The Art of Reducing Uncertainty: Exploring Store Managers’ Strategies to Reduce New Employee Uncertainties Within the Workplace in the Retail Industry

Abstract

New employees experience uncertainty when entering a new organization. It is crucial for a manager to come up with ways to help the new employee become more comfortable within the organization’s workplace as early as the onboarding process. This study aims to uncover the uncertainty reduction strategies used by store managers in the Philippines’ retail industry. By using a qualitative methodology in the study, store managers working in retail companies based in Metro Manila were asked to share their personal experiences and insights revolving around uncertainty within the workplace and their strategies to reduce their new employees’ uncertainties through 30 to 60 minute semi-structured interviews via Zoom. The participants were chosen using the purposive sampling technique, which adopts a non-probability sampling design. In this study, phenomenological data analysis was used to analyze data by extracting significant statements from the participants and placing them under different themes for comparison and contrast. The data analysis revealed important findings. First, new employee uncertainty could be manifested in a new employee’s lack of clarity in terms of one’s nature of work and workplace environment, performance-related issues, or shy/uncomfortable body language. Second, retail store managers share their personal background and initiate casual conversations with new employees to help the latter become more open to self-disclosure. Third, retail store managers disseminate important details to new employees regarding their nature of work as a way to respond to the latter’s information-seeking behavior. Lastly, retail store managers manage socio-cultural differences between them and their new employees by giving respect to the latter’s culture and exhibiting approachable and welcoming behavior.