10 Best Ideas to Handling Staff Shortage

The employee shortage in the retail business is not uncommon. This may happen due to unavailability of skilled labor, unable to meet the expectation of the employee, sudden high demand for specific skilled labor, or global labor crisis. Today, in America, we are going through a labor crisis and according to “U.S. Chamber of Commerce” there are over 11 million job openings in the U.S. but only 6 million unemployed workers.
There is a high impact on retail business due to labor shortage – this can disrupt the local and global supply chain, slow down the business, and in turn build up dissatisfied customers. But, if we take simple few steps in your retail business then there is a possibility we can mitigate the risk and improve business performance.

POS (Point Of Sale) implementation

A very effective way of handling staff shortage is through the implementation of Point Of Sales which is popularly referred as POS. It is usually implemented strategically at one side of the shop so that regular sales of items are not hampered. The proper planning of the POS zone also gives space for queue formation in case there is a requirement to handle a large crowd. Here the customers execute transactions for goods & services post shopping completion and the complete billing activity is done here including sales taxes as per the rules of the country. The traditional way of handling this was by maintaining a physical cash register or manual paper-based management which was cumbersome and totally dependent on manpower availability. Hence in case of any shortage of manpower, the entire activity used to get badly affected resulting in both financial loss and customer dissatisfaction. In the prevailing system, the customers usually take the product by placing them into the trolley and stand before a queue for the final billing. During the billing process, a salesperson may scan the barcode of each and every product and hand over the final bill to the customer. A POS gathers very crucial data on the business activities and these can later be studied by top management for making various fine tunings for smooth transactions which is an ongoing process. The data can give crucial inputs pertaining sales, customers, inventory, purchases, and many more. In general, the POS system helps and improves operations for the customers. This includes reducing the waiting period for final transactions, faster scanning of items bought by customers and quicker payments, etc. So it ultimately leads to

Better Customer Service
Easier management of team
Saves huge operation time
Effective management of Multi-Store Systems and many others.

However, there are a few disadvantages like

Stable internet connectivity dependent
Malware infections
Security Risks and
additional expenses pertaining to the POS implementation.

But compared to the advantages of POS, disadvantages are less and it is always recommended to go for a POS system. “Alnicosoft “ POS system has all the latest features in place and is very user-friendly as well. Below are the salient features which make the module unique and stand out from the rest of POS.

Group products by Product Category for easy tracking of products.
Update Stock using Inventory services.
Manage inventory levels for each store at any location.
Set discounts by product and by store effortlessly.
Efficiently configure tax rates to comply with your state, county, and/or resident jurisdiction laws.
Provision to enter product stock location of each store.

The detailed modules can be studied in depth by visiting the official site https://www.alnicosoft.com. Overall this POS application is cost-effective and all aspects of inventory management are effectively covered giving the desired value to the customer.

Automated Inventory Management Systems

This is software controlled automated inventory Management system that has all the inbuilt capabilities to manage the inventory in real-time. This is a must and mission-critical aspect in today’s business scenario as it simplifies workflows and saves time, drastically curtailing human interventions. It can be configured as per the pre-built conditions and the software takes care of the entire process and automates every aspect like backorders, partial fulfillment, order invoicing, customer tagging, inventory counts, and many more. In fact, the entire backend process can be effectively managed through one simple and intuitive interface. The advanced systems have additional features like automated inventory control and reporting which presently are mission critical for the effective running of the business. In a traditional business environment, these are managed manually through excel tools but choosing an automated control system would result in the business brand getting an uplift with increased profitability and workflow efficiency. For example, if any of the products are running low on stock and reaching the pre-set reorder point as per Supply Chain Management (SCM) Head set quantity number, the inventory management software will immediately raise an alarm for immediate intervention. The main benefits of using automated inventory management are

Eliminating human error/ Shortage of staff in the system
Saving time with automation
Management gets live updates
Sync stocks under diverse sales channels
Understand Sales figures instantaneously.

It is also to be noted that post in-depth studies it has been found that automated Inventory management can be effectively controlled using the “ Alnicosoft ” Inventory module which has all advanced features incorporated.

Extended working hours to current employees

To fight against staff shortages, this is one of the best methods. The management could discuss with current employees about williningness to work addition hours and if they agree then increase their working hours which could be through paying overtime. These employees already know their job and should not be an issue for them to take up the additional load but the management should take proper measures to boost their morale along with the additional payouts.

Employee training & development programs

All the employees should be trained to perform inter-functional works, leadership training for senior employees, and sales leadership training for the sales team. This should be done through a rotational method which would increase the confidence of employees. Hence in case of manpower shortage, anyone from the team could immediately replace the absent employee and start doing the activity seamlessly.

Implementation of advanced technology

Efforts to be made to make all processes automated through technology and ensure minimum human interventions. Hence the shortage of manpower would have minimal or no impact on business. For example, POS & automated inventory management which happen to be the two most critical components of business should be made technology-based as soon as possible. However, there should be a primary and a backup systems engineer to manage the technical equipment and ensure seamless operation. Both the system engineers should be equally trained and competent enough to run the technologies involved.

Temporary employee hiring

In case of a sudden shortage of manpower which could not be forecasted, provision should be made to hire manpower immediately from agencies on a temporary basis so that work is unaffected. In fact, a trained pool of staff should be kept as a backup by the manpower agencies with signed contracts from the very beginning.

Job through social media

Social media has gone very strong in recent times. Hence in case of manpower shortage, immediately opening requirements should be published on social media like “LinkedIn “ etc so that there is an quick response from the prospective job seekers.

Good working conditions

The office working conditions should be maintained at a very high level so that there is no dissatisfaction among employees. The team members need to be treated with care so that they stay motivated. The managers need to play a pivotal role here looking proactively at the needs of the employees. There should be reward and recognition programs to keep them performing well as well as motivated with the job.

Salary restructure

Depending upon the inflation, the salary hike should also be there to take care of the employees. Improved pay would indirectly give a message to the employees that the management cares about them and wants them to stick with the company.

Health checkup

Annual Physical checkups or periodic full body checkups should be done for the employees. The diagnosis can also be done within the office location itself by calling the competent diagnostic centers with skilled doctors. Hence this proactive measure would keep the employees healthy and give an indication of sickness well in advance so that due care could be taken in advance through medicines. A large number of employees abruptly do not come to the office owing to sickness and the company suffers due to this sudden shortage of manpower. This issue could be handled effectively through regular medical checks and also by a frequent doctor visit.

References

Understanding America’s Labor Shortage uschamber.com https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage Retrieved 17 July 2022.

The Alnicosoft – An ultimate advantageous easy to use POS and Inventory Managment system. Try now.