Costa cuts staff turnover by 20% using custom built assessment from PSL

Costa, the coffee store brand, has reduced the
turnover of its shop-floor staff by almost 20 per cent by using a custom-built personality questionnaire to recruit the right people.

Developed by assessment specialist PSL, the questionnaire helps with Costaís annual recruitment of around 1,800 customer-facing staff, who serve coffee and food.

We identified the key values that drive our business performance and PSL custom-built the questionnaire to meet these, said Gwyn Kennett, Resourcing Manager for Costa.

Part of the customisation involved making the questionnaire quick and easy for store managers to score. We didnít want any ambiguity about whether a candidate was or wasnít suitable, said Gwyn Kennett.

PSL ensured the questionnaire was not only rigorous but that it was practical for in-store use.

The questionnaire has proved so successful that Costa has now introduced a separate selection tool to help it recruit around 100 store managers a year. Delivered online and Costa-branded, it is an off-the-shelf personality test specifically designed to assess retail branch managers.

The store manager questionnaire measures personal qualities such as a candidateís achievement orientation, said Gwyn Kennett. It gives you a ëheads upí on a candidate before an interview, so you can focus questions on the areas you want to probe.

Costa claims that both assessments have brought it greater stability and that this is helping the company open 50 new stores a year, in the UK and throughout the world.

Our whole business, and our future growth, depends on the service we provide at store level, said Gwyn Kennett. To provide consistently great service, you need a stable team. PSLís assessments have played a big part in helping us to recruit and develop the right people and this has reduced our staff turnover.