Mentoring in Retail Mentoring in Retail
How retail companies can use mentoring to keep store staff and grow store managers.
What this presentation covers
What this presentation covers
What this presentation covers
Who works in retail
Retail employs millions, many of them young
In 2024, EU retail employed 16.99 million people, 2.42 million of them aged 15 to 24.
- All ages 16.99 million16.99 million
- Aged 50 to 74 5.17 million5.17 million
- Aged 15 to 24 2.42 million2.42 million
What turnover costs a store
Turnover cuts margins and service
In a US chain, higher turnover went with lower profit margins and weaker service.
Clear routines in every store
Clear routines soften the blow
Stores that kept to set procedures showed no performance loss from turnover.
- Stores that follow set procedures turnover did no harm
- Stores that tolerate deviations turnover clearly hurt
Too many newcomers at once
Spread newcomers across experienced teams
Turnover hurt service most in larger units with many newcomers.
What store managers add
Strong store managers lift sales
In 245 UK stores, the ablest managers reached up to 13.9% higher sales per worker.
Managers who support staff
Help store managers support their teams
Managers’ view of the store climate reached staff through the support they gave.
- How the manager sees the climate
- Support for the team
- Frontline staff
- Customers and sales
What mentoring can promise
Promise career growth, not quick raises
Mentoring brought career benefits, but effects on objective outcomes like pay were small.
- Career satisfaction
- Pay: a small effect
From shop floor to store manager
Map the path to store manager
Show frontline staff each step and who can mentor them there.
- Sales associate learns the floor
- Key holder opens and closes
- Assistant manager runs shifts and schedules
- Store manager owns the results
Peers from another store
Pair store managers across stores
A peer from another store can talk openly about staff and targets.
Fitting mentoring around shifts
Fit mentoring around the shift schedule
Keep meetings short and regular so they fit between shifts.
- New hires paired on shared shifts
- Fifteen minutes in quiet hours
- Newcomers spread across teams
- A check after 90 days: who stayed
Sources
The research behind this presentation
- Eurostat (2026) Employed persons by detailed economic activity (NACE Rev. 2 two-digit level), lfsa_egan22d Eurostat database, EU Labour Force Survey, updated 10 September 2026
- Ton, Z. & Huckman, R. S. (2008) Managing the impact of employee turnover on performance: The role of process conformance Organization Science, 19(1), 56-68
- Hausknecht, J. P., Trevor, C. O. & Howard, M. J. (2009) Unit-level voluntary turnover rates and customer service quality: Implications of group cohesiveness, newcomer concentration, and size Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(4), 1068-1075
- Siebert, W. S. & Zubanov, N. (2010) Management economics in a large retail company Management Science, 56(8), 1398-1414
- Deitz, G., Hansen, J. D., DeCarlo, T. & Babakus, E. (2021) How store managers’ employee climate perceptions affect frontline employee, customer and store performance outcomes: an examination in the small-store setting European Journal of Marketing, 55(10), 2620-2648
- Allen, T. D., Eby, L. T., Poteet, M. L., Lentz, E. & Lima, L. (2004) Career benefits associated with mentoring for protégés: A meta-analysis Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(1), 127-136
Start with the store manager
They shape both sales and staff, so give them a mentor first.