We created the RETAIL CULTURE SURVEY™ with these objectives in mind. Over the past ten years, we have conducted the survey at dozens of retail companies, across many segments of trade. Among the many benefits of the survey are the following:

	The survey takes only five minutes to complete, minimizing labor hours and generating a high response rate. There are typically only 20-25 items on the questionnaire.
	Questions pertain to key areas of employee morale, including hiring and orientation, training and development, supervisory issues, communication and teamwork, appreciation and recognition, and company values.
	Results are reported in a format that can be understood by all store personnel. Data can be summarized for every level of your company, and by several department and employment status categories.
	We compare item scores to our database of norms and best practices so that our clients can benchmark their performance against other retail companies.
	We provide an Action Planning Workbook for store and department managers to respond to the survey results. It provides a format for creating action plans, as well as guidelines and steps for managers to follow in the planning process. The workbook also includes concrete suggested actions, for each survey area, that successful retailers have used to improve their morale.

The RETAIL CULTURE SURVEY™ is an extremely cost effective method of obtaining employee feedback. Fees range from $500 to $1,000 per entire store, depending on the number of stores participating. There are no per-respondent fees, so that all best interests are served by encouraging as much participation as possible.

Regardless of the survey design and methodology, RSG has unsurpassed expertise in helping retailers collect and analyze feedback from their employees. If you have an employee survey that you wish to conduct, RSG can add value to the process. We have faced every imaginable substantive survey design issue, and we know how to foster “buy-in” from the organization.

But what are the specific skills and behaviors that make a good store manager, and how can these be measured? RSG has been considering these important questions, and we have a developed a feedback tool to help retailers assess their unit-level managers.

The Store Manager Development Survey™ is administered to store employees, who are in the best position to rate their manager on the numerous day-to-day skills necessary for effective performance. We ask a number of detailed questions relating to a manager’s attitude and personality, leadership style, and job skills/knowledge. When the results are tabulated, the manager has a complete picture of how his or her performance is perceived by the employee team.

For each survey item, the manager can also see how his or her results compare to the company average and to our database of norms and best practices. It is always important to put survey results into perspective in this way.

At the same time, a self-rating version is completed by the store manager. This enables the manager to rate himself or herself on the same items. With both sets of results, managers can identify the “self-awareness gaps” that may be hindering their effectiveness in the store. As an example, perhaps a manager considers himself to be a strong communicator but his employees feel otherwise. This survey offers an objective, confidential, and non-threatening way to help the manager address these kinds of issues.

The Store Manager Development Survey™ can be administered on-site or via the internet. Results are available in print and electronic form. If you would like more information, please contact RSG