Leanne Lusher
From Training and Administration to HR Leadership in People Management
My background in training and administration has fundamental value in shaping my approach to leadership.
Most of us remember two types of managers: those we swore never to emulate and those who inspired, supported and set us up for success. That contrast gave me a deep appreciation for talent development and an understanding that career growth is rarely linear.
Coming from retail taught me the value of handson leadership. It was ingrained in me early on that no matter your title, you are never above any task.
I vividly remember Cindy Gilbert, then Director of Hype DC, vacuuming, lacing shoes, dusting shelves and breaking down boxes alongside us to prepare for numerous store openings. She led by example, demonstrating that everyone deserves equal respect and support. Having walked in the shoes of a casual employee hustling on a peak trading day and working many of my weekends away, I approach HR leadership with empathy, respect for frontline operations and a commitment to hands-on leadership.
Making Compliance and Workplace Procedures Engaging
HR shouldn't carry a dark cloud everywhere it goes! I’ve always pushed back against the idea that we’re just the “fun police” or corporate box-tickers who only show up when something goes wrong. When I first started as the HR Manager at Incu, I literally had to remind team members that my actual name was Leanne, not just “HR” when I walked into the stores!
While compliance is serious business, HR leaders have to be approachable and human. I like to make policies and procedures engaging by stripping away the dry corporate jargon and swapping long, boring presentations for real-life scenarios and clear explanations of why these rules exist in the first place. When employees understand that safety procedures and workplace standards are actually there to protect them, support their fairness and give them peace of mind, compliance stops feeling like a chore.
At the end of the day, keeping standards high isn't about policing people. It's about creating a culture where managers lead by example and practice what they preach on the shop floor every single shift. When compliance becomes practical, relevant and shared by everyone, it naturally builds a genuinely safe, supportive and fun place to work.
Role of Training In Strengthening Employee and Customer Experience
For me, it’s quite simple: confidence comes from competence. When people truly know what to do and understand why they are doing it, the quality of customer service naturally takes care of itself. You can’t expect someone to shine on the retail floor if they feel unprepared or out of their depth. Compliance and employee experience actually go hand-inhand. Compliance sets the safety guardrails, while culture is how we move and get things done inside those lines.
Having spent many years on the shop floor myself, I’ve seen firsthand how much the retail landscape has shifted. It’s no longer just about product knowledge or knowing how to work the POS system.
Today, effective training has to cover psychological safety, managing psychosocial hazards, and equipping teams with practical strategies to de-escalate customer aggression. When team members know we are actively giving them the tools to protect themselves and navigate tough situations, their anxiety drops and their confidence soars. They step onto the floor feeling supported, capable and ready to engage with customers authentically.
At the end of the day, when you invest in building genuine competence, it doesn't just improve workplace culture. It directly moves the needle on business performance. We see it clearly in our numbers: higher customer satisfaction scores, less turnover during those early onboarding months and a noticeable drop in operational errors across the board.
Balancing Compliance Requirements with Enjoyable Employee Experience
Compliance and employee experience actually go hand-in-hand. Compliance sets the safety guardrails, while culture is how we move and get things done inside those lines.
When you frame compliance the right way, it’s not about micromanaging or playing policy police. It’s about protecting our people. It guarantees fair pay, safe working conditions and psychological safety. When employees know the business genuinely has their back, it takes the stress off, lets them drop their guard and empowers them to enjoy their work.
Our teams know we don't manage through fear or intimidation. We want people to thrive. Even though retail is naturally transient and many team members won't stay forever, we want them to upskill and grow while they're with us, so when they do move on, they leave better equipped for whatever comes next.
HR Practices that Support Performance and Engagement in Retail
In a fast-paced retail environment, traditional, heavy HR frameworks just don't work. They're too slow, too clunky and they pull people off the floor when they need to be with customers. To keep teams engaged and performing at their best, HR practices need to be agile and built around how a retail shift actually operates.
Rather than long, formal meetings, we run quick 5-minute daily stand-up huddles at the start of each shift to get everyone aligned, energised, and clear on the day's goals. Morale and performance thrive on immediacy, which is why we use peer-topeer recognition programs so team members can call out great work in real time, building a genuinely supportive culture on the floor.
For scheduling, transparent mobile rosters give staff early visibility and flexibility, showing that we respect their lives outside of work. And when it comes to performance, saving feedback for a big, scary annual review is completely outdated. We focus on real-time feedback loops—quick, continuous coaching moments on the floor while events are still fresh, so staff can learn, adjust and grow every single day.
