In 2015, the world’s largest retail store held a shareholders meeting where a $2.7 billion dollar investment in its workforce was announced. With over 1.3 million workers, Walmart claimed this was one of the largest private-sector pay increases in history, yet the loudest cheers at the meeting were reserved for the announcement that retail staff would no longer be subjected to the Celine Dion and Justin Bieber CDs Walmart used for background music.

Walmart joked about a “serious eye tic” developed after prolonged exposure to their limited selections, but humour aside, your in-store music plays a significant role in creating a happy, healthy and prosperous working environment. It should come as no surprise companies that rate highly in terms of job satisfaction also see higher returns in their bottom line.

Staff morale effects both motivation, productivity and ability. And as Walmart demonstrated with their symbolic burning of the Justin Bieber catalogue, the right music is a simple and effective way to boost staff morale.

How POSmusic can help 

POSmusic’s playlists are growing every day and draw from a catalogue of millions of songs; so there’s no reason to have repetitive music drive your staff mad and your customers out the door. And using the POSmusic scheduler, playlists can be programmed at different times of the day, even allowing “staff selections” to ring out when the business is operating outside of opening hours.

POSmusic’s software allows head office staff to assign access and privileges to other staff members, giving store managers (or the resident office music nerd) direct input to the music catalogue; and the in-app “like” feature gives both customers and staff instant feedback to build and expand the music collection (which in turn feeds our music discovery algorithms that deliver relevant, on-brand music). And of course, your staff are always a consideration with any POSmusic brand sound curation.

And of course, it goes without saying that tapping into your staff’s interests creates a deeper connection to your brand, just as it does with your audience.

To the customers that eat in your restaurant, drink at your bar or enter your store, your staff members are the face of your brand- we want that face to be a smiling one. And when it is, you can rest assured that you’ll never have to apologise for an inappropriate song played when the manager’s back was turned.