Convenience retailing is beset by high turnover and increased competition for employees, who may not necessarily view an entry-level associate’s job as a path to a rewarding long-term career. NACS and the non-profit Good Jobs Institute (GJI) offer an intriguing proposition: Invest in employees and make key operational choices that leverage that investment to increase productivity and contribution, and businesses will decrease turnover and boost their bottom line.

The Good Jobs Strategy shows that providing good jobs is a dynamic combination of operations and HR, creating a virtuous cycle of great jobs, great customer experiences and more financially sound business. Companies like Costco and QuikTrip do invest in people, paying higher wages and offering better training and career opportunities. But they also make key operational choices that allow them to leverage that investment and ensure employees can contribute to better service and continuous improvement. (For more on the Good Jobs Strategy visit www.goodjobsinstitute.org.)

As part of the Good Job Institute’s work with NACS, a tool—the Good Jobs Calculator—was created specifically for the convenience industry and allows retailers to forecast the impact of increasing employee wages and assess the benefit of implementing a Good Jobs system. “It can be hard to calculate benefits of creating good jobs because they come over time, across many budget lines,” said Sarah Kalloch, executive director of the institute. “The calculator will show how better training, lower turnover and more productive employees can impact revenue.”

The free tool will help companies assess how good jobs could help them reduce costs, increase revenue and improve labor productivity, helping build the business case for good jobs in the convenience store industry.

Visit www.convenience.org/goodjobs for more information and to access the calculator.