According to Mindbeat’s global network of coaches, retail leaders struggle with long-term planning, innovation, collaboration and professional development. Our Partnerships Director, Simon Morris looks at each of these challenges and asks how coaching is helping retailers to reframe their thinking.
Retailers have made a stuttering start to the 2020s. The turn of the decade brought with it excitement and optimism that artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality and increased swathes of customer data would transform the way we shop, presenting retail leaders with enhanced opportunities for personalisation and technological innovation both in-store and online.
However, the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, political instability, rising inflation and supply chain issues have all taken their toll.
Retail leaders have had to fire-fight and adapt rather than innovate and grow. Leadership skills such as recruitment, staff retention and strategic investment have all suffered as consumer behaviours evolve and retail experience expectations shift and continue to change.
In its Retail Trends report for 2023, Deloitte believes that retailers are now ‘finally ready to get out of first gear’ – highlighting the importance of strong, effective and empathetic leadership to capitalise on the tailwinds of opportunity still blowing through the retail landscape.
“Leadership is a theme that runs throughout all our trends, whether it is making strategic investments or decisions on cutting costs to unlock value, ensuring your business stays focussed on the customer experience in the face of extreme challenges, pushing your net zero agenda or transitioning to a skills-based organisation. However, leadership is not just demonstrated in the boardroom. To be successful, retailers will need employees across their organisations to step up and demonstrate leadership traits.” Deloitte’s Retail Trends 2023
With these words ringing in our ears, we spoke with those Mindbeat coaches around the world who work with retail leaders and their teams across the grocery, fashion, cosmetics, healthcare and luxury goods sectors.
They gave us the four most common challenges they’re helping retailers navigate and the leadership initiatives they’re encouraging clients to implement. Let’s look at each in turn.
Four key challenges facing retail leaders today
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Short-term focus versus long-term strategic thinking
Almost 90% of our coaches report that retail leaders lack the ability or head space to think long-term. This remains a hangover from the Pandemic when reactive decision-making and short-term survival trumped longer-term strategic planning.
Junior leaders in particular still find themselves caught up in immediate, day-to-day issues and feel constrained by a focus on KPIs and quarterly results.
How is coaching helping?
Leadership coaching centres on effective delegation, setting aside time for planning and reflection, fostering a team environment conducive to individual growth, and ensuring that everyone can perform at their best.
2. Openness to experimentation and innovation
Almost 60% of our coaches say that retail leaders are avoiding experimentation and innovation due to organisational views of failure. The association between financial rewards, bonuses, and promotions often casts failure in a negative light, discouraging individuals from taking risks.
When organisations do encourage innovation, the crucial element of trust is often missing, leaving leaders fearful of the ramifications associated with perceived failure.
How is coaching helping?
Organisations that prioritise talent retention are often more inclined to embrace a culture of ‘failing forward’ and risk-taking. Leaders are coached to create workplace environments where making mistakes is acceptable, provided there’s an open dialogue around growth and learning through trial and error and a demonstration of trust from the top down.
3. Collaboration across borders
Over 60% of Mindbeat coaches agree that retail leaders tend to operate within silos and lack the ability or motivation to collaborate across boundaries.
This is mostly due to organisational cultures that prioritise competition over collaboration. There is also a disconnect between headquarters and store-level managers, which can leave stores understaffed or under-resourced.
How is coaching helping?
Our coaches highlight a need for more retail organisations to establish formal processes that promote collaboration and foster a learning culture, facilitating the exchange of ideas and insights. The transition from functional management to cross-functional leadership demands that leaders focus on enhancing their abilities to influence, build internal and external stakeholder networks, and encourage collaboration.
4. Investing time in personal and professional development
Some 97% of Mindbeat coaches report that retail leaders struggle to find time for their own personal and professional growth. While 84% say that retail leaders lack sufficient time to invest in their team’s development.
Coaches see leaders who are stuck in an ‘it’s quicker if I do it myself’ mindset, those who report the absence of a supportive culture that encourages dedicating time for self-improvement, plus many who grapple with issues relating to employee retention, often addressing development needs reactively rather than through a strategic approach.
How is coaching helping?
Retail leaders use coaching to develop accountability, set boundaries, serve as role models, and boost confidence. They’re encouraged to consider the strategic implications of their own development, employ creative time management, and delegate effectively.
Conclusion
Retail leaders who make time for thinking longer-term by anticipating threats and developing an organisational culture that encourages risk-taking, self-improvement and innovation will reap the benefits.
Developing more collaborative and cross-functional leadership skills such as confidence, establishing boundaries, setting up high-performing teams, engaging in honest conversations, tailoring a leadership style depending on the audience and developing stronger networks, will enable retailers and their teams to face a more assured future together.
To read the full report or to discuss Mindbeat coaching for retail leaders and their teams, please email [email protected].