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Global Retailers Say Unplanned Absence Wreaks Havoc on Store Operations
[October 24, 2018]

Global Retailers Say Unplanned Absence Wreaks Havoc on Store Operations


According to a survey of 800 retail managers across multiple countries conducted by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated, for every 10 hours of in-store labor budgeted, more than one hour is wasted due to staffing misalignment caused by unplanned employee absence.1 Absenteeism drives understaffing worldwide and poses significant workforce management challenges for retail organizations, with many citing a significant impact on productivity, labor costs, store revenue, and customer satisfaction.

The Global Retail Absence survey, conducted with Coleman Parkes Research, analyzes the responses of retail managers across Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S. to examine the broad impact of absenteeism on retail organizations with more than 1,000 employees. The survey exposes the corrosive effects that unplanned absences have on store operations, which, according to more than half of retail managers worldwide (52 percent), is one of their organization's most difficult, complex, and time-consuming issues.

Survey News Facts

  • Retailers are understaffed 25 percent of the time due to last-minute absenteeism.
    • Faced with a 7 percent average rate of unplanned absence (i.e. shifts are scheduled but unexpectedly not worked), retailers in the U.K. (74 percent), Canada (72 percent), France (71 percent), Germany (69 percent), Australia (64 percent), and the U.S. (61 percent) are understaffed more than 25 percent of the time.
    • Retailers in the U.K. (44 percent) and the U.S. (41 percent) are hit hardest by absenteeism on the weekends, while in Germany (33 percent) the highest rate of absence typically occurs on Mondays.
    • For the most part, retailers are given just one to three hours' notice when an employee is not going to show up for work. These numbers are highest in the U.K. (53 percent), the U.S. (49 percent), and Canada (40 percent). The impact of filling these shifts on short notice means that one in four retailers (26 percent) are working with staff that have the wrong skills at least half the time.
    • The top three operational downfalls of absenteeism cited by retailers worldwide are staff productivity (58 percent), customer satisfaction (47 percent), and store revenue (42 percent). Findings additionally show absenteeism has an above-average impact on staff productivity in the U.S., (69 percent), customer satisfaction in Canada (52 percent), and store revenue in France (55 percent).
  • Filling vacant shifts on the fly is stressful for managers and disruptive to a retailer's bottom line.
    • An average 6 percent of labor hours each month are worked to cover issues such as unplanned absence but have not been formally scheduled. This causes unnecessary stress for more than half of U.S. retailers (57 percent) as well as store managers in Germany (44 percent), Australia (41 percent), France (39 percent), Canada (38 percent), and the U.K. (33 percent).
    • Nearly half of retailers worldwide (48 percent) find it challenging to deal with administrative issues resulting from associates working additional shifts and/or incurring overtime to cover unplanned absence, and 42 percent feel a big impact on labor costs.
  • Despite best efforts, retailers struggle to schedule for low- and peak-demand.
    • The perpetual issue and corrosive effects of absenteeism have led the vast majority of retail organizations (88 percent) to proactively over-schedule additional labor each day to cover for anticipated absences. This is most common in France (95 percent), the U.S. (89 percent), and Germany (88 percent).
    • Retailers regularly find themselves with either too few or too many associates during periods of low- and peak-demand, and some admit to being understaffed (31 percent) or overstaffed (22 percent) at least half the time.
    • More than half of retailers worldwide (56 percent) say it is a challenge to build work schedules that meet customer, business, and employee demands. This is the most common workforce management challenge for retail mangers across the U.S. (69 percent), Canada (64 percent), France (60 percent), Australia (58 percent), and Germany (55 percent).
    • Despite the fact that most retailers worldwide say work schedules are posted between one and two weeks in advance, retail managers admit that 86 percent of schedules are amended to some degree after they are published.
  • Retail managers are hungry for technology to solve staffing issues.
    • Only 55 percent of retailers worldwide have technology in place to manage unplanned absences, with both the U.K. (41 percent) and Canad (38 percent) reporting below-average use. In comparison, 76 percent of global respondents have an automated solution to manage time and attendance, and 73 percent use technology to manage planned absences, such as time-off requests.
    • Three out of five (59 percent) retailers say scheduling technology has a positive impact on productivity within their teams, with store managers in Canada the most bullish about technology at 76 percent.
    • Retail managers are confident that effective absence management technology can help reduce absenteeism: globally, retailers anticipate an 18 percent decrease in unapproved absence rates after implementing a new absence and shift-swapping solution, with France expecting the best return on investment, anticipating a 23 percent decrease.
    • Quantifying the benefits of absence management, retailers additionally expect a new absence and shift-swapping solution to reduce labor costs by nearly 3 percent. In the U.S., one in 10 retail managers estimate the cost reduction could be as high as 5 percent.



Supporting Quotes

  • Joyce Maroney, executive director, The Workforce Institute at Kronos (News - Alert)
    "Business performance has always been tightly aligned with how well you are able to stick to a plan. The corrosive effects of absenteeism can swiftly knock retailers' plans off course and erode performance potential. How you minimize and manage absence is critical to staying on target, and it starts with understanding employee preferences, considering their availability, and making it easy for them to modify their schedule or swap a shift as needed. After all, employees who work schedules built around their preferred hours and availability and who are empowered by self-service workforce management technology will be happier, have fewer instances of absence, be more productive, and have a longer tenure."

Supporting Resources


About The Workforce Institute at Kronos
The Workforce Institute at Kronos provides research and education on critical workplace issues facing organizations around the globe. By bringing together thought leaders, The Workforce Institute at Kronos is uniquely positioned to empower organizations with the knowledge and information they need to manage their workforce effectively and provide a voice for employees on important workplace issues. A hallmark of The Workforce Institute's research is balancing the needs and desires of diverse employee populations with the needs of organizations. For additional information, visit www.workforceinstitute.org.

About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos is a leading provider of workforce management and human capital management cloud solutions. Kronos industry-centric workforce applications are purpose-built for businesses, healthcare providers, educational institutions, and government agencies of all sizes. Tens of thousands of organizations - including half of the Fortune 1000® - and more than 40 million people in over 100 countries use Kronos every day. Visit www.kronos.com. Kronos: Workforce Innovation That Works.

Footnote 1: The survey reveals that 7 percent of labor hours are scheduled but not worked, and 6 percent of labor hours are worked but not scheduled. In total, 13 percent of labor hours are not deployed as planned, which translates to more than 1 out of 10 hours being "wasted."

Survey Methodology
Research conducted on behalf of Kronos Incorporated by Coleman Parkes Research, an independent U.K.-based research company. Survey data was collected between June and July 2018 from 800 respondents using an online quantitative methodology. Survey participants were sourced from multiple global markets, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S., and represent a variety of retail sectors, including grocery, department stores, warehouse, specialty, convenience, and discount. Survey participants included retail managers, store managers, and head of store operations from retail organizations with more than 1,000 employees. For further questions about survey methodology, contact [email protected].

© 2018 Kronos Incorporated. All rights reserved. Kronos and the Kronos logo are registered trademarks and Workforce Innovation That Works is a trademark of Kronos Incorporated or a related company. See a complete list of Kronos trademarks. All other trademarks, if any, are property of their respective owners.


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