In the retail world, its an age-old dilemma: should managers and employees manage internal work assignments and ignore customers, or tend to customers and neglect the backroom duties. Sure, communication efforts and task management in retail corporations are extremely important to the overall success of the business, but without devoting time and attention to customers, the business is doomed. To remedy this situation, many HR departments have implemented Workforce Management (WFM) systems into their companies.

•     Retailers rated their current WFM solution at a 6.5 out of 10.
•     81.8% of retailers are focusing WFM upgrades on managing tasks to better serve customers.
•     83.3% of Retailers would like to include mobile applications into their next WFM upgrade.(1)

WFM promotes manual process efficiency, effectively gathers and retains data, and builds time for engagement among managers, employees, and customers. WFM encompasses all of the popular areas of management like payroll, scheduling, compliance, fatigue management, absence management, performance management, HR administration, budgeting, talent acquisition, training management, and emergency assistance.

While WFM solutions have the ‘set it and forget it’ mentality, the communication efforts only reach the employees who are able to check a computer throughout the day. Most retail employees are rarely behind the computer, unless it’s for Point of Sale (POS) purposes.
 
Digital signage is quickly becoming the industry standard in retail. It allows internal signs to display real-time updates on all aspects of WFM. These signs are the fastest way to connect with employees who are not able to check their email for company announcements while on the clock. Signs located in the backroom, or facing out of customer sight, can display all of the information WFM solutions can provide.  Managers can see who is on the floor or who is running late, at a glance. Employees can see hours, access the employee directory, and view their pay statement. Mobile capabilities allow managers to make transaction approvals even when they’re not on site.

Integrations and applications are the easiest way to communicate company data to specific audiences, like store employees or upper management. Automated from existing data sources, integrations create informative, strategic, and esthetic content. ‘Automated’ means once companies have supplied the digital signage software with a data source, the integrations will update each time management does. And the best part is company data is securely locked down and kept safe on the company's own network.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for sales per employees, financial goals, store performance, turnover, customer satisfaction, and labor expense are displayed instantly.Companies that use Salesforce to manage CRM activities can share pipeline reporting, goals hit or missed, team leader boards, and retention reports can integrate as well. Publish meeting room info, events, directories, service desk statistics, safety incident reports, production line status updates and more.
 
With digital signage integrating with WFM solutions, retail employees can now and devote that attention to the deserving customers, knowing that they will not miss out on any important information from the company. Customers will no longer feel like they are being ignored by associates, or that they are stalking employees when simply asking a question. Turnover rates will decrease as both consumer and retailer reopen communication pathways.

(1)  RIS News Custom Research - customer-centric wfm.