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Reboarding Retail

As businesses reopen and return to full operating hours, reboarding retail employees safely, efficiently, and productively is critically important. A well-thought-out, comprehensive plan for rehiring and reboarding furloughed employees will help the process go smoothly.

Rehiring your best employees has always been an effective, if underused, strategy for retailers. By engaging with and rehiring your best former employees, you can reduce time- and cost-to-hire by as much as 90%.

Reboarding Retail

The first step in effective reboarding is addressing safety — fully, transparently, and frequently. Furloughed workers returning to work will understandably have feelings of fear and anxiety and will be expecting higher standards of protection to be in place. You must be prepared to answer questions like:

  • Are masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) required for employees and customers? Are these requirements voluntary or mandatory? What equipment will be provided by the company?
  • How will safety requirements like masks and social distancing be enforced?
  • How many employees and customers are allowed in the store or in any given space at once?

Download this informative piece to learn more about reboarding furloughed employees.

“Retail employers have a vital responsibility to protect their people by creating safe workspaces and empowering managers to foster a culture of trust and transparency. And given that leadership already recognizes the likely existence and impact of COVID-related anxiety among the workforce, the winners will be the ones who proactively do something about it.”

Dr. Chris Mullen, executive director
The Workforce Institute at UKG