Industries
Why retail employees leave and how to understand why
Why store staff and managers leave retail jobs, and how to ask about rosters, weekends, targets and incentives in an exit conversation that leads to action.
7 min readRead article
Coworking, Franchise & Multi-Location Businesses · Coworking providers
HR for Coworking Providers: Community Teams, Odd Hours and Many Centres
A coworking operator sells a feeling of being looked after, and that feeling comes from a handful of community managers and front desk staff at each centre. When one of them leaves or burns out, members notice within days.
Not sure what you need? Tell us about your business in six short steps and we will come to the first meeting prepared.
Share your requirementsA coworking provider rents desks, cabins and meeting rooms to freelancers, start-ups and company teams, usually across several centres in one or more cities. Each centre runs on a small crew: a community manager, front desk and reception staff, housekeeping, a maintenance technician and sometimes a sales executive. The doors open early and close late, members visit on weekends, and events run after hours. The owner often sits at head office while each centre manager decides leave, cover and discipline in their own way. See also HR for retail and multi-location businesses.
- Plan
- Hire
- Onboard
- Manage
- Develop
- Perform
- Engage
- Retain
- Exit
- Improve
When HR is weak in coworking providers, you may see
- One person covers the whole front desk
- Every centre manager runs leave differently
- Community work is hard to measure
- New centres open faster than managers grow
- Late events and weekend access
- Sales and community pull in different directions
- Staff move between centres on request
These are the places the people side of this kind of business tends to give way. The rest of this page works through them.
Who does the work in coworking providers
HR here has to work for each of these groups, not only the office. The set-up below is written with all of them in mind.
- Centre managers
- Community managers
- Front desk and reception executives
- Sales and membership executives
- Housekeeping and pantry staff
- Maintenance technicians
- Event and operations coordinators
- Security and access desk staff
- Head office operations and finance staff
Where HR strains in coworking providers
One person covers the whole front desk
A centre with a thin crew has no reserve. A sick call at 8 am leaves reception, tours and member queries to whoever is closest.
Every centre manager runs leave differently
One centre approves weekend swaps freely, another refuses them. Staff compare notes and head office hears about it as a grievance.
Community work is hard to measure
Warmth, introductions and conflict handling matter more than desks sold, and a plain target sheet misses them.
New centres open faster than managers grow
A strong front desk executive is made a centre manager with no handover, and the first review comes months later.
Late events and weekend access
Members book rooms after hours and staff are rostered informally, so overtime and time off are argued about later.
Sales and community pull in different directions
Sales wants the desk filled, community wants the right mix of members, and one person is judged on both.
Staff move between centres on request
Transfers are agreed by phone between two managers and the record of role, pay and reporting line lags behind.
HR topics for coworking providers
Start with the topics that matter most here: Employee Administration; Employee Engagement and Experience; Career and Succession Management. Then work through the rest. Each topic is written for retail, not in general.
Employee Administration
Records, attendance, leave and the day-to-day HR that must simply work.
Employee Engagement and Experience
Communication, recognition and the conditions people actually work in.
Career and Succession Management
Named backups for the roles that cannot be vacant.
HR Strategy and Workforce Planning
How many people, in which roles, by when — and what they will cost.
Organisation Design
Structure, reporting lines and who is allowed to decide what.
Recruitment and Talent Acquisition
Requisition to joining, the same way every time.
Onboarding and Probation
A first day that is the same for the fifth joiner as the first.
Compensation, Payroll and Benefits
Salary structure, payroll inputs and a month that closes on time.
Performance Management
Goals, reviews and ratings that hold up in a conversation.
Learning and Development
Training planned from need rather than from the calendar.
Employee Relations
Two routes — one for complaints, one for conduct — kept separate.
Policies, Compliance and Governance
Policies a manager can apply, and obligations with owners and dates.
Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Induction, records, incident reporting and follow-through.
Retention and Attrition Management
Who leaves, when, why — and which of them mattered.
Exit and Alumni Management
Resignation to relieving letter, in a defined order.
HR Technology and Automation
Records that survive people, and approvals that do not queue.
HR Analytics and Management Reporting
A short monthly pack management actually reads.
HR Operations and Governance
An HR function that runs the same way every month.
What a working HR set-up looks like
The pieces a coworking providers business puts in place, in an order that makes each easier. Open any card for the detail.
Write one centre crew plan
For each centre size, state the minimum desk cover by hour, who is on call and who backs up the community manager.
What this coversHide
Write one centre crew plan
For each centre size, state the minimum desk cover by hour, who is on call and who backs up the community manager.
What this coversHideFor each centre size, state the minimum desk cover by hour, who is on call and who backs up the community manager. The attendance and leave process turns it into a roster.
Fix a common leave and swap rule
One page that every centre manager applies the same way, with a short list of what only head office can approve.
What this coversHide
Fix a common leave and swap rule
One page that every centre manager applies the same way, with a short list of what only head office can approve.
What this coversHideOne page that every centre manager applies the same way, with a short list of what only head office can approve.
Build a role ladder for community staff
Front desk executive, community executive, community manager and centre manager, with the tasks and judgement that mark each step.
What this coversHide
Build a role ladder for community staff
Front desk executive, community executive, community manager and centre manager, with the tasks and judgement that mark each step.
What this coversHideFront desk executive, community executive, community manager and centre manager, with the tasks and judgement that mark each step. The role design work sets it out.
Standardise the first two weeks
The same induction at every centre: the space, the member types, the booking system, escalation contacts and who to call at night.
What this coversHide
Standardise the first two weeks
The same induction at every centre: the space, the member types, the booking system, escalation contacts and who to call at night.
What this coversHideThe same induction at every centre: the space, the member types, the booking system, escalation contacts and who to call at night. The onboarding process holds it.
Hand over properly before a centre opens
The incoming manager shadows a running centre, and a checklist covers hiring, roster, vendors and first-month members.
What this coversHide
Hand over properly before a centre opens
The incoming manager shadows a running centre, and a checklist covers hiring, roster, vendors and first-month members.
What this coversHideThe incoming manager shadows a running centre, and a checklist covers hiring, roster, vendors and first-month members.
Review each centre with the same sheet
Attrition, absence, overtime, member feedback and vacancies in one view, so head office compares centres fairly.
What this coversHide
Review each centre with the same sheet
Attrition, absence, overtime, member feedback and vacancies in one view, so head office compares centres fairly.
What this coversHideAttrition, absence, overtime, member feedback and vacancies in one view, so head office compares centres fairly. The reporting and analytics work builds it.
Start by checking where you stand
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These checks take an afternoon and tell you which of the topics above to start with.
Share your requirements- Count how many centres have a named backup for the community manager.
- Ask three centre managers how they handle a weekend swap and compare the answers.
- List how many times staff worked after hours last month without a recorded reason.
- Check whether any centre manager was promoted without a handover week.
- Find out which centres lost a front desk person in the last six months and why.
- Confirm with a qualified professional the shop and establishment, working hours and employment rules that apply to your centres in each state.
Confirm with a qualified professional. What applies to you depends on your business, your state and your arrangements, and it changes. This page describes practice. It does not state a legal position.
How GullyHR helps
The services below fit this kind of business best. Each starts by recording where you stand, and every later report compares against that. We do not promise outcomes.
- Attendance, shift and leave process
One roster rule and one leave rule across centres, with cover planned for early, late and weekend hours.
- Role design and job descriptions
Clear roles from front desk to centre manager, so promotion and pay follow the work done.
- Employee onboarding process
The same first fortnight in every centre, so a new joiner in Pune and one in Indore learn the same things.
- HR reporting and analytics
A centre by centre view of absence, exits and vacancies for the owner at head office.
Start with a free conversation, or see the paid HR Diagnostic.
Our HR transformation approach
- 1
Assess
Understand the business, its workforce, current processes and HR challenges.
- 2
Identify gaps
Find the missing, weak, inconsistent or person-dependent processes.
- 3
Design
Create the structure, processes, policies, SOPs, dashboards and systems needed.
- 4
Implement
Help HR and department managers actually adopt the new system.
- 5
Automate
Digitise repetitive and approval-based workflows where it is worth doing.
- 6
Measure
Track hiring, attendance, employee cost, performance, training and attrition.
- 7
Improve
Strengthen the people-management system continuously, not once.
Blogs worth reading first
From the GullyHR blog: one on HR in retail, and one on each of the topics this page points to.
HR Process
One employee, three versions of the record: fixing employee information management
Payroll says one joining date, the personal file says another and the manager remembers a third. How to establish a single trustworthy employee record and keep it that way.
7 min readRead article
HR Management
The engagement survey that made things worse
Eighty per cent responded, the report was thorough, and six months later trust was lower than before. What went wrong between the survey and the silence.
8 min readRead article
HR Management
"What if this person resigned tomorrow?" A succession exercise for small companies
A two-hour exercise that names the roles you could not fill quickly, who could cover them, and what readiness would actually require.
7 min readRead articleMore on the GullyHR blog.
Questions owners ask
It depends on opening hours, size and event load, so a single number would mislead. Start by mapping the busy hours and the tasks that cannot wait, then set the minimum cover and a named backup for each.
They should shortlist and interview, since they know the space. Head office should set the role, the pay band and the final check, so offers match across centres and no centre builds its own scale.
Look at member retention, feedback, event turnout and how problems were settled, along with desk sales. Agree two or three measures at the start and review them each quarter with examples, not impressions.
Record the new role, reporting line, pay and start date in writing before the move, and hand over open member issues. The old manager should confirm the release date so cover is planned.
Common reasons are late closing, weekend duty, a flat career path and unclear authority when members complain. A visible ladder to community work and fair rosters usually helps more than a small raise.
We would ask how many centres you run, how each handles cover and leave, and who stands in when a community manager is away. A good first project is a common roster and leave rule plus a role ladder for the front desk. Scope is agreed in writing after that talk.
More on HR for retail
All 7 business types in coworking, franchise & Multi-Location businesses · Find another business type
Serviced office operatorsRetail chainsEducation franchisesHealthcare Franchise NetworksRestaurant franchisesSalon franchisesEmployee Administration in retailEmployee Engagement and Experience in retailCareer and Succession Management in retail
See all HR topics for retail, or another industry.