The retail industry confronts persistent labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, and inflation rates that threaten margins across the sector. Major retail giants have experienced drops in profits and declines in stock value as market conditions shift and consumer spending patterns evolve.
Retail companies listen less frequently than other industries, use fewer feedback channels, and respond more slowly to employee input. Perceptyx's State of Employee Listening research found that retail companies in the study listened less frequently, across fewer channels, and were slower to address employee feedback than companies in other industries. This gap creates opportunities for retailers to strengthen their listening programs and gain competitive advantage.
Retailers need strategic employee listening programs to address three critical workforce trends. Three workforce trends require immediate attention from retail leaders:
Retail quit rates remain elevated, with only the accommodation and food services industry category showing higher month-to-month quit levels than retail trade, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Retailers must move beyond annual engagement surveys to capture moments that matter throughout the employee lifecycle. Retailers are capturing "moments that matter" with onboarding, stay, and exit surveys. Perceptyx predicts turnover with 85% accuracy using lifecycle survey data to:
Explain the risk factors of turnover
Predict the likelihood of turnover for each employee
Forecast turnover hotspots in the organization for intervention and workforce planning
Mitigate future turnover by providing store/district/region managers with personalized and actionable turnover insights
Perceptyx data shows flexibility, DEIB, and manager relationships drive engagement and retention as much as compensation. For one retailer, stores with fewer female managers showed 15% lower engagement scores and smaller year-over-year sales increases. For one retailer, Perceptyx found stores with a higher percentage of female employees and a lower percentage of female managers were the least likely to be highly engaged and had the smallest year-over-year increases in sales and underlying operating margin – evidence that an increase in female representation among management may yield positive results for employee engagement as well as the retailer's bottom line.
Schedule flexibility emerged as a top driver of retention in our retail client data. Associates who reported having input into their schedules were 2.3 times more likely to stay beyond six months. Manager relationships proved equally critical — employees who felt their direct supervisor cared about their development showed 40% higher engagement scores than those who did not.
These findings challenge the traditional assumption that pay alone determines whether retail workers stay or leave. While competitive compensation remains important, retailers who invest only in wages without addressing flexibility, inclusion, and leadership quality will continue to struggle with turnover.
Retailers are leveraging employee voice data and applying conjoint analysis to reevaluate their employee value proposition (EVP). This is the collection of features and benefits used by an employer to market its organization to prospective (and even current) employees. These analyses help retailers identify which benefits drive retention: debt-free education assistance, caregiving support, and well-being programs including mindfulness apps and training.
Conjoint analysis reveals the relative value employees place on different benefits. One national retailer discovered that tuition assistance programs increased intent to stay by 18%, while expanded parental leave drove a 22% increase. Another found that access to mental health resources and flexible scheduling ranked higher than additional paid time off among frontline associates.
By testing different benefit combinations through employee surveys, retailers can allocate their total rewards budget more strategically. This data-driven approach ensures that EVP investments align with what actually matters to the workforce, rather than relying on industry benchmarks or executive assumptions.
Retailers are focused on gaining traction in their omnichannel transformation, analyzing customer preference data, predicting local demand, creating persona-based customer profiles, and harnessing clienteling data. Retailers apply these same analytical techniques to workforce data, creating employee and store personas that predict performance.Perceptyx identified the high-performing store profile: these locations showed 70% higher net sales, 6.25% higher operating margins, and 20% lower shrink. Stores that instituted three specific high-performing store persona-based follow-up actions after the completion of a customer transaction saw the greatest overall impact on the customer experience.
High-performing stores shared common employee experience characteristics: strong manager-associate relationships, clear communication about goals, and consistent recognition practices. Associates in these locations reported feeling empowered to solve customer problems and were 3.2 times more likely to recommend their store as a great place to work.
The correlation between employee engagement and business outcomes becomes even clearer when retailers link listening data to operational metrics. Stores in the top quartile for engagement showed measurably better inventory accuracy, faster transaction times, and higher customer satisfaction scores. This connection demonstrates that employee listening is a business performance strategy that directly impacts the bottom line.
The Perceptyx platform lets retail leaders launch pulse surveys, analyze turnover patterns, and track engagement metrics in real time. Our analytics team helps you identify turnover risk factors, predict employee exits with 85% accuracy, and build action plans that reduce quit rates across your stores. Schedule a demo to learn how we can help your retail organization navigate successfully through the many challenges facing the industry.
An employee listening strategy is a plan for collecting, studying, and acting on feedback from workers. Retailers use tools such as pulse, onboarding, stay, and exit surveys, plus focus groups and open-text comments. A unified platform like Perceptyx brings all that data into one view and flags actions for each leader.
Use a yearly census survey to track big themes, then add short pulse surveys every month or quarter. During major events—store openings, peak seasons, or policy changes—run quick, targeted polls so managers can respond in real time.
Mobile-friendly surveys, QR codes at break areas, quick text polls, and short manager check-ins reach associates who may not sit at a desk. Combine these with an always-open comment channel so workers can speak up anytime.
Link survey results to HR records. By spotting patterns—such as low manager support or schedule conflicts—you can flag stores at risk. Perceptyx models predict turnover with about 85% accuracy, letting leaders act before employees quit.
In most regions, employers may monitor business calls for quality or training—but they cannot record or listen to personal, non-work conversations without consent. Check local laws for exact rules.