A new report by research and frontline training platform, eduMe, has discovered that 83 percent of leaders within the hospitality and retail sectors in the United States are not confident in their employees’ ability to interact with customers. The report, titled 'Navigating Business Challenges in Retail and Hospitality: Insights and Strategies for 2024', surveyed over 300 retail and hospitality business leaders in the United States.
The report found that employee turnover, customer experience, and sales are the top three challenges facing retail and hospitality businesses today. Leaders are also concerned about supply and demand, lack of leadership, keeping employees goal-oriented, inflation, cost of goods and labour, employees not retaining information or not caring, and employees being afraid to engage with customers.
CEO and founder of eduMe, Jacob Waern, said the retail and hospitality industries are facing a number of challenges.
“To see a lack of confidence around customer service and customer experience abilities so keenly felt, especially when 93 percent of leaders report they are spending considerable time training employees, shows the stark need for a shake-up in the methods being used to provide these employees with skills and knowledge," said Waern.
The report also found the proliferation of 'traditional' and outdated methods being used in these frontline industries. Some 92 percent still make the majority use of face-to-face training or desktop-based learning. All systems that require time away from customers - and delivered in a way that lowers engagement, relevance and accessibility.
"Businesses need to invest in better employee training systems and processes in order to ensure that their frontline teams are equipped to provide the best possible service.”
Waern added that eduMe has worked with a number of companies that have large frontline workforces, and the impact they've seen when employees have access to information and training on their mobile device has been immeasurable in bringing notable improvements in customer service, and importantly, business metrics like retention.
Another challenge highlighted was the lack of accessibility. Though 24 percent thought better accessibility to training would improve the outcome of training initiatives, 62 percent do not currently embed training into HR systems like Workday and communications tools like Microsoft Teams, which they reported employees are accessing daily.
Despite the challenges, the report showcased that leaders are committed to upskilling employees, and understand the integral part they play in providing better customer experiences, stating that "employees that go above and beyond" as a bigger influence on CX, greater than product quality or price.
