Do Your Employees Like Your Onboarding Process?
Alisha Black of Huck’s Market discussed how retailers can combat the four reasons employees leave in the first 90 days.
Oct 07, 2026 | 2 min read
About one-third of convenience retail employees leave within the first 90 days of a job, according to data from the NACS Talent Insights Dashboard. However, a positive onboarding experience can help reduce turnover.
“Most early quits are avoidable. What drives people to say, ‘hey, I’m out,’ is four things: schedules changing without notice, no real training in their first week on the job, a manager who never checks in and when pay or hours don’t line up with what they were told during the interview,” said Alisha Black, vice president of human resources at Huck’s Market, during the 2026 NACS Show Education Session "Breaking the 90-Day Escape: A Roadmap for Onboarding."
When employees walk out, hiring costs and efforts walk out with them. The average cost to onboard a store manager is $1,816; with the cost to onboard a full-time associate being $933, according to the NACS State of the Industry Report of 2025 Data. There are also soft costs to losing employees: institutional knowledge walks out the door, morale dips and burnout spreads, and employers’ reputations suffer.
“Onboarding starts in the interview. You need to be explaining what you expect from employees, who they will meet, where to park, what to wear, what it’s going to look like. I also tell my managers to listen to all feedback,” Black said.
After listening to your employees about what’s working or not, be it through conversations or surveys, it’s important to then set up a feedback loop to turn what you hear from employees into action to create change.
To get employees to stay, Black suggested that retailers set clear expectations for employees, explaining what a day on the job looks like from the very start. They should also enforce predictable schedules and hours, and make sure their managers get to know each new employee.
Retailers also need to consider what is or isn’t working with their onboarding process.
“When was the last time you truly looked at your onboarding process? Start there. When is the last time you shadowed a new hire going through the onboarding process? And when was the last time you asked a 90-day associate what made them quit? Walk the first 90 days yourself. Provide feedback,” Black said.
