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High staff ‘churn’ as a business model? The Wickes approach
February 28th, 2009Listening to a recent Radio 4 Today programme interview with Geoff Cooper CEO of Wickes (and the Travis Perkins Group) it appeared that company was well-placed to ride out the current recession.
He was later quoted as saying ” We took early action in 2008 to deal with the increasingly tough trading environment and have set our business ready to manage continuing difficult market conditions in 2009. We have already taken decisive action, and stand ready to take further steps if necessary.” (Source www.diyweek.net)
However, on the radio he added that high staff turnover was a feature of their business and appeared to view it favourably as a way of managing staff costs.
It made me think. Usually businesses want to keep their staff since recuiting and training new employees is costly in both temporal and financial resources.
Making working conditions as appealing as possible in order to retain staff has always been a ‘given’ in management terms.
So could the current market conditions be leading to a new model in which companies welcome staff departures as a way of controlling costs?
This may look appealing to the accountants but has big ramifications for Customer Relationship Management!
It is no co-incidence that John Lewis is performing well in difficult market conditions. Their staff actually know something about the products they are selling – unlike the average salesperson in Wickes or B&Q.
Staff knowledge as a Key Performance or Profit Indicator? Why not!
I know in which store I prefer to buy my everyday DIY products!
Travis Perkins underperforms but Tile Giant sales up
It’s helpful