Earn better performance & drive retention with an employee experience strategy built for retail.
If you are a Retail Leader, and you've tried:
Thank you for helping us raise the bar, we are excited to continue our partnerships in 2023. I know having you by their side really encourages the team to think differently and alleviates so much of their day to day stress as well as they have such a great support network around them with you and your team.
Director, Talent Planning & Development, Empire | Sobeys Inc.
The Problem
The Engagement Survey Cycle
Year after year, you spend months analyzing employee engagement surveys that tell the same story: store teams don't feel valued, communication is lacking, and they're skeptical anything will change.
So you invest in thoughtful solutions—recognition platforms, awareness campaigns, learning tools—only to see engagement scores remain flat or decline the following year.
After multiple cycles of this, even the most committed retail leaders question their approach. Budgets get scrutinized from above while store teams grow increasingly skeptical of each new initiative.
What Most Retailers Think is Happening
Many retail leaders conclude they simply haven't found the right tool or program yet. They believe better execution or increased visibility might finally break through. Some even wonder if today's workforce is just inherently less engaged.
The Real Issue: Corporate-Store Disconnect
The actual problem is much more fundamental: Corporate and stores operate in completely different worlds.
Corporate teams design solutions for their office reality—meetings, emails, and digital spaces where time is structured around projects and strategy.
Store teams live in a different reality—95% of their time is spent serving customers on the floor, not in front of screens.
For corporate, digital tools ARE the work. For stores, they're just brief pauses FROM the work.
This disconnect is deepened by two critical factors:
Incompatible Priorities:
While corporate prioritizes strategic initiatives and consistent brand experiences, store teams must balance immediate customer needs, unexpected challenges, and constant time pressure.
Different Success Metrics:
Corporate measures engagement through survey scores and program participation, while store teams experience it through practical support in their daily challenges and recognition of their frontline realities.
The result? Well-designed corporate initiatives consistently fail to reach the store floor in meaningful ways, creating a cycle of investment without impact.
The Solution:
Operational Engagement
The path forward isn't another initiative—it's a modern approach to store engagement.
The Outcome?
This is something I've been trying to describe/communicate for years, and was only able to be this succinct because Bekki has phenomenal questions and, more so than anyone I've ever talked to about these things, is really listening and able to excavate ideas I know I have but up until now haven't been able to explore.
12+ year Retail Leader, including Old Navy, Starbucks, Whole Foods, William Sonoma
Our Process
Engagement surveys don’t always tell you why scores are low. We do. Before you launch the next program, our diagnostic reveals whether the issue is:
- a substance gap (Engagement driver doesn’t exist or doesn’t feel relevant.)
- an awareness gap (They don’t know it exists or don’t understand it.)
- an experience gap (They’ve seen it—but don’t trust it.)
Most companies assume it's awareness—and launch another comms campaign to already overloaded stores. But it’s often a substance or experience issue, and no amount of awareness fixes that.
We surface these patterns through a proprietary assessment.
We build a 12-month experience strategy and tailored roadmap that aligns business goals with the realities of store operations and the heart of your brand. This includes:
- Top friction points prioritized by effort vs. impact (for example: common schedule practices that undermine your flexibility promise, or campaigns that don't match the lived employee experience)
- Tactical fixes inside manager workflows, operations, and comms
- Cross-department alignment under a shared, employee-facing narrative
- EVP and brand story translated into store-relevant moments
You choose the path forward: Implement the plan internally—or contract us as your fractional employee experience team to execute, embed, and upskill your internal teams along the way.
If retained to support activation and execution, we don’t just “recommend”—we activate your strategy—without adding new platforms, bureaucracy, or red tape. Our team blends:
- On-brand creative execution
- Process and practice refinement
- Leadership coaching and playbooks
- Cross-functional coordination
- EVP activation through messaging that’s simple, emotional, and store-ready
Worried about legal or compliance?
We’ve worked across highly regulated teams—our recommendations are grounded in practicality. We collaborate with internal teams early so nothing stalls downstream.
This is where most rollouts fall apart. We build in a structured feedback loop—with the people who have to execute.
- We co-create and test with store managers and DMs
- We revise language, workflows, and visuals based on real feedback
- We track adoption and engagement so you have proof
Because no matter how beautiful a strategy looks on paper, if it doesn’t help someone get through a shift better—it won’t stick.
Your internal teams may be brilliant—but this isn’t their full-time job.
And engagement requires prioritized, clear and consistent execution.
You don’t need a new app. You need a team that understands:
- Store-level reality
- Corporate processes
- Brand storytelling
- HR infrastructure
- Workplace Transformation
- Retail operations
That’s what we bring. One unified team that can get your house in order—without adding more noise or pressure to an already overloaded system.
Three Ways to Start Working With Us
Thank you for your time, your patience and your positivism throughout the project. It is a real pleasure to work with you. Having accomplished this work together, I think that nothing is impossible for us.
Manager, Talent Development, Empire | Sobeys Inc.
What an Engagement Looks Like
We Begin With Understanding
Whether you engage us for a full partnership or just the diagnostic, everything starts with listening. We review your existing initiatives, engagement data, and strategic priorities to build on the foundation you’ve already laid—ensuring our work aligns with your goals, not a one-size-fits-all playbook.
Strategic Guidance Through Practical Collaboration
You’ll receive ongoing access to our team through optional bi-weekly working sessions focused on implementation strategies, real-time store feedback, and operational alignment. We tailor support to your cadence and capacity—no unnecessary meetings, no extra noise.
An Clear, Adaptable Framework
Our process follows a clear roadmap with specific checkpoints, but adapts to your organizational structure and culture. We build on what's working while addressing the specific gaps between corporate initiatives and store reality.
Real Time + Asynchronous Communication
Prefer Looms over live calls? Quick questions via email? No problem. You’ll have access to us in whatever way fits your working style, with weekly updates to keep things moving without chasing status updates.
Transparent Progress Tracking
You'll have access to a custom project management system that keeps all stakeholders informed about progress, timelines, and upcoming milestones. This transparency helps secure continued buy-in across all levels of the organization.
Capability Building, Not Dependence
We work directly with your internal teams to ensure they can sustain progress long after our engagement ends. Our goal is to embed operational engagement principles into your organization's everyday practices.
Frequently Asked Questions
Let's Connect
Dear Retail Leader,
Your teams are asking for a better day-to-day experience, and your organization has already invested significantly in addressing this need. If you're interested in maximizing the return on those investments by connecting them directly to where work happens in your stores, we'd love to explore how our approach might complement your current strategy.
Book a no commitment call.
As the partner bringing our organization's employee experience brand work to life through pictures and words, there was no question who I would collaborate with when it came to establishing the mental wellbeing brand and narrative. My interactions with Bekki and her team were easy, energizing and excellence-focused. Thank you for your patience, creativity and diligence. Together, we created something special.
Manager, CoE Integrated Health Management, Mental Health Program
I see this collaboration as an extension of our team that knows our business, and is able to challenge certain things – always with respect and for the benefit of the team. We can sometimes be biased in some of our interventions and having an external person who questions us, allows us to see certain things differently; which is a good thing.
Manager, Talent Development, Empire | Sobeys Inc.
I worked with Bekki in creating some graphically designed documents for a major company initiative. I was extremely impressed by the quality of the work she provided, her professionalism, attention to detail and excellent service. She made recommendations that were valuable in realizing the vision of the document and always responded in detail and promptly. I would very much recommend her for other individuals who are looking for similar services.
Human Resources Director, Sobeys Inc.
It's been such a pleasure working with Bekki and the CATO team. They're always so creative, flexible, collaborative and dependable. Thank you for finishing the project well ahead of schedule. This achievement not only highlights your commitment to excellent work but also strengthens our professional partnership. I look forward to more successful projects in the future.
Sustainability Manager, Sobeys Inc.
I run a boutique fitness studio where my entire business model is situated around face to face interaction. With a deft hand, Bekki has helped me transition online (social media, youtube, and other avenues) and has allowed me to continue to support my customer base, despite the global need for social distancing. She has provided input when needed, suggestions when warranted, and has taken my vision and executed it perfectly. Bekki's ability to produce top of class digital content on a moment's notice is single handily saving my small business.
Owner, Breaker Strength
