eating the Clock: Retail Hiring and Payroll Management Tactics to Save Time Sponsored by
able of Contents A Retail Snapshot of the United States Hiring and Payroll Challenges in the Retail Industry Retail Hiring and Payroll Done Right How icims and Valiant Can Help 2
A Retail Snapshot of The retail trade industry employs nearly 10% of the U.S. workforce. the United States (Bureau of Labor Statistics) logistics/transportation 5 million Retail 1 in 4 supports AMERICAN JOBS management healthcare and service insurance and real estate 4 million 2 million 2 million technology 800,000 (National Retail Federation) Approximately two-thirds of the U.S. GDP comes from retail consumption. The most common types of businesses in the retail industry include (About.com) 20 % 13 % 12.5 % 11 % 10 % motor vehicle and parts dealers food and beverage stores general merchandise stores food services and drinking places gasoline stations and convenience stores (U.S. Census Bureau) 3
What are some of the common Hiring and Payroll Challenges in the Retail Industry? Notoriously High Turnover Rates Employee Replacement Expense Seasonal Variations The retail industry experiences a 60% turnover rate annually, roughly 5% of the workforce per month. (Bloomberg) On average, it costs $3,328 to find, hire, and train a replacement for a retail employee earning $10 per hour. (Center for American Progress) Retail payrolls surge in November and December as stores hire for holiday shopping typically jumping 3-4% between October and December. (Pew Research Center) 4
etail Hiring and ayroll Done Right: Tactics for Businesses to Save Time and Alleviate the Revolving Door 5
Use the Best Tools for the Job You wouldn t use yesterday s methods to tackle today s challenges, would you? Of course not. The same goes for your hiring activities. By employing specialized talent acquisition software, recruiters can effectively reduce the time it takes to advertise job listings, review and advance candidates, conduct interviews, and successfully fill positions. Additionally, many talent acquisition software providers can also seamlessly integrate with existing HR software to centralize candidate data and increase efficiency. Some time-saving hiring tips when using talent acquisition software include: Conduct automated recruitment marketing activities to build relationships with passive candidates and job seekers Distribute job listings to thousands of mainstream and niche job boards to expand reach Manage new hire onboarding tasks to increase efficiency and enhance employee engagement 68% of recruiters agree that a fully integrated talent acquisition suite is the ideal solution. (icims Hiring Insights) 6
Cater to Candidates 84% On-the-Go Making sure your corporate and career sites are mobile-optimized is one of the easiest ways to save time when hiring for retail positions. As one in four candidates would not apply to a job if a company s career site was not mobile-optimized,¹ providing easy access for on-the-go users helps to improve employment desirability and increase application rates, enabling you to hire faster. of job seekers think organizations should have mobilefriendly sites. (icims Hiring Insights) Be sure to incorporate the following tips into your mobile hiring strategy for retail positions to boost application rates and reduce time-to-fill metrics: Limit the entire mobile application process to 15 minutes or less to reduce candidate drop-off Enable candidates to directly apply for positions using their LinkedIn or Facebook profiles Allow quick resume uploads directly from cloud-based platforms including Google Drive and Dropbox 1. Glassdoor 7
Go With Your Employees Recommendations Many retail businesses do not know that they already possess their greatest hiring tool, their current employees. By developing an employee referral program where workers can recommend top candidates they already know, retail employers can quickly source best-fit talent to help reduce time-tofill metrics and save themselves from lengthy candidate searches when the need to hire arises. Some best practices when creating an employee referral program for retail businesses include: Establish an employee referral portal to provide an easy way for current employees to submit qualified talent for full-time, part-time, and seasonal positions Offer incentive programs for successful employee referral hires, including extra PTO days, cash bonuses, and retail discounts 47% of referrals stay with a company 3 years or longer. (Business 2 Community) Educate your employees on the benefits and specific business results of employee referral programs 8
Use Video to Cut Candidate Screening Times Screening candidates for quality of fit is one of the most important and time-consuming hiring tasks for any retail business. A bad hire can cause significant business disruption and the need to backfill the position down the road, costing additional time and expense. Using video technology integrated with talent acquisition software can help to cut review times and quickly gain additional insight on candidates to reduce hiring risk. Ways to save time when using video for candidate screening include: Create standardized screening questions to quickly compare applicants As a result of using video screening, recruiters report an 80% decrease in the time required for effective screening and a 57% decrease in time-to-fill. (icims Hiring Insights) Request video cover letter content regarding specific position-related duties to reduce review times Pay attention to candidates soft skills not evident from a resume, including communication ability and body language 9
Show Your New Employees the Ropes Properly onboarding new employees is an excellent way for retail businesses to save time in their hiring process. As the retail turnover rate is currently about five percent per month,¹ having a well-designed onboarding program will promote increased employee engagement and retention, leading to decreased backfill rates and substantial time and cost savings. A few handy time-saving tips to incorporate into onboarding programs include: Enable new hires to complete required paperwork electronically before their start date Integrate employment verification software with your ATS to quickly confirm employment eligibility and mitigate costly errors Incorporate online training programs to reduce the need for in-person, instructor-led sessions 53% of people admitted they would like their jobs more if they had better training. (Entrepreneur) 1. Bloomberg 10
Simplify Your Process to Save Time and Money Implement and invest in a HR task manager along with proper payroll software. These tools enable employers to keep organized, which is a necessity when trying to save time and money now and in the future. 47% of companies have HR software that is over seven years old. (Bersin by Deloitte) 11
Pick the Best Software for the Needs of Your Business There are many different kinds of software available, but it s important to find the one that can cater to your specific industry and provide the right amount of support and breadth of products to fit your specific goals. It s also essential that the software of your choosing integrates with existing software (point-of-sale software, scheduling) that you may be using, boosting collaboration and communication during your payroll processes. Keep in mind that an all-encompassing workforce solution may be the best bet when implementing these processes to your payroll. 74% (Bersin of executives identified digital HR as a top priority for this year. by Deloitte) 12
Automate State and Federal Taxes You ll want to find a payroll solution that processes state and federal taxes automatically. It s one thing less to worry about, and prevents human error in payroll tax deposits and executes the task in a timely matter. #1 Payroll and taxes is ranked as the #1 administrative burden among businesses. (National Small Business Association) 13
Keep Track of Everything With the use of reporting software, keeping your records and documents all in one place is an absolute must and easier than ever. It s important to remember that some federal and state laws require employers to hold on to records for a specific period of time. Keeping track of W-4 and W-2 forms, tax forms, benefits, vacation time, and tax deposits can be arduous, but with a proper system in place, you ll never have to scramble to produce them if asked. The IRS penalizes 1 out of every 3 businesses each year for payroll errors. (Inc.) 14
How icims Can Help Benefit from UNIFi, icims Platform-as-a-Service framework that delivers one experience, one view, and countless possibilities for customers who value bringing their talent acquisition world together. Empower Core Recruitment with the Talent Acquisition Suite Expand Your Suite with the icims Marketplace Integrate with icims Connectors Maximize Success with Centralized Data To learn more about how icims and its partner ecosystem can improve your talent acquisition and management capabilities, visit the icims Marketplace. About Valiant: Valiant Solutions, Inc. is a leading provider of cloudbased Payroll and Human Capital Management Solutions. Our comprehensive, easy-to-use HCM suite of products is designed specifically to meet the unique needs of companies with a large hourly workforce. Clients using our HCM solutions realize verifiable cost savings and margin improvements while automating and streamlining operations, increasing efficiency and implementing best practices across their organizations. For more information about Valiant, please visit us at www.valiant.com. 15