Rising anxiety, absences and staff turnover across the retail industry are hitting productivity. But the sector has an opportunity to be at the vanguard of staff wellbeing with new AI technology and proactive health initiatives, says Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of the Retail Trust.
Research conducted by the Retail Trust this year has found anxiety, absences and staff turnover are all rising across the retail industry due to increasing levels of poor mental health. And as retail is the UK’s largest employer outside the public sector, the wellbeing of its more than three million workers has important implications for the country’s employers as a whole.
Three quarters of the people we spoke to for the Retail Trust’s new health of retail report told us issues with their mental health are causing them to underperform at work, with one in six forced to miss at least a day of work because of poor wellbeing.
Among younger retail workers and call centre staff, almost one third have taken time off in the last year as their mental health suffered. Eight in 10 young people said they have experienced deteriorating wellbeing in the last year while nearly half of call centre workers reported often feeling lonely at work.
Overwhelmed and quitting
The report also discovered rises in anxiety and sleep-related problems across the retail workforce, alongside increases in the number of people feeling overwhelmed and struggling to think clearly.
Meanwhile, the Retail Trust and AlixPartner’s first Retail People Index, published this summer, found that half of retail employees are at risk of quitting their jobs after Christmas due to these declining levels of wellbeing peaking over autumn and winter months.
There are multiple reasons for these worrying trends, and many of them are caused by general trends in society, such as the cost-of-living crisis, ongoing global insecurity, and the after-effects of the pandemic.
Paying the price
But while employers may not be responsible for causing these issues, they are certainly paying the price in underperformance, absenteeism and staff retention. Challenges at home inevitably spill over into the workplace, whether you’re struggling with your finances, relationships, children or health. We all have to deal with problems like these and our managers and employers then have to grapple with their impact on performance and wellbeing.
However, with the state and NHS simply not equipped to provide the timely mental health and financial wellbeing support to everyone who now needs it, employers do need to step in. Not only because they’re one of the few institutions that still can do something about this, but because they have a clear imperative to do so.
Retail therapy
Hopeful, happy, and healthy employees are essential to thriving commerce, with investment in employee wellbeing leading to reduced absenteeism and staff turnover and, ultimately, improved business performance.
We know getting help with mental health problems or financial struggles isn’t easy for many people. They might not know where to turn, or they might face barriers in doing so. At the same time, employers often struggle to accurately identify and address the causes of poor wellbeing amongst their large and varied workforces. And that’s why our goal at the Retail Trust is to provide more access to high-quality support for retail employees and employers caught in the gap between overstretched NHS services and a lack of private healthcare.
From counselling services, a virtual GP and financial wellbeing support to the Retail Trust’s new AI powered happiness dashboard which allows employers to pinpoint staff wellbeing trends in real time, we know that the faster we can provide this kind of help, the more that everyone will benefit.
These are challenging times, but my belief is that the retail sector should also see the opportunity and understand its responsibility to lead the way in prioritising mental health and wellbeing. This is certainly something that will be central to the Retail Trust’s fifth annual leaders’ summit in London on 24 October where we will gather retail people leaders from across the sector to look at key issues critical to both the health of their people and the success of their businesses, and to help shape their wellbeing and engagement strategies for 2025 and beyond.
By working together way and putting the wellbeing of our people first, we can really show the value of a healthier and more resilient workforce when it comes to building a stronger and more compassionate industry.
