From labor shortages to high employee turnover to a significant skills gap due to technology advancements such as AI and automation, the gasoline marketing industry is facing a wealth of workforce challenges. What’s more, the industry is struggling to attract younger talent, many of whom are seeking greater work-life flexibility. So what is a gasoline marketing company to do in the wake of these numerous workforce challenges?
Victoria Fields is the owner of Victoria Fields Agency, where she advises founders and executive teams on leadership systems, operational strategy, and sustainable growth. Fields says one of the biggest workforce challenges gasoline marketing business owners and operators are facing today is retention. Employees are no longer staying for titles or pay alone. They are looking for purpose, flexibility, growth, and trust.
“When those elements are missing, turnover increases and institutional knowledge walks out the door. Another major challenge is skill misalignment. Many teams are stretched thin or placed in roles they were never trained for, which leads to burnout, underperformance, and resentment,” Fields says. “There is also a growing gap in accountability and communication, especially in hybrid or remote environments where expectations are not clearly defined.”
She also points out that the workforce has shifted from being schedule driven to expectation driven. Ten years ago, reliability and availability were the primary currency in convenience store retail and gasoline marketing. Today, employees expect clarity, fairness, flexibility, and respect for their time.
“Workers no longer see these roles as long term by default. They evaluate jobs based on predictability, treatment, and growth rather than tenure alone,” Fields says. “And employees are managing higher customer volume, increased security concerns, and greater performance expectations with little margin for error. Across the broader workforce, there is also lower tolerance for poor management. Employees leave faster when communication is unclear or schedules feel chaotic.”
Jennifer Martin, business coach at Zest Business Consulting, says the biggest challenge that business owners face today as it relates to the workforce is the overall work ethic of employees.
“The work ethic has changed over the last 10 years, as it had the prior 10 years,” Martin says. “Historically people felt lucky to have a job that would allow them to make a living and be able to cover their expenses. There was the promise of a lifetime of working in exchange for retirement. Now people don't want to work a minimum wage job that doesn't offer them the freedom to do what they want to do, when they want to do it. In other words, the expectations of employees have changed. If an employer doesn't offer them flexibility to live life on their terms, they’ll quit, knowing that minimum wage jobs are not hard to come by.”
Consider this: The length of time a worker stays at a job is now less than two years. This means that there is a lot more time and money a business owner has to spend on hiring and training, resulting in a lower profit margin, which is already challenged by the rising labor costs, and the costs of products and materials, as well as utilities, insurance, and other expenses.
“Team members also have the expectation now that they deserve to be heard and respected and paid well, regardless of what their role is,” Martin says. “But the cost of doing business has gone up, specifically because labor costs have increased, as have products, materials insurance, and technology. This means that the net revenues for many businesses have decreased. Customers are less patient, and they are cranky about pricing increases, and it’s harder to find good workers than it was six years ago.”
Dave Fechtman, founder and CEO of Velocity Advisory Group, has worked alongside business owners and executive teams for more than 30 years, helping them navigate growth, leadership, and culture challenges. He says the workforce issues leaders are facing today are more complex and more human than ever before.
“One of the biggest challenges right now is talent endurance. It is not just hiring people, it is keeping them engaged and motivated over the long haul,” Fechtman says. “Many organizations are dealing with burnout, declining discretionary effort, and a workforce that is rethinking what they want from their job. Employees may be ‘job hugging’ right now, but are still asking deeper questions about purpose, flexibility, leadership, and culture, and companies are at risk of losing their highest performers once the job market shifts.”
Another major challenge Fechtman is seeing is leadership readiness. Many managers were promoted for being strong individual contributors but were never truly developed as leaders.
“When leaders are uncertain, misaligned, or reactive, that instability shows up quickly in employee morale and performance,” he says. “Finally, communication breakdowns continue to create friction, especially in hybrid and remote environments. When expectations are unclear or feedback is inconsistent, trust erodes. People fill in the gaps with their own assumptions, and those assumptions are rarely positive.”
For Dana Zellers, executive and leadership coach, one of the biggest workforce challenges she is seeing right now is chronic overload paired with constant instability. Teams are being asked to deliver at full speed while the ground keeps shifting beneath them.
“Between rapid AI adoption, economic uncertainty, restructures, and global events, very little feels predictable,” Zeller says. “That lack of stability creates cognitive fatigue long before people actually burn out.”
Another major challenge Zellers is seeing is unclear priorities in a world that’s changing faster than planning cycles.
“Leaders may believe strategy is set, but employees are left trying to interpret what still matters when tools, roles, and expectations keep evolving. When everything feels urgent and provisional, decision-making slows and accountability erodes,” Zellers says.
The good news is that the challenges above are manageable with intentional strategies. Fechtman advises that leaders must get clear on what they stand for as an organization. Culture does not happen by accident.
“When values, expectations, and priorities are clearly defined and consistently reinforced, people know how to show up and succeed,” Fechtman says. “Also, organizations need to invest in leadership development at every level. Coaching and skill-building are no longer optional. Leaders who can communicate clearly and genuinely connect with their people create environments where employees want to stay and grow.”
Fechtman adds that business owners should focus on creating simple, repeatable rhythms for communication and recognition. Regular check-ins, clear goals, and authentic appreciation go a long way. Employees want to know that their work matters and that someone notices their effort.
“Leaders must shift from control-based management to clarity based leadership,” Fields says. That starts with clearly defined roles outcomes and decision rights so employees know what success looks like. Investing in training and internal mobility helps close skill gaps while signaling long-term commitment to the team.
“Retention improves when leaders prioritize regular feedback career pathing and realistic workloads rather than reactive firefighting,” she says. “Finally, culture must be intentional. Leaders need to model boundaries, consistency, and respect because workplace behavior mirrors leadership behavior. When people feel seen equipped and trusted they perform better and stay longer.”
And remember that burnout is most often caused by unpredictability, not workload alone. Clear schedules posted in advance, consistent staffing levels, and fair shift rotation go a long way.
“Managers also need to normalize short check ins, realistic performance expectations, and recognition for reliability,” Fields says. “Feeling seen and respected is one of the strongest mental health supports in frontline roles.”
Martin agrees that gasoline marketers should consider surveying team members at the onset of their employment about two weeks in and then about every four to six months after that to understand more about how they feel about working conditions, management, job satisfaction, and their frustrations.
“One of my clients was losing a lot of team members. It seemed like all their resources were spent in hiring and then not long after the new hires would quit. When they started noticing that there was a pattern they could see that there were more women quitting than men,” Martin says. “Thankfully this didn't go on too long before my client hired someone to perform exit interviews and it was confirmed by six past employees that the women hated that both the bathrooms were used by everyone including customers and the clean-up and maintenance wasn’t up to par.
“Additionally the women felt like the bathrooms could use some updating and toilets needed to be replaced, as some didn't work properly. When I reported this back to my client the first thing he asked me was, ‘Why didn't they tell anyone?’ The answer was that their manager, who was a man, thought it was fine.”
Martin’s client immediately changed the two toilets and repainted both bathrooms and had them professionally cleaned. Brighter light bulbs were added and artwork was added. Storage for additional supplies were added as were small side tables. The total cost for updates was under $1200. The result: Everyone loved the bathrooms and the new hires stayed longer.
“All of this to say, unless we ask our team members, uniquely how they feel and what they need, we can't fix the problem,” Martin says.
In the c-store environment, for example, flexibility is not about remote work but about predictability and autonomy. Giving employees input on shift preferences, allowing shift swaps within guidelines, and maintaining consistent team communication builds trust. Cohesion comes from clear standards and steady leadership presence, not rigid control.
“Employees want consistent hours, clear expectations, respectful management, and fair compensation for their time. They also want stability,” Fields says. “Knowing schedules in advance, having reliable time off processes, and feeling safe at work matter just as much as pay increases.”
AI also is increasing the need for employees to work alongside technology. Scheduling tools, inventory forecasting, and point of sale analytics also require basic digital literacy.
Zellers says there’s a growing confidence and capability gap around AI. Many organizations are rolling out AI tools without clarity on how they should be used, what good looks like, or how success is measured.
“That uncertainty creates anxiety, uneven adoption, and a quiet fear of being left behind or replaced,” Zellers says.
The challenge is not AI itself but ensuring teams are trained and not intimidated by new systems. Without support, technology can increase stress instead of efficiency.
In the end, Field says the most effective operators invest in structure. “That includes clear onboarding, simple training processes, predictable scheduling, and consistent management standards,” Fields says. “Technology should be introduced gradually with explanation and support. When employees understand what is expected and feel respected, retention improves even in high demand environments.”
“Create stability where you can. Leaders can’t control the world, but they can create clarity around priorities, decision rights, and what will not change, even when everything else does,” Zellers says. “Be explicit about AI expectations. Define how AI supports the work, where human judgment still matters, and what skills people are expected to build so fear doesn’t fill the vacuum. The organizations that will thrive aren’t the ones chasing certainty. They’re the ones building clarity, capability, and trust in the middle of constant change.”
