The store experience is the last mile of luxury, with frontline and floor staff playing as much a role as merchandise, display and ambience in driving visits and repeat business
Recruiting talent for retail, frontline and managerial positions is becoming a key worry for luxury brands even as the business grapples with slowing sales worldwide due to geopolitical and economic pressures.
A new study from French luxury association Comité Colbert and MAD also identified weak team management among managers and the tardy adoption of AI in talent management as issues that bedevil the luxury business.
“All maisons share a common ambition: to sustainably elevate the perception of frontline and retail roles by positioning them as Métiers d’Excellence,” said Bénédicte Épinay, president/CEO of the Comité Colbert, in a statement.
The goal is to position luxury employees as masters of their craft.
People please
Based on interviews and a comprehensive survey conducted across various luxury sectors, the report offers data-driven insights into the evolving realities of these careers, shifting expectations from talent and the levers that luxury brands are exploring in response.
The role of AI in managing retail and frontline staff is also explored.
Per the study, 60 percent of luxury houses report facing difficulties in recruiting retail or frontline talent employees.
Ninety-three percent of maisons report recruitment challenges for managerial positions and 77 percent identify team management as a key skill that needs to be strengthened among their managers.
Eighty-seven percent of luxury players have not yet integrated AI into talent management, but 77 percent plan to do so within the next three years, per the study.
Responding to these challenges, luxury brands have devised several nostrums.
Max Mara from a previous collection
Skill set
Top among the five responses identified by the Comité Colbert and MAD is a skills-based approach that places competencies at the heart for talent recruitment, development and engagement.
Another solution is competency frameworks that provide a common language to support talents across the organization.
Two other trends are engaging career paths that are clearly communicated to employees and defining the employer value proposition in symmetry of attentions and translated into tangible proof points for talents.
Finally, luxury brands are working on the progressive integration of AI, enabling greater personalization for talent and enhanced operational efficiency.
“A skills-based approach supported by the right technology: this is a winning formula for innovative HR strategies – essential to the sustainable growth of luxury maisons,” said Delphine Vitry, founding partner of MAD, in a statement.