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Country Fair cuts employee turnover by 22 percent with ZayZoon
How Ox Car Care, Inc. recruits top talent with ZayZoon
About Ox Car Care, Inc.
- Locations: California, Missouri
- Industry: Vehicle Service Contracts
- Employees: 150
Today's job market is tough. Salary isn't enough to win or keep great employees: they expect a total benefits package that goes beyond healthcare or retirement planning.
Comprehensive benefits are a key value proposition for potential hires. They must meet their essential, everyday needs. This also includes benefits focused on financial flexibility, which can make a real difference in a business’s hiring strategy.
Ox Car Care, Inc. partnered with ZayZoon to add such financial flexibility to their already strong benefits package. This resulted in motivated employees, and a business with a stronger reputation and recruitment strategy in their industry.
Problem
Ox Car Care, Inc. has a work hard, play hard business culture, according to Chief People Officer, Nicole Hensley.
They support their employees, celebrate their wins and anniversaries with the same enthusiasm, but something was missing from their ability to do their work day-to-day.
In some cases, Hensley says, employees found it difficult to get to work because they didn’t have the cash flow to pay for a cab or ride share or even a babysitter. “The majority of our employees are sales representatives, and so they are tied to commissions. Sometimes they'll have a higher week, the next will be a lower week.”
Employees would more than likely turn to other sources, such as pay advances or even high-interest payday loans. However, it’s not Ox Car Care, Inc’s practice to advance pay.
“With so many employees you can't do that for just one or two people—you have to do it for everyone,” Hensley says. “Pay advances just wasn't a practice we were willing to open up.”
Ox Car Care, Inc. found a different path with ZayZoon.
Solution
Ox Car Care, Inc. partnered with ZayZoon to give employees early access to their earned wages and meet rising expectations for flexible and stronger benefits packages.
“ZayZoon is inexpensive for employees. It’s just $5 and there are other options that cost nothing. It's just super accessible,” Hensley says of the product, which Ox Car Care, Inc. has used for nearly two years. “They can put the funds on whatever card they choose. Access to funds is the biggest solution for our employees and they have it with ZayZoon.”
A common experience employees in all industries face is a lack of financial ability to go into work to earn the money they need. Hensley says she heard this time and time again at Ox Car Care, Inc. “This vicious financial cycle of ‘I can't come to work so now I'm going to miss a day so now I'm going to have less money next week because of whatever reason.’
“But what if we flip it?” Hensley posits. “Now it’s ‘hey, I couldn't come to work but I have some money for gas, a sitter or an Uber to come into work. Now I've got eight hours of work, which is more than zero.’ It's a better cycle that really makes a difference to their lives.”
Results
80%
Employees use ZayZoon
23%
Increase in applicants when ZayZoon was added as a benefit
40%
Interviewees inquire about ZayZoon
Ox Car Care, Inc. prides itself on its retention and ability to promote from within. According to Hensley, 85% of employees have been promoted within the company. Providing them with what they need can empower employee growth and retention.
Including ZayZoon in their benefits package and promoting it in job postings became a powerful recruiting tool: 40% of candidates asked about the tool in interviews.
Hensley interviews potential employees for Ox Car Care, Inc., and one of the primary questions she’s asked about are the benefits of ZayZoon, including when employees can access it upon hiring.
“The top questions are usually what's a day in the life at Ox Car Care, Inc. or what is the day-to-day schedule? The next is about benefits and ZayZoon. Folks are looking for more than just money,” she says. “Asking about ZayZoon comes up in 40 percent of my interviews.”
Pairing a strong culture with benefits that work for the employee have paid off. Making the choice to include essential benefits like ZayZoon helps recruit, motivate, retain and consistently keep up in an ever-evolving job market.
About Country Fair
Country Fair is a convenience store chain with over 70 locations in three U.S. states. Its mission is “Country Fair Cares—For its Employees, its Customers, and its Community.”
To meet and surpass their company mission every day, Country Fair partnered with ZayZoon to address high turnover rates and offer the best benefits to its employees.
- Industry: Convenience
- Headquarters: Text
- Payroll platform: Text
- Number of employees: Text
Challenges
High turnover and financially stressed employees
The convenience store industry has notoriously high turnover rates. The National Association of Convenience Stores reported turnover rates for full-time and part-time employees in the industry averaged 141 percent in 2022.
Driving employee retention was a priority for Country Fair, whose customer-oriented mission was negatively impacted by the operational burdens caused by high turnover.
While Country Fair’s turnover rate was much lower than the industry standard, at close to 60 percent, the high costs associated with hiring and training new employees still presented the company with a challenge.
“We're always looking for ways to improve that turnover rate. We do that by finding vendor partners and offering products and services to our employees. This was just a really good opportunity for us to add something to our arsenal that we thought would help us retain folks.”
–Steve Seymour, Director of Personnel Training & Development, Country Fair
Financial stress among employees was another significant challenge, contributing to absenteeism and productivity issues. This is common for most workplaces today, as ZayZoon’s State of Employee Financial Wellness Report found that:
- 35% of employees are stressed about their finances daily
- 63% of employers said that financial stress negatively impacts employees’ performance at work.
Employees who experience financial stress are likely to not show up for work or have productivity issues during their shift. This affects the consistent and high-quality customer experience Country Fair strives to provide.
Country Fair needed a cost-effective solution that drove retention and supported employees’ financial wellness.
Our solution
Earned wage access (EWA)
To help decrease employee turnover rates and manage hiring and training costs, Country Fair worked with ZayZoon to introduce earned wage access (EWA) to its employees.
When considering competitors, ZayZoon’s people-driven product, no-cost-to-employer model, and quick and easy onboarding process was the obvious choice.
ZayZoon’s emphasis on employee well-being, with features like fee-free early wage access through gift cards and bonuses, aligned with Country Fair’s commitment to supporting its team members. This was a key factor for Country Fair in choosing ZayZoon over other EWA providers.
ZayZoon offers fee-free gift cards that encourage employees to get early access to their wages via bonuses for gas or groceries that actually give them more money than their regular paycheck.
“When we vetted other companies, they wanted to charge for this, that, and the other thing. But our employees love the idea of the gift card purchases, especially with the add-ons on the gift cards. I mean if you think about this a minute, a $100 Walmart card, maybe 110 because of a 10 percent advantage on that card, that's ten dollars that might be a dinner at somebody's house one night.”
–Steve Seymour, Director of Personnel Training & Development, Country Fair
Results
22% reduction in turnover with ZayZoon
The impact of ZayZoon’s partnership with Country Fair was immediate. A year-long analysis comparing Country Fair employees enrolled in ZayZoon compared to those who weren’t found remarkable results: employee turnover was 22 percent lower among employees who used ZayZoon.
This is a significant reduction in turnover, which directly contributes to better customer service offered by Country Fair. Reducing turnover means that Country Fair customers aren’t impacted by the gaps in customer experience that can sometimes occur during periods of hiring and training new employees.
Reduced turnover also reduces hiring and training costs, positively impacting Country Fair’s bottom line.
ZayZoon helps Country Fair employees manage their financial wellness
Country Fair integrated ZayZoon into their employee orientation, ensuring new hires were introduced to EWA on their first day of work. This process boosted adoption rates to 37 percent, helping over a third of their workforce access immediate financial support.
Country Fair employees found that access to ZayZoon’s EWA helped them manage financial emergencies. One employee’s car battery stopped working on his way to work—a nightmare in the tough winters of Erie, PA. Because this employee had access to ZayZoon’s pay on-demand, he received an immediate pay advance that helped him fix the issue and get to work.
Other employees didn’t have gas money for the week, but by using ZayZoon’s gift cards, they could make it to their shifts.
ZayZoon’s earned wage access helps Country Fair employees manage instances of financial stress, enabling them to be more present at work.
“I think [ZayZoon] helps our company in that [it helps] people to come to work," says Steve Seymour, Country Fair's Director of Personnel Training & Development. "Call-offs hurt in a convenience store because customer service is lost when you’re short-staffed. So for people to be able to get access to their pay to get fuel, a new battery, that’s kind of a big deal.”
Empower your employees with earned wage access
ZayZoon’s earned wage access made a difference for Country Fair because it provided a meaningful benefit that helped employees close gaps between paydays. By doing so, ZayZoon directly improved employees’ financial wellness and job satisfaction while decreasing costly turnover and absenteeism rates. It's a win-win for employers and employees!
If your organization is dealing with financially stressed employees or turnover and engagement issues, give your team an impactful solution with ZayZoon.
Contact us for a free demo with a real live person who can walk you through our seamless, payroll-embedded EWA solution today.
“You try to bring programs in and see how they do for your company. Some programs go by the wayside. I have a feeling [ZayZoon] is gonna stay a good while.”
–Steve Seymour, Director of Personnel Training & Development, Country Fair
