Supercharging employees for change management: Keeping your “internal customers” happy

A presentation and panel discussion that touched upon the importance of employees in driving change and easing into the transition that the gem and jewellery industry is going through, nailed the brief correctly at the Retail Jeweller World Dubai Forum 2021

What forms the core of any jewellery business. Contrary to what a lot of us might think, it is the employees who drive sales, profit, and growth to magnanimous heights. The ethos was brilliantly presented through a panel discussion at the Retail Jeweller World Dubai Forum 2021.

Titled “Supercharging Employees for Change Management: How to foster a ‘High Skill and High Will’, and ‘No Boundary Learning Approach?’, the session had Navin Sadarangani, owner of NYUZ present the core idea behind his organisation and an esteemed bench of panellists — Arjun Dhanak, director of Kanz Jewels, Sushmita Kumar, senior retail leader of Al Futtaim Jewelry & Watches and Manish Dhamani, CEO of Dhamani 1969.

Sadarangani explained the need for an approach that borders on employee management — a drive that all organisations must have to keep the employee happy. “Everyone who owns a store needs to supercharge their people. Retail is primarily about your employees,” he said.

Before Covid, what made the world go round was money. For the jewellery business, money is an imperative. The salesperson wants money as an incentive to work harder, stocks need money. For more stores, a jeweller needs capital. After Covid struck, it all became about managing. “It’s not about how much you have, but what you have. We need to merchandize management. Marketing requires management. It is no longer the billboards or newspaper ads. We have been hit by a pandemic and initially, a lot of people did not know which way to go. Some of us took a step back and some of us went ahead with new stores. This is all about management,” Sadarangani said.

Man is mandatory in management. “I call the people involved with our operations internal customers. We are always so focused on the external customers who drive sales that we often forget about our employees who put in the actual effort to convert interest to profit. Our success stories will be built by them. When my employee is happy, he will keep my customer happy. We help with team building and management, helping them go high skill and high will. There is always the sales technique, but it is also about the mind,” he said before inviting the panellists on stage.

Sushmita Kumar spoke about the transition that the industry is currently going through. “We have been talking a lot about the post-Covid scenario. We have touched all aspects of the industry, business and experiences. We are in a transition that is here to stay because the new normal will ensure that businesses are no longer the same,” she said.

Kumar shared her experiences on the initiatives that her company had taken. “I understand that the jewellery industry is primarily driven by family businesses. It is a good balance between the customer and trade culture. We have equipped employees technologically. Most importantly, it must be driven by leadership. The key things we have inculcated is customer engagement, where we educated the front-end to analyse the data and feedback from customers, even if they are not buying. This is mapped and that gives us an idea on whether the customer will recommend us. We invited customers as focus groups and chats and sought feedback,” she said. 

Dhanak stressed in how a lot of the company’s culture comes from the top management and filders down to employees. “It is the owner’s responsibility to drive their value into the organisation. Two important things we look for while hiring are career-driven people. It is very easy for employees to switch jobs in our industry. If employees are able to learn and adapt in difficult situations like the pandemic, that is a key attribute and the culture we want to build. Apart from the monetary aspects, employees also look for recognition,” he said.

Dhanak went on to list the initiatives that were taken by his organisation. “We started having annual staff meetings, especially during Ramadan. Our entire team comes into a room and get recognized. There is a sharing of opinions. This has worked wonders.  It is a huge motivation for employees,” he said.

For Dhamani, motivation is key for a jeweller to do well, given the era we are in. “How can you be different from others is a journey that I have kept building in my organisation. Culture comes from the top. It then depends on the team and myself. The customer is always right. Whatever you do, you must keep the customer at the centre. When we have that approach, there will always be a solution. We have come up with a value system, and this exercise is carried out across boards. Money will always flow in as long the culture is intact in your value system,” he said.

The session ended with an idea deeply imprinted into the beings of all attendees— to excel in an environment as harsh as the one dealt out by Covid, one needs to keep their trump card close to the heart, the employees.

Courtesy: Retail Jeweller World News