Chicago, IL and New York, NY | January 17, 2024 10:30 AM EST

Health & Safety jumps by 10% as a Staying factor; Insufficient Pay up by 17% as a Quitting driver

Lotis Blue Consulting, a corporate advisory and business transformation firm, releases the third edition of its comprehensive research study, Lotis Blue Future of Retail Workforce Study, analyzing the current state of the retail workforce. The study investigates ways the current macroeconomic environments has influenced retention trends for the retail workforce; factors that are becoming more important to employee retention and loyalty; how motivations for leaving or staying in a job are changing over time; and, new to this edition, how factors driving quit and stay decisions differ by workforce characteristics and retail segment.

Research for the Lotis Blue Future of Retail Workforce Study was conducted during the lead-up to the 2023 holiday season and is based on comprehensive, objective feedback from 1,000 retail associates. The report uses the lens of the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) – including 7 dimensions and 30 underlying factors – to evaluate retail employees’ decisions to stay, consider leaving or leave an employer.

“Labor dynamics in retail have changed dramatically in the last 12 months with a tightening of the job market and stabilizing sales, coinciding with major attitude shifts toward work and employers,” noted Lotis Blue Consulting partner and study author Aaron Sorensen, adding, “Even with changing labor conditions and issues, the data is comprehensive enough to predict an employee’s decision to stay or leave an employer with 87 percent accuracy. And in order to hold onto valued employees, we’ve observed that retailers must simultaneously provide an environment where there are more factors that make workers want to stay, and fewer that make them want to quit.”

The study found that recent changes in labor market dynamics resulted in a decrease in turnover but a 7% increase in retail associates who are considering leaving their jobs, suggesting an underlying dissatisfaction with their current work situation. “Changes to the reasons that associates are staying or leaving an employer suggest that factors such as schedule flexibility serve a triggering role to job dissatisfaction,” noted study co-author and Lotis Blue Consulting partner Erica Grant. “While some decision drivers such as enjoyable work consistently influence staying decisions across workforce segments, other factors vary significantly in their importance by retail segment. There is no one-size-fits-all approach for retailers.”

The study findings in this most recent edition include:

1. Talent strategies for the retail workforce have a short shelf-life, due to changes in labor and market conditions
2. Stay and leave decisions have changed significantly in the last 12 months, differing across retailer types and workforce characteristics
3. Job factors create magnetism that uniquely attracts or repels retail associates
4. More associates are staying, but there are also more with one foot out the door
5. Some factors matter more than others: 60% of all stay-or-leave decisions currently relate to Job & Work Environment, Company, and Leadership & Culture
6. Pay and Health & Safety have made significant jumps as turnover and retention drivers this year, and Scheduling triggers a cascade of turnover intentions

For more information or the newest study edition, please visit the 2024 Lotis Blue Future of Retail Workforce Study.