Flexibility Is Prized, Especially by Hourly Workers. Make It Your Competitive Edge.

Retailers have the opportunity to make "permanent part-time" positions even more advantageous to the stores and the employee. It could become your competitive edge for attracting and keeping the best employees. Here's why.

Even in this tough economic situation, there are people who want only part-time, hourly work. This includes parents of school-age children (who are not the sole breadwinners, but the "supplementers") and university and college students (of all ages).

However, these people may need flexibility (e.g., last minute changes) in their schedule. If you can provide that time-shifting flexibility, they often become the most loyal employees, according to Working Mother magazine.

Retailers are well-positioned to attract and retain these potential loyal workers. But it might require some revamping of the usual-way-of-doing-things.

Remember, your staff who are on salary can come in early and/or stay late to compensate for a parent/teacher conference or taking an aging parent to the doctor. For an hourly employee to have this flexibility, they typically must trade hours with colleagues. That makes it the employees' problem, and, adds another layer of complexity to the solution. Plus, employees may feel it is "inappropriate" to have repeated requests for changes.

That culture has to change. And fast! It starts with R-E-S-P-E-C-T for the real-life demands of all your employees, not just those on salaries.

How to make the scheduling work for all your workers and for your customers? Start first by asking your hourly staff. They will have some very practical insights.

Then, with their good input, your good intentions, and today's scheduling software, keep experimenting with different approaches until you get the one that serves you best.

Flexibility in scheduling - and respect from the employer - is prized by hourly employees. What the retailer gains in return can be tremendous loyalty. (And yes, breaking the attract-hire-train-repeat cycle can save costs.) What a competitive edge for your stores going forward.