Why creating a winning retail team starts with effective task management

The secret to a thriving retail team isn’t just about hiring the right people—it’s about setting them up for success.

Customers are savvier than ever and expect a top-notch brand experience every time they walk into your store. That puts a lot of pressure on your employees; they need to be knowledgeable, skilled and ready to handle anything that comes their way. 

Finding and keeping top talent to meet these needs can be a challenge. But here’s the thing: most retailers are sitting on a goldmine of untapped potential—their current team!

“Retailers throughout the entire industry are struggling to find the talent required to deliver on the expectations of today’s consumer,” says Suzanne Sears, retail staffing expert and Best Retail Careers International Inc. president. “But there are quite a few brands out there that are not doing a whole lot to empower the talent that they do have within their organizations.

Even the most skilled, loyal employees can’t shine if unclear expectations and poor communication constantly bog them down. To unlock their potential, you need to give them the tools and support they need to succeed.

“It often boils down to ineffective communication between head office, store managers and frontline employees,” Sears explains. “If an employee doesn’t understand what’s expected of them in order to achieve the team’s objectives and if they don’t have clear visibility into the value of their contribution and the contributions of those around them, they aren’t going to feel empowered enough to go above and beyond for their colleagues, the consumer or the brand when the opportunity arises.”

The lack of effective communication within retail organizations is so pervasive that it’s creating gaps in sentiment and understanding between management and frontline staff, resulting in unnecessary execution impediments. According to The 2024 Deskless Report, 62% of executives believe their communication is very effective in helping frontline employees do their jobs every day, while only 39% of employees workers agree. 

So, how can you bridge this communication gap and better support your teams? Sears suggests that the path to improved company-wide communication might be through the development of strong task management. Effective task management can be critical in empowering staff, fostering innovation and driving the discretionary effort retailers desperately need. 

Here are four ways retailers can prioritize empowering staff through effective task management:

1. Building manager-worker connections

“Effective task management connects store managers and their employees in an incredibly meaningful way,” says Sears.

“It allows managers to convey deliverables to their employees, the importance of their contributions to the overall objectives, as well as the importance of their colleagues’ contributions. When employees feel a part of what’s going on and understand how goals within the organization are achieved, they’re much more likely to expend discretionary effort to help achieve them.”

In other words, when your team understands how their tasks contribute to the bigger picture, they’re more likely to be engaged and motivated to get things done.

2. Instilling pride and commitment

“When retail employees understand their roles and responsibilities, and they can see how their work lends toward achievements and success, a sense of pride in their work is cultivated,” says Sears. “And, in my experience, an employee who’s proud of their job and the work they’re doing is often an empowered employee willing and able to do whatever is necessary to ensure a satisfied customer and growth for the brand.”

When people feel good about their work, they’re more likely to go the extra mile.

3. Encouraging efficiency and innovation

“The biggest benefit of effective task management to store managers is the fact that their employees are so integrated mentally into the steps, procedures and tasks that need to be completed and adhered to each day, the work becomes almost second nature to them, inspiring and facilitating innovation and creativity in working toward goals and objectives,” says Sears.

When tasks are clear and organized, your teams can focus on what really matters: providing amazing customer service and devising creative solutions.

4. Creating a ‘cycle of success’

“Perhaps the greatest advantage that task management provides retailers and their store managers is the fact that, as a result of its connecting and empowering qualities, employees of the brand are truly set up to succeed,” says Sears. “By giving them access to the tools and direction that’s required in order to do their jobs to the best of their ability, they learn that they can achieve great things. And, because success leads to further success, empowered employees often strive to achieve even more.” Who doesn’t want a cycle of success permeating their staff? 

When your team feels empowered to achieve their goals, they’ll be motivated to reach even greater heights.– 

But here’s the catch: organizations need to have the right tools in place for effective task management to do its magic in empowering staff. 

Luckily, Sears explains, effective task management has always led to optimal retail execution, greater collaboration and an empowered workforce. However, she says task management implementation and maintenance is much easier today, thanks to the digitization of the world. And, given that everyone owns and carries a cellphone today, it only makes sense to leverage the technology already in employees’ hands to enable the most effective task management possible.

It seems that today’s employees favor seeing this type of digitization occur within the store environments they work in. According to The 2024 Deskless Report, 52% of managers would like to receive training on AI and emerging tech, seeing it as a tool to simplify their workload. Sears says this is simply part of the natural evolution of the retail employee experience. 

“Technology plays such an important role in the daily lives of most people on the planet,” she asserts. “So, why not enable and empower your workforce with communications within a system that they literally have in their back pocket? Connecting managers with their employees in a digital way creates transparency and immediacy with respect to the jobs that are being done. Leveraging technology to improve the employee experience, which enhances the in-store experience for the customer, is something that the savviest retailers and brands are currently doing, and will soon become necessary to enjoy retail success.”

Evolution within the retail environment is something that just happens. Spurred on by economic factors, market trends or consumer behavior, the industry is constantly changing. To achieve success, brands have to be able to adapt to the evolution, embracing shifts and innovating to keep up with the curve. And, it seems increasingly apparent as we continue to foray into the future of retail that one of the most seamless and effective ways to do so is by digitally enabling frontline employees, empowering them to do their jobs and fostering the innovation required to take the retail experience to the next level.