In the current job market climate, The Great Resignation is giving retailers a reason to give pause and search for ways they can drive retention and increase revenue and productivity by giving retail workers what they want. But what do workers want?

According to Jordan Ekers, co-founder and COO of the communications platform Nudge, retail workers are seeking a sense of purpose, community, diversity and inclusion, and effective communication from their employers.

In Nudge’s recently published report, The Deskless Report: Retail Edition, the authors take a deeper dive into who retail workers are and what drives their needs. In a webinar based on their report, they make the point that Frontline retail workers are the “heroes behind the brand” and retailers need to find smarter ways of offering support in order to improve employee retention.

The Nudge report offered several interesting statistics worth noting, including:

• 58% of workers surveyed said a sense of purpose makes them feel engaged and motivated at work.
• 59% of those surveyed would like to have a stronger community with employees outside their location.
• There is a serious disconnect between how leaders view their outgoing communications and how workers feel about the communications they receive: 59% of workers said the communications they receive are somewhat to not at all useful versus 81% of leaders feel they are sending meaningful, quality communications.
• 37% of workers don’t feel heard by their organization and 68% said that feedback is very or extremely important to them.