Featured Work
Improving Frontline Retention Through Employee Experience Initiatives
Organization
Quick-Service Restaurant | 75+ Employees
Challenge
Upon joining the organization, employee retention had been declining while turnover remained high, particularly during the first three months of employment.
Approach
Rather than relying on a single initiative, I developed multiple employee experience improvements designed to strengthen onboarding, recognition, leadership support, and HR infrastructure.
Projects included:
Structured onboarding check-ins
Employee recognition initiatives
Leadership recognition
Professional Development Plans
HR process standardization
Personnel file digitization
Outcome
Within several months:
Retention increased from 49.64% to 55.41%
Turnover declined from 101.47% to 80.49%
According to the organization's historical analytics, these represented the highest employee retention and lowest turnover recorded during the company's first four years of operation.
While multiple operational factors likely contributed to these changes, the initiatives were designed to strengthen employee support and improve consistency throughout the employee lifecycle.
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
| Month | Retention | Turnover |
|---|---|---|
| March | 49.64% | 101.47% |
| April | 45.59% | 119.35% |
| May | 48.61% | 105.71% |
| June | 55.41% | 80.49% |
Project Breakdown
Professional Development Plans
Challenge
Leadership wanted to move beyond traditional performance reviews and create more meaningful development conversations.
Objective
Develop a coaching-focused Professional Development Plan emphasizing:
Individual strengths
Career goals
Leadership competencies
Development planning
Accountability
Research
Supported by literature on:
Continuous performance management
Goal-setting theory
Coaching conversations
Employee development
Current Status
Developed and prepared for implementation during the upcoming performance review cycle.
Employee Recognition Program
Challenge
Leadership reported:
Low recognition
Increasing backtalk
Difficulty motivating employees
Objective
Increase recognition frequency while improving employee motivation.
Solution
Implemented:
Point-based reward system
Leadership recognition Program
The reward system leveraged behavioral reinforcement principles to encourage positive workplace behaviors.
Outcome
Program adopted by leadership and currently used as part of employee recognition efforts.
Workplace Culture Environment
Recognition Wall
Created a recognition wall celebrating:
Team members
Community impact
Guest appreciation
Former interns
Objective
Create visible reminders of organizational identity and employee contribution.
Leadership Collaboration Space
Challenge
The training room layout limited collaboration among leaders.
Solution
Redesigned the room by rearranging furniture to encourage discussion, coaching, and team meetings.
Goal
Transform the room into a collaborative leadership space supporting communication and problem solving.
New Hire Experience Program
Challenge
Analysis showed approximately 54% of turnover occurred within employees' first three months.
Objective
Improve the onboarding experience while collecting employee feedback throughout the first 90 days.
Solution
Designed:
7-Day Check-In
30-Day Onboarding Survey
60-Day Evaluation
90-Day Evaluation
Implementation
The 30-day onboarding survey was implemented.
The remaining evaluations are planned pending implementation of a structured training program.
Early Outcome
Early turnover during the first three months decreased to 43.75%.
What We Learned
Implementing onboarding evaluations demonstrated that successful onboarding systems require operational alignment between HR, training, and frontline leadership. Designing effective tools alone is insufficient without supporting implementation process.