, Gap, and Ross announced they would begin an unpaid leave program for most, if not all, of their retail associates. In most cases, associates will still maintain their benefits, which is good, but no one can say how long stores will remain closed and what the impact will be when stores do reopen.
For many store, district, regional, and even corporate leaders, this has an impact on them as well. Many of these positions may be maintained for the time, but providing support and encouragement can be a challenge when the uncertainty is so encompassing. However, there are some things you can do to help your team.
Be honest and authentic
As a leader, it is OK to say you are unsure and scared too. We all are. This is an industry that many of us have grown up in. We have seen many challenges in the past, such as 9/11, the 2008 recession, and ongoing store closures. But this is unlike anything anyone has ever seen before. It is terrifying to be part of a store organization that does not have any stores open. There is one truth in retail: you need to be open in order to generate sales and cash flow. Acknowledging your concerns with your team will help others know that it is not just them. We all need each other for support right now. False bravado and providing unsustainable claims will not help. Be honest, and remain authentic to extend the best comfort for your team.
Share the information you can with your team. Now is not the time to hold back factual information. But do not speculate. That can create additional concern or provide the wrong kind of hope for your team. Transparency is the approach when sharing the information you do have.
Be realistic, but optimistic
Sharing your fears and providing fact-based information is key, as mentioned above. It is also best to give an honest look ahead and provide hope where it makes sense. I believe most retailers can say that there will be a need for stores in the future. However, we need to acknowledge to ourselves and our team that it will look and feel different. It appears safe to say at this point that it will be an extended recovery period for businesses, the economy as a whole, and people’s shopping patterns. New habits, concerns about cleanliness, and safety expectations will be shifted during this prolonged stay-at-home period. We will all be different in unexpected ways in the coming weeks and months. Those are realistic expectations. But it does not need to be all doom and gloom. There will be new opportunities, there will be long-term growth options for retailers, and innovation will likely see a resurgence even in companies that tend to lean conservative. I see these as the light at the end of an uncertain tunnel. We may not be able to predict when they will happen, but I believe they will.
As leaders in an uncertain period, it is important to be strong, yet open, honest, and vulnerable. It’s OK to say you’re scared too. There will be brighter days ahead. Each of us has faced difficult times in the past and we have made it to the other side. This experience will teach us new things over time. Most of these wounds will heal, albeit with some scars, but retail will emerge to build the next chapter. None of us know for sure what the future holds. But that doesn’t mean we need to let that fear or the uncertainty dictate our lives. We still control our attitude, the choices we make, and how we engage with others. We can be the hope and the light for our teams (and ourselves).
Be safe, and stay well.
What are some ways you are encouraging your teams to help through these challenging times?
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