NACS SHOW REWIND: Attracting & Retaining Top Talent
LAS VEGAS — The journey of modern talent acquisition has ebbed and flowed, especially in recent years.
Over the last half decade, talent acquisition has faced unprecedented market swings, going from spiking layoffs to rapid hiring mandates, to today where a slowing market is forcing a recalibration of talent acquisition priorities toward finding and keeping the right talent for the future of their organizations.
The three waves of talent acquisition that hourly retail employees and employers have faced included:
- Disruption — The COVID-19 meltdown occurred from early 2020 to early 2021 and saw massive layoffs.
- Recovery — The candidate market shifted from early 2021 to early 2022 when consumer spending rebounded and hiring demand was high. This was also the height of the Great Resignation.
- Protracted Regression — Taming inflation has impacted hiring from early 2022 through now, with the lowest hiring rates in three years, the highest rate of layoffs in three years and the cost of inflation driving up the cost of living.
"These three distinct eras have created a whiplash of ways that we've had to go after talent, and where we are right now is focusing on the right talent that's actually going to stay in place," said Rachel Allen, senior director, talent acquisition at Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven Inc. during a 2024 NACS Show session entitled "Navigating the Future of Retail Talent."
"There's still ongoing shortages in labor. There's still wage pressures. There's supply chain disruptions that we're still feeling. And all of this has impacted our industry, which really hasn't fully been able to stabilize since pre-pandemic," she continued. "And while there are a sufficient number of people that we could fill these positions, it's about finding the right candidates, and we have significant hurdles that we have to overcome in order to get people to join us and then to stay with us."
To combat current talent acquisition challenges, Allen presented three recruiting strategies for high-volume retail hiring:
1. Strategic Talent Sourcing
In the retail hourly workforce world, it is hard for employers to break the cycle of "just-in-time" hiring practices — hiring whomever to fill immediate needs. Instead, Allen recommends a more holistic, three-pronged approach to attract diverse talent.
The first step is utilizing digital recruiting platforms and tailoring talent searches to find talent where they are. Nearly seven out of 10 hourly employees find out information on companies the most on Indeed, Allen pointed out.
The second step is partnering with local organizations to build a pipeline. For example, 7-Eleven is a member of the JPMorgan Chase Veteran Jobs Mission, which helps active duty, reservists and other veterans transition from military to civilian life. Since the company's pledge to the organization in 2011, 7-Eleven has hired thousands of veterans in full-time and part-time roles in support of the mission.
5 Most Important Pieces of Information to Provide at Hiring Events
- Hourly wage ranges
- Benefits offered
- Work location
- Skill requirements
- Work-life balance policies
Source: Veris Insights, "2024 Hourly Talent Survey"
The third step is hosting and attending events to reach hourly talent. Approximately 45% of retail workers attended an employee-related event in the past five years, according to Veris Insights "2024 Hourly Talent Survey."
"In person candidates can get the information that's important to them to make the decisions they want to make. In addition to that, there's the human touch element that's harder to find in some of the processes that we have," Allen said. "When you are apart of these regional events, it gives you a stronger presence in your communities, that's where talent within hourly retail is."
2. Delivering a Compelling Employee Value Proposition
An employee value proposition is the promise that employers make to employees, and it's what differentiates organizations from their competitors. It's what convenience retailers will want to lean on in order to attract the right talent for their organizations.
The first step is knowing what attributes future find important to them. Nearly seven out of 10 (67%) say it's hourly wage, followed by work location (40%), job stability (38%), employer benefits (34%) and work-life balance (25%).
Two of the key benefits that drive retail talent to accept an offer from a company that are often overlooked are paid time off (PTO) (61%) and type of work schedule (57%). According to Allen, two ways to convey work-life balance is providing predictable or flexible schedules, and offering a competitive PTO package that's anywhere from 40 to 80 hours.
"What's interesting is how important schedules are and it's often overlooked and not highly advertised, and that's part of the problem. It's obviously something that is very important to our candidates. As much as it is a very powerful benefit and reason why people will come us, it's also just as powerful of a driver as to why they decline us," Allen expressed.
3. Optimized Recruiting Processes
Recruiting hourly talent often involves a trade-off between speed and quality, and it's difficult to find the marriage of both of these prospects. Sixty-eight percent of companies reported hourly service roles were at least somewhat difficult to fill in 2024, and 46% of companies require one to four weeks more to fill open roles than before.
When it comes to reasons why a retail candidate dropped out of the process, 37% said it's because it took too long to hear back from the company, and 21% said the hiring process took too long.
So, how can retail companies find the most human touchpoints in the hiring process that is appealing to candidates, makes it a great candidate experience and also allows the organization to vet candidates accurately and quickly at scale?
That's where artificial intelligence (AI) comes into play. According to Allen, 7-Eleven has automated 95% of the frontend of the recruitment process using RITA (Recruiting Individuals Through Automation), which handles the process with candidates right up until they show up in store for their interview. By utilizing RITA, 7-Eleven went from a 10-day hiring process to less than three days, and saved store leaders more than 40,000 hours a week.
That being said, it does take a sizable investment to make that kind of transformation to automate the frontend of all recruiting. Allen provided these no- to low-investment solutions:
- Job ads detailing pay, location and role details are most likely to attract retail talent.
- Pre-hire assessments can tame high application volume and screen talent at scale.
- Streamline interview processes to reduce attrition.
Retaining Talent
High turnover is a consistent challenge for hourly retail. Among some of the challenges employers faced are new hires quitting within weeks of starting, candidates who do not respond to recruiter outreach, or new hires who do not show up on the first day of work.
To combat these challenges, Allen offered a short- and long-term retention approach. This includes designing a high-tech, high-touch onboarding experience that automates logistics and builds belonging with coworkers. The other essential component is describing pathways for long-term growth by outlining internal and external upskilling opportunities.
All statistics referenced in this story are from Veris Insights "2024 Hourly Talent Survey."
The 2024 NACS Show took place Oct. 7-10 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The 2025 NACS Show will take place Oct. 14-17 at Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center.
