Job Description for Retail Sales Associates - Essay Example

Performance Management Performance Management I am the human resource manager for an upscale retail store, which sells clothing, shoes, handbags, and other accessories. Due to the economic downturn, the company has experienced a significant reduction in earnings, resulting in the layoff of a number of retail sales associates. Business seems to be rebounding, but there are concerns about the performance of the retail sales staff. The chief executive officer has requested me to recommend ways of increasing sales and customer service. I have the conviction that implementing a performance management system may help modify employee behavior and improve results. This paper will highlight some of the critical aspects of performance management system that the company should implement. Job Description for Retail Sales Associates Retail sales associates perform critical roles that determine the level of customer satisfaction. They are actively involved in meeting and welcoming customers as well as establishing a good relationship with the customers. After welcoming the customers into the retail shop, they listen to the needs of the shoppers. They engage the customers by asking them questions about the products they want and presenting them with options and advice on the products available in the retail shop. Retail sales associates have the responsibility of ensuring that they inspire the customers to make purchases they assist customers in making the purchase decision and celebrate customers for the purchases they make (Peters, 2015). It is critical for them to create a positive impression of the business to the customer as well as concerning the specific purchase. They are also tasked with handling returns in a professional and courteous manner. They ensure that fitting rooms are ready for customers and that they rearrange the products back into their place after the customer tries them out. It is sales associates’ responsibilities to ensure that customers have a variety of choices. They should strive to meet the specific needs of each customer while maintaining a professional attitude. They should demonstrate sincerity and enthusiasm while serving customers in order to develop long-lasting relationships with customers. In some retail shops, retail sales associates also perform certain support functions at the point of sale (Schraeder & Jordan, 2011). Retail sales associates are also responsible for creating awareness of the current promotional events and sales to all the new and old customers. They need to have adequate knowledge concerning different products because they communicate the benefits of each product to the customers. It is the role of the retail sales associates to maintain remarkable housekeeping standards as well as selling floor presentations. In many cases, the retail sales associates are actively involved in the restocking of products in the floor presentations (Schraeder & Jordan, 2011). They play a critical role in enhancing selling efficiency and increasing the percentage of sales. They work with defined goals that they must achieve in defined periods. After each sale, retail sales associates document the sale and update customer profiles. They also guide customers to different racks and counters while making suggestions for products that they can like. They should participate in building customer confidence in order to motivate the customer to make a purchase decision. Retail sales associates also inform the management of the business concerning the customer preferences and products that are in higher demand (Peters, 2015). Organizational Behavior Modification Plan Organizational behavior modification involves the reinforcement of desirable behavioral trait that employees exhibit in the workplace. In the case of retail sales associates, they need to exhibit a desirable behavior if they are to be effective in carrying out their responsibilities. For the human resource manager, positive and negative reinforcements are some of the strategies used in organizational behavior modifications (Noe, 2014). However, positive reinforcement is likely to present outcomes that are more positive. Positive reinforcement is one of the plans that the retail shop will implement in ensuring that retail shop associates are more effective in enhancing sales. The retail shop will ensure that all the store managers, sales managers, and supervisors learn the art of positive reinforcement. Notably, managers need to integrate positive enforcement into their daily activities. They should recognize the daily activities that retail sales associates perform and congratulate them for excellence (Peters, 2015). Positive reinforcement will apply to both individuals and teams. When positive reinforcement is done immediately, retail sales associates will be able to create a link to the congratulatory message and the desirable behavior that should be promoted. Managers will also design reward schemes that will encourage desirable behaviors. Recognition and reward, when carried out effectively can serve as effective strategies for promoting desirable behavior. One of the key behaviors that need reinforcement in retail sales associates is professionalism. Professionalism involves the handling of tasks in accordance with the expected standards of courtesy, respect, sincerity, and enthusiasm. Retail sales associates who can exhibit professionalism, communicate, follow instructions, and deliver exemplary customer services. The reinforcement plan for this behavior will involve reward schemes that will recognize and reward the retail sales associates who exhibit the highest level of professionalism (Schraeder & Jordan, 2011). All the retail sales associates will receive training on what professionalism involves, before the implementation of the reward schemes. In addition, the organizational behavior modification plan will seek to reinforce interpersonal skills in the sales associates. Notably, retail sales associates need to demonstrate exemplary interpersonal skills because their job responsibility may involve the handling of difficult customers (Hunter & Nielsen, 2013). Therefore, they need to be able to handle such situations effectively. Effective interpersonal skills require associates to anticipate different responses from customers and address them effectively. The management team will recognize and reward retail sales associates that demonstrate the capacity to resolve conflict with customers effectively. The organizational behavior modification plan will also seek to reinforce multitasking abilities. Retail sales associates need to be able to handle different tasks while attending to different customers (Noe, 2014). Therefore, the management team will recognize and reward sales associates who demonstrate outstanding multitasking abilities. Ways of Measuring Employee Performance In order to measure the performance of employees, it is important to adopt both objective and subjective measures. The objective approach will seek to determine the total sales registered by each retail sales associate. In addition, the objective approach will consider daily sales as well as weekly sales for each sales associate. Usually, employees who possess the desirable behaviors described above are more likely to register positive outcomes for the organization by increased sales. A subjective approach of measurements of performance will include a critical judgment that will rate the behaviors of employees in accordance with an identified scale. For example, the graphical rating scale will highlight the employer’s rating depending on the extent to which a certain employee demonstrates the desirable behavior (Schraeder & Jordan, 2011). Methods of Informing Employees of New Performance Standards It is important to inform employees of new performance standards. In the case of a retail store, the new performance standards can be communicated in writing to each employee requested to comment on the new performance standards and give feedback to the managers. The management may also choose to hold a discussion with all the retail sales associates and highlight the new performance standards while allowing the employees to give their comments concerning their new standards (Noe, 2014). Methods of Providing Feedback to Employees It is of critical importance to provide feedback to employees in order to highlight their progress, as well as issues of concern related to their performance. One of the most effective methods of providing feedback is through one on one communication with an employee. One on one communication has a more positive impact in delivering feedback compared to other methods such as emails and text messages. Constructive feedback makes employees feel appreciated in an organization. Feedback is more effective when done in the presence of the person or through phone calls when physical presence is impossible (Hunter & Nielsen, 2013). When delivering feedback, the manager should ensure that it is oriented around the goals of the employees. In addition, managers can use the approaches of feedback that promote metacognitive skills in employees. Therefore, managers can offer feedback after the performance assessment in order to create awareness of the areas that need improvement and congratulate employees on the areas that they have excelled. Feedback should regularly be given so that employees can remain motivated and engaged with the goals and objectives of the business. After every performance appraisal, employees should receive feedback regarding their short-term and long-term goals (Noe, 2014). Actions that a Company should take in order to Reinforce Positive Behaviors The company should introduce reward and recognition schemes in an effort to promote desirable behaviors from employees. Recognition serves to appreciate the achievement of employees and encourage them to be more committed. On the other hand, reward schemes motivate employees to meet performance expectations. Effective reward schemes require the managers to offer feedback to employees and give them intrinsic rewards that increase the level of motivation. The company may also choose to give employees assignments that are more challenging, so that they can register personal growth (Noe, 2014). Presenting employees with challenging tasks helps them develop new skills and self-confidence because of one’s competence. The action promotes professional growth in the organization. Negative reinforcement may also serve as a strategy for doing away with undesirable behaviors and promoting the desirable ones. When employees do not enjoy the rewards and benefits for demonstrating negative behavior, they are likely to link the withdrawal of Rewards with a salient need to engage in behavior that is more positive. Legal and Ethical Issues that Affect Performance Management Systems There are certain legal and ethical issues that affect performance management systems. One of the ethical issues emerges through employee monitoring by the use of electronic devices and computers. Such monitoring of employee performance intrudes into their privacy raising numerous ethical concerns. In addition, there are justice issues that stem from performance appraisals, which may also create ethical issues (Noe, 2014). In other cases, performance appraisal systems only serve the role of punishing employees and not rewarding them for outstanding performances. Such an approach in performance management exploits employees as a means for the business to achieve its objectives. Therefore, it is ethically wrong to adopt such a performance management system. Performance management systems are also subject to litigation and lawsuits, especially when they lead to unjust dismissal. In other cases, performance management systems may promote discrimination against some employees, and such employees may take legal action (Hunter & Nielsen, 2013). References Hunter, D. K., & Nielsen, S. B. (2013). Performance Management and Evaluation: Exploring Complementarities. New Directions for Evaluation, 2013(137), 7-17. doi:10.1002/ev.20042. Noe, R. A. (2014). Fundamentals of human resource management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Peters, P. (2015). 7 tips for delivering performance feedback. Supervision, 76(2), 13. Schraeder, M., & Jordan, M. (2011). Managing Performance. Journal for Quality & Participation, 34(2), 4-10. Read More