Retail business owners who constantly shuffle employee schedules in an attempt to minimize staffing and keep costs down are doing themselves no favors.
That was the clear finding of a new study that sought to study the business effects of shifting from “on-call” scheduling of retail employees to more predictable and steady schedules.
On-call scheduling subjects employees to last-minute shift cancellations and provides as little as three day’s notice of the next week’s schedule. The practice, in theory, allows retailers to keep costs down.
In practice, the effects can be far less favorable, the study found.
Such bare-bones scheduling leaves employees in a constant state of uncertainty as to when they will be working, while the lack of service may drive customers away.
The effect of switching to predictable and consistent schedules was “striking,” the study’s authors write in the Harvard Business Review.
Consistent Scheduling Drives Sales and Productivity
Sales in Gap Inc. stores where the scheduling changes were made increased by 7% over the course of a 35-week experiment in which on-call scheduling was eliminated and employees were given schedules two weeks in advance. A core team of associates was guaranteed a schedule of 20 hours a week and schedules were held consistent from week to week, including standard start and end times. In addition, extra associates were scheduled for peak sales hours.
The result? An increase in sales and productivity. Sales increased by 7% and labor productivity increased by 5%, the study found. The sales increase was a direct result of better service, according to the study. Over the course of the experiment, the authors estimated that the change in scheduling practices brought $2.9 million in additional sales, at a cost of $31,200.
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