Running convenient stores is tough. With customer expectations high and worker morale typically low, it can feel like an uphill battle to give your customers a great experience at every visit.
One major challenge is that corporate management doesn’t communicate directly with frontline employees. Instead, corporate depends on regional managers to ensure that their directives and standards are passed along and followed accurately.
And while regional managers are busy relaying messages between corporate leaders and frontline staff, store managers are often pulling their hair out over high turnover among dissatisfied employees.
These problems can all be eliminated using a digital workplace. C-store owners and managers can improve communication and draw employees into a feeling of engagement and ownership in their roles in the company. They can provide effective and enjoyable training in ways that free up managers to do other things and build employees up for advancement in their careers.
Imagine you’re a c-store employee who has one foot out the door. You’re tired of the exhausting back-and-forth that always goes on when you want to drop or change shifts. You don’t feel like you know what you’re doing half the time because your manager forgets to tell you about changes, promos, and directives. You’re frustrated by training courses and materials that don’t seem targeted and useful, and by rarely getting recognition for doing things well.
Now imagine your company institutes a digital workplace, and you have the app on your phone wherever you go.
When you want to drop shifts, you simply click a button on the app to release your slot to the pool of other employees who might want it. When you want to trade shifts with someone, you click to seek approval from your manager, who can grant it instantaneously.
When there are updates to policies, upcoming promos, or other news, corporate now sends you messages directly through your app. You always know what’s going on, straight from the horse’s mouth.
The microtraining in the app allows you to learn new things in minute long increments whenever there’s a slow moment at work. On a given day, you are able to learn the rules for carding minors, master the technique for refilling the soda machine, and get a refresher on procedures for locking up. For each module you complete, you earn a badge in the app, which you can trade in for rewards and use as justification for raises and promotions.
You’ve gone from an unhappy, disengaged employee to a satisfied and motivated one. You feel informed, recognized, and respected. And in turn, your managers and corporate leaders are relieved to have a reduced logistical load, more organized communication streams, and a lower rate of employee attrition.
The WorkJam Digital Workplace improves the work experience at all levels of the company, but nowhere more profoundly than on the front lines. WorkJam helps workers find satisfaction, engagement, and empowerment in their jobs. And what are c-stores without their customer-facing employees?
Read our c-stores data sheet—WorkJam for C-Stores—to see the many ways that a digital workplace can help transform c-stores and their employees from struggling to thriving.
