Episode 151: Retail Industry Challenges – Staffing, Employee Burnout, Customer Behavior, and Community Engagement

Today we’re joined by Vernetta Purcell-Morrow, the director of human resources for the Mecklenburg County Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board. In this episode, Vernetta shares her experience with supporting community engagement programs as a company, and the unique challenges that came with being an essential retail business during the pandemic, staffing shortages, and more.

This episode is brought to you by OnSolve, the leading platform for crisis event management. Download the 2023 OnSolve Global Risk Impact Report at https://OnSolve.com/GRI.  

Some of the key takeaways include: 

• With businesses where in-person staffing is essential, burnout can be a huge challenge. As an HR department, looking out for your workers and promoting self-care is important.

  
  



• In the retail industry, some of the top signs of burnout are absenteeism and customer complaints related to customer service.

  
  



• As an organization, donating a portion of your gross profits to a community organization is great, but you can expand that even more through community engagement programs.

  
  

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Vanessa Mathews, host

Vanessa Mathews is the founder and chief resilience officer of Asfalis Advisors, where they are focused on protecting the legacy of the leaders they serve through business resilience. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Mathews developed global crisis management and business continuity programs for government and private sector organizations to include Lowe’s Companies, Gulfstream Aerospace, and the Department of Homeland Security.

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Jon Seals, producer

Jon Seals is the editor in chief at Disaster Recovery Journal, the leading magazine/event in business continuity. Seals is an award-winning journalist with a background in publication design, business media, content management, sports journalism, social media, and podcasting.

KEYWORDS: Business continuity, crisis management, human resources, staffing shortage, retail, employee engagement, community engagement, corporate social responsibility, core values