Convenience Industry Action Plan for Becoming an Employer of Choice
Convenience store operators are constantly challenged to both attract and retain frontline staffers. This new action plan from the Coca‑Cola Retailing Research Council for convenience stores examines the causes of this problem and outlines potential action steps for individual managers, companies and even the entire industry.
Convenience stores are finding it increasingly difficult to attract and retain the right frontline staff, as the industry grows, and product and service offerings become more sophisticated. The recruitment challenges and high turnover pose a threat to revenues from understaffed stores and negative customer experiences, and they generate additional costs for onboarding and retraining. The results can be hindrances to store operations and challenges to growth across the industry.
Now is the time to act. There is much to celebrate in the industry’s past adaptations to societal changes, and it is in a good position to meet this latest challenge. The staff shortages result, in part, from the industry’s success. As stores evolve, frontline roles are becoming busier and more complex, while sales growth over the past few years has increased demand for staff. The growth has been accompanied by higher margins and has strengthened the industry’s finances, so companies currently have the resources to make changes.
The Coca‑Cola Retailing Research Council North America NACS (NCCRRC) believes that addressing the impediments that stand in the way of the industry being viewed as an employer of choice is a collective responsibility that must be addressed by the industry. But it also requires action by individual managers and companies to improve the workplace experience and their approaches to the acquisition, development, and retention of talent.
The NCCRRC has developed a Convenience Industry Action Plan based on insights gathered from industry experts and direct input from frontline employees — past, present, and potential. The research consists of both quantitative surveys and qualitative focus groups. It was designed to better understand both the perceptions and realities of frontline labor, and to develop industry-specific solutions that can mitigate these challenges effectively.
