The Challenge: Moving beyond one-time testing to validate whether employees can consistently perform skills—while identifying who's at risk of leaving.
The Solution: Structured "Coffee Chat" assessments layered throughout an employee's journey that combine self-reflection, manager observation, and development planning.
The Result: Proactive retention planning that keeps high-performers engaged and gives leadership visibility into skill gaps and flight risks before they become problems.
Turning Casual Check-Ins Into a Strategic Advantage
When Ambryn Alam, VP of People & Culture at Swingers, inherited a paper-based "coffee chat" system from their UK operations, she saw an opportunity to transform check-ins into strategic skills validation.
The business case was clear. As Barby Rivers, Director of Operations, explained: "When you have highly skilled employees who've been with you longer, they're making 2x the tips per shift because we can staff fewer people. Those team members get higher wages, and we're more efficient operationally."
But keeping those high-performers requires knowing where they are developmentally—and catching retention risks early.
Want to learn more about ongoing skills validation? This approach was featured at our November 2025 Office Hours on Level 3 Assessments. Read about the full session.
What "Coffee Chat” Check-ins Actually Assess
Coffee chats aren't performance reviews or knowledge quizzes. They're Level 3 assessments: assessments that evaluate whether team members can actually apply skills on the job over time, not just pass a test once.
Each coffee chat combines:
- Self-assessment questions - Team members reflect on confidence, challenges, goals
- Survey responses - Rating scales capture sentiment trends over time
- Manager observation - Structured conversation about real performance
- Development planning - Specific next steps based on current skill level
"It's really a series of guided conversations throughout their employment," Ambryn explained. "It never stops. It's continuous validation of where they're at."
The Assessment Timeline
Coffee chats happen at critical skill validation and retention risk moments:
- Week 1: Getting to Know You - Baseline expectations
- Month 1: Goal Setting - Early skill confidence check
- Month 3: Progress Check - Core competency validation
- Month 6: Development Discussion - Advanced skills assessment
- Month 9: Future Planning - Retention risk identification
- Midyear & Annual: Performance Reviews - Comprehensive validation
"We need to know where our team's at so we can plan appropriately," Ambryn said. "Are they happy here? Do they want to be here long-term? Are they on their way out? Is there something we can help correct before it becomes a problem?"
Why Skills Validation Drives Retention ROI
Barby was direct about the operational math: "We set the bar high, but we treat people really good. When you retain highly skilled employees, they're making 2x the tips per shift because we can staff fewer people. We're more efficient operationally, and labor costs are lower because we're not constantly training replacements."
The retention intelligence gathered through coffee chats gives leadership visibility to:
- Identify flight risks before they give notice
- Spot skill gaps before they impact service
- Understand development needs to create growth paths
- Track sentiment trends by location or manager
"Staffing is a huge conversation in hospitality," Ambryn noted. "We can be a best-in-class employer, but we need to know where our team's at to plan for what's coming."
Teaching Managers to Assess Skills With Transparency
One powerful aspect emerged almost by accident. When Ambryn discovered the assessments were visible to employees, she initially panicked. "I'm like, 'Oh god, now what do I do?'"
After discussing with Barby, the transparency strengthened assessment quality. If team members see what managers document about their skills, it forces honest, specific observations.
"The whole point is we're asking team members how they feel—do they feel supported? Do they have the information they need?" Ambryn explained. "Then we use those answers to facilitate the conversation. That should be transparent."
Barby emphasized the coaching element: "How managers communicate in those logs gives us insight into how their mind is working, how they're communicating information to the team."
The questions are structured to push managers toward specific skill validation, not yes/no answers.
What Level 3 Assessment Looks Like
Month 3: Progress Check - Core Competency Validation
- Self-assessment: Which skills feel solid? Where do you still hesitate?
- Manager observation: Can they handle busy shifts without supervision?
- Development plan: Advanced skills to build over next 60 days
- Retention signal: Do they see a path forward or just collecting a paycheck?
Month 6: Development Discussion - Advanced Skills
- Self-assessment: What do you want to get better at? What would make you stay long-term?
- Manager observation: Ready for increased responsibility? Could they train others?
- Development plan: Leadership skills or cross-training opportunities
- Retention signal: Clear career goals here or looking elsewhere?
Month 9: Future Planning - Retention Risk
- Self-assessment: Where do you see yourself in 6 months? What would need to change?
- Manager observation: Flight risk level, specific concerns
- Development plan: Internal promotion path or lateral development
- Retention signal: High/medium/low risk with action items
The Operational Intelligence It Creates
Aggregate data from coffee chats gives leadership visibility into:
- Skills distribution: Which venues have strong bench depth vs. crisis staffing risk?
- Manager effectiveness: Who's consistently developing high-performers vs. losing people?
- Training gaps: Do Month 3 check-ins reveal the same skill gaps? That signals a problem with initial training.
- Leading retention indicators: Sentiment scores dropping before someone gives notice? Intervene before they start job hunting.
"From an operational perspective, this hugely benefits us. This isn't just about being nice—it's about having the data to plan appropriately." - Ambryn Alam, VP of People & Culture
Real Talk: The Assessment Is Only As Good As Your Culture
Ambryn was direct about what makes this work: "Any company could copy-paste the work we've done—I'll give it to you. But it doesn't work if that's not your actual approach. What we've done is layered this into everything from how we recruit people, how we train them, all of our people practices."
The coffee chats work because they're supported by:
- Robust in-person training that builds the skills being assessed
- Manager coaching on developmental conversations
- Clear expectations about growth paths from day one
- Genuine culture of transparency and feedback
"Opus can't do everything for you. No learning platform can," Ambryn said. "But what it does give us is the structure to have meaningful conversations at scale—and the data to act on what we're learning before small issues become big problems."
Want to see how Swingers built their coffee chat structure in Opus? Scan the QR code to explore their assessment timeline and manager conversation guides.
Swingers is a UK-originated hospitality concept combining crazy golf, cocktails, and street food. VP of Learning & Culture Ambryn Amal and Director of Operations Barby Rivers shared their approach during Opus Office Hours in November 2025.
