Retailers Beware: Festive Recruitment Faux Pas Can Be Costly

fish4jobs research out today reveals that almost two-thirds (61%) of shoppers dread the thought of Christmas shopping on the high street with a worrying one in ten (13%) wishing they could pay someone else to do the job for them. The statistics, taken from the fish4jobs Christmas Retail Report 2007, highlight the common festive faux pas that retailers are currently making and what can be done in advance to remedy and pacify the mood on the high street.

When surveyed, the 1,000 British shoppers cited the following 5 reasons as their ëtop retail bugbearsí:

1. Staff without suitable knowledge (80%)
2. Staff with poor communication skills (75%)
3. Managers not employing enough staff (61%)
4. Bored looking staff (40%)
5. Staff deliberately avoiding customers (29%)

When challenged about what makes a good festive retail assistant, shoppers named staff who display good manners (83%), are knowledgeable about what they are selling (80%) and have an eagerness to please (76%).

In addition, shoppers revealed they would love to be greeted by staff who are on the ball in terms of communication (73%), have enough time to serve properly (62%), are smiley, happy people (61%), wear a clear name badge (17%) and are to spot around the store (16%).

So how can retailers get their staff up to scratch in time for Christmas 2007? fish4jobs has created the following top ten tips for successful seasonal staff recruitment:

ï Itís never too early to start thinking about Christmas recruitment
ï Could you think longer term? Keep them employed throughout the year?
ï Itís all about getting the basics right with staff
ï The key is intelligent deployment rather than numbers
ï A little bit of information goes a long way
ï Seasonal staff have their own skills
ï Reward the Christmas staff with some commission or benefits
ï Remember that training your staff will give them confidence
ï Treat seasonal staff just as you would your permanent staff
ï Itís Christmas, be happy!

Joe Slavin, CEO of fish4, comments, ìGood, basic staff qualities are key to making our shopping experiences hassle-free and more enjoyable and a little training in simple customer service techniques can go a long way. If retailers need some helpful advice on the subject, then they can visit the fish4jobs site and quickly download an easy guide on how to turn their staff from good staff to great staff.î