CStore Decisions recently sat down with industry experts in the human resources (HR) field to discuss labor management from recruitment to retention in an exclusive webinar.
Moderated by CStore Decisions Editor-in-Chief Erin Del Conte, the panel featured commentary from Alex Olympidis, president of operations, Family Express Corp.; Steve Seymour, director of personnel, training and development, Country Fair Inc.; and Lorissa Martin, talent acquisition and performance manager, the Wills Group.
The Recruitment Process
An unavoidable topic when it comes to labor is recruiting. C-Store retailers understand the recruitment process can be tricky, so operators need to be creative when it comes to strategizing and properly advertising job postings.
“We’ve been putting a ton of focus in what we’re presenting for our candidates and what kind of story we’re presenting,” said Wills Group’s Martin. “(People need to) understand who we are as an organization, what our goals are and how we can impact each other, our employees, our communities and our customers.”
Martin noted that it is incredibly important to the Wills Group that candidates understand that they are going to be a critical part of the company when they are hired.
Country Fair’s Seymour mirrored Martin’s thoughts, and also added that the key for Country Fair is reputation in the community.
“A good place to work, a good place to shop, a good place to be able to reach out to if you need something in the community, those are all really key,” he mentioned. “And not just from your employees, but your customers need to have that brand pride, too.”
At Country Fair, management makes it a point to respond quickly to applicants — the company wants get the first opportunity at a potential hire.
Olympidis shared a similar philosophy to both Martin and Seymour but added that “(Family Express) isn’t allowed to say the world recruitment unless we’ve clicked our heels together three times and said, ‘retention, retention, retention.’”
Family Express turns to social media when it comes to retention, aiming to show potential employees that it is a fun and rewarding place to work.
HR Benchmarking Survey
The webinar then switched gears to discuss this year’s HR Benchmarking Survey, which is conducted annually by CStore Decisions to track labor management trends.
This year’s survey found that referrals were incredibly effective when it comes to recruitment.
At the Wills Group, Martin noted that referral programs are essential. The company recently started offering $500 for each referral, and the retention that has come from it cannot be denied.
“You do have a higher retention rate when you have referrers — and they last a lot longer. The engagement of those individuals is a lot higher as well,” she said.
Olympidus shared that for Family Express, the company offers $100 for 50 days of employment and $250 at 90 days. Not only is there a monetary incentive to refer employees, but there is also a much better shot that they will get the job.
“We screen 50 applicants to hire one. If they have a referral, that metric goes down to one and 12. In other words, they’re four times more likely — not guaranteed — but they’re four times more likely to get a job here,” he said.
Seymour and Country Fair pay $100 after training, which usually takes a week or two, and $200 after 90 days.
“Retention seems to be about 30% higher at one year for referred employees, so that that tells a story right there,” Seymour noted.
Work Culture
As employers know, work culture is something that starts from the top down and is essential in the hiring process.
“If you want to have a positive culture and great employee morale, you need to hire like-minded folks,” said Seymour. “And so, we measure that as part of our application processes, we do a fit profile.”
Martin mentioned that a critical part of the process is listening to what potential employees want, which the Wills Group and Dash In do by conducting employee engagement surveys.
“We hold one big one each year, and then we do a couple small post ones based off of the action plans that each department and store creates,” she said. “We’re not going to get it right 100% of the time, but there are tangible efforts that we’ve been able to see.”
The webinar discussed other topics like turnover, onboarding and training, benefits and much more.
The full webinar recording can be accessed here.
