December 16, 2014
What about incentives for part-timers?
Sports Direct, the U.K.’s largest sporting goods chain that operates the Sportsdirect.com banner, has been lauded over the years for its generous stock incentive program for full-time employees. But now some are asking: What about the part timers?
With a favorable performance so far in its first half ended Oct. 26, Sports Direct last week said it expected to pay its full-time employees shares worth nearly £140 million as part of its bonus program.
A quarter of the bonus program — 20 million shares, worth £34 million at current trading prices — will vest to employees next September. That equals to £11,000, or $17,816, per eligible worker. The remainder vests in 2017.
The program builds on an earlier 2009 bonus program that paid out about £160 million in shares to 2,000 full-timers in 2013.
Sports Direct officials have noted that such stock awards are typically only reserved for executives. Sports Direct CEO, Dave Forse, said, according to the Daily Mirror, "These share schemes have played a vital part in our recent success. Other retailers are crazy not to have them."
However, while past articles around the bonus policy have portrayed Sports Direct as a model employer, many now focus on the fact that the majority of Sports Direct’s 28,000 employees are part-timers and ineligible for the bonus.
In October, Sports Direct settled a lawsuit brought by 250 part-timers over the 2013 share payout. A Guardian article from earlier this year focused attention on Sports Direct’s treatment of part-timers, saying they all work on "zero-hour contracts" with no guarantee of weekly hours. Union activists have seized on the issue.
Alison McGovern, the Labour MP for Wirral South, told the Guardian, "It seems quite bizarre that a company would on the one hand be awarding bonuses in this way, and treating other staff in a completely different way."
- Sports Direct staff to get £34 million bonus – unless they’re on a zero hours contract – Daily Mirror
- Sports Direct: 90% of staff on zero-hour contracts – Guardian
- Sports Direct employs nine out of 10 of staff on ‘zero-hour contracts’ – Independent
- Working at Sports Direct is no fairytale for part-timers – Guardian
- Sports Direct faces action from zero-hours staff over bonus scheme – Guardian
- Sports Direct share price: Group settle zero-hours legal case out of court – Invezz
BrainTrust
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Are many retailers missing an opportunity in offering more incentives to part-time associates? Should stock options and other incentives be reserved for full timers at stores?
Poll
Retail stores are almost impossible to staff without part-time associates, especially during the holiday period.
Part-timers can be a tremendously valuable asset, and should be rewarded for their long-term service. The key is longevity over time, not the hours worked per week. A loyal, seasoned part-time associate working 20 hours a week year after year, is far more valuable than a full time position that turns over to a new employee that has to be retrained each year.
The solution should be relatively simple—vesting requirements like for full timers, with some kind of proportional stock options based on average hours worked.
Retailers reward loyal customers—the ones who buy the most, not the ones who show up when it suits them. Employees are no different.
Full-time employees are the ones you can build your business on. They are most able to live and model your customer experience.
Part-timers who may work multiple jobs for a variety of reasons are more likely to bring those other job concerns and ways of serving customers to your place of business.
I would hope those who did not share in the stock gift would be asking how they can get more hours to qualify next time, not try to have their cake and eat it too.
Retailers, in an effort to save money, have turned to greater numbers of part-time employees. Part timers usually don’t receive benefits, even vacation and sick days. Much as I would like to see these employees receive incentives, it runs against the philosophies of most companies.
Many times the BrainTrust panel has discussed the benefits of a well-trained, happy workforce, and each time the ideal has run into reality. Few retailers walk the talk when it comes to employees. Consumers have come to expect less than stellar service, and they choose to shop online.
In many ways part-time employees are treated like “contract” employees. They have to fend for themselves when it comes to benefits enjoyed by full-time employees. Certainly some of these part-timers prefer to work in that mode for desired flexibility but others don’t have that option, they can’t find full-time work.
Retailers must have access to part-time employees especially around peak holidays so they can flex with the demand and even if they’re not staffing customer-facing jobs, they do have an impact on the customer through their work in a distribution center or stocking merchandise and so on. Retailers that are creative in rewarding part-timers in tangible ways are more likely to deliver higher customer service levels (and repeat purchases) that offset any higher labor cost.
A retailer is totally dependent on part-time employees to deliver the kind of customer service they want their customers to receive. And yet these employees are paid the least, have little or no benefits, and don’t even know what hours they are working next week until the day or two before. So if we as consumers wonder why so many of our retail experiences are poor, or even horrible, it’s precisely because the retailer truly does not value their front-line employees. Hard facts. Employee performance and loyalty is not free, nor is it cheap. But it’s essential for retailers to succeed and be profitable.
The business model in the U.S. is moving more to part timers as more legislation continues to move businesses away from having full-time employees. The 29er club is growing as we eliminate the 40-hour employees. In order to keep them from being demoralized, it’s important to provide more incentives to keep them showing up for work. Higher pay, bonuses and tuition assistance are all incentives to attract better part-time help. Collaborating with other employers so the workers can get in up to another 29 hours at another work site, perhaps earning more than when they were as 40-hour employees.
Let’s look at the two questions separately.
- Yes many retailers are missing the boat by not providing incentives to their best part-time employees, especially those long-term ones they count on as much as their full-time employees. My PSY 101 course said behavior you want repeated needs to be rewarded.
- When it comes to the difference between part-time and full-time. Yes the rewards should be different based on the fact that those full-time employees should be more invested in the company.
FWIW, I started a retail career a long time ago as a part timer on a small commission. It was enough to incentivize me into learning how to talk to customers and be able to provide great service, i.e. get them to come back. Seems like a little of that thinking could go a long way today into helping what I would consider an emergency out there now: lack of good service.
Customer service is critical. How it is delivered is a different song at every retail operation. Part-timers are not all as special as you make them out to be.
My kids all worked retail in their teen and past teen years. We always chatted about the challenges that they faced each week. One was part-timers. One retailer had many perks in place for part-timers, but a majority of them were still late, cut out early, or just did not come in some days. Others were great and shifted to full time.
So the moral is, you can write your fingers off about this topic but know that retailers address this area the way that best fits each location. Can they improve and change or leverage new ideas? Sure, every business can—just add it to the list of action items.
Dear retailers, what percentage of your sales occur during times when part timers are working? Evenings. Weekends. Isn’t it time to reward the best of those and put programs in place to retain them? Stock options might be a little heavy for the part timer—especially the student—but other monetary and non-monetary incentives can be crafted with ease.
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Retail stores are almost impossible to staff without part-time associates, especially during the holiday period.
Part-timers can be a tremendously valuable asset, and should be rewarded for their long-term service. The key is longevity over time, not the hours worked per week. A loyal, seasoned part-time associate working 20 hours a week year after year, is far more valuable than a full time position that turns over to a new employee that has to be retrained each year.
The solution should be relatively simple—vesting requirements like for full timers, with some kind of proportional stock options based on average hours worked.
Retailers reward loyal customers—the ones who buy the most, not the ones who show up when it suits them. Employees are no different.
Full-time employees are the ones you can build your business on. They are most able to live and model your customer experience.
Part-timers who may work multiple jobs for a variety of reasons are more likely to bring those other job concerns and ways of serving customers to your place of business.
I would hope those who did not share in the stock gift would be asking how they can get more hours to qualify next time, not try to have their cake and eat it too.
Retailers, in an effort to save money, have turned to greater numbers of part-time employees. Part timers usually don’t receive benefits, even vacation and sick days. Much as I would like to see these employees receive incentives, it runs against the philosophies of most companies.
Many times the BrainTrust panel has discussed the benefits of a well-trained, happy workforce, and each time the ideal has run into reality. Few retailers walk the talk when it comes to employees. Consumers have come to expect less than stellar service, and they choose to shop online.
In many ways part-time employees are treated like “contract” employees. They have to fend for themselves when it comes to benefits enjoyed by full-time employees. Certainly some of these part-timers prefer to work in that mode for desired flexibility but others don’t have that option, they can’t find full-time work.
Retailers must have access to part-time employees especially around peak holidays so they can flex with the demand and even if they’re not staffing customer-facing jobs, they do have an impact on the customer through their work in a distribution center or stocking merchandise and so on. Retailers that are creative in rewarding part-timers in tangible ways are more likely to deliver higher customer service levels (and repeat purchases) that offset any higher labor cost.
A retailer is totally dependent on part-time employees to deliver the kind of customer service they want their customers to receive. And yet these employees are paid the least, have little or no benefits, and don’t even know what hours they are working next week until the day or two before. So if we as consumers wonder why so many of our retail experiences are poor, or even horrible, it’s precisely because the retailer truly does not value their front-line employees. Hard facts. Employee performance and loyalty is not free, nor is it cheap. But it’s essential for retailers to succeed and be profitable.
The business model in the U.S. is moving more to part timers as more legislation continues to move businesses away from having full-time employees. The 29er club is growing as we eliminate the 40-hour employees. In order to keep them from being demoralized, it’s important to provide more incentives to keep them showing up for work. Higher pay, bonuses and tuition assistance are all incentives to attract better part-time help. Collaborating with other employers so the workers can get in up to another 29 hours at another work site, perhaps earning more than when they were as 40-hour employees.
Let’s look at the two questions separately.
FWIW, I started a retail career a long time ago as a part timer on a small commission. It was enough to incentivize me into learning how to talk to customers and be able to provide great service, i.e. get them to come back. Seems like a little of that thinking could go a long way today into helping what I would consider an emergency out there now: lack of good service.
Customer service is critical. How it is delivered is a different song at every retail operation. Part-timers are not all as special as you make them out to be.
My kids all worked retail in their teen and past teen years. We always chatted about the challenges that they faced each week. One was part-timers. One retailer had many perks in place for part-timers, but a majority of them were still late, cut out early, or just did not come in some days. Others were great and shifted to full time.
So the moral is, you can write your fingers off about this topic but know that retailers address this area the way that best fits each location. Can they improve and change or leverage new ideas? Sure, every business can—just add it to the list of action items.
Dear retailers, what percentage of your sales occur during times when part timers are working? Evenings. Weekends. Isn’t it time to reward the best of those and put programs in place to retain them? Stock options might be a little heavy for the part timer—especially the student—but other monetary and non-monetary incentives can be crafted with ease.