Evolving workplace culture to appeal to younger generations is key in staying competitive as the times change.
By Erin Rigik Del Conte, Senior Editor
Change continues to come rapidly as the Millennial generation becomes the largest generation in the workforce and Gen Z comes of age. This shift is bringing huge changes, both to modern culture as well as to workplace culture.
In an educational session at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) Show titled “ Making the Gig Economy Work for You: Attract, Incent and Retain Gig Employees in the Age of Uber,” on Wednesday, Oct. 18, attendees learned how they can evolve their business to fit with the current social culture and better attract and retail employees.
The panel of speakers included Nichole Upshaw, executive director of HR for RaceTrac Petroleum Inc., Danielle Mattiussi, vice president of operations for Maverik Inc., Emily Sheetz, director of talent development for Sheetz and Matt Thornhill, managing partner, SIR’s Institute for Tomorrow.
Thornhill pointed out that we’re heading toward a future where we will have more older adults and fewer younger adults. Competition for younger workers will intensify and we’ll have more workers over 55 than ever before.
The gig economy is a real phenomenon and Millennials are leading the charge, which means as businesses look to attract younger employees, they’ll need to adapt.
Time Are Changing
How are things changing? One of three Millennials freelance, 34% of the workforce has second job and 91% of Millennials report they don’t plan to stay on the job more than three years. While boomers and Gen X want to make a living, Millennials want to make a difference. Everything that was once private is becoming more open and transparent, and companies need to be transparent too. Millennials are hyperconnected to each other and they care about community. All of these changes in modern culture are impacting work culture, which needs to be updated to compete as the modern culture changes.
While the old culture of yesteryear involved command and control, an authority figure who tells employees what to do, fixed rules and regulations, employees who look up for information, and a hierarchy with a chain of command, the new culture is about consensus building and collaboration. Flexibility is valued and people look out—such as to the internet—for information. Today, management needs to adjust management to fit different people, and ideas come from anyone as businesses are run more like a democracy.
America is also becoming more pluralistic. As America evolves, c-stores need to be a place for everyone of every race, age, economic glass, gender and mindset.
Sheetz explained how Altoona, Pa.-based Sheetz Convenience Stores recognized five years ago it needed to reinvest in its talent acquisition strategy and began making changes, from broadening the way it recruits to engaging with potential candidates through social media to making sure the benefits package is relevant. For example, Gen X might care about 401k or health benefits while younger employees might be more interested in hearing about education reimbursement. Among changes were automated onboarding, and offering fixed scheduling to help employees better plan their lives but also including flexibility in the scheduling.
Sheetz noted expectations have changed, particularly of customers. “We thought employees wanted very clean cut employees, but those expectations have changed and they’re more open to employees demonstrating their uniqueness in the workplace,” she said.
Mattiussi noted that Maverik has had a big push for technology in 2017. Among many changes, the Utah-based chain began doing exit interviews, and found 47% of employees were leaving because they were let go due to a no call, no show. Meanwhile, those with multiple gigs couldn’t get enough hours. Maverik added a new management software, that is also available via an app. Now, schedules can be planned two weeks in advance and store directors can post available shifts and employees can opt in.
Maverik is currently working on an employee pooling feature where employees can pick up shifts at multiple stores. “We’re adapting to employees instead of them adapting to specific store,” she said. Maverik expects to see reduced turnover and also see a benefit when it comes to correct sizing for the seasonal workforce.
Mindset Matters
Another thing that is changing with the gig economy is that mindset has changed to where employees are thinking in a more short-term way about employment, Upshaw noted.
“I’m not saying we don’t care about having turnover under control, but the question is how do we first make this a great place to work for people who are here today,” Upshaw said.
Atlanta-based RaceTrac requests feedback and makes adjustments. “When the 4,000 people a year leave us to do something else we want them to be brand ambassadors. They might tell other friends and family to go work there,” she noted, adding that c-stores should not forget to consider boomerang employees, who might leave to try something else and then want to come back, as a source of hire.
Upshaw noted not only is it key to recruit the right people to make a difference and change the environment to fit with the modern culture, but also to train and develop existing people to teach them the core values and how to be successful.
This change in mindset and culture is happening all over the U.S.
“Around country, there is a move from employees being cogs in a machine to talent that needs to be managed. Once you make that mind shift you are able to evolve,” Thornhill said.
Maverik has found being able to directly communicate with store employees through technology, allows employees to ask questions and give feedback and better connect employees to create community.
Dress code is another mindset that needs to evolve with the times to become more flexible.
Upshaw noted RaceTrac used to make a conscious effort to control the way employees dressed down to the color of belts, pants and hair. The conversation on mindset spurred RaceTrac to relax its policy around tattoos and shorts and eventually hair colors. Employees were enthusiastic about the changes, and not one guest complaint. “Go through your policy manual. If a policy is not there to keep your team members or guests safe, rethink it. We have an ‘essential policies’ page—it’s one page—of 10 things—basically one and done items—so they’re not bogged down in a policy manual,” Upshaw said.
Thornhill pointed out that as c-stores are competing with other channels for even fewer 16-24 year olds in the future, relaxing dress codes is an important consideration. Some 40% of Millennials have tattoos, for example. And when it comes to Gen Z today, more schools are relaxing hair color rules, so this type of expression is normal to the upcoming generation.
Today, young people feel they have an equal say. The more you engage them the more successful you will be keeping them happy and longer. As we move toward the future, the panel advised fellow retailers to invest in their employees, technology, systems and change. Take a close look at your company policies often and evolve them to reflect your values. Get rid of policies and procedures that no longer hold merit. Remember that good ideas come from everywhere. Constantly listen to your employees and act on what they share with you, or communicate why you aren’t making specific changes. Lastly, culture matters: A positive culture will set you apart from your competitors.