While not every shop employs staff, those that do need to ensure that they are retaining the good ones and improving the ones that need some work. Career staff progression is important from both a morale and business perspective. Many retailers started work as paper boys and girls before they rose through the ranks to run their own stores. However, progression isn’t just about training members of staff up to certain standards required to work in the shop. It’s also about identifying skillsets where they excel and pushing them to do more in those directions.

Within an industry as fast-paced and diverse as independent conve­nience, there will always be aspects of the business where you’re not as strong or motivated as you’d like to be. Perhaps there is someone else in your team raring to go with fresh ideas and enthusiasm.

“When I hire staff, the first ques­tion I ask is ‘what are you going to bring to my business?’,” says Shital Patel, from Jimmy’s Store in Northampton. “I’ll give them lots of responsibilities and as much train­ing as possible. Most of the training is done in store, but if I need to send them somewhere, I do that as well.”

Delegate to motivate

Social media is frequently touted as a key example by retailers, particularly for their younger team members, as an area to give added re­sponsibilities, generate further pro­gression within the team and also improve the business as a whole. There will be other avenues that are worth exploring and it’s important to talk to your team regularly to identify them early.

“We do that with the team to keep them engaged,” says Vince Malone, from Tenby Stores & Post Office in Pembrokeshire. “We ask them what they see themselves doing in five years, and what they’d like to do. They don’t always go for it, but if it works for us and for them, we give it a go.”

Treat them as colleagues

One of Jeet Bansi’s team at Londis Meon Vale in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, was a 30 Under Thirty winner in 2023 and he uses them as a role model for the younger members of his team. He doesn’t have specific performance reviews with each member of staff. He stresses the importance of classifying them as colleagues and telling that “we’re working together” rather than them working for him.

“Make sure they’re aware of how important they are to the team and how they fit in. It makes them feel valued,” he says. “Every day and every task is a chance to review. Tell them what’s good and what’s better, and give them the constructive criticism in the middle. You can always give feed­back in a constructive way. Make it a two-way conversa­tion. And let them know they can go on courses and it’s all down to their aspirations.”

Have a structure in place

Rather than keeping things too formal, Vince Malone prefers to schedule monthly 10-minute chats with his staff members at Tenby Stores & Post Office in Pembrokeshire.

“Then, every quarter, there’s a more formal meet­ing where we consider what we’re looking for as a busi­ness and how people fit in within that,” he says. “It lets us talk to the team about the skills they’ve got and how we can use them here.”

One of Malone’s newer members of staff has identi­fied herself as someone who can improve their social media presence. She feels there are improvements to be made and she’s comfortable setting up TikTok videos and reels.

“We’ll give her that and she’ll feel more motivated and engaged,” says Malone. “We’ve got another young lad who’s a part-time gardener and he looks after our outside area now, which is something we’d neglected.”

Ask questions

The challenge for many retail­ers is coming down too hard on staff members, being too honest or critical about what they’re doing wrong and ulti­mately demotivating them.

Dee Sedani, from One Stop Etwall, Derbyshire, finds it harder to implement a corpo­rate message when it’s coming from a single independent shop rather than a bigger company. Instead, he focuses on their welfare and gives them the chance to speak their thoughts, putting the onus on them to identify room for improvement.

“The days of staff reviews are gone because some people are just scared of having that conversation,” he says. “So, instead, we’ll have a Welfare Check and we ask five ques­tions of each member of staff: how are you? Is there any­thing we can do to make work easier? Are there any improve­ments you’d like to see in the workplace? Would you like to take on more or learn more? Do you have any further questions or suggestions?”

Communication and reward

For Shital Patel, from Jimmy’s Store in Northampton, it isn’t just about identifying areas where staff members need im­provement or are doing well. She also makes sure to reward team members for good work with things like vouchers.

“The main thing I try to do is communicate with the staff,” she says. “Staff meet­ings aren’t planned, but I will just hold them ad-hoc for 10-15 minutes and talk about what they’re doing well and what they need to improve on.

“I also have two outings a year with staff where we go for lunch, and also Christmas dinner. We’ll share things with each other and talk together. They’re running the business in my absence, so I treat them more like family. If they’re not up for something, I’ll say ‘let’s go for a 10-minute walk’ and we can have a chat and build up their confidence. You need to be flexible with them because they have their own worlds, too.”

Read more of our store profiles where we visit independent convenience retailers to showcase their fresh ideas and unique insights