How a major grocery chain cut turnover costs by $750,000 in the first year
See how a major grocery chain is reducing turnover, boosting performance, and saving $750,000.
Traits measured
Helpful Disposition
Reliability
Rule Adherence
Dependability
The client's challenge
For a large U.S. grocery chain, employee turnover was bleeding profitability. In a fast-paced retail environment, bad hires created multiple problems:
Wasted training dollars — constant retraining for short-tenured employees.
Customer service gaps — unreliable staff led to inconsistent shopper experiences.
Endless recruiting cycles — frequent replacements drove up hiring costs and recruiter workload.
Leadership realised that guessing who would succeed wasn’t enough—they needed a data-driven approach to hire employees with the traits that truly drive retention and performance.
The solution
Partnering with our assessment experts, the grocery chain implemented a custom pre-hire assessment focused on identifying candidates most likely to succeed and stay.
Step 1: Success Profile Defined
Four key traits were identified as critical for long-term success in retail: Helpful Disposition, Reliability, Rule Adherence, Dependability.
Step 2: Validation Study Conducted
108 current employees were assessed, and results were compared with supervisor performance ratings. This validation confirmed that these traits reliably predicted employee success.
Step 3: Custom Assessment Deployed
Applicants were screened for these traits before hire, replacing subjective interview impressions with objective, legally defensible data.
The results
The impact was immediate and measurable:
$750,000 saved in turnover costs — reported directly by the CEO within the first 12 months.
Stronger workforce performance — employees who scored higher on the assessment were consistently rated as better performers by managers.
Fair, standardized hiring — replaced subjective, inconsistent interviews with objective and defensible metrics.
By shifting to science-based hiring, the grocery chain stabilised its workforce, reduced costly churn, and built a more reliable, customer-focused operation — unlocking both financial and operational benefits.
$750,000
Saved in Turnover Costs
Significantly
Improved Workforce Performance
Fair
Standardised Hiring Process