The Messages I Get From Retail Leaders Show a Struggling Industry
Here's what you need to know
There it is, the little red bubble hovering over the messaging icon on LinkedIn. Sometimes, it glows with the number 3, sometimes 6. I check in all the time - too much - but I wait to reply. When I respond, I want to be thoughtful, so I wait.
The next day or so, I dig in. The DMs that retail leaders send me are so telling. They show me that these leaders are under-supported and do not trust their bosses. I'm not surprised. I worked in retail for two decades, and it was rare that I had a boss who was a partner, so I get it. But think about that for a moment.
Retail leaders message me about their most difficult struggles. They don't know me—I'm just an ex-retail leader with a laptop. However, they feel more comfortable asking me questions than the people they know.
Here's where retail gets off track and what it needs to do better.
District Managers Must be Advocates, Not Enforcers
District managers have one hell of a job. I thought for years about moving into multi-unit management and ultimately decided it wasn't for me. Retail stretches store leaders way too thin, and district managers are stretched too thin times ten. However many buildings they oversee, it's too many.
I have no idea how one person is supposed to oversee twelve stores and still sleep at night; it's wild.
The issue I had with most of my district managers was that they played this enforcer role. They visited our store, dumped on us, and left. (The "Swoop and Poop"). We didn't learn anything. Any feedback we gave was deflected and we were told, "It is what it is".
Damn, okay.
A few district managers I knew tried to change the system from the inside. They pushed back on corporate direction. They raised their hands when the workloads got ferocious. They advocated for the teams in the field.
Guess what leaders I called when I really needed something? Yep, the advocates. Guess who I never called? I never reported any problems to swoop and poopers - never. Everything was a five-alarm fire to them. Overseeing that many stores is too much.
Retail companies, please get back to employing area managers. Thanks.
HQ Leaders Must Understand the Field
Too often, the leaders at headquarters (the corporate office), have zero idea what it's like running a store. So, they bombard us with messages, schedule conflicting projects, and then take away payroll.
Cool, cool.
No wonder so many retail leaders message me or want to quit.
Imagine if the people you worked for had no idea what you did all day, so every day, they scrambled and guessed how to help you. You might want to leave, too.
Any leader who works at the corporate level should visit stores once a month. Like, spend a whole day in one store and work on the floor. Don't just stop in after lunch and say, "How's it going? Good? Okay, byeeeee."
If your whole job is to support stores or make money from stores, go visit stores.
Up All Night. It's Never Enough.
Most of the culture in retail kinda sucks. That's why tenured leaders are leaving, and new leaders aren't putting up with it.
Retail leaders are accustomed to working overnight and cleaning up messes that their bosses leave behind. If our shift ends at 1 a.m. and it's 3 a.m. and we want to leave, we get the side-eye. It's like we need to work harder.
HI. IT’S 3 A.M. THOUGH.
It's happened to me and a person in my DMs, too.
C'mon retail, knock it off.
Appreciate the hard work and treat people like humans. Let them go home and sleep without making them feel guilty. I mean, do you want employees or not?
A shift in how people work has been underway for a few years. Retail needs to evolve. It's not cool to have an enforcer of a district manager. It sucks that corporate leaders don't know how to run a store, and doing what it takes - no matter what - should be rewarded and appreciated.
I welcome all DMs. Thank you to everyone who has written to me. It makes my job better, and if it helps you, keep it coming.
In an industry hemorrhaging talent, leaders need to find new ways to support and listen to their teams. Because whatever you're doing isn't working.
I know, evolving is tough. Tenured leaders may be inclined to say, "Suck it up. If you can't take the heat then get out of the kitchen." But if you do, the next generation will actually leave. So, evolve or die.
If you choose to do nothing and carry on as usual, there will be a cost.
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Based in Southern California, Kit Campoy is a former retail leader turned freelance writer. She covers Retail, Leadership, and Business. Contact her for blog posts, articles, or LinkedIn content.
You keep showing the problem in better and better ways! Naming the wrong-headed "enforcer" approach really helps define what is going wrong.
Swoop and Poop. I love it. (Actually, I hate that it's a thing people do, but I love that you have such a well-fitting term for it.)