More support for front line colleagues needed
Continued threats and abuse aimed at retail employees is leading to many considering leaving the sector but this can be arrested to some extent if leaders ensure their colleagues feel supported when at work.
When presenting at the recent Retail Technology Show Chris Brook-Carter, CEO of Retail Trust, laid bare the facts of the situation with research showing 77% of all store colleagues had been abused or assaulted in the past year, with 25% physically assaulted. A shocking 45% face such disturbing circumstances every single week. As a result Brook-Carter says nearly half of colleagues on the shop floor are considering quitting the sector.
Subscribe to TRBUnderstanding wellbeing
Against this backdrop he says it is useful for retailers to understand wellbeing trends in the sector. For this the Retail Trust can call on a huge amount of data from 210 retail organisations it works with that encompasses 700,000 colleagues.
This details things like churn, productivity, absence and abuse. In addition, over the past three years it has been collating various scores across employees in the retail industry to determine the likes of happiness and presenteeism.
For the happiness score Brook-Carter reveals that there had for the first two years the figures were tracked been significant seasonal trends involving a dip as the sector as it went into peak season but then this had improved as the spring season kicked in. But last year was different.
“Last year we saw no seasonal bounce. We should be pretty worried about this. If the score goes below 60% then we start to see issues and it is currently at 57%. Young people score much worse – at 52% for 16-24-year-olds – as they are less likely to be able to deal with life events and engage with people about them,” he says, adding that this has led to 51% of the 16-24-year-old grouping stating that they anticipate being off work due to mental health in the next 12 months.
Line managers under pressure
Line managers had typically been happier but for the first time the happiness level of this grouping has fallen below that of non-line managers. Since they are responsible for 80% of the workforce in retail – on the shop floor – it is a very worrying situation to have this influential part of the retail sector disengaged.
Retail Trust has also been monitoring a presenteeism score that tracks people attending work while they are unwell, injured, or disengaged, resulting in significantly reduced productivity and efficiency. It differs from absenteeism by focusing on ‘sickness presence,’ where employees are physically present but unable to perform at full capacity, often leading to mistakes, burnout, and higher overall business costs.
In Q4 of 2025 the presenteeism score had reached 49% versus a much lower 31% in Q2 of 2024, with the numbers worse for in-store staff and younger people. This worrying scenario is leading to what Brook-Carter describes as a flight-risk, whereby as many as 50% of retail employees in Q4 of 2025 were considering quitting their roles.
Serious flight risk
“If half of your organisation is considering leaving then it’s a morale and financial risk. The average cost of churn is £3,000-£5,000,” he says, adding that it is the best colleagues who invariably deal with the greatest level of abuse because they step into confrontational issues and they will often be called upon by younger staff to deal with such problems.
Heightening the situation is the perma-crisis that the industry has endured since 2008, which has taken its toll: “It has chipped away at the levels of resilience of people. Their ability to deal with issues has lessened and their ability to cope reduced. They can’t deal with it. It’s compounded with young people and the best store staff.”
Brook-Carter suggests retailers need to be mindful of this very sensitive backdrop when they consider introducing lone working policies and shy away from teaching new recruits about confrontation in case it puts them off staying with the business. Failure to deliver such training merely stores up problems as these individuals will have a lack of skills to deal with such issues.
Emotional disconnect
The retail frontline is clearly under the most pressure and sadly he says colleagues at the coal face do not believe head office understands what they are having to deal with during the working day. “There has been a huge investment in technology [in-store such as facial recognition] but it does not make colleagues feel heard. They feel this tech is about loss prevention rather that their wellbeing. There is an emotional disconnect going on in the industry,” says Brook-Carter.
One major way to address this is to better support in-store colleagues. When they feel supported then only 17% express a wish to leave the sector compared with 59% when they feel unsupported, according to Retail Trust data.
“The financial difference between the two is enormous. Hence we [leaders in the sector] have to focus on support,” says Brook-Carter, adding that this requires leadership buy-in and for line managers to be trained around mental health and be supported in this.
The Retail Bulletin is holding a 90 minute lunch event in Birmingham on 14 May on retail staff safety. If you would like to join us, you can reserve free places here
