New Delhi, February 22 Human resource technology in retail works best not when solely relying on advanced systems, but when it helps frontline employees in turning store space into a better customer experience, according to recent research.
The findings of the study conducted by researchers from the Goa Institute of Management (GIM), the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ranchi, and the University of Missouri, Kansas City, USA, have been published in the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy.
The study found that, considering the social and technological context in which firms operate, their strategic choices shape their HR strategy, which in turn guides technology choices.
The research, which comes at a time when Indian retail leaders face pressure from competitors and consultants to digitize human resources and workforce management, shows that simply adopting technologies used by large global retailers often does not work effectively in many retail contexts.
"In retail, technology does not create value; frontline employees do. The real question is not what technology exists, but what helps a store earn more per square foot profitability with the people it already has and in the location it operates," Anamika Sinha, Professor, Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management, GIM, told