ALTOONA. Pa. -- At a time when many chains are shifting workers to part time, Sheetz Inc. is betting on full-time hires, reported The Wall Street Journal.
Full-time hires now comprise 53% of the company’s 17,000-person workforce. Executives at the convenience-store chain say having full-time workers behind the register results in better customer service, lower turnover and a more engaged workforce—all of which will lead to higher sales and profits, they say.
Nearly 5.7 million workers said they were working part-time last year because they couldn’t get more hours or find full-time work, according to the report, citing U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey data. About 65% of store employees in the retail sector work part-time, the report added, citing analysis by search and consulting firm Korn Ferry Hay Group. Companies reason that keeping staff to 30 hours or fewer a week curbs labor costs and allows firms to act nimbly, adjusting staffing to match customer demand.
Sheetz acknowledged that full-timers might cost more at first, but said they are more reliable—27% of full-time hourly workers leave their jobs per year, versus 68.7% of part-timers, the Korn Ferry report said. Lower employee turnover saves on training and hiring costs, those employers say, and some report their customers spend more when full-timers take orders and ring up purchases.
“This is a moment where some employers at least are taking stock of whether they’ve gone down the labor flexibility path a little too far,” Susan Lambert, a University of Chicago professor who studies hourly work, told the newspaper.
Full-time workers are the “glue” that holds businesses together, Lambert’s research has found. They help coordinate tasks and anticipate business needs, and are often more committed. These employees are more likely to go the extra mile on the job.
For customers, a full-time employee “gives them the same face every day. It builds a different feeling than the robot behind the counter,” Sheetz CEO Joe Sheetz told the paper.
On employee surveys, Sheetz’s full-time workers tend to report more commitment and willingness to put in extra effort than part-timers do. That engagement correlates with higher customer-service marks, Stephanie Doliveira, Sheetz’s human-resources vice president, told the Journal.
Less than a quarter of Sheetz’s full-time staff leaves each year; for part-timers, 83% leave. Overall voluntary turnover at the company is down two percentage points from last year, saving $925,000 in recruiting and training, Doliveira said. Starting sales associates make $9 to $11 per hour and are eligible for paid time off; those working more than 30 hours per week get access to health insurance.
Having more full-time workers requires managers to adjust. Sheetz’s store managers initially resisted adding more full-timers when the company launched the initiative in the summer of 2014, said Doliveira. Used to having a big bench of part-time workers to call upon, they worried about being caught short when employees called in sick. Managers are also figuring out how to plan shifts now that more workers have vacation time.
Moving to full-time has come with health insurance and an extra $50 or so each week for Tammy Shepard, a salesperson at a Sheetz in Statesville, N.C. “It gives you a sense of security, which is a huge thing,” she told the paper.
Altoona, Pa.-based Sheetz operates more than 500 convenience stores throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina.
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