The study collected data from a range of employees and experts in retailing across Canada, as well as available information on retail careers in other jurisdictions.
QUESTIONS ASKED
The questions provided to our focus group facilitators are reproduced below. The interviews and postal surveys asked essentially the same questions:
FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS
- CAREER ENTRY
Question 1
"First can we ask you how YOU got into retailing?"
This is really a warm-up question but we would like to know if people got into retailing by accident or design.
Question 2
"Would a scholarship program encourage students to consider a career in retailing?"
Please suggest the following as a likely scenario:
- $2,500 annual scholarship
- Available to students enrolled in a retail course at a recognized educational institution
- 2 x 4 month co-op placement periods
- a guaranteed job in retail
Question 3
"Is your organization hiring new employees and what are they looking for?"
Please probe for:
- At what level are they hiring? (Entry level/management trainee/experienced management/senior management)
- How are they finding people? (advertising/internal posting/Internet/head hunter)
- Do you think that retail employers are demanding higher qualifications now than before?
- CAREER STRUCTURE
Question 4
"What is the route from entry level to senior management in your company?"
Please probe for:
How many levels are there in your organizations between entry level and senior management level?
- How difficult is it in your organization to rise internally from entry level to senior management level?
- Has the route for advancement changed over time?
- How did you advance? - was it in a "straight line" or did your advance require experience in different areas (sales/buying/administration/etc)
- What is the normal route for advancement in your organization for people in different areas such as:
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- Promotions and Advertising
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- How easy is it in your organization to switch from one career route to another?
- Are all jobs posted and available to existing employees
- Why is the turnover rate so high in retailing?
- Is it better to stay in the same organization or move to other retailers for advancement?
- Why are so many Americans taking top jobs in Canadian retailers?
Question 5
"Do you think new types of retailing will change career structures?"
Please probe for:
- Will there be more or less job opportunities in the newer modes of retailing e.g. TV/Internet shopping/Telemarketing?
- How will people advance in these new methods?
- What qualifications will people need for this new retailing?
- Do you see any such changes in YOUR organization?
- CAREER ADVANCEMENT CRITERIA
Question 6
"What is needed to get a promotion in your company?"
Please probe for:
Performance
- Do you have regular performance reviews?
- What skills does your organization assess in these reviews?
- How important are performance reviews for promotion?
Experience
- How important is experience for promotion in your organization?
- Is length of service in one organization or experience in different retail organizations more important?
- Is depth of experience in one job type (in retailing) important or is it more important to have a range of experience in different job types in retailing?
Qualifications/Training
- How important are initial qualifications, such as a degree, for promotion in your organization?
- How important is continued training for promotion in your organization?
- Is your employer more interested in the content of training courses or the final paper qualification (degree/diploma) when promoting employees?
- Does your organization provide its own training for entry-level positions?
- Does your organization provide its own training for higher level positions or are they sent on external courses?
- Does your organization use newer technologies (e.g. computer-based) in their training courses? And how available are computers for training in your company?
- PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Question 7
"Is it important for retailing to have its own accredited qualifications?"
Please probe for:
Initial/In-service training
- Are accredited retail qualifications, such as a degree in retailing, needed for entry level/higher level positions?
Costs/Benefits
- Who gains from retail training? (Employer/employee?)
- What do they gain and are there any drawbacks?
- Who should pay for initial/in-service training?
(e.g. government/employer/employee)
Question 8
"Finally – what do you think lies in the future for retailing?"
THE FINDINGS
Career Entry
Hiring
- 86+% of respondent companies were hiring new employees
- Of those:
- 86+% were hiring at entry level
- 43% were hiring management trainees
- 29% were hiring experienced management
- 20% were hiring senior management
- Some respondents reported a shortage of "key people":
- The availability of jobs depended on the size of retailer – there were far fewer jobs and almost no senior management opportunities in smaller retailers.
- 75+% of respondents said that their companies were now demanding higher qualifications than previously.
Motivation
- 67+% of respondents said that most people enter retailing accidentally (often by way of a temporary job that turns into a permanent one later – sometimes after education is completed)
- 30+% of respondents said that most people enter reluctantly (because they can’t find anything better or until something "better" turns up)
- Only 1% of respondents felt that most people enter retailing as a deliberate career choice.
The Attraction of Retailing
The interviews and focus group participants suggested:
- it is easier to get jobs in retailing than in most other sectors
- it is convenient to earn money part-time while studying
- some people really enjoy selling
- some areas of retailing are "sexy" – e.g. music and fashion stores
The Problems with Retailing
The interviews and focus group participants suggested:
- low pay
- long hours
- poor treatment (especially of temporary staff)
- poor training (especially of temporary staff)
What Would Attract People to a Career in Retailing?
- 68% of respondents thought a scholarship program with hands-on (co-op) experience, financial support for education and a guaranteed job in retailing at the end would attract good quality candidates to retailing
The interviews and focus group participants also suggested:
- higher wages and/or profit/equity sharing schemes
Career Structure
Career Levels
- 56+% of survey respondents said their company had 3-5 levels between entry and management
- 25% had less than 3 levels
- 10% had more than 5 levels
Ease of advancement
- 51+% felt advancement from entry level to management was possible
- 8+% felt it was difficult
- Only 7+% felt it was easy
- Larger retailers were more likely to offer possibilities for advancement, especially big box chains or "sexy" retail areas such as music stores.
Switching Career Routes
- 74+% of survey respondents said it was difficult or very difficult to switch from one career route to another (say from sales to merchandising).
- Only 25+% said it was easy or very easy.
Methods of Advancement
- 36+% of survey respondents said rising in a straight line in one company was the best way to advance a retail career.
- 33+% said the best way was through experience in different retail areas and in different retail companies.
- 16+% it was best to have experience in different areas in one company; and
- 9+% said it was best in a straight line but in more than one company.
Need to Switch Companies
When asked to agree or not with the statement "It is better to stay in the same organization than move to other retailers for advancement"
- 13+% strongly agreed
- 36+% agreed
- 45+% disagreed
- 3+% strongly disagreed
Opportunities for Internal Promotion
Internal posting of job opportunities is one signal that internal candidates stand a good chance of promotion.
- 24+% of respondents said ALL jobs were posted internally
- 22+% said SOME jobs were posted internally
- 6% said NO jobs were posted internally.
Why do Americans Gain Top Retail Jobs in Canada?
- 6% of respondents felt it was because there were not enough qualified Canadians available
- 18+% attributed it to increasing American control of Canadian retailers
- 16+% felt Americans had more experience in larger markets
- 10% felt it was because of a variety of other reasons – one of which was that "Americans take retailing more seriously".
Career Advancement Criteria
The Relative Importance of Performance, Experience and Qualifications
- 83+% of respondents said performance was important or very important for advancement in retailing
- 58+% felt experience was important or very important
- 33+% said qualifications were important or very important.
- Performance was generally defined as a good "personality" and sales ability, along with people skills and the ability to be a team player.
- Experience was felt to be most important when concentrated in one field.
- The industry is equivocal on the subject of qualifications. While it was seen as the least important element for advancement, many large retailers are now demanding a degree for full-time employees, even at entry level. The practice of fast-tracking graduates through management trainees programs was also on the rise.
Career Development
The Importance of Professional Accreditation in Retailing
- Overall, most interviewees and focus group participants believed that having a recognized professional accreditation for retailing would be a good thing.
- Respondents were more divided and this was probably because we were not able to deal with underlying concerns as we were in the face-to-face data collection.
- 47+% of respondents thought it was important or very important to have an accredited professional qualification.
- 52+% thought it only slightly or not at all important.
Initial Training
- 95+% of respondents said that their company provided its own training for entry-level positions.
The Importance of Training
- 86+% of respondents said that continued training was important or very important for gaining promotion in retailing.
- 83+% of respondents felt that both the employer and the employee gain from continued employee training
What is Gained from Employee Training?
Employees gain:
- Increased job satisfaction (78% respondents)
- More promotion chances (59% respondents)
- Increased value in the job market (51% respondents)
Employers gain:
- Increased productivity (91% respondents)
- Increased customer satisfaction (85% respondents)
- Increased employee loyalty (51% respondents)
The Importance of Content vs. Paper Qualification
- 77% of respondents thought that the content of training courses was important or very important for gaining promotion
- 39% of respondents thought that the final paper qualification provided by training courses was important or very important for gaining promotion.
Who Should Pay for Training?
- 76% of respondents felt the employer should pay for initial employee training
- 37% felt the government should pay
- 38% felt the employees should pay
- 93% of respondents thought that the employer should pay for in-service training
- 22% thought the government should pay
- 14% thought employees should pay
A Youth Perspective on Retailing
General Attitude to Careers
- All the youth focus group participants said they would rather starve than work in a job that didn’t interest them, but this was tempered by some realism.
- Several expected that family responsibilities would force them into getting jobs that would pay the bills, regardless of interests.
- Half the group said that if they were forced to work at jobs that did not interest them they would want to be well paid as compensation.
General Attitude to Post-Secondary Education
- 19 of the 20 participants were going on to post-secondary education.
- All planned to work their way through university.
- Only a few were considering a part-time retail job.
Experience of Retailing
- Half the participants had worked or were working in retail.
- Of those with retail experience, half had enjoyed it but the others regarded it as "a job I had to do to earn some money."
- One participant had felt she had to lie to customers and had not found retail very challenging work.
- One participant who had enjoyed the retail work experience put it down to "the company of my fellow workers."
- One participant was attracted to his retail job because "he believed in the product."
- A majority of participants thought that retailing was a simple job that required no previous skills but four participants disagreed and felt that it takes some amount of natural "people skills" to work in retail at whatever level.
General Attitudes to Retailing
- 4 participants said they would NEVER consider a career in retailing.
- 9 participants perceived retailing as less than honest, especially in relation to advertising and the treatment of employees
- 15 participants stressed the need to improve employee compatibility in retailing
- 9 participants said retailing needed better managers
- 4 participants felt that rewarding employees worked better than punishment
- Overall the retailing industry’s image was unflattering.
- All participants agreed that if retail representatives came to schools and provided information about the industry it might influence them in choosing a retail-related degree program at the post-secondary level.
Information Technology in Retailing
Technology-based Training
- 53% of MIS respondents said their company used technology-based training.
- Of those, only 16% (8+% of the whole) said they used online training
- Of those not using technology-based training:
- 22% said it was not appropriate
- 12+% said it was too expensive
- 18+% said it was due to lack of expertise in the company
- 3+% said it was due to lack of access to the necessary technology
- 45% of respondents said their company planned to use more technology-based training in the future
- 28% were not sure
- 25% said their company had no plans to do so
- 66% of respondents said their company planned to make more technology available to their staff for training
- 25% were not sure
- 6% said there were no plans to do so.
Retail Uses of New Technologies
- 50% of respondents said their company was getting into new modes of retailing:
- 10% used web conferencing and 29% plan to do so within 3 years
- 18% use web-based advertising and 44% plan to do so within 3 years
- 5% are selling over the web and 44% plan to do so within 3 years
- 70% use e-mail and 12% plan to do so within 3 years
Employee Access to New Technologies
- Over half the MIS respondents said 75% of their company employees had access to computers
- Nearly three quarters of respondents said that less than 25% of their staff had access to the Internet.
In the main survey:
- 20% of respondents said computers were easily available for staff training
- 30% said they were available
- 24% said they were not easily available
- 22% said they were not available at all.
Effects of New Technology on Retail Careers
- 27% of respondents felt that the use of new technologies in retailing would create more jobs
- 48% felt that it would simply replace the same amount of old jobs with new ones
- 21% felt it would destroy more jobs than it created
- 11% of respondents felt the use of new technology would create more opportunities for promotion
- 48% felt it would make no difference
- 42% felt it would reduce opportunities for promotion
- 78% of respondents felt that computer skills were the most important skills that would be needed for the new types of retailing
The Future of Retailing
- There was a sharp division between small and larger retailers when it came to optimistic views of the future.
- In general small retailers are fairly pessimistic. Their worries are centred on the fear of being swallowed by larger enterprises. Their employees are concerned with low wages, poor working conditions and the lack of rewards and career opportunities.
- Larger retailers are guardedly optimistic. They agree that consolidation in the industry is not yet over and they and their employees are expecting continued tough competition. They are also expecting more specialization and continued emphasis on customer service.
- In relation to customer service they perceive two opposing trends, but underlying both is the continued impact of the "smart shopper":
- one set of smart shoppers has little time but good search skills (e.g. online) and are willing to shop at a distance. Their idea of customer service is speed and efficiency.
- the other set includes those who like to combine shopping with a degree of entertainment and they demand highly personalized service.
- For both sets of shoppers the use of computers to "customer build" and monitor their characteristics and requirements (data "mining") will increase.
- A big effect of "smart shoppers" is to increase the need for "smart salespeople" (and managers!) especially in terms of product knowledge.
- There is general agreement that, although no one knows exactly what the future holds, new concepts will constantly arise, bringing with them new retail opportunities and the need for continual in-service training.
ANALYSIS
Career Entry
- There is no doubt that it is currently possible to get jobs in retailing. Many retailers are constantly hiring, if only because of turnover, and if only seasonally.
- It is still possible to get into retailing with no formal qualifications but this is becoming harder, with employers demanding higher qualifications than before.
- There is a growing trend to take graduates into management trainee schemes and fast-track them.
- Probably about two-third of retail employees get into retailing by accident but, once there, most of them enjoy retailing as a career.
- More disturbing is the fact that one-third is probably there reluctantly and few of these become happy in the job.
Implications
- The industry receives people largely untrained in the skills needed and must expend considerable resources on training while in a state of tough competition and low profit margins. An industry-wide initiative is needed to provide better prepared retail employees at lower costs.
- With so many potentially disgruntled employees, the negative impact on customer service could be high. This at a time when good customer service is considered a vital element in retail survival. This is a problem the industry needs to take very seriously.
Career Structure
The study revealed five main career paths within the structure of retail companies:
This employee enters on a temporary basis and may never return. Some, however, may become permanent, as part of the Backbone or with ambition to move higher.
This employee (who may be full- or part-time) will remain, sometimes by choice, on the shop floor, or at the lower levels. This "plateauing" effect can be a problem for some people, especially in small retailers with no opportunities for advancement, and for employers who may find it hard to retain good employees.
This employee is usually a graduate, management trainee, destined for special training and fast-tracking through the company. They may eventually become Loyalty or Multi Trackers.
This employee, who may be an ex-Backboner or Fast Tracker, has decided to stay with one company and advance as far as possible within it. This was a common career path in the past but loyalty has been severely tested by downsizing and the advent of more "American" practices in career advancement.
This employee may also be an ex-Backboner or Fast Tracker, or come from another retailer. They are ambitious and determined to do what it takes to get ahead, and this increasingly means moving from company to company. They will not allow "plateauing" to affect them.
Implications
- Recent downsizing, American competition and the inherent problems of small retailers have had an impact on the industry in two main ways:
- The problem of plateauing has produced an increase in employee Multi-Tracking, which again suggests that an industry-wide strategy for retail training that can reduce costs is worth exploring
- The problem of retaining good staff is increasing and is probably one reason for the increased focus on graduate recruitment for management training and fast-tracking.
Career Advancement Criteria
What retailers SAY they want in priority order are:
- Performance
– people with good personalities and people skills who can close a sale and work well with fellow employees
- Experience
– which will vary with the position to be filled
- Qualifications
– which is the least valued attribute ON THE SURFACE.
In fact retailers are belying their words with their actions:
- They are, in fact, demanding higher qualifications, even for entry level than ever before
- They rate qualifications as important for higher levels of employees
- They are usually willing to pay staff to gain higher qualifications, if these can be demonstrated to improve the bottom line in some way
Implications
- People wishing a career in retailing would be well-advised to gain some relevant retail-related business qualifications if they want to get ahead.
Career Development
There was general agreement that training is the key to advancement yet training is offered very differently to different types of employees:
- Temps
are often given the bare essentials, sometimes no training at all.
- The Backbone
may fare little better and will not generally be given training that will help them advance in a retail career beyond the lower levels.
- The Fast Trackers
are the luckiest with training schemes mapped out for them that often include a comprehensive exposure to different retail activities.
- The Loyalty Trackers
are the ones who are beginning to lose out in the training stakes. While management will often respond supportively to employee-initiated requests for courses they are not generally proactive.
- The Multi-Trackers
generally demand the type of training that will get them ahead. They are vigorously proactive and do not leave their training to employers to organize.
Implications
- Good training obviously impacts positively on the bottom line – more so if training costs can be optimized. Exploration of the possible cost-savings and learning enhancement offered by online training programs would be worthwhile.
RECOMMENDATIONS
2....... Improve Recruitment and Induction into Retailing
3....... Increase the Quality and Morale of the Retail Workforce
