1. Identifying Physical Challenges & Barriers to Employee Excellence
Employees in every position of the retail operation need physical tools to do their job well. Ladders, mops, brooms, pens, pencils (with erasers), rubber bands, forms, ink, computer paper, receipt paper, and toilet paper are examples. When physical supplies are missing or not easily accessible to the employees who need them, it creates hassles, time delays, and substandard execution with tasks.
Examples of Physical Challenges & Barriers
(Supplies that are missing, inaccessible, or absent)
- Forms or templates are outdated and require workarounds
- System glitches, slowdowns, malfunctions, complications
- Equipment is broken or inadequate
- Cleaning or office supplies don’t exist or are frequently out of stock
- Supplies aren’t easily accessible when and where needed
- Don’t have the right tool for the right job (hammering with shoes, opening boxes with keys, box cutters as screwdrivers)
2. Identifying Time Challenges & Barriers to Employee Excellence
There always seem to be more tasks than time in a retail operation, but lack of time is not always the result of unmotivated or slow-moving employees. Inefficient processes, antiquated procedures, competing priorities, and time-wasting activities are legitimate time-eating barriers that can and should be eliminated.
Examples of Time Barriers
(Not enough time to get all duties completed or done well)
- Distractions and constant interruptions
- Conflicting priorities
- Cumbersome and inefficient processes
- Overcomplicated Procedures
- Busy work
- Too many duties assigned
- No guidelines about which tasks can wait
3. Identifying Logistical Challenges & Barriers to Employee Excellence
When your expectations require an employee to be in two different places at the same time, or to do two different tasks at the same time, there is a logistical barrier. “They’re just going to have to figure out how to get it all done,” is an unworkable management strategy that sets employees up for failure.Examples of Logistical Barriers
(Being in two places at one time, doing two different jobs at the same time)
- Answering inbound phone calls while running the cash register
- Walking with customers to find merchandise while stocking shelves
- Assisting customers to their car with purchases when you can’t leave the store/register unattended
- Monitoring dressing rooms while working the sales floor
- Cleaning restrooms and anything else
- Paperwork and anything else
4. Identifying Knowledge Challenges & Barriers to Employee Excellence
Lack of knowledge is an insurmountable barrier. Employees simply can’t do what they don’t know how to do. And more often they not, they don’t even know what they don’t know until someone is screaming at them for not knowing it.
Lack of training, reference materials, cheat sheets, or access to experts will create incompetence and render employees incapable of doing their job well, no matter how willing they are to succeed.
Examples of Knowledge Barriers (Lack of training or reference materials)
