For Tiger Fuel, operator of The Market by Tiger Fuel stores in Virginia, what makes an employee want to stay at their job comes down to one thing: “It’s how you were treated on your worst day,” said Maurice Lamarche, vice president of operations for The Market stores. In 2024, Tiger Fuel’s turnover rate for frontline retail employees was 63%. Industrywide, that number was 118.2% for full-time sales associates, according to the NACS State of the Industry 2024 Talent Insights Dashboard. 

Finding and retaining top talent is a challenge no retailer is immune to. But building a company culture that gives frontline employees ownership and career growth opportunities and makes them feel connected to the brand is a critical component to increasing engagement, offering better customer service and making sure that the people who make the business work love what they do. 

Success From Square One

Finding the right candidates starts with how they find you, and your job posting is your first impression. 

Tiger Fuel said having “fun, concise” job ads that lead with what a prospective employee will get out of the job, versus first listing everything they’ll have to do, helps make applicants more interested in the role. “We love taking care of our employees, and we pride ourselves on providing the same benefits package to a cashier as to the president of the company. Putting that out there first and foremost for employees has really drawn them in,” said Shaleena Arreguin, HR director for the company. 

Over the last 18 months, St. Romain Oil Company, which operates 15 Y-Not Stop stores in Louisiana, overhauled its job descriptions to make sure expectations for the job were clear after it saw misalignment between job postings and actual position requirements at the company. “It was a reason we were losing people, so we really evaluated what the essential parts of the job were and what a roadmap for success for the employee looks like,” said Annie Gauthier, CFO and Co-CEO at St. Romain Oil Company and NACS Executive Committee member. 

For Gauthier, nailing the hiring process in the earliest stages has led to reduced turnover down the line. The company uses a hiring assessment that looks at core functions of the job as well as personality characteristics like integrity, conscientiousness and dependability, she said. “The filter helps our managers screen people so they can prioritize the best applicants to call back quickly,” Gauthier said. “It’s rigorous—there’s been debate about whether it’s too rigorous. Sure, it would be so much easier to hire people if they didn’t have to jump through as many hoops, but then who would we be hiring?”

For other retailers, considering mindset, personality and other soft skills has helped them find frontline workers that align with company’s values and the customer service-oriented nature of the convenience business.

• Tiger Fuel looks for “people with a service mindset. When you go into our stores, you’re going to feel our passion for customer service. In a time of AI and self-checkout, we make sure our employees are providing that genuine human connection. That starts with us identifying people that are of the same service mentality,” said Lamarche. “We sell the same stuff that you can get down the road, but you’re going to feel like you’re buying it from people that care about you.”  
• The Wills Group, which operates Dash In convenience stores in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, has evolved its hiring approach from looking for candidates who have “explicit c-store experience to having more hospitality, retail and foodservice experience, because we really want to demonstrate a high level of customer experience,” said Lorissa Martin, manager of talent acquisition and performance at the Wills Group. “We even created a concierge role, which is really unique.” The concierge at Dash In is there to greet guests, help them with their kiosk orders, provide samples, answer questions, and generally just be a friendly face for customers in the store. 
• Gauthier uses the company’s hiring assessment to evaluate personality traits and characteristics to determine which roles might be the right fit for an individual. “For example, maybe more introverted people or ones who like repeat activities will be a good fit for the kitchen, while extroverts or those who like spontaneity will feel more comfortable out front. We are looking for general attitude fits—and that’s the same for any position you’re applying for, whether it’s a cashier role or corporate,” she said.

Culture Is Critical 

Onboarding experiences and training programs will look different from company to company, but retailers agreed that immersing employees in company culture and helping them connect with your brand from the beginning has a major impact on employee engagement.

Tennessee retailer Weigel’s brings all of its new hires from its more than 100 stores to its support center at its corporate campus for a day-long training and company orientation, which it started doing at the beginning of the year. Weigel’s owners and other senior leadership walk employees through the company’s core values, mission, history and foundation, plus benefits and career growth opportunities. This is also where employees start their training, offered through Ready Training Online, and get signoffs for certifications such as selling age-restricted products. “It’s been so much better to do those first steps in person, and coming to the campus is exciting for new hires. By the time they get to the store, they’re ready to go and they’ve been given everything they need to be successful,” said Kelly Bowling, director of human resources at Weigel’s. “It’s also how we set standards across the company and make sure everyone in the organization hears the same messaging. We are seeing turnover go down since we started doing that.” 

Tiger Fuel similarly invites employees to the corporate headquarters within the first month for a culture orientation called “Tiger Way.” Tiger Fuels’ HR department and vice president of wholesale, who’s been with the company for around 30 years, walks through the history of the company and the importance of good customer service. The event also lets new hires meet company executives. “It brings the employee into the culture of your business and helps them connect with the brand. It shows we do something that is more than just words on a mission statement. It connects our company values and attributes to what we put into practice and expect from our teams,” said Lamarche.

About a year ago, Dash In launched an eight-week training program called “Genuine Care.” The program focuses on putting customer service at the forefront. “We wanted employees to understand why we’re doing what we’re doing, how behaviors should be demonstrated and how they should be linked back to overall success of the team function. It gives employees that North Star of what we need to be working towards on a daily basis,” said Martin. “The Genuine Care philosophy has been ingrained through our daily huddles at the beginning of each shift and through performance management.” 

Partnering new frontline employees with more tenured peers also helps both sides feel more engaged with their roles.

Tiger Fuel started a market coach program, which pairs new hires with peers who complement the formal training program. The market coaches help guide new hires through their shift, answer questions and show them the ropes. “Market coaches are in training mode at all times, and their commitment is really what drives the program. It’s not our HR department telling new hires what they should be doing—it’s the people in their stores they actually work with who are there to support them and are a supplement to the store leadership team,” said Lamarche.

Employees who have been with the company for six months can become market coaches after being nominated by their store or district manager. Market coaches go through an interview process, participate in semiannual meetings and receive an extra 50 cents per hour. 

Dash In recently launched a brand ambassador program, which pulls store team members to work cross functionally with the company’s senior manager of loyalty. “In retail, there can sometimes be a disconnect between being in the store and headquarters. But we are one company and we want all employees to feel that. So we are engaging our frontline workers with what corporate is doing, hearing their voice and involving them in initiatives,” said Martin. “It works twofold—we get to hear about their experience in the stores and about customer feedback, and it gives them a sense of ownership to say ‘I’m part of something bigger than just my day-to-day responsibilities.’”

Celebrate a Job Well Done

One of the top reasons employees leave is for higher pay, even if the store down the road is only paying 10 cents more per hour. 

Instead of doing performance reviews annually, Dash In does them twice per year and ties performance evaluation to its Genuine Care program. “As long as the staff member is satisfactory, they receive a 25 cent raise each review, so they get a 50 cent raise each year, and that has really helped with our retention,” said Martin. 

At St. Romain Oil, all employees can earn a bonus based on seven evaluation metrics: three related to sales, two regarding controlling expenses, a customer satisfaction rating and retention. If a store hits its retention target each quarter, all team members get a bonus: $100 for a full-time associate, $200 for an assistant manager and $400 for general managers. 

Weigel’s also makes all positions bonus eligible. “No matter what position you’re in, you can make a bonus. And if a store makes a goal, everyone in that store gets a bonus. If a store does well in a mystery shop, they get a bonus,” said Brad Anderson, director of recruiting and development at Weigel’s. 

Of course, there are more than monetary ways to reward employees.

As part of its Culture Club, the Weigel’s corporate staff rewards frontline workers by taking over their store for a few hours. “When a store hits a certain percentage from passing its mystery shop, our team from the support center literally takes over the store. We bring cupcakes, food, whatever they want, and we run the store for a few hours while they get to sit down and celebrate,” said Bowling. “It’s really fun for them.” 

Dash In makes an effort to recognize its team members with spot celebrations for having excellent Google reviews or beating sales numbers, for example. “We’ll say, ‘Hey, we’re going to give your store X amount of money to have a party’ or give our store managers latitude to celebrate how the store team wants,” said Martin. This includes “happy gifts,” which are celebrations for life milestones, birthdays, anniversaries and more. “We want our employees to feel valued, and a little bit of recognition goes a long way.” 

Tiger Fuel uses its payroll platform, Paylocity, as an employee recognition forum that allows employees to post thank you’s, call out someone for a great deed while on a shift, and more through the platform’s built-in “recognitions” feature. “They’ve told us that we are one of the leading companies using that feature for congratulations, thank you’s, high fives, acknowledging something celebratory or welcoming a new hire to the team,” said Arreguin. “We’ve created our own Tiger-specific features too and ones that focus on our values. It’s so positive for everyone to see all the great things our employees are doing.”

“Retail jobs, and jobs in customer service in general, are hard. It’s a fast-paced environment and people can be tricky to deal with some days. So even a simple thank you to our team members is so, so important and makes such a difference to them,” added Sara Belkowitz, marketing director at Tiger Fuel.