Behind the products, behind the experience, behind the service, retail is still a people business, and the company with the best team wins. As businesses in 2019 face historic labor and talent gaps, understanding how a business compares with its peers can make all the difference in filling critical technology roles or improving in-store employee retention. For those in talent acquisition, HR, retail — or anyone interested in understanding the U.S. workforce — the Mercer Retail Compensation and Benefits Survey is an invaluable resource to understanding business, community and the entire retail industry.
Every year, Mercer and NRF team up to deliver this report. The survey collects data from hundreds of retailers and millions of employees to provide unparalleled insights into compensation, turnover, incentive structures, benefits packages, demographics and dozens of other data points. And from a broader perspective, as retail powers the economy, understanding the industry is necessary to understand broader workforce and economic implications.
Like all surveys, the value of the information depends on participation and obtaining representative sets of data. To do so, we need your help in providing your organizational data. Not only will that help improve a critical data source, participants will also receive the final results for only $1,900 (compared with $5,700 for non-participants and $3,800 for NRF members).
Your participation in this survey is important. Employee turnover is a challenge for all industries, and understanding how a business stacks up against its peers can help determine its retention strategy. Here is a quick look at some turnover data from 2017:
The data offers additional filtering for more than 230 position types, geography, industry sub-segment or other business demographics. As the retail industry grows and evolves, retail careers are also diversifying. Most retailers are equal parts tech, supply chain, in-store and ecommerce organizations. We need survey participation from a broad range of companies to ensure the data is robust. Here is a list of job families and the specific job titles and employees they represent:
The nature of work is evolving; this data will help organizations make informed decisions on how to adapt. The U.S. economy is entering an era which will bring significant workforce changes. An aging population, slowing labor force growth and automation will ramp up the need for skilled talent. Organizations need access to data to make informed HR and organizational decisions. Mercer’s Retail Compensation and Benefits Survey can be an invaluable resource for any organization, and we need companies to step up and participate.
For more information on how to get involved, please click here.
