Effective labour management is more critical than ever in this competitive environment, where brick-and-mortar operations need great service as their key differentiator.

The perception is that small-format stores require minimal systems to help manage labour. Minimal staff numbers coupled with extensive opening hours leave little scope for flex with regard to resource deployment. There are exceptions in any retailer, where flagship stores or even small but busy stores need to plan labour to optimise service and, therefore, sales. The general view is that any scheduling solution is a sledgehammer to crack a nut—but what if there was a nutcracker to maximise the labour budget investment?

At RMS, we have started deploying to smaller retailers, who are using our tools to create labour schedules on simple productivity drivers. These drivers can be scaled and configured on a per-store basis, enabling the retailer to create schedules that are realistic, fit for purpose, and maximise their return on investment.

The store manager works off base schedules, highlighting gaps in the ideal deployment model based on minimum manning or simple sales or footfall drivers. The effort required to do this is a fraction of what they would typically do within a manual rota creation and timesheet submission process. From these simple schedules, the store manager can amend labour variances and then submit timesheets to payroll. So, our solutions enable the retailer to maximise their resource, provide visibility through the hierarchy of actual hours deployed, and highlight the need for change to achieve aspirational labour objectives. All this can be done proactively rather than reactively by the retailer.

In summary, labour management solutions are appropriate for small-format retailers and can be realised with reasonable and realistic investment levels.

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