Less than half of female respondents (47%) working in the retail industry feel their employer looks after their wellbeing, compared to 76% of their male counterparts, according to research by the Institute of Commercial Management (ICM), comissioned by income protection specialist Unum.
Its study of 709 employees, including 144 retail workers, also found that 23% of female repondents feel their welllbeing has improved over the last three years compared to 30% of male respondents.
However, around a third (32%) said their wellbeing had got worse.
The survey also found:
- 89% of respondents believe that a good relationship with their line manager is important in terms of wellbeing, whereas 84% said the same of resonable hours and 78% about feeling empowered at work.
- 63% of female respondents said a full and comprehensive benefits package is important to them to reflect that their employer cares about them.
Marco Forato, chief marketing officer at Unum, said: “Retail organisations face the very real risk of losing talented female workers if they don’t take steps to improve perceptions of wellbeing.
”With women representing an important majority of the retail workforces, this is an issue retail businesses need to tackle now.
“One of the most tangible ways to do this is to provide a best-practice employee benefits package, including long-term benefits like income protection, which support staff financially if they fall ill.”