Survey: 23% of retail employers rate employee morale as low

Chicago A new WorkinRetail.com survey of more than 290 retail employers, released Tuesday, revealed that 23% rate their organization’s current employee morale as low.

Additionally, 42% of retail workers, the highest of all industries surveyed, report that they have had difficulty staying motivated at work in the last year and more than a quarter (28%) do not feel loyal to their current employer.

“Low morale can have a significant impact on worker productivity and overall store results,” said Ben Jablow, managing director of WorkinRetail.com, CareerBuilder’s retail job site. “As retailers enter the busy holiday season, they are using a variety of tactics to proactively manage low morale levels -- including implementing more flexible scheduling, amped up communication and more bonus incentives.”

Workers revealed a variety of factors that may be contributing to low morale levels. Nearly half (48%) said that their stress level at work is high and more than half (52% said that their workload has increased in the last six months. A quarter (24%) is dissatisfied with their work/life balance.

Forty-two percent of retail workers said they felt there was departmental favoritism at work, which could also play a part in low morale levels. Thirty percent of retail workers don’t think their department is important to senior leadership.

Sales (21%), human resources (12%) and customer service (12%) topped the list of departments retail workers believe are primarily given preferential treatment at work, followed by marketing (6%).

The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 2,924 hiring managers and human-resources professionals and among 4,285 U.S. workers.