One of the questions that often comes up as businesses develop their leadership pipeline is: Is it worth investing the time and money in developing someone who could end up leaving the organization?
Jason Read, director of store operations at Wawa, Pennsylvania-based convenience-store chain Wawa, said he counters that question with, “What if you don’t, and they stay?”
Read spoke Thursday at CSP’s Outlook Leadership event in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on how retailers can shape the future of their leadership pipeline.
It’s a challenge in the industry as companies are being asked to do more with less, Read said, and often results in a longer time between promotions.
One tip he emphasized: Develop the person, not the employee.
“And here's what I mean by that,” Read said. “If you look at your employee base and are only interested in developing the employee, what you naturally go toward—in terms of conversation, development plans—are things that fill specific gaps, either skills or knowledge, for the next level. Yet I just told you that the next level likely is not coming as fast as they, or us, want it to.”
If a manager can turn the conversation from developing the employee to developing them as a person, it opens dialogue on how the manager can develop the employee for whatever is next for them, regardless of if it’s with this company or not, Read said.
- Wawa is No. 10 on CSP’s 2025 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
“If we look at folks outside of just the employee role and [say], ‘Hey, how can I be a benefit to you as a holistic person?’ The engagement goes up. Actually, the time in role goes up. The productivity increases,” Read said. “And, contrary to popular belief, they do stay longer and not go to the competitor because they have found somebody, you as their leader and an organization, that cares deeply about them as the person as opposed to just the employee.”
Some examples of personal goals to focus on include becoming an amazing public speaker, growing a professional network or becoming a better mentor, Read said.
To keep high-performing employees from being frustrated when a promotion is three or four yeas away, be open and honest with them, Read said.
At Wawa, Read said he will first tell the employee what the realistic timeline for a promotion is, and then let that sink in with the employee. Then he’ll lay out what they can work on to develop the employee as a person.
He’ll then tell them: “In the span of those four years, if you get poached by another company, and it's a job that you can't pass up, I'd encourage you to take it. I'll be glad to write your letter or recommendation, because then my legacy becomes whatever they're doing down the road. I won't fault you for it. No hard feelings. Know that the goal is to keep the best talent within the organization. And if we're not able to promote you fast enough, that's on us. And we wish you luck in whatever future endeavor you find.”
This open-and-honest approach has helped decrease frustration levels and the number of people who leave the company, he said.
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