While India’s retail sector is expanding quickly and adopting new technologies, workforce pressures pose risks to service consistency and customer experience. A report has revealed that retail faces elevated churn risk with 42 per cent of employees considering leaving.
Great Place To Work India has unveiled its new research report, Driving Retail Performance: Crafting Customer Excellence Through a High-Trust Workplace. The report added that dignity at work is a key concern, with 40 per cent saying they do not consistently feel respected and employees who experience dignity are 2.3 times more likely to be engaged.
Burnout stands at 24 per cent and drops to 12 per cent when managers are approachable and show sincere interest beyond task delivery. Stronger authentic connection with leaders, higher dignity at work, and lower burnout together link to a around 1.5 times increase in employees’ belief that the customer experience they deliver is excellent.
Based on insights from more than three lakh employees across over 45 retail organisations, the report emphasised that trust index grand mean improved to 86 per cent, while overall employee sentiment stayed flat at 88 per cent, indicating trust is rising, but day-to-day experience is not improving at the same pace.
“Customer experience in Indian retail is shaped by people at the store, every single day. When employees feel supported and respected, they bring the energy and care that keep customers coming back,” stated Balbir Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Great Place To Work India.
Leadership capability is rated strongly with strategic cohesion at 90 per cent, but the report highlighted a five-point gap in authentic connection, signalling the need for more approachable, present and mentor-like leaders.
Workforce shifts are visible with women’s representation up 3 per cent, Gen Z up 6 per cent and mid tenure employees with two to five years tenure up 6 per cent, along with expectation gaps for women, Gen Z, and early tenure employees around manager connection, appreciation, work life balance, job security, and fair growth opportunities.
The report found that leadership behaviour and everyday people practices are central to improving stability in retail. Employee feedback showed that while leadership competence scores are high, employees want a stronger connection with managers, decisions that reflect shopfloor realities, clearer growth pathways, and more consistent action on feedback. |
