Promise Autonomy to Promising Front-Liners

Once you spot candidates skilled for frontline retailing positions and ready to seek employment, what are the best ways to persuade those people to come work for you? Excellent pay and predictable hours count for a lot, but in a tight economy, there are limits on what you can guarantee. Studies at Ireland’s Waterford Institute of Technology point out another lure—a promise of on-the-job autonomy.
     A group of university students nearing completion of their studies in a marketing, hospitality, or tourism curriculum were shown a job recruitment brochure. For some, the brochure was designed to promise substantial autonomy. Highlighted was, “Your work will be varied and wide‐ranging. You will enjoy independence and autonomy in your role.” The brochure shown to the other students said instead, “You must be enthusiastic and a team player. You will assist senior team members as you learn and adapt to your new role in the customer service team.” All the respondents were also administered a questionnaire to assess customer orientation and asked to express interest in the advertised job.
     Among those students showing solid customer orientation, the high autonomy pitch attracted more interest than the pitch not promising this. There was about a 63% difference. For those study participants relatively low in customer orientation, the corresponding difference was actually in the reverse direction. The high autonomy pitch resulted in about 13% less interest in the job than did the low autonomy one.
     The researchers attribute this interaction between customer orientation and autonomy attractiveness to these knowledgeable students recognizing how accommodating customers requires flexibility. These candidates don’t want approval required for each accommodation.
     Researchers at Loyola Marymount University, University of Alabama, and University of La Verne find that many shopper requests are slightly or somewhat outside store policy, but not blatantly wrong. The shopper who looks familiar comes in as soon as the store opens, asking for the sale price which expired yesterday. The customer who doesn’t look familiar appears at a busy time asking you to teach his wife right then how to use the technology he purchased.
     You might need limits on delegated autonomy. When it comes to the store’s playlist, let’s say. Researchers at Örebro University, Institute of Retail Economics, and Soundtrack Your Brand, all headquartered in Sweden, determined that when employees began choosing songs and sound volume for a set of women’s fashion shops, store sales dipped.

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