Attracting Corporate Talent

While store-level employees remain a focal point for the convenience store industry during this labor shortage, all segments of the business have been affected, including the corporate level.

Today’s market allows employees to be more selective, forcing retailers to be more competitive.

“It’s a candidate’s market right now,” said Chloe Rosenthal, vice president of Baltimore-based Millman Search Group, which recently filled a director of real estate position in a c-store chain. “He was smart and had a lot of experience, but his big thing is he didn’t want to be in the office every day.”

A year ago, not being in the office wasn’t as big of a deal for candidates, but Rosenthal is seeing this request more and more as people are preferring a hybrid work environment.

Another top request among recent job candidates is working for a company that promotes from within and shows proof of that. This is “a huge attraction and selling point,” she said.

Additionally, any way a company can differentiate itself, such as offering restricted stock and equity options, is yet another plus to attract employees. In some cases, paying a lower base salary but offering equity or a long-term incentive can be attractive to candidates.

“Companies are being pushed to pay higher and higher rates, and I have candidates sitting on five or six offers when it used to be two,” Rosenthal said. “People are applying to so many jobs that they are waiting and sitting on the offers to see who is going to come in the highest.”

Pilot also takes the approach Matook recommends of responding quickly. “We integrated multiple recruitment technology solutions alongside our existing talent acquisition tools and service,” Landis explained. “Doing this has enabled us to prescreen candidates and schedule interviews immediately. This was a key component of enhancing our recruiting efforts [because] candidates sometimes experienced delays waiting for a callback or interview, which left the door open for them to pursue other positions.”

Slowing Turnover

In addition to attracting new employees at a steady pace, c-store retailers are working to keep their current staff happy to avoid turnover. Methods range from pay raises and bonuses, to training and development opportunities.

“We decided to double-down our focus on retaining our quality workforce, rather than on recruitment [at the beginning of the pandemic],” Family Express’ Olympidis said. “Even at that point, our wages were higher than our competitors without offering hazard pay. In June of 2021, we felt compelled to offer a new starting wage of $15 an hour — not because of any staffing shortage, but because we felt the effort of our frontline workers was heroic and deserving of a wage increase.”

Upon increasing the wage to $15, the company saw a spike in applications for new workers and since then, the daily application total for new employees has remained consistent.

At Plaid Pantry, the company shows appreciation for its employees in some way every quarter. The goal is to slow turnover and reward employees, so they know how much they are appreciated by the company, said Polonsky.

“It’s hard to get people to stay, so when they do, you want to show appreciation,” he added. “Last quarter, we gave them a cash bonus if they were there for the past three months and next quarter, they will get a gift of a hoodie or tumbler.”

Additionally, the retailer adjusted the time for compensation reviews to reward those who are doing well. Compensation reviews used to be at 30 days and 90 days, but the chief executive has given permission to managers to offer a raise sooner to individuals who show promise — even if it’s within the first few days of employment.

“You want to keep that person because turnover is expensive, and it shows our managers that we are doing what we can to slow turnover because they are [on] the frontline and really feel the brunt of the turnover,” Polonsky explained.

Another best practice to retain workers is to focus on employee training and development. This is something today’s workforce is looking for, along with a company that promotes from within and shows proof of that, noted Chloe Rosenthal, vice president at Millman Search Group, a recruiting firm based in Baltimore.

“Knowing they can take classes to better themselves and put that on their resume is something employees desire,” she said. “Companies that say they promote from within and actually do it also have a huge selling point in retail.”

At Pilot, employees are offered a variety of developmental opportunities, and there’s a blend of in-person, virtual and e-learning, so it’s accessible to all employees, according to Landis.

“One of the most important and effective ways we retain current team members is by supporting their professional development in deliberate and tangible ways,” he said, pointing out that the company is so focused on employee experience that it launched an entire department dedicated to it.

“The department works to identify ways we should complement our strong benefits package with ideas and initiatives such as better onboarding programs, new perks, mentorship opportunities, new tools and improved processes.”

Olympidis believes one of the most impactful tactics for store-level retainment, and something that Family Express does, is to give employees access to their schedules and enable them to easily pick up shifts or swap shifts with other employees. The chain makes it a point to publish schedules no less than one month in advance.

The average tenure of store associates at Family Express is three years.

“This gives people a chance to plan their lives,” Olympidis said. “It also grants us some goodwill in the case where a schedule must be adjusted for reasons beyond our control, like the sudden illness of a coworker.”

Any Relief in Sight?

Although the forecast for 2023 and what will happen with labor this year is unclear, many are hopeful there will be positive change. At a minimum, the executives CSNews spoke with are largely not anticipating the situation getting any worse.

Polonsky believes the industry has hit a plateau, but he doesn’t foresee it getting better overnight. “I believe it will get incrementally better as we move through 2023,” he said.

Olympidis agrees, pointing to data he has seen that does seem to reflect an increase in workforce participation across many industries, including the c-store industry.

“As an optimist, I do see clearer skies ahead,” he said. CSN

How Beverage Programs Can Break Ties

Hot, cold and frozen dispensed offerings can make the final difference in customers’ store selections

By Angela Hanson

WITH THE QUALITY and reputation of convenience store foodservice programs on the rise, prepared food often gets the spotlight. Even when consumers think of a brand as a dining destination, they tend to associate it with signature snack or entrée items. Yet this doesn’t mean retailers can feel free to put little effort into dispensed beverages; on the contrary, this offering can ultimately determine which store a customer chooses.

As competition for share of stomach heats up, it’s more likely that customers will have multiple c-store options they find equally appealing, which only increases the importance of having quality hot, cold and frozen beverages to make the final difference. For example, a morning customer may not have beverages alone in mind, but if two geographically close competitors both offer tasty breakfast sandwiches, knowing one store has a fantastic cup of coffee can serve as a tie-breaker.

Variety, flavor and a clean and organized beverage area are the main draws, according to retailers.

“I think when it comes to dispensed beverage, it is important to carry as much variety as possible. The goal is to steal guests from your competitors, as well as your cold vault,” said Paul Servais, foodservice director at La Crosse, Wis.-based Kwik Trip Inc., operator of 840 stores across Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Michigan. “This means playing with all of the latest equipment and drinks.”

In addition to being able to choose from a diverse array of beverage and flavor types — sweet, sour, astringent, herbal and more — customers also value a beverage area’s overall look and feel.

“Things that can get overlooked at the store level can be as essential as cleaning up spills in a timely fashion.

This along with other pieces to the puzzle would seem to be ‘no-brainers,’ but a guest shouldn’t have to guess where the various dispensed beverages are located within the store or ask for either a cup or the product,” said Ben Lucky, category manager, foodservice, at La Plata, Md.based Dash In Food Stores.

Small, sometimes overlooked, but critical boosts are having machines that function and machines that are intuitive, Lucky noted.

Retailers agree that refillable mug programs are a useful way to encourage frequent flier customers to stay brand loyal, appeal to customers who care about conservation, and promote the company name. However, mugs haven’t fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“A mug program is important, but it has declined in the last couple years due to COVID,” Servais told Convenience Store News. “Seems like it is going to take a while to get it back. We are up in new cups, but down in refills all of 2021 and 2022. I am not giving up on refills.”

Hot Dispensed Beverages

Coffee is both a stalwart component of c-store beverage programs and the offering that can tank a program’s reputation if consumers perceive it to be stale, burnt java that’s been sitting on the burner all day. The good news is that c-store customers don’t necessarily require gourmet coffee made from beans with complex flavor profiles to be satisfied.

“A quality cup of coffee. That’s all that matters to our guests,” Servais pointed out. “Problem is, coffee is very personal and every person describes their quality cup of coffee differently.”

Coffee drinkers favor the retailers that they trust to give them what they want, how they want it. At Kwik Trip, customers have begun shifting their preferences toward Colombian and dark roasts over light roast house blends in recent years. In addition to meeting customer tastes, the segment strongly benefits from simple freshness.

“I think if you keep your pots clean and keep brewing fresh coffee all day long, guests recognize this and it pays off,” the foodservice director noted.

Bean-to-cup brewers are another on-trend way to offer the key freshness busy customers seek, according to Ryan Ratcliffe, category manager of dispensed beverages at Maverik — Adventure’s First Stop, the Salt Lake City-based operator of 400 c-stores across 12 states.

“Having bean-to-cup accomplishes that without wasting a bunch of coffee. You can also provide all your customers' favorite blends all day long,” he said. “Also, as cold coffee is trending, bean-to-cup allows customers to enjoy their favorite coffee hot or cold and customize it however they would like.”

The appreciation for customization extends to a well-stocked coffee bar with ample selections of flavors and syrups and enough space to accommodate multiple customers at once. Dash In’s Lucky advises retailers to also consider sensory attributes.

“I think the area should smell like coffee. Having stale water and rags in a sanitizer bucket or other unwelcomed aromas take away from the offer and the brand,” he said. “One small piece I might add is the need for the green sweetener, otherwise known as stevia. The blue, pink and yellow have been around for a while now, but the green is picking up steam.”

Cold Dispensed Beverages

Customization at the soda fountain has gotten a lot of attention in recent years, but Servais casts doubt on the notion that equipment like Coca-Cola Freestyle and Pepsi Spire units are particularly appealing, despite their proliferation in the last few years.

“This is an old and tired part of dispensed. Soda is dying,” Servais said. “Energy and alternative beverages are taking the fountain heads. The Coke Freestyle is viewed by many as ‘cool to play with,’ but when there’s a line in front of it to get a drink because it takes longer, that is a turnoff.”

Maverik has taken a different approach and found success by going beyond such specialty customization single units. Inspired by the soda shops that are popular around its Salt Lake City headquarters, Maverik’s soda mixology program encourages customers to build their own unique beverages by combining soda with various syrup flavors, sweet creams, fruit wedges and cubed or nugget ice — all for one base price.

The retailer’s larger store format allows multiple customers to take their time and experiment, but for operators that want to offer exciting soda mix-ins in a limited space, Ratcliffe recommends coconut, vanilla, peach and raspberry as some essential musthave flavors.

“The fun of the program is we can recommend and rotate different flavor combinations, but it’s all up to the consumer which is going to be a keeper, or if they’d prefer to keep mixing something fresh and new,” Ratcliffe explained.

Building a fun, experiential program is helpful, but retailers must put effort into smart marketing strategies that ensure consumers remember it and take it into account when they’re deciding on a store visit.

Maverik’s soda mixology program encourages customers to build their own unique beverages.

“Mixology at Maverik has been a hit with Maverik fans on TikTok,” Ratcliffe said, adding that the account uses a variety of content to show off the brand’s mixology options. “Content can include creating existing mixology recipes from Maverik or trying fan creations that were shared on the platform with fans’ personal mixology recipes that match their flavor preferences. Marketing’s goal is to reach customers where they are on their favorite social platforms with engaging and fun content.”

Frozen Dispensed Beverages

Positioning frozen dispensed beverages as a tie-breaker in consumers’ minds can be more challenging.

Kwik Trip has experienced “a lot of success” since launching its Fresh Blends smoothie program several years ago, contributing to its win as the CSNews 2020 Cold & Frozen Beverages Innovator of the Year, but limited-time offers (LTOs) are difficult to execute and machines are very maintenance-heavy, Servais said.

“We are happy with the program though,” he added. “It has added gross profit to dispensed beverage and brought us the frozen smoothie guest.”

Despite the segment’s difficulty, Lucky believes that LTOs can fill the need for the occasional unique product. “Seasonality as well as trending flavors from solid beverage partners can [also] help with picking a few to several flavors a year or even creating a proprietary flavor,” he noted.

Iconic branded slushies and slushie flavors can serve as true trip drivers, as customers are much more likely to visit stores with the options they think of as classic over those with generic alternatives.

“Everyone knows and expects to see Coke, cherry and blue raspberry on the frozen drinks menu,” Lucky pointed out. “Frozen beverages are essential during the 100 days of summer, when a site is near a school and when people need an icier beverage treat.”

Retailers should keep a close eye on trends, as Sonic’s success with Cherry Limeade several years ago prompted it to become an essential flavor elsewhere.

“I am not certain there is a fourth ‘go-to’ flavor, but mango, lemon, strawberry and orange are always worth looking at, and in Hispanic markets, it is certainly worth considering Jarritos as a brand with their selection of flavors,” Lucky said. CSN

Opening the Door to Opportunity in the Cold Vault

Retailers can boost basket size by embracing variety and matching selection with their customer base

By Angela Hanson

SALES IN THE cold vault are heating up. Following mixed results in 2020, the packaged beverages category had an improved performance the following year, with positive results extending into 2022. Convenience store retailers that lean into the category’s strengths will be better able to boost basket size and overall profits.

What’s behind the cold vault’s current success? Consumers are turning to packaged beverages for a variety of needs, such as functional benefits, health and wellness attributes, experimentation with new flavors, and more.

“Innovation and new products are driving success in the packaged beverage segment. In the first two quarters of the year, nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverages grew 7 percent — and 40 percent of the growth in the channel was driven by new products,” Carlton Austin, director of convenience retail strategy and commercialization for The Coca-Cola Co., told Convenience Store News. “Convenience shoppers are looking to experiment; approximately 30 percent like to try something different, and 80 percent are motivated by flavors they enjoy.”

Convenience is also valued by busy consumers who want to try new things, but don’t have the time to look up new product introductions before they’re standing at the cooler door. Packaged beverages dominated the top 10 ranking of IRI’s latest New Product Pacesetters report, which highlights the most successful c-store new product launches of the year.

To keep pace, beverage companies are focusing on innovation. Kent Montgomery, PepsiCo Inc.’s senior vice president of industry relations and multicultural development, North America, cited “huge demand growth” in the energy and sports drink segments, driving how the company innovates with new methods of rehydrating and replenishing consumers.

Total U.S. sales of sports drinks grew 13.7 percent for the year ending Oct. 1, 2022, according to Nielsen data, while

Goldman Sachs’ third-quarter Beverage Bytes survey found that retailers’ outlook for the energy drink category is very positive, with expectations for sustained double-digit growth through 2023.

Three key trends appear to be driving demand: functional benefits, flavor proliferation and permissibility.

“There is a holistic need for energy management, as well as products that rebalance macro needs,” Montgomery said. “On the energy front, consumers are increasingly looking for permissible options that better serve a spectrum of needs, including mental or physical boosts, as well as help focusing. On the sports front, we’re seeing demand for products with fewer calories and less sugar.”

A wide range of innovative items with different focuses are now available, making it even more important for retailers to know the preferences of their markets. For example, PepsiCo launched Gatorade Fit, which contains no sugar, artificial flavor or sweeteners; Fast Twitch, the first caffeinated energy drink from the maker of Gatorade, designed to meet the pre-performance needs of athletes; and a zero-sugar offering from its flagship energy brand Rockstar.

Meanwhile, The Coca-Cola Co.’s BODYARMOR EDGE sports drink combines the hydration formula of classic BODYARMOR with 100 milligrams of caffeine. It’s become the company’s bestselling sports drink in the last year, with 27 percent sales growth and 23 percent volume growth.

“We expect to see the category continue to evolve in different functional ways — whether through the addition of caffeine, increased electrolytes or otherwise,” Austin said.

Balancing the New With the Familiar

The innovation and growth around sports and energy drinks doesn’t mean there is no buzz for carbonated soft drinks (CSDs), which remain a major cold vault contributor at c-stores.

“We have seen substantial success this year with sparkling soft drink innovation. Specifically, our Coca-Cola Creations platform, which is all about meeting Gen Z’s desire for discovery,” Austin said. “As a truly new innovation brand and flavor, Coca-Cola Starlight drove 30 percent of sparkling soft drink category growth in the first half of the year.”

He noted that 32 percent of the growth came from new category buyers, while 34 percent came from expanded category consumption. “Coca-Cola is always looking at ways to innovate while maintaining our core products within convenience, because we know consumers are looking for their favorites and wanting to discover something new,” Austin explained.

Some convenience store chains are making their mark as a destination for soda brand loyalists. Earlier this year, both Laval, Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.’s Circle K banner and Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey’s General Stores Inc. partnered with PepsiCo to release exclusive flavors: Mtn Dew Purple Thunder, which combines blackberry and plum flavors, at Circle K; and Mtn Dew Overdrive, which features a citrus punch taste with hints of mango, raspberry and lime flavors, at Casey’s. The exclusive flavors were made available both in the cold vault and at the fountain.

Tom Brennan, chief merchandising officer at Casey’s, noted that as the fifth-largest pizza chain in the United States, the retailer is always looking for “the most flavorful products” to pair with its handmade pizza.

Previous chain-exclusive Mtn Dew flavors include Solar Flare at 7-Eleven Inc., Goji Citrus at Jacksons Food Stores, Atomic Blue at Sheetz Inc. and Spark at Speedway LLC.

“It’s no secret that the Dew Nation is very loyal and always eager to try new, innovative offerings. And our franchise exclusive flavors have helped us fuel growth for our retail partners at restaurants, convenience and grocery stores,” Montgomery said. “Data and consumer insights are behind each of these innovations, and we work with our partners to determine which will generate the most success in their specific market and format.”

PepsiCo plans to continue leveraging Mtn Dew’s brand equity to deliver new fan favorites.

Building Up Beverages

While the outlook for the packaged beverages category is good, as cross-channel competition increases, it’s more important than ever for c-store operators to utilize research, data and analytics to understand consumer behavior and maximize share of wallet.

Coca-Cola’s Austin advises retailers to focus on capturing shoppers who may not have originally intended to purchase a beverage during their c-store visit.

“It’s important to find ways to interrupt their shopping trip and present an opportunity for them to leave with a beverage in hand, whether that means offering them a chance to try something new or pick up a favorite core product,” he said. “To effectively capture these shoppers, operators should think about incremental placements throughout the store, including permanent coolers and open-air cooler racks. Driving multiple points of inspiration inside and outside of the store is essential, including highlighting innovation within the cold vault.”

By tying purchase suggestions to specific occasions, retailers can better tap into shopper motivation. “When shoppers associate certain beverages with specific occasions, such as meals, hydration, grab-and-go or a pick-me-up, they are more likely to consider adding a beverage to their purchase,” Austin pointed out.

Along with taking advantage of third-party market research, c-store operators can work with platforms like PepsiCo’s proprietary data practice, pepviz, which combines real-time insights with industry expertise, according to Montgomery.

“This approach provides a holistic overview of shopper behaviors across channels and has been a key contributor to our success in identifying consumer trends and determining how best to price and promote our products,” he said. “We’ve found that shoppers are no longer making quick trips exclusively at convenience stores, but rather are utilizing all channels for this shopping occasion. To boost packaged beverage sales and stand out among competitors, retailers must understand and meet the changing needs and motivations of their consumers.”

Cola-Cola’s innovation across its core products is driven by consumers’ desire to discover something new.

PepsiCo sees consumers falling into six categories, each of which has a unique set of needs: engaged enthusiasts, health-focused shoppers, price-sensitive shoppers, habitual shoppers, infrequent indulgers and last-resort shoppers.

“Retailers should be tailoring their offerings to these corresponding motivations and preferences for factors such as daypart, checkout experience and e-commerce to unlock growth,” Montgomery added.

As much as retailers may want to meet the needs of every consumer and give each of them a variety of offerings to choose from, limited cold vault space means they must balance exciting new items with the longtime favorites shoppers expect to see.

“It’s important for operators to understand DOS (days of supply), so they can maximize space for innovation,” Austin said. “Maintaining a well-stocked cold vault that balances consumer favorites with exciting new products will maximize the space through reducing inventory cost and increasing turns.”

This is another area where operators can lean on the expertise of their supplier partners. “For example, earlier this year, our customer team collaborated with a convenience retail partner to review the value and shelf performance of their cold vaults. Following the review, the team made recommendations to revise the category shares, which resulted in increased sales of 17.5 percent in the sparkling soda category,” he told CSNews

Retailers should optimize product placement along with product selection to drive loyalty and trips. This means optimizing for dayparts and mission trips.

“Stores located near interstates and schools will see greater rush hours in the morning and afternoon. Morning shoppers are more likely to purchase one ‘extra’ item beyond what they came for — which could include trying a new innovation — whereas afternoon trips are driven by demand for grab-and-go snacks and soft drinks, and less likely to explore new options,” Montgomery shared. CSN

Still a Pain in the Chain

Using technology and data analytics can help c-store retailers navigate supply chain struggles

By Melissa Kress

IT’S BEEN THREE years since the COVID-19 pandemic all but brought the world to a grinding halt, and retailers are still grappling with supply chain challenges. The convenience channel has not been immune, and all signs point to lingering problems.

According to Deloitte’s 2023 Consumer Products Industry Outlook, the supply chain is still a top concern. More pointedly, despite improvement from the height of pandemic disruption, 62 percent of consumer packaged goods executives still expect supply chain issues to be quite challenging or extremely challenging in 2023. Almost half of companies (48 percent) think “just-in-time” as a supply chain strategy will need to be replaced, and even more (57 percent) are worried about the reliability of supply from once-dependable markets.

These numbers back up what convenience channel executives from both sides of the retail equation told Convenience Store News in its Forecast Study this year. More than 50 percent of convenience store retailers cited supply chain issues as one of their top three concerns for 2023, and 14 percent identified it as their No. 1 concern when weighing what challenges could impact their sales and profitability in the year ahead.

C-store industry suppliers and distributors are approaching 2023 with some measure of optimism; however, they also cite supply chain issues as a top factor threatening their bottom line over the next 12 months. Specifically, 15 percent of suppliers and distributors pointed to the supply chain as their foremost concern and 55 percent ranked it in their top three.

Pandemic Hangover?

While today’s issues seem to trace their roots back to the pandemic, whether coronavirus caused these stumbling blocks or unmasked existing problems is up for debate. More than likely, it’s a little bit of both.

Retailers are not just dealing with one supply chain setback, but rather the culmination of multiple factors, according to Mike Weber, chief marketing officer at Upshop, a total store operations platform.

Among the factors cited by retailers are new shopper demand patterns (whether organic or due to the supply chain challenges), manufacturer shutdowns, warehouse and supplier “outs,” faulty in-store processes affecting what’s ordered, and the list goes on, he told CSNews

“When things aren’t going right from supply and item replenishment, the processes aren’t in place to make different moves — to actually zig and zag properly,” he said.

With no signs that the struggles will let up soon, technology can ease the pain.

“Supply chain plus labor challenges make it more important than ever for c-stores to be flexible, constantly evolving to supply chain challenges,” said Weber. “We find the industry is hungry for technology that can help solve these challenges because the labor is not available.”

Adapting to Succeed

To overcome the obstacles, convenience store operators have switched suppliers where they could, adjusted their product offering to be able to provide more consistent items to their customers, and tightened up inventory and ordering processes in-store.

But, moving forward, more can be done. For example, retailers can take advantage of the “local” trend to ease some hiccups and appeal to consumers to drive sales at the same time. C-store operators shouldn’t be afraid to try something new. “It’s an opportunity for innovation to try new things that you might have been fearful of before,” Weber noted.

With the right technology in place, operators can find better substitutions and quickly communicate those substitutions to the stores. In doing so, retailers also will have access to analytics and data to support merchandising decisions.

Source: 2023 Convenience Store News Forecast Study

“Many convenience retailers are also highly dependent on DSD [direct-store delivery] vendors providing items and support to ensure the stores stay stocked. There is a ripple effect on the entire industry when vendors — large and small — experience their own supply chain challenges. DSD vendors also don’t always have the retailer’s best interest in mind and can easily overstock for their benefit,” Weber said.

Taken all together, the ripples turned into a tsunami that impacted store-level operations, he noted, while also pointing out that c-store processes were behind the times and still involved a lot of “pen and paper” and Excel sheets.

Weber advises retailers to use systems like computer-generated ordering, which ensures the right amount of inventory is in the store at the right time, reduces time spent ordering and tracking ingredients, and delivers on actual local demand.

Tampa, Fla.-based Upshop (formerly Applied Data Corp.) is helping c-store retailers with the kitchen management process in particular. The company provides a single operations platform across fresh, center store, DSD and e-commerce.

“They all want to do freshly prepared items, but they need to manage for the labor-light models and for what ingredients and products they can have in the store,” Weber said, explaining that Upshop’s kitchen management systems aid with ordering ingredients, inventory visibility across the supply chain, and making the process simple for store associates.

“Processes can only improve with a better understanding of analytics and data,” he said. CSN

Laying the Foundation

Recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce is not only the right thing to do, but also makes business sense

By Melissa Kress

TO TAKE THE pulse of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the industry, Convenience Store News recently fielded a survey among convenience store retailers and their distributor and supplier partners. From the results, it is clear more work needs to be done across the channel.

According to the survey, just 24 percent of participants said their company has a diversity and inclusion (D&I) program in place now, and 7 percent said one is in development currently. Nine percent said a D&I program is part of their company’s future plans, while another 23 percent said they were unsure.

Notably, the largest group (37 percent) said their company does not have a D&I program in place, nor are there plans to develop one. When asked the reasons why, an equal number said diversity and inclusion are not issues their organization is concerned about, and/or the company does not feel it is a corporate responsibility to get involved in diversity and inclusion issues.

There is also a group that sees D&I as a big company initiative as they cited their company isn’t large enough to have a diversity and inclusion program, CSNews Editor-inChief Linda Lisanti noted during a recent webinar titled “Build Your D&I Foundation Beginning With a Diverse Workforce.”

For those companies that do have a program in place, success is typically being defined based on factors internal to the organization, rather than external. This includes:

• Increased employee engagement;

• Everyone feeling welcome;

• Developing a company culture that recognizes/removes bias; and

• Having diversity reflected at all levels of the organization.

Lisanti also pointed out that the survey asked those with existing programs what prevents them from hitting the goals of their program. The top barriers mentioned were lack of employee participation and skepticism among some employees of the organization’s motives.

Going All In at All Levels

Panelist Derek Gaskins, chief marketing officer at Fort Worth, Texas-based Yesway, acknowledged that he was disappointed when he first saw the findings showing that a significant portion of the industry still does not think D&I is a corporate responsibility. But he understands it.

“I think there is a lot of fatigue with the issue — which truthfully is something that is hard for me to digest and hard to process,” he said. “I would challenge those leaders who responded that way to be more candid with themselves, with their company and with their team members, and recognize that it is an issue. It is something that we need to do our collective part to try to fix.”

Gaskins sees a major impediment in the convenience channel being the disconnect between the stores, or operations, and the corporate office. “It is glaring when you see the disconnect between leadership levels within both sides of the house — whether a supplier or a retailer,” he pointed out, adding that change is hard, but there must be buy-in at the corporate level for real change to occur.

Fellow panelist Karen Jones, vice president of learning and partner solutions at Chicago-based NextUp (formerly the Network of Executive Women) is in agreement. She noted that a grassroots D&I movement can benefit the stores, where people have been trained and equipped to deal with consumers. She believes store leaders need more training now than ever before to better understand how to serve diverse customers.

“If you take if from both ends, to have the prioritization baked into our values [and] the funding that could provide the support that would be needed to train throughout every level of the organization, it will certainly leverage the bottom line as consumers come into the stores,” she said.

A lack of representation that mirrors the customer base walking through the door — and the employee base — opens up blind spots, according to Jones.

“We serve local retail, that is what this industry is all about,” echoed Gaskins. “The communities that we serve, the workforce should represent the customers.”

Forty percent of Yesway’s workforce is people of color because of the communities it serves. “We strive to make sure we create pathways to management and things of that nature. We also have 60 percent-plus who are women and that allows us, and affords us, the opportunity even within our marketing and merchandising groups to better understand procurement to meet the needs of the community that will ultimately grow and drive sales,” Gaskins explained.

Talent Search

Building up representation at both the store and corporate levels is easier said than done. Noting the hyperpolarized climate of today, Gaskins said there’s been some backlash geopolitically. There is also fatigue — people are tired of talking about it.

Knowledge breaks down those barriers, he said, explaining that collectively, the pie should get bigger and everyone should get a bigger piece.

“We have to be more deliberate as leaders to take this on: this mission critical challenge to make sure you have the right ranges of diversity in your organization, to make sure that we debunk the myth of zero sum,” Jones agreed. “We must get past that to know that [the] pie does get bigger, and it becomes more profitable for all of us to take this on.”

According to Jones, there are several effective recruitment strategies companies can utilize to build a diverse workforce:

• Open up in regard to where you recruit;

• Challenge your human resources executives and talent acquisition managers to look at different sources for recruitment;

• Make sure who you are hiring reflects your customer base; and

• Work with different organizations to find talent that has diversity of thought.

She cautioned, however, that finding the talent is only one step in building a diverse workforce; an organization needs to have the leadership to foster a company culture where all people have the opportunity to advance and grow their careers.

“You can recruit as diverse talent as you want to, [but] if that climate and culture is not created, it’s a revolving door for your talent,” Jones said, explaining that company leaders and managers must understand diversity and inclusion, and not be afraid to have the tough discussions that need to be had.

Spelling out pathways for advancement is key as well, although succession planning in the c-store industry is “marginal at best,” according to Gaskins. To change this, he said each company should start looking at the depth of its bench and be intentional about building a team that brings different attributes to balance and lend a different voice.

“In retail, there is a lot of turnover in the store, but when you get to the manager level, it starts to get better,” he said. “Build that bench and have candidates that are ready to step in and move up.”

Measuring Success

What gets measured, gets done, Gaskins advised.

Taking the pulse and assessing key performance indicators (KPIs) should occur at different intervals depending on the function within the organization. For example, human resources may look at its KPIs monthly, while leadership may look at different benchmarks and at different intervals.

“There are no hidden numbers. Whether it’s marketing or operations, the scoreboard should be the same,” Gaskins said. “Are we growing? Are we selling more products? Are we getting more traffic in our stores because our employee base in our stores better reflects and understands the communities we serve?” CSN

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