Customer Story

Challenges  

As the store footprint expanded across multiple EU markets, leadership teams struggled to maintain consistent performance, operational alignment, and talent development. Incentives were fragmented, slow to process, and lacked the transparency required to drive strategic behaviors. Key challenges included:  

• Limited visibility into real-time store performance metrics across regions  

• Inconsistent participation in district-wide contests and operational initiatives  

• High shrinkage in specific clusters with no structured reward mechanism  

• Lack of incentives tied to team development, coaching, and retention outcomes

• Slow adoption of new corporate programs and technology rollouts  

• Difficulty rewarding district leaders for multi-store excellence in a measurable way  

Personas involved  

To create a unified performance ecosystem, the organization aligned incentives across multiple leadership levels. The personas involved included:  

• Store Managers – Motivated by performance bonuses, shrinkage reduction rewards, and initiative execution incentives  

• District Managers – Participants in regional leaderboards, multi-store awards, and team development recognition  

• Regional Directors – Oversaw governance, performance trends, and rollout monitoring  

• Operations & HR Teams – Ensured KPI alignment and talent development tracking  

• Incentive Governance Teams – Managed rule logic, approvals, payouts, and compliance  

Solution

The company implemented a unified incentive automation and performance visibility framework byb Compass that empowered leaders at every level. Store and district managers gained real-time clarity on performance, earnings, and improvement areas, while corporate teams benefited from automated governance and consistent execution across markets. Compass delivered:  

• Real-time dashboards for store and district-level KPI visibility  

• Automated performance bonus calculations with region-specific logic  

• Gamified competitions that energized store clusters across Europe  

• Operational accuracy through shrinkage analytics and audit-linked rewards  

• Progress tracking for initiative execution with milestone recognitions  

• Centralized payout workflows with validations and audit trails  

Impact  

Within the first two quarters, leadership performance and operational consistency improved significantly across European markets.  

Quantitative results included:  

• 28% increase in store managers achieving monthly performance bonuses, driven by KPI visibility  

• 31% improvement in district competition participation, boosting collaboration and focus  

• 26% reduction in shrinkage across targeted clusters, improving overall margin health  

• 34% increase in team development recognitions, supporting internal talent pipelines  

• 39% faster execution of new corporate initiatives, improving rollout consistency  

• 29% improvement in multi-store performance alignment, reducing variability across districts  

• 41% faster payout cycles for leadership incentives, increasing trust and engagement  

Conclusion  

By unifying performance metrics, gamifying leadership incentives, and automating store and district-level rewards, the retailer created a highly motivated leadership ecosystem across Europe. Store and district managers gained clarity, recognition, and accountability, resulting in stronger operational outcomes, consistent execution, and improved profitability across the entire retail network.