The Convenience Leaders Vision Group (CLVG) has released its February 2024 Vision Report, “Making the Convenience Industry an Employer of Choice.”

The Convenience Leaders Vision Group (CLVG) released their newest Vision Report addressing workforce challenges in the convenience and fuel retailing industry. The report features an executive summary of the conversation, the full meeting transcript, and additional resources for further exploration of the topic.

CLVG’s January 18, 2024, quarterly virtual meeting featured a presentation by Michael Sansolo, research director with the Coca-Cola Retailing Research, Convenience, and Supermarket Councils, sharing insights from a recent Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council (CCRRC) study shedding light on attracting and retaining workers in the convenience retailing sector. Following the presentation, CLVG members had the opportunity to share their experiences, solutions and questions.

Discussion emphasized the importance of building a robust worker pipeline, enhancing the industry’s appeal to potential employees, and effectively communicating with employees. CLVG members also highlighted challenges such as transportation barriers, safety concerns, communication gaps, and flexible scheduling. Regulatory challenges and societal perceptions were also identified as hindering current hiring efforts.

The group emphasized the industry-wide need to become an employer of choice. Refining recruitment tactics, enhancing onboarding processes, implementing innovative retention strategies, offering unique benefits, and providing mental health support were identified as key steps toward creating a positive and appealing workplace.

Key takeaways in the report include:

Workforce Challenges Post-COVID

Challenges exacerbated by the pandemic were discussed including willingness to work, schedule control and health safety concerns. The CCRRC study found that workers in general, regardless of age, tend to favor gig work like ride sharing and food delivery, perceiving greater scheduling control over working in a store. Additionally, workers of all ages abandoned grocery and convenience retail shift work during and post-Covid.

 

Expand the Persuadable Applicant Pool

According to Michael Sansolo, research director, Coca-Cola Retailing Research, Convenience, and Supermarket Councils, “We found was that there is a persuadable portion of the population who could consider working at a convenience store…It’s actually 23% of the population. And when Oliver Wyman went further with their questioning [for the CCRRC report], they found that only about 17% of the available population is actually interested at working at a convenience store.”

The CCRRC study recommended looking beyond traditional applicants and target healthcare workers, teachers and students as potential frontline employees.

 

Onboarding, Engagement and Training

Discussions covered onboarding, engagement, and training, with a focus on the crucial role of frontline managers in recruiting and retention efforts. CLVG members further discussed strategies they used to engage employees, including mentor programs, better communication and constant feedback loops.

“[At CCRRC] we had discussion around just best practices and some things that others are doing, some mentor programs when somebody comes on, kind of a buddy program, so there’s good communication with them, they don’t get dropped quick, they don’t get thrown on a register. We talked about onboarding in a better fashion and not just onboarding but communicating. Because when the employees know the expectations, they tend to do better,” stated Kevin Smartt, CEO/president of TXB (Texas Born) and CCRRC Board Member.

 

Cleaning Up Industry Image

Raising the industry’s appeal as an employer of choice was deemed necessary as well as the importance of creating positive store experiences for employees and customers. The importance of image enhancement campaigns, potentially involving celebrity influencers, was suggested to improve the industry’s appeal as an employer of choice.

“I think we may need to get back to that aspect of trying to create, uplift the image of the industry as a whole,” said Roy Strasburger, CEO of StrasGlobal, president of Compliance Safe, and Vision Group Network co-founder.

 

Recruitment and Retention Strategies

Recruitment and retention strategies were explored, with discussions on internal and external recruiting practices.
“You get people interested in the industry, that’s only halfway there. If everyone’s still leaving before 60 or 90 days, you’re just churning and you’re not getting anywhere. And what I’ve found, and what we’ve found lately particularly, is for the most part, it comes down to if it’s not a bad manager, it comes down to the job isn’t what they thought it was. You think most of them are shoppers and they get a feel for it, but when you get thrown in the fire, I think you realize what it really is. So I think part of that is having some form of realistic job preview before you even hire them so they kind of understand the tasks they’re going to be expected to do,” suggested Joe Sheetz, executive vice chairman of Sheetz, Inc.

 

Mental Health Support and Kindness Campaigns

Vision Group Network Co-Founder, President of Kressner Strategy Group, and CLVG meeting facilitator Myra Kressner raised the issue of store managers dealing with mental health-related incidents among employees and customers, prompting a discussion about the need for training in handling such situations. Mental health support and kindness campaigns emerged as critical considerations for employee well-being.
To download this and other Vision Group Network Vision Reports, please CLICK HERE

 

About Convenience Leaders Vision Group

Convenience Leaders Vision Group brings together convenience retail icons and trailblazers through quarterly virtual meetings. During these sessions, members identify trends, challenges and disruptions in retail as well as possible solutions and opportunities. The group is committed to sharing its views and perspectives in order to advance the convenience retailing and mobility industry. CLVG operates under the Vision Group Network, which gathers the collective knowledge and ideas of its members to create a legacy of sharing within the retail community.
For more information about CLVG visit tvgsolutions.com/CLVG or contact us.