Staff recruitment and retention is increasingly challenging in the convenience sector. But having clear lines of communication with your team and ways to offer them career progression can be a great way to build loyalty. What’s more, it can help maintain motivation and productivity. Developing a structure for performance reviews with your team members is a great place to start, and this can be integrated into a career plan for members of staff as well.

“It’s difficult to hire staff,” Dan Brown, from Pinkie Farm Convenience Store, Musselburgh, East Lothian, explained to the Retail Success Handbook last year. “You need to make everything as attractive as possible, and giving the possibility for career progression is one way to do that.”

Structure performance reviews so they include career progression

Establish a calendar so staff know when they’ll have a one-to-one performance review with either you or their supervisor or manager. Create a form which you can use with every staff member. This could cover key areas of the store, such as customer service and product knowledge. Make sure the form has space for them to leave comments, and for you to give feedback on their performance.

So it’s not just about reviewing their current performance, integrate career progression targets and goals into the same form. That way it’s easier for team members to measure their progress, and understand that performance reviews are not just contributing to your store’s goals, but their career goals as well.

If you’re looking for somewhere to start, download our template performance review and career development plan below, and see how it could be adapted for your store and team members.