I think the entire retail community would agree with me when I say that we’ve simply never experienced anything like the current situation before.

When I think about the last few weeks, my general observations usually fall into one of two areas – operational and people.

There’s no doubt the operational challenges that retailers have faced have been vast – we’re quite simply operating in an environment that we’ve never had to. But we’re a resilient bunch, and while we’ve had to work out how to conquer a myriad of trading challenges, there’s no doubt that the people challenge is the one that many retailers have spent the most time trying to work through – and rightly so.

At Pets at Home, we have an established set of values and behaviours, and I think that as an organisation we do a great job, day in, day out, of living them. But what does any of that mean when a global pandemic happens?

Well, it turns out that it matters – a lot. Keeping customers two meters apart is actually one of the later challenges to solve. First up is the huge question we’re putting to our colleagues: “Will you help us to keep this business open?”

As we emerge from the peak of this pandemic and retailers start to think about reopening stores, businesses now face a fresh challenge: how do we bring our people back to serve our customers, and how do we maintain the trust of our people as we restart our operations?

Imagine how you would feel on day one, even just getting to work – maybe on a bus or a train, meeting people again for the first time. Meeting colleagues again, but socially distancing yourself inside environments that were not designed for it. Even simple acts of going the loo, or being a safe distance from those around you, are all new and stressful.

Colleagues will feel a whole range of emotions, from fear to excitement. This is not a return to normal, it is a return to the abnormal normal.

Focusing on how you support your people making this transition will be the difference between a successful reopening to serve your customers or one where you may have physically reopened, but you no longer have enough people to serve.

Now is a time for the retail community to work together, share best practice and do the right things for our customers and colleagues. As many businesses start to tentatively reopen their operations, those of us that have traded through should be willing to share our learnings. With that in mind, here are my five top pieces of advice.

Create a purpose

A reason that is greater than just taking sales. Your colleagues won’t thank you for putting sales ahead of their safety or fears. Being able to explain why you are trying to do something is more important. In our case, feeding the nation’s pets and keeping them healthy and safe was a real rallying cry – we had a role to play in serving the nation.

Physical wellbeing

It is a given you’ll ensure every measure is in place to create a place of safety, but all of your protocols won’t account for customers who ignore or flout the rules. It is really important you prepare your teams for how to cope and to be ready for the range of reactions you will get from customers – from those who are so lovely and thoughtful, to those who will be abusive and frightening. You have to be ready – the worst will damage the confidence of workers and you need strategies in place to support and protect them.

Mental wellbeing

The biggest issue for workers will be fear. Face it head-on – prepare yourself and your leadership team for the fact that people’s actions will be driven from their emotions. Teach them to look out for the signs and make sure you’re ready to put a socially distanced arm around your people. Recognise the real and practical issues of returning to a workplace that is not the one people left behind, and help them cope with that change.

Financial wellbeing

Take time to understand how the last six weeks have impacted your people. Have you put solutions in place to support them? We launched a £1m colleague support package to help on practical financial issues. Demonstrating you can support your colleagues’ personal financial crisis will go a long way. Some financial shortfalls are barriers in returning to work – broken cars, the inability to afford public transport, childcare needs. Our people are thankful that we can stand with them when they have their own crisis.

The power of human comms

Bring a personal touch to your communications. Now is not the time for emailing and hiding away – leaders need to be seen and heard. Talking to human beings, sharing your perspectives, explaining what the organisation is doing and what role your people play in it is powerful. Be honest, truthful and transparent. We employ grown-ups who run their lives, have mortgages and kids – they respect and admire not being talked at or talked to like children. Ensure communication is two-way – we launched a buddy network connecting the leadership team with every single store in the country. I have 17 stores that I speak to every week, which means problems show up fast and can be addressed before they become massive issues.

As retail leaders, we’ve never had – or may never again see – the opportunity that the current situation presents us with: to do the right thing by our people and demonstrate how their success is so closely linked with that of the businesses we lead.

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Support CaRe20 today to help the UK’s retail workers during the Covid-19 pandemic

Retailers can help fund the appeal by contacting Claire Greenwood.

Individuals can donate to the CaRe20 appeal here.

How retailers treat their workers during this pandemic will define their brand for decades to come – join with RWRC, retailTRUST and the BRC to provide much-needed aid and assistance to the industry.