How PepsiCo Beverages cut new hire turnover by 29% – by listening to its frontline
60,000 workers. Turnover that varied wildly by facility, with no explanation. Engage [formerly WorkStep] gave PBNA the engagement signals to find out why – and act, site by site.
frontline workers
reduction in new hire turnover
higher retention
PepsiCo Beverages North America. 60,000 hourly workers. Manufacturing, distribution, sales. One of the largest frontline workforces in the US – and turnover rates that varied dramatically across divisions. Nobody was able to explain why.
Managers had theories. The data didn’t back any of them up. Engage [formerly WorkStep] gave them the real answers. And a way to act on them.
60,000 workers. Wildly different retention rates. Here’s how they gained clarity and turned things around.
Labour shortages were hitting the industry hard. Some PBNA facilities were struggling far more than others, but without direct engagement signals from frontline workers, the causes were invisible. Leaders couldn’t see where risk was building. They couldn’t act before people left. They deployed Engage [formerly WorkStep].
Signals that closed the gap between data and action
Engage [formerly WorkStep] sent regular check-ins to employees across PBNA’s workforce, surfacing patterns that managers hadn’t been able to see. The findings were specific – and different by location.
Across divisions, the dominant issue was role expectation misalignment. New hires arriving without a realistic picture of the job. At Phoenix, cross-functional teams identified gaps in onboarding structure and social connection. In San Antonio, low sentiment around peer coaching led directly to a Peer Training Programme pilot.
Each engagement signal led to a targeted intervention. Each intervention was measured.
The results
Within the first year, PBNA reduced new hire turnover by up to 29%. Phoenix saw a 16% quarterly reduction after restructuring onboarding. San Antonio’s peer training pilot delivered 7% – and is now expanding across the entire Central Division.
Employees who engaged with Engage [formerly WorkStep] check-ins retained at 9% higher rates than those who didn’t. At 30 and 90 days – the most vulnerable moments for new starters – retention improved by 6–14%.
Frontline workers had the answers. Engage [formerly WorkStep] made it possible to hear them.
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