Low Manning Levels and Understaffing, A Major Concern for Retail Workers

Close to half of UK's retail workers have complained about being overworked and their workplaces being significantly understaffed over the Christmas period, a recent research report has been able to suggest.

The research from Qualtrics suggests that 47% of retail workers taking part in the research agreed that there simply weren't enough staff on hand over the festive period. Furthermore, the dissatisfaction is then compounded by a lack of recognition, with only 29% of seasonal workers feeling recognised for a job well done — compared to 86% of full-time employees.

Commenting on these findings Sheila Kearney, retail expert at Qualtrics, said:

"Having a bare bones approach to staffing over the festive period is very short-sighted. What is seen as 'cost-saving' is actually losing some high-street retailers revenue during what should be their most important sales season.

"By sacrificing employee experience in the name of saving money, some retailers are actually shooting themselves in the foot. When we talk to our customers, they recognise that people are much less likely to have a positive in-store experience with stressed, overstretched and undervalued employees manning the helm.

Tensor Time and Attendance Systems Help You Monitor and Manage Manning Levels

The Tensor time and attendance system will help you take control of shifts, manning levels and working patterns at your small or large business with the help of our Smart Card based payroll and Time & Attendance systems.

For example, manning levels in our WinTA.NET application are based upon employee skills required during the working week. WinTA.NET is a proactive system that keeps managers abreast of events. It does this by automatically emailing or SMS text messaging both employees and system users on various issues.

A separate module is available for rostering and manpower scheduling. You are pre-warned when applying a shift pattern that will result in a Working Time Regulations infringement.

Furthermore, both the WinTA Lite and WinTA Enterprise time and attendance systems can be integrated with Personnel Software which offers features that will save time and aid strategic planning, especially in emergency situations (strikes, natural disasters, etc.).

A mobile or wireless technology based time and attendance system for employers from Tensor ensures an organization is kept up to date with who is missing at the workplace.

If you'd like to find out more about Tensor's advanced workforce management software, just contact us or Book a Demo, we'd be more than happy to answer all of your questions and queries.