What is the critical problem/opportunity you will focus on? Why have you identified this particular problem/opportunity?
The critical problem retail stores of Verizon face currently is the turnover rate. With the changes to commission along with Covid changing the way we do business, the number of employees leaving the company has increased drastically. I have chosen this area because without great employees, stores and even customer service aren’t able to properly take care of customers in a timely manner. In stores this has resulted in longer wait times for customers, burned out employees because they arent able to take breaks, and a decrease in quality of metrics because managers aren’t able to hold the team accountable. Customer service departments have had to mass hire outside companies to help with the increase in call in traffic, but many agents aren’t t trained the same way as Verizon employees, thus causing more escalations and incorrect information given to customers.
High turnover inhibits culture, and the motivation for constant improvement because it doesn’t give employees the opportunity to learn and grow. “When teams are starved of the oxygen of a growth mindset and the momentum that comes from that, performance inevitably suffers.” (1. Bishop) My store for example has lost 4 employees in a span of 5 months, leaving only 3 sales reps to run a store meant for 7 or 8. Going into Apple launch and now fourth quarter we have seen an influx of customers coming in, creating over hour wait times, frustrated customers, and exhausted employees. While the process to hire new employees is fast and easy, finding people that can do this job successfully and learn quickly, is incredibly difficult. Most of the time it takes several months to interview, hire, and train a new hire to even feel somewhat comfortable with some aspects of the job.
What sort of data should you gather and analyze to accurately assess the problem or opportunity? Is it sales data, demographic data, product performance data, or another type of data?
Turnover ratio: I will compare turnover ratio every year going back at least 4 years to gain a better insight of how many employees are leaving the company each year.
Metrics: I will compare overall metrics including revenue, traffic, commissions payouts, etc for the last several years to show a pattern of decreased numbers due to decrease in staff.
Explain why this type of data is needed for this particular problem or opportunity. How will you obtain the necessary data?
This information is needed to get a better understanding of how employee turnover can affect the overall health of a company. This will also help me examine how employee experience can change the course of a month or even a year in a store. The true test is to figure out how to keep employees happy and motivated, who love their job and want to progress in the company despite the changes to retail environment, traffic, and payout structure. I will obtain this information from my regional manager along with the Verizon quarterly and yearly reviews.
1.Cath Bishop. 2019. The Impact of high staff turnover on company culture. HRD Connect. https://www.hrdconnect.com/2019/09/10/the-impact-of-high-staff-turnover-on-company-culture/.
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