With the Consumer Confidence Index® trending down in the first quarter of 2023, and the uncertainty of a looming recession, retailers have a lot on their plates this year. Industry transformation of the instore and online consumer shopping experiences is also creating additional complexity for retail managers. Still, a majority of retail executives indicate their top challenge in 2023 is hiring. In January 2023, more than 1 million retail jobs went unfilled. Every retailer is looking for those hard-to-find candidates who can be productive on day one and stick with the job. Many are having success with quality hires using science-based pre-hire assessments and workflow automation.
Hiring technology that solves retail pain points
Technology innovation is changing every aspect of retail, from the omnichannel consumer experience to buy now pay later platforms. Still, it is the store associates in malls and off-mall locations who are the frontline for increasing customer spend and building trust and loyalty. A seamless omnichannel strategy can’t survive without the support of store associates.
Retail hiring teams are also using advanced technology, including science-based pre-hire assessments and intelligent hiring platforms, to make more objective, data-driven hiring decisions. Platforms like Modern Hire significantly enhance hiring efficiency and create more personal hiring experiences through modern digital interactions. With Modern Hire, you can quickly and accurately identify retail candidates who can lead, who can sell, and who will stay.
Pre-hire assessments that predict fit fast and minimize turnover
Retail hiring teams zero in on high-potential candidates quickly with Modern Hire’s proprietary Virtual Job Tryout® for retail roles like store associate, sales associate, and grocery associate, as well as associate manager and district manager. The VJT evaluates candidates on essential competencies for retail jobs such as customer service, reliability, pursues excellence, and manages priorities. The pre-hire assessment delivers relevant, meaningful, and scorable responses that enable hiring teams to rank candidates based on objective data rather than a resume. It’s a more reliable approach to finding the customer-centric talent who can support immersive store experiences and turn returns into new sales.
At the same time, candidates taking the VJT learn about the job as they move through job-relevant exercises, simulated job tasks and realistic job previews. Candidates engage with all aspects of the VJT on the Modern Hire platform in digital interactions that are easily scaled by hiring teams. With these insights, candidates are better equipped to decide if your role is a good fit for them. It’s a fairer, less subjective, faster and simpler process that leads to better hiring outcomes for everyone.
District managers who scored highest on the VJT drove a 20% year-over-year improvement in sales per transaction, and increased their transaction counts by 300%. Get the full story in our premium American retailer case study.
Increase recruiter efficiency with retail hiring workflows
Opening a new location, reopening after cutbacks, or simply keeping up with staffing needs all put pressure on hiring teams to deliver quality hires and speed in talent acquisition. Modern Hire offers templated and configurable hiring workflows for retail positions to help recruiters fill critical retail positions fast.
The workflows help you optimize Modern Hire’s intelligent hiring platform using three or more job-specific building blocks:
- On-demand text or phone screen
- Virtual Job Tryout assessment
- Realistic job preview
- On-demand video interview with Automated Interview Scoring and Automated Interview Creator
- Live phone interview
- Live face-to-face interview
Modern Hire’s retail hiring workflows save hiring teams time and advance hiring goals by:
Making better hiring decisions – Modern Hire integrates trusted science and proven technology to support decision-making at every step of the hiring workflow.
Accelerating hiring – Features like automated scheduling, calendaring integration, and automated candidate advancement based on on-demand interview scoring help keep the process moving along for hiring teams and candidates.
Creating personalized experiences for candidates – Attract, engage and educate candidates with digital interactions, two-way content and communications from recruiters and managers, and branding that makes your hiring process a personalized experience for all candidates – hired or not.
Modern Hire hiring workflows are available for these retail positions:
- Retail Store Associate
- Retail Sales Associate
- Manager
- District Manager
- Retail Clerk / Cashier
- Retail Grocery Associate
- Restaurant Manager
Focus on the customer experience
Modern Hire is changing the game for retail hiring with immersive, informative hiring experiences that engage service-oriented retail candidates, including younger talent that prefers to do everything on their smartphone. Using Modern Hire’s advanced selection science, hiring technology and workflow automation, retailers are prepared to manage the uncertainty of current and future hiring and deliver exceptional service to their customers.
Learn more in our whitepaper, 2023 Hiring Trends: The Flight to Quality.