Did you know that 51% of the U.S. workforce is not engaged or motivated in their current job?
If you’re a consignment store owner, that’s a scary statistic.
Since most consignment stores operate as small, lean companies, the concept of a less-than-engaged workforce is insufferable. After all, your employees are your company’s lifeblood and ensuring they work hard and well is the biggest step on the path to success.
As it turns out, though, maintaining motivated and happy employees is a job all its own. This is especially true for the consignment business since there is a certain level of chaos only seen in the consignment industry.
Fortunately, it’s possible to keep your employees motivated enough to handle that chaos and to do it well. You just have to know how.
4 Tips to Boost Employee Motivation at Your Consignment Store
Looking for ways to keep your consignment store staff engaged and motivated? Here are four tips to get you started.
1. Give Your Staff Stations
Employees work better when they have defined roles. With this in mind, give every member of your team a specific “station” to man.
For best results, define areas within your store (including the sales floor, register, and intake area) and assign an individual employee to each.
Not only does this allow you to monitor employee efficiency and provide suggestions for improvement, but it also helps employees excel by ensuring each has a specific set of duties to perform daily.
2. Keep Store Energy High
A store with high energy levels will enjoy more motivated employees than one with low energy. With this in mind, here are a few tips to keep things buzzing:
- Have daily meetings during slow hours instead of during the beginning of the day
- Have staff go online and research items you sell in your store or post on your social media accounts
- Have Employees rearrange smaller items or displays within the store to create a fresh look for your customers
- Create daily “challenges” to keep employees in friendly, fun competition
3. Shorten Mundane Tasks Into 15-Minute Increments
Tasks like cleaning the store and tagging merchandise aren’t the most exciting, and they can take the wind out of your employees’ sails. With this in mind, break these daily tasks into smaller increments to make them more manageable. Alternately, divide these responsibilities among all your employees.
This allows you to complete the daily tasks required by your store, without overloading any one employee.
4. Provide Feedback
Everyone likes to feel seen and respected. With this in mind, be sure you’re providing consistent feedback for your employees. When you praise them for a job well done, it improves their self-esteem and helps ensure similar performance in the future.
When you give them tips to improve, it shows them you respect their work and contribution to your company, and gives them a chance to develop organically.
Either way, feedback is a win-win, and it’s a great way to keep all your employees as motivated as possible.
More Motivated Employees Make Your Store More Successful
Imagine a team of highly motivated, engaged employees working full-time to propel your consignment store to success? That’s exactly what you’ll get by following these tips. While maintaining employee motivation is tough, it’s a worthwhile pursuit that can help make your consignment store that much stronger.
