Customer Service
Bridging the gap between the shop floor and head office
Store staff and head office all too often operate in very different worlds. And when the link between them weakens frustration and misunderstanding arise.
October 24, 2025 by Gaelle Devins — Chief Customer Officer / Author, Breitling (Chief Customer Officer), Flow Leadership (Author)
According to recent research from Gallup, revealing a global disengagement trend amongst employees, younger workers are disengaging faster than any other group. And, it is the retail sector, where one in eight workers are aged 16-24, that this is especially concerning.
However, this disengagement is not just a challenge for those on shop floors around the world. It can be felt in head office too — particularly given that the same Gallup research highlights those at management level as also being particularly disengaged, amidst the expectation to meet ever-rising targets with increasingly stretched resources.
Much of the root of this disengagement stems from the fact that store staff and head office all too often operate in very different worlds. And, when the link between them weakens, frustration and misunderstanding arise.
Closing this gap is critical because frontline teams are the face of your business, connecting with customers every day and bringing the brand to life. Head office teams play a critical role in supporting frontline store staff behind the scenes, developing processes, tools, and strategies designed to support those on the shop floor.
When both perspectives come together — head office expertise and frontline experience — systems are more likely to work seamlessly in practice. By creating space for store teams to share their insights, businesses can ensure that strategies are not only well-designed but also practical and effective in the realities of day-to-day customer interactions.
Let's take a closer look at how retail leaders can effectively bridge this gap beginning with why it is so critical to ensure a world-class employee experience.
Happy staff, happy customers: Why EX=CX
Amongst a number of reasons, addressing the above disconnect is critical because the experience a company offers its employees has a major impact on the customer experience. Put simply: if your staff are happy, your customers likely will be too.
Employee experience is the sum of every touchpoint, interaction, and impression an employee has throughout their journey with the company. It is about how the company makes them feel from before their first working day up until they leave your care. You can have the best customer strategy in the world, but if your employees — the people delivering it — are disengaged, that strategy will fall flat.
To galvanize emotions towards external clients, your people should experience them first hand. Therefore, the formula for a successful client experience is very simple: your customer experience is your employee experience and approaching both disciplines — CX and EX — in a holistic and balanced manner is paramount. Focusing too heavily on one at the expense of the other can cause real damage.
The sweet spot is treating both with equal importance, so employees are capable, motivated, and committed to delivering the best possible service.
Concrete ways to bridge the gap
From my own experiences leading store teams across global retail markets, I've learned that the only way to truly understand the realities of the shop floor is to step into them yourself, as an active participant.
From my experiences working in step with store teams over the course of my career, and in turn taking these learnings back to head office, I have taken on board a number of powerful strategies that retail leaders can put into action to begin closing the gap between head office and frontline store staff:
- Work in Their World — Go beyond short visits. Spend a full day (or more) in the role of a shop floor member — or contact center team, as another crucial frontline asset of your business. See their obstacles and challenges firsthand, ensure that you create space for genuine interest in your people, and encourage honest feedback — both what the organization does well, and how you could be better serving their needs.
- Recognize Their Impact — Your frontline staff drive sales and, just as importantly, represent your brand. Celebrate their wins, and when targets are missed, approach it as a shared challenge and learning experience, rather than an occasion to point fingers or attribute blame.
- Show Up in Peak Moments — During high-pressure seasons, roll up your sleeves. Whether you're helping with customers or simply showing up with breakfast for the team, your presence says: "We're in this together." For instance, Peak season is right around the corner — take a moment to ask yourself how you could show up for your frontline teams during this ever-hectic period.
- Bring Their Voice to the Boardroom –— Use surveys, feedback sessions, and open, candid conversations to capture frontline insights, and ensure these directly influence decisions made back in head office.
- Foster 'We' Thinking — Perhaps most importantly, your business must consciously make every effort to shift from "head office vs. shop floor", to one team with shared goals, mutual respect, and a common purpose.
Your people are your greatest asset
While "your people are your greatest asset" is a well-worn phrase, it has never been more relevant in retail. A wide product range, innovation, and clever marketing all matter, but this all falls flat without engaged people in the frontline to bring your brand to life.
When head office listens to, supports, and learns from teams serving on the shop floor, the benefits ripple through the whole organization. Employees feel valued, customers feel heard, and the brand thrives.
And, with employee disengagement an ever-growing risk, forging that connection between leaders and their people might just be your greatest competitive advantage.
