Our team—co-led by Debbie and Hubert and comprising BCG consultants and HBS students—was given unfettered access to the workforce: More than 90% of the retailer’s employees participated in a survey that explored career motivations, perceived effectiveness, task-by-task enjoyment, satisfaction, and how their time was spent across daily work tasks. We paired this detailed and large-scale employee data with our own observations from dozens of in-store interviews and visits. And unlike most employee sentiment survey data, we were able to link individual responses directly to that employee’s and associated store’s operational, customer, and financial outcomes.