Survey: Many Retail and Grocery Workers Fear Going to Work

Frontline retail and grocery associates say they are being confronted with more and more hostile customers engaging in heated conversations, disrespectful behavior and escalating incivility, according to a recent blog on the website of Axonify, a provider of training for such workers. But unless management takes action, staffers are left unprepared to manage these situations and the fallout is affecting more than the bottom line, writes Alex Kinsella.

To better understand the day-to-day realities of the frontline workforce, Axonify polled 1000 retail and grocery associates to get an inside look at what’s happening in stores and how they’re dealing with this uptick in difficult customers and confrontations.

“Sadly, the results paint a grim picture,” Kinsella writes. “Over the last six months, retail and grocery workers have reported dealing with more hostility, anger and sometimes physical violence: 33 percent revealed that their retail store had experienced a violent situation, ranging from robberies to physical altercations.”

Adding to the stress for workers is increased shoplifting and retail theft incidents. “The retail and grocery workers we polled also reported a similar increase in incidents,” Kinsella writes. “According to the results, 50 percent of retail and grocery workers reported witnessing a customer stealing or attempting to steal from their store in the last six months. But 28 percent of those workers said they turned a blind eye. Why? They lack the support system, protocol and sense of safety to feel comfortable reporting the incident.”

Click here for more on the survey, as well as suggestions from Axonify on steps employers can take to make their workers safer.