Lane4 in the News: Put People First in Retail
In tough times, it can be tempting for retailers to revert to outdated top-down management as they squeeze costs.
But losing sight of staff is the worst thing they could do, says Retail Week's Katie Kilgallen.
Liz Campbell, portfolio director at performance development consultancy Lane4, which has helped retailers including Currys and Sainsbury's overhaul their approach to employee performance, believes that an autocratic and controlling culture doesn't allow for flexibility, empowerment and speed of decision.
According to Campbell, this was the primary reason why Currys embarked on its culture change initiative.
"The market was changing so significantly with the internet and mass merchants such as supermarkets that the difference was going to have to be around customer experience", she explains.
"But management were not going to be able to get staff to deliver just by telling them to" she says.
"They needed to be able to inspire people to perform and allow them to innovate."
However, Campbell acknowledges that this is far easier to achieve when times are good.
"If the figures aren't right,it can ripple down the organisation, with everyone focusing on yesterday's numbers to achieve tomorrow's sales."
"As a result, you get managers two or three levels above telling store managers how to run their stores , whereby the development aspect of the role for these staff is lost."
"It stops allowing them to do what you are paying them to do," she explains.
"The role of a leader is not to tell the store: `Get your figures right, but to ask: `How can I challenge and support you?"
In a difficult environment, however, it is very easy to get the challenge without the support.
As Campbell sees it, a lot of this is driven from the top down and business leaders become even more important cultural role models to staff during tough times, because employees become more likely to look above them and mirror behaviour.
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2008-07-25