Family Express, a northwest and north central Indiana 52-store chain, reached a new milestone by experiencing zero turnover in half of their store locations in 2009.
“Reaching this milestone underscores the wisdom of building our business model around what we call the ‘living brand,'” said Kris Condon, director of human resources for Family Express.
In 2007 Family Express instituted an innovative hiring protocol based on “programmatic hiring.” Programmatic hiring is a process that initiates store-specific hiring based on formulated and anticipated attrition as opposed to starting the hiring process after the fact.
“Programmatic hiring allows us months to look for outstanding candidates as opposed to hiring out of desperation,” Condon noted. “This process has not just destressed our stores, but has brought about tangible productivity efficiencies.”
Currently Family Express screens about 50 candidates in search of one qualified employee. The online screening process was designed in collaboration with Dr. Susan Stang of Performance-Based Selection Ltd. of Westlake, Ohio.
“Organizing our business model around our ‘living brand’ has brought about notable productivity to Family Express. Our remarkable work force generates $117 in in-store merchandise sales and $54 in total GP per labor hour. Experiencing zero turnover at half of our stores is another derivative of building our business around the living brand” said Monique Horn, the company’s CAO.
