At the core of every business are the people who represent it. And while inventory, customers, operations and marketing contribute to brand success, the reality is it takes leadership and a collective team of employees to truly bring a brand to life. Keeping this in mind, it’s critical to consider the importance that each and every employee has on your business vitality – particularly during a crisis such as COVID-19.

To boost your team morale and productivity alike, transparency and education is a must. Among the considerations in which you need to inform your employees on include:

• Transitioning employees to understanding updated in-store procedures, including but not limited to return-policies, fitting room policies and altered store hours
• Informing and educating employees of newly introduced services such as curb-side pick-up, local delivery options, enhanced BOPIS strategies and more
• Educating employees on new safety standards for customers and employees alike, as well as introducing any updates to what paid-time off, sick-leave or other scheduling variations may look like.

Finally, remember that transparency and education does not present themselves easily. Having consistent, regular communication avenues between management and employees is essential. Ways to regularly communicate with store staff include:

• Internal store newsletters
• Weekly or monthly meetings
• Team building events held bi-annually
• Private Facebook page
• Apps unique to your store