The Human Resource Function of a Retail Store - Research Paper Example

Human sources managers should consider training sales staff. Training is a career and development process which would improve the skills of staff with great but untapped potential (Krafft & Mantrala, 2010). They would contribute to the increase of the sales of the retail stores and counter the standards set by the new retail players in the industry. Training would also increase the overall performance of the stores and match the quality and convenience demands from the retail customers. Career and development process in the form of regular training ensures that sales staffs in the retail stores acquire the necessary skills to improve the overall quality of the retail products and services from the stores.

Human resource managers should introduce flexible working arrangements in order to manage the cost of labor. Flexible working arrangements is the best way to minimize hiring extra retail staff especially for busy holidays and periods such as Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter holidays. The new role ensures that employees do not work for long-hours without getting paid notes Krafft & Mantrala (2010). An eight-hour shift would work for a retail store to utilize the entire workforce by the end of the rotation.

It is difficult to meet the labor costs during seasonal fluctuations with many staff members, but a temporary working arrangement would ensure that the store keeps selling. Customers are demanding quality and convenience from service and products. Human resource managers have a duty to employ highly visible employees who can keep track of the consumers..Employees should not only have relevant skills for the job, but also ability to keep a sane appearance and code of conduct. Customer need for convenience and quality from retail stores must be met.

Again, human resources would benefit from a well-designed strategy that adapts to fair hiring practices for all retail staffs. Meeting high variation in customer demand is a challenge for human