As Retail Workers Brace for the Silly Season, This Simple Solution Could Dial Down Customer Verbal Abuse

As retail workers brace for the silly season, this simple solution could dial down customer verbal abuse

More than 1.4 million people are employed in Australian retail and fast food businesses. Sadly, it's not always a happy or safe place to work.

As retail workers brace for the silly season, this 20c solution could dial down customer verbal abuse

More than 1.4 million people are employed in Australian retail and fast food businesses. Sadly, it’s not always a happy or safe place to work. A union survey of more than 4,600 frontline workers found 87% had experienced customer verbal abuse in 2023 – consistent since 2016. But incidents have become more frequent: in 2023, 76% of those who’d been abused experienced it daily, weekly or monthly, compared with 54% just two years earlier. Retailers…

As retail workers brace for the peak season, this solution could dial down abuse

Personalised badges worn by frontline retail staff can significantly reduce verbal abuse from customers, according to a study by QUT Business School. The study was led by Professor Gary Mortimer, Dr Sasha Wang, and in collaboration with Dr María Lucila Osorio Andrade from EGADE Business School, Mexico. The research found that issuing badges that cost less than 50 cents, with personalised messages such as “I’m a dad”, “I’m a daughter”, or “I’m a …

Personalised badges found to humanise retail workers, study finds

Personalised badges worn by frontline retail staff can significantly reduce verbal abuse from customers, according to a study by QUT Business School.

Humanising retail workers shown to reduce customer abuse and create em