Prioritizing The Hourly Employee Experience During Retail Expansion

Forbes

25-03-2025

Michael Spataro is the SVP of Partnerships and Employee Value Solutions at Legion Technologies, an innovator in workforce management (WFM).
In-store retail is on the rebound. After a healthy holiday season—77% of holiday shopping took place in-store in 2024—and an overall rise in retail foot traffic, retailers entered 2025 with renewed optimism for their brick-and-mortar operations.
To meet this invigorated demand for in-store experiences, retailers are expanding, whether through opening new locations, renovating existing facilities or acquiring or merging with another brand. The trend is especially prominent within the convenience sector. C-Store Dive reported that M&A activity is rampant in the industry, from major chains to smaller operations, while others are expanding aggressively. 7-Eleven, for example, plans to open 600 new locations by 2027.
The expansion fervor is certainly exciting. But the success of any growth initiative depends on how well retailers manage the accompanying changes with their employees—especially their in-store hourly workers. In times of transformation, employees want assurance that the changes to the greater organization are also going to benefit them.
Expansion puts the business in a malleable state, making it the perfect opportunity for retailers to modernize their workforce management processes to be more employee-centric, while simultaneously improving labor efficiency and productivity.
To ensure a smooth transition and strong results, here are three key workforce management strategies that retailers undergoing expansion should adopt.
Employee flexibility is the undeniable foundation of a modern workplace. For hourly workers, this starts with them choosing which days and how many hours they want to work—but true flexibility goes beyond that, extending into which store locations they prefer, which tasks utilize their best knowledge and skills, and even how often they're paid.
Enabling greater flexibility during expansion can help retailers maintain satisfaction among their current workforce while attracting and retaining talent, which is why leaders should look for opportunities to:
• Transform labor processes. Labor optimization must be top of mind during expansion. Leaders and managers must ensure not only that they have the proper staff to accommodate changing demands, but that they can prepare for any unique challenges that may arise, especially if they're moving into a geographic region where they have not done business before.
• Upgrade communications. When workers can easily communicate with their managers and colleagues, they'll feel more engaged and empowered, which will improve their overall experience. Streamlined communication also makes it easier for companies to relay important expansion information, such as a new location opening.
• Offer earned wage access. Pay flexibility is a crucial part of the larger flexibility of the equation. The ability to get paid early can influence hourly employees' decision to accept or stay in a job. It's also been linked to higher productivity and overall employee well-being.
The addition of new locations to a retail chain can be an employee benefit in itself, as employees may have the opportunity to work at a more desirable location or swap shifts across more stores to maximize schedule flexibility.
In an hourly workplace, the manager-report relationship is the most critical front of change management and implementation. Managers serve as ambassadors from upper leadership, helping their employees put strategy into action while ensuring they can do their jobs efficiently and effectively.
To enable teams to keep up with expansion-related changes, leaders must create environments where these coaching and mentoring relationships can thrive. Managers should have the training and resources—and most importantly, the time—to help employees sharpen their best skills, improve their weaknesses and unlock their potential.
Managers have a real appetite for teaching and coaching opportunities: according to our company's 2024 State of the Hourly Workforce report, 67% of managers wish they could spend more time teaching and coaching their reports. However, 40% of frontline leaders say they receive inadequate coaching from their managers, revealing a startling disconnect that could hinder the success of an expansion if left unaddressed.
The intelligent automation of less 'human' tasks, such as timekeeping, payroll and inventory management, will afford managers more time to train and develop their employees. Bringing managers out of the backroom and onto the floor with their teams can also create more opportunities for hands-on coaching and direct observation. This ultimately helps new employees acclimate faster, accelerates the adoption of new technologies and processes, and improves the in-store experience for customers.
As retailers expand, managers will likely have new expectations (and fresh paperwork) to handle. However, this is also the time to lessen the administrative burden in other areas—permanently.
Companies should aim to make admin-heavy processes like workforce management as autonomous as possible, from long-term labor planning to everyday assistance. Managers should be able to trust that they're working with the most accurate insights and can complete key processes within the minimum of steps.
The rise of agentic AI, which experts predict will explode in the coming years, will be critical in reducing the administrative burden on managers. The possible use cases cover a broad spectrum of everyday tasks, such as distributing and changing schedules easier, drafting team messages and easily managing time and attendance records. With these tools in their repertoire, managers can focus on collaborating with their teammates and connecting with customers—high-value work that will drive measurable success.
Retail expansion, in whatever form, is a deeply complex process. From potential regulatory hurdles to hiring initiatives to construction and supply chain challenges, leaders have their hands full. But amid all the paperwork and protocol, there is an opportunity to reshape their business in a way that fosters a better workplace for everyone and makes them more competitive in the long run.
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