Too often, when I'm looking for an employee to ask a question they're nowhere to be found - but when I just want to look around, they intrude. What's needed is

Too often, when I'm looking for an employee to ask a question they're nowhere to be found - but when I just want to look around, they intrude. What's needed is not a new way to trick the customer into conversing, instead we need employees to learn how to notice whether a customer is looking for help or doing fine on his/her own. And employers to allow this instead of requiring them to be aggressive.