AONRETAILHOLIDAYHIRINGSURVEY2009 1

RETAIL HOLIDAY HIRINGSURVEY

AON CONSULTING’S

’09

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KEY FINDINGS

In September 2009, Aon Consulting surveyed senior managers at the top 100 retail employers across the United States, asking their opinions on seasonal hiring expectations and challenges. The majority of respondents were directors and vice presidents of human resources, talent acquisition, and store operations—the individuals responsible for hiring at both corporate headquarters and local retail stores.

The 2009 Aon Consulting Retail Holiday Hiring Survey is designed to help retailers develop hiring strategies for the holidays and aid in their benchmarking efforts. The report includes:

Key findings•

A call to action, steps human resource leaders should take to position their organizations for the holidays•

Survey questions and data•

The 11-question survey was sent to over 2,200 individuals, resulting in 104 participants from over 40% of the top retailers.

Seasonal hiring forecasts show retailers will be very conservative in adding new employees at stores.

More than 80% of respondents expect this year’s hiring volumes to be the same or lower than 2008, with a majority citing the uncertain economy as their biggest hiring concern. A full 44% are hiring fewer holiday workers this year than last year, while 37% are hiring the same number. Conversely, 19% plan to hire more workers for the holidays this year compared to last year.

What are your expectations for your company’s upcoming seasonal hiring volumes compared to last year?

OVERVIEW

38

17

2

11

32

Slightly Higher

About the Same

Slightly Lower

Significantly Lower

Significantly Higher

%

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A full 77% of retailers are planning to hire more part-time employees this holiday season compared to 2008.

With shifting workforce demographics, do you anticipate any of the following hiring shifts compared to last year? (Choose all that apply.)

77

227

28

Hiring a Greater Percentage of Part-Time Employees

Hiring a Greater Percentage of Retirees: Re-entering the Workforce

Hiring a Greater Percentage of Non-English Speaking Associates

Hiring a Greater Percentage of Students (H.S. or College)

%

A full 85% of stores anticipate converting the same or fewer seasonal hires to full-time, regular employees after the holidays.

Of respondents, 43% are planning to convert the same number of part-time seasonal employees to full-time status after the holidays as they did last year, while 42% will move fewer part-time seasonal workers to full-time status this year.

What are your expectations around converting seasonal hires to full-time or regular employees compared to last year?

43

8

712

30

Slightly Higher

About the Same

Slightly Lower

Significantly LowerSignificantly Higher

%

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The most important qualities retailers are looking for in candidates this holiday season are customer service skills (83%), a positive attitude (60%), and availability (55%). Customer service skills outweighed every other characteristic by more than double.

What are the primary characteristics store managers look for in an ideal candidate for seasonal hiring? (Please rank your top three characteristics.)

Positive Attitude

Content with Pay Rate

Conscientiousness

Prior Work Experience

Availability

Reliability

Diversity

Customer Service Skills

60%

2%

8%

41%

55%

38%

12%

83%

The top three challenges for HR professionals for the upcoming seasonal hiring surge are the uncertain economy, followed by candidate quality, and managing a high volume of candidates.

What challenges regarding your upcoming seasonal hiring surge have you most concerned? (Please rank your top three challenges.)

Compliance

Cost

Uncompetitive Compensation

New Hire Turnover

Scale to Meet Hiring Demands of Stores

Quality of Candidates

Too Many Candidates

Not Enough Candidates

Uncertain Economy

5%

22%

25%

28%

26%

66%

39%

12%

77%

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The biggest challenges for local store managers for the upcoming seasonal hiring surge are candidate quality, time spent on unqualified candidates, too much time spent on the hiring process, and challenges scheduling interviews.

For the local stores managers, what do you expect will be the biggest challenges in the upcoming seasonal hiring? (Please rank your top three challenges.)

Too Much Time Spent on Hiring Process

38%

Not Satisfied with the Quality of Candidates/New Hires

54%

Time Wasted on Unqualified Candidates

51%

Lack of Support/Tools to Help Identify Best Candidates

17%

Not Enough Discretion in Hiring Process - Too Much Rigidity

13%

Not Knowing What to Really Look for in a New Hire

17%

Not Enough Support from Centralied/Corporate HR

13%

Lack of a Candidate Pipeline 20%

Too Many Calls from Candidates 24%

Difficulty Scheduling Interviews 28%

Handling Pre-Employment Paperwork 24%

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Store managers’ best source for quality candidates this holiday season are the tried and true methods of employee referrals and walk-ins, followed by job boards and the company website. But many are using a mix of traditional and social networks.

Which are the top sources of qualified candidates for you in this uncertain economy? (Please rank your top three sources.)

Search Engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.)

School Outreach (Colleges & H.S.)

Temp Agencies

Job Fairs

Company Internal Website

Employee Referrals

Walk-Ins

Print Ads

Job Boards

Social Networking

11%

14%

3%

29%

38%

69%

57%

3%

42%

32%

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With store managers indicating candidate quality and time wasted on unqualified candidates as their biggest seasonal challenges, the importance of building a hiring process and sourcing plan that identifies the highest quality candidates up front is crucial.

Many organizations are looking for ways to streamline their high-volume recruiting programs to secure quality employees at a lower cost. Successful strategies include:

Pre-Employment AssessmentsA web-based assessment can help your organization quickly identify quality candidates. Store managers indicate that customer service skills and a positive attitude are the top characteristics they look for in an ideal candidate, both of which can be assessed with a standardized pre-employment assessment.

Mix of Traditional and Social Networks We continue to hear about cutting-edge sourcing technologies to help employers find quality candidates, but for high-volume retail jobs, traditional methods such as employee referrals and walk-ins work best to get store managers the best quality candidates over job boards, social networking and company websites.

Store managers can effectively work and amplify these traditional methods to improve candidate quality, then leverage secondary networks such as social media tools like Twitter and Facebook to broadcast job openings and increase referrals.

Behavioral Phone Interview A behavioral phone interview is an effective way to ask a candidate behavioral questions and probe his/her background to quickly screen for quality prior to an in-person interview at the store.

Realistic Job PreviewsA web-based realistic job preview (RJP) is a powerful tool that helps provide candidates with relevant knowledge about the company and the position eliminating candidates who are not serious about the job early in the evaluation process.

A CALL TO ACTION

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FOR MORE INFORMATION

Aon Consulting appreciates your participation in our survey. For additional information please visit www.aon.com, call Jason Krumwiede at 615.771.8155 or Jason_Krumwiede@aon.com, or call Patrick Tomlinson at 631.391.7005 or Patrick_Tomlinson@aon.com.

We have three white papers you may request:

eSelection: Leveraging Technology to Improve the Hiring Practices•

High-Volume Recruitment: Five “Do’s” for Handling High-Volume Recruitment in a Down Economy•

Rethinking your ATS: Help on Implementing an Applicant Tracking System•

Aon Consulting is among the top global human capital consulting firms, with 2008 revenues of $1.358 billion and

more than 6,300 professionals in 229 offices worldwide. Aon Consulting works with organizations to improve business

performance and shape the workplace of the future through benefits, talent management and rewards strategies and

solutions. Aon Consulting was named the best employee benefit consulting firm by the readers of Business Insurance

magazine in 2006, 2007 and 2008. For more information on Aon, please visit www.aon.mediaroom.com.

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RESULTS1. What is the size of your organization?

Answer Options Response Percent

Less than 5,000 Employees 26.7%

Between 5,000 and 25,000 Employees 16.7%

Between 25,000 and 50,000 Employees 8.3%

Between 50,000 and 100,000 Employees 11.7%

Greater than 100,000 Employees 36.7%

2. What is your typical store size?

Answer Options Response Percent

Less than 25 Employees 45.0%

Between 25 and 50 Employees 11.7%

Between 50 and 100 Employees 13.3%

Greater than 100 Employees 25.0%

Unsure 5.0%

3. What are your expectations for your company’s upcoming seasonal hiring volumes comparted to last year?

Answer Options Response Percent

Significantly Higher 1.7%

Slightly Higher 16.9%

About the Same 38.3%

Slightly Lower 31.7%

Signifcantly Lower 11.4%

4. What are your expectations around converting seasonal hires to full-time or regular employees compared to last year?

Answer Options Response Percent

Significantly Higher Percentage of Conversions 6.7%

Slightly Higher Percentage of Conversions 8.3%

About the Same 43.3%

Slightly Lower Percentage of Conversions 30.0%

Signifcantly Lower Percentage of Conversions 11.7%

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5. What are the primary characteristics store managers look for in an ideal candidate for seasonal hiring?

Answer Options First Second Third

Customer Service Skills 65% 13% 5%

Diversity 2% 5% 5%

Reliability 5% 20% 13%

Availability 7% 25% 23%

Prior Work Experience 8% 13% 20%

Conscientiousness 0% 3% 5%

Content with Pay Rate 0% 0% 2%

Positive Attitude 13% 20% 27%

6. What challenges regarding your upcoming seasonal hiring surge have you most concerned? (Please rank your top three challenges.)

Answer Options First Second Third

Uncertain Economy 45% 20% 12%

Not Enough Candidates 2% 7% 3%

Too Many Candidates 7% 20% 12%

Quality of Candidates 28% 25% 13%

Scale to Meet Hiring Demands of Stores 5% 3% 18%

New Hire Turnover 5% 10% 13%

Uncompetitive Compensation 7% 10% 8%

Cost 2% 5% 15%

Compliance 0% 0% 5%

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7. For the local store managers, what do you expect will be the biggest challenges in the upcoming seasonal hiring? (Please rank your top three challenges.)

Answer Options First Second Third

Too Much Time Spent on Hiring Process 15% 3% 20%

Not Satisfied with Quality of Candidates/New Hires 20% 27% 7%

Time Wasted on Unqualified Candidates 22% 17% 12%

Lack of Support/Tools to Identify Best Candidates 5% 5% 7%

Not Enough Discretion in Hiring Process - Too Much Rigidity 3% 5% 5%

Not Knowing What to Really Look for in a New Hire 5% 10% 2%

Not Enough Support from Centralized/Corporate HR 3% 3% 7%

Lack of Candidate Pipeline 7% 5% 8%

Too Many Calls from Candidates 3% 8% 13%

Difficulty Scheduling Interviews 13% 8% 7%

Handling Pre-Employment Paperwork 3% 8% 13%

8. How would you best characterize your hiring process for high-volume seasonal hiring?

Answer Options Response Percent

Entirely Managed at Local Store Level 58.3%

Partly Managed at Local Store Level 21.7%

Evenly Supported Between Corporate and Store Level 11.7%

Partly Centralized at Corporate with Some Regional Field Support 1.7%

Entirely Centralized at Corporate 6.7%

9. Which are the top sources of qualified candidates for you in this economy?

Answer Options First Second Third

Social Networking 7% 8% 17%

Job Boards 12% 18% 12%

Print Ads (Newspapers) 0% 0% 3%

Walk Ins (Sign in the Window) 20% 27% 10%

Employee Referrals 38% 13% 18%

Company Internal Website 15% 15% 8%

Job Fairs 2% 12% 15%

Temp Agencies 0% 0% 3%

School Outreach (College & High School) 3% 3% 8%

Search Engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) 3% 3% 5%

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10. With shifting workforce demographics, do you anticipate any of the following hiring shifts compared to last year? (Choose all that apply.)

Answer Options Response Percent

Hiring a Greater Percentage of Retirees; Re-Entering the Workforce 21.7%

Hiring a Greater Percentage of Part-Time Employees 76.7%

Hiring a Greater Percentage of Students (College & High School) 28.3%

Hiring a Greater Percentage of Non-English-Speaking Associates 6.7%

11. Have you considered outsourcing all/part of your recruitment process to supplement the hiring for the peak hiring season?

Answer Options Response Percent

Already Outsource Full Process 1.7%

Already Outsource Part of the Process 10.0%

Currently Considering It 5.0%

Considered It Seriously in the Past 11.7%

Never Considered It Seriously 71.7%

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