NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Wal-Mart (WMT) - Get Report made news recently for increasing workers' wages above the federally mandated minimum, while Target (TGT) - Get Report reportedly is considering a similar move.

But the steps may not make much of a difference in preventing these workers from applying to upstart chain restaurants and attracting the new, higher-quality talent needed to oversee a growing list of responsibilities.

According to reports from Reuters and the Wall Street Journal this week, Target will soon hike its minimum wage for all its workers to $9 an hour, above the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. The reports, which Target promptly denied, come as little surprise based on recent comments by executives.

"Our goal has been and will be, we're going to be competitive on wages, whatever that means, wherever that means," said Target CFO John Mulligan at a March 4 investment bank conference. At the time, Mulligan sidestepped being locked into a specific nationwide hourly wage for its retail workforce, citing differences in each state's minimum wage laws and prevalent local economic conditions.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart said last month that it would transition to a $9-an-hour minimum wage in April. Next year, employees with six months training will be paid a minimum of $10 an hour.

The maneuvers by both companies arrive at a time at which their store employees are being tasked with more by-the-minute responsibilities, such as finding items in the store to service mobile orders placed by consumers.

Another responsibility is more frequent shelf-stocking as each discount retailer tries to morph into a local grocery store by moving into fresh food and prepackaged organics. Starbucks (SBUX) - Get Report is even trying to get its baristas to engage customers in talking about race

Nevertheless, the higher hourly wages that will go into effect at Wal-Mart and reportedly at Target may not do much to cure employee disenchantment. That's in large part to the allure of the new employment model for lower-wage workers championed by the likes of popular,and growing restaurant companies Chipotle (CMG) - Get Report and Shake Shack (SHAK) - Get Report. And how can the holy grail for a retail store worker, being a well-compensated employee at the still growing Costco (COST) - Get Report, be overlooked?

Both Chipotle and Shake Shack were built on the principle of paying employees more than minimum wage and teaching them transferable skills. So not only are people able to pocket several extra dollars an hour by wiping down tables and working the front line at a Chipotle, they can also gain the leadership skills that are not being taught to workers at the low end of the pay scale at the likes of Target and Wal-Mart.

The more these restaurant chains expand through aggressive new openings across the country, and the more that other chains pop up that copy their founding principles, major retailers will find it difficult to attract and retain the talent required to handle stocking shelves and service incoming mobile orders from customers.  

"We provide hands on, shoulder-to-shoulder training to develop the full potential of our restaurant employees,"  Chipotle said in its most recent annual report. About 90% of salaried management at Chipotle, and 98% of hourly management, comes from internal promotions. The company's best general managers are promoted to a position called a restaurateur, a role that could pay north of $100,000 a year plus bonuses for developing team members. Restaurateurs who have shown over time that they can successfully run four restaurants by developing teams referred to as "top performers" can then be promoted to apprentice team leaders.

The opportunity to earn both skills, while also providing a clear pathway to a long-term career, continues to help Chipotle attract best-in-class talent. "I think the average quality of applicant that comes into a crew position today is vastly superior to what it was five, six, seven years ago," said Chipotle co-CEO Monty Moran in an Aug. 27 interview. Moran added that people are migrating to Chipotle because they have "heard of us now, not just as a concept, but also as a people-oriented culture," one offering opportunities for advancement. "We have a lot more applicants than we used to, and we are able to be a lot pickier," he concluded.

Shake Shack, founded by noted restaurateur and author Danny Meyer, is similar to Chipotle in its approach to employees in that it pays more than the hourly minimum wage and emphasizes the teaching of career-oriented skills. "We invest in our team through extensive leadership development programs to ensure that Shake Shack remains a great place to work and an exciting career choice for team members at every level -- we have built a culture of active learning and we foster an environment of leadership development throughout the entire lifecycle of employment," Shake Shack writes in its prospectus. The company sweetens the deal with its employees by having a variety of incentive programs, including a monthly revenue-sharing program.

And if a worker would rather work the vast floors of a retail store, why not fill out an application in the hopes of getting hired at Costco? In spite of the looming wage increases at Wal-Mart and Target, each will continue to offer hourly rates that are significantly less than Costco's. The average employee at Costco earns a whopping $21 an hour, and typically starts at $11.50 an hour. 

Costco's no-frills business model, where goods are shipped directly to large warehouses for sale to customers that pay annual membership dues, affords the discount retailer the luxury of paying its workers relatively high hourly wages. 

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.