Inflation, geopolitical uncertainties, tensions on the supply chain… The ready-to-wear sector is currently in the grip of a very uncertain context. in parallel, players in this industry are faced with new behaviors from consumers, as well as a shortage of staff, whether they are qualified craftsmen, front-line employees or even digital experts. Laurent Homeyer, advisor at Workday, American company specializing in cloud applications in the field of human resources and finance, puts forward five levers to activate to allow them to stay in the race for competitiveness.
Satisfying complex consumer expectations
Retailers must make sustainable development a major component of their activities and performance indicators, by adopting environmental policies, social and governance. Design personalized shopping experiences, omnichannel and transparent also allows them to differentiate themselves from the competition and build customer loyalty. They can also adapt their organization to these new business models, develop their digital and physical capabilities, and enrich their reporting to better reflect their environmental commitments.
Intelligently optimize resources
By adopting a financial monitoring tool, but also employees and the supply chain, ready-to-wear retailers can identify sources of losses and profits to adapt their recruitment and supply strategies accordingly. It is now possible to optimize recruitment management by controlling labor costs, using data to better control turnover rates, hiring and productivity. By giving managers the opportunity to centrally monitor planning, payroll and absences, they thus devote more time to their core business, and contribute to improving the overall customer experience.
Improve the experience of frontline teams
The experience of front-line teams must be in line with the new expectations of employees. Distributors or brands that achieve this promote employee engagement by offering better conditions and a better working environment., while giving meaning to their work, a goal and values. These elements are particularly important for younger employees, who now represent the majority of the workforce in the ready-to-wear industry. Encourage versatility through continuing training and project mode operation, automate tedious tasks and train in-store assistants in digital sales tools (social selling, inventory management based on artificial intelligence…) are all key elements for improving the employee experience. Finally, promote diversity, especially in store, helps reflect consumer demographics and promotes better customer understanding.
Carry out a thoughtful retraining strategy
Assess the overall talent market (candidates, collaborators, former students…) and identifying their skills needs allows players in the sector to adjust their employee development strategies. for example, offer a unique onboarding experience, des formations au leadership, career development helps develop solid assets to support their growth strategy and strengthen employee commitment and loyalty.
Adjust the reward and compensation strategy
Rewarding and recognizing employees must be prioritized, traders are not always free to increase wages as desired. Being transparent about compensation allows employees to understand their value in the company. Review their value proposition beyond salary, by offering them, for example, more flexibility in working hours or by implementing policies favorable to personal development, strengthens employee engagement. Too, provide managers with better visibility of performance and remuneration, in particular to reward the best talents and deploy targeted and effective incentive programs, will strengthen talent retention and attraction strategies in the sector.
