Our Study Findings Are Infuriating To Say The Least..
Annually Consumers That Make The Median Average Of $63,784 A Year Spend $51,100 In Expenditures.
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With over 61% of consumers preferring to shop in a brick and mortar location, and spending over 25% of their paychecks on food, personal care, and apparel, it's not wonder that commerce is a great place for booming business. Business owners are excited for holidays with rapidly growing customer bases and consistently reaching forecast goals with their employees hard efforts. But many workers are debating on whether or not it's worth staying in the retail industry or to seek new employment. In a study on the average pay of a retail employee it came to a whopping $18,960. A little over fast food which averages $16,500. Walmart's average profit is estimated at $34,985 per minute. Companies know they are keeping their pay low for workers and implement morale boosting tactics which are often known as "Job Perks." Cross training is utilized by companies big and small to cut expenses in hiring additional employees and coverage cases of the unexpected loss of an employee. While this cuts expenses for the company, it also creates problems for customers who are seeking assistance. "Something needs to be done." Michelle Dansey of M.D.P.D. says. "Some customers lose their minds when they don't get the assistance they need at the drop of a dime. Once a customer finds an employee, they can even become verbally violent." With constant demands for satisfaction and constant efforts to exceed customer expectation, it's become common for the average employee to receive multiple complaints a day. "The customer will grow more and more impatient and they will choose a target regardless of who it is. Some customers have even been known to even grab another customer mistaking that they work there and will yell at them and demand to see a manager. Even when told that person is not an employee they will convince themselves that everyone is lying." Michelle states. "If you've ever been to a club store, you get to see first hand how customers do not have high regard for other customers and especially not for retail employees." When it comes to verbal assault, how far is too far? We asked if there is any training on what actions to take on how to handle customer verbal assault. "No," Michelle answers, "Unfortunately not because in most companies they care about the profit they may make off that one customer.. and not the employees mental well being."
We have investigated the reports of high pressure retail jobs and the rapidly increasing mental illnesses reported within them. Many mental illnesses such as depression has been reported frequently in Customer Service based jobs within the first 3 years. "There's definitely a connection." Dr. Dan Wilson says. "9 out of 10 patients with depression tell me it's because of their job. 9 out of 10 patients with depression work in a Customer Service based environment. Something needs to be addressed."
We interviewed Shirley W. of Oklahoma who has been working in the customer service industry for 12 years. We asked how it was when she first started, "Oh it was wonderful." She says, "I was fresh out of High School. It was my first job. I was friendly and was full of energy and life. But all that has since changed. Even the first day I experienced that the customers were hurtful and treated me as if I should know every operation and every single product in the entire company. I even explained that I was new and they had this mentality that it didn't matter. I should know everything. They didn't treat me as if I was an actual human being. I am constantly degraded, belittled, and addressed in a hurtful manner." We asked her why she decided to continue working retail. "Nobody else would hire me. Believe me I tried to get out of retail but with it being my only experience, my resume is often looked over or thrown in the trash. I was a young mom and instead of focusing on college I focused on providing for my little one. When you make sacrifices, you deal with what's handed to you."
Further into our investigation into this retail specific industry we asked about workers seeking new employment Michelle answers, "Once you have retail on your resume, you're kind of locked in. You may get lucky and find a non direct customer based job. For a female in this industry it's especially hard to find new employment in a non direct customer service based job. One employee may go from being a Sales Floor Associate to a Receptionist."
We've even come across reports of sexual assault in our findings. An estimated average 72% of Direct Customer Service Employees are women. These reported findings include unwelcomed lewd comments and physical assault from both customers and coworkers. Shirley commented, "I've had training on how to deal with sexual harassment from a coworker, but not from a customer. Yet, I have had many customers make me feel uncomfortable with sexual comments and inappropriate touching. I have told my Manager at one point and he had told me to just ignore it and make the sale. That infuriated me."
We asked what the best thing to do for someone who wants to get out of retail. Michelle responds, "Write down 10 things you love doing and build a business or work for a business that supports that. If you are lost, connect with us at My Dream Path Discovery. Where we do what we love by helping you find a way to do what you love too."
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