Purdys Chocolatier is a Canadian, family-owned premium chocolate company with over 80 retail stores nationwide and a growing online presence across Canada. Guided by the core value “We Make Ourselves Better Every Day; We Are Customer-Obsessed and We Never Compromise Quality” they focus on exceptional products and customer experience.
Purdys fosters a culture of continuous improvement and accountability, supporting employees with leadership workshops, tuition reimbursement, and a structured performance system that promotes engagement, learning, and long-term growth.
Industry: Premium Chocolate Manufacturing & Retail
Company Size: 80+ Retail Stores Nationwide | Growing Online Presence
Products Used: Engagedly’s Performance, Goals, Check-Ins, 360 Feedback, and Learning modules.
Retail Manager Participation
Review & Check-In Completion
Before implementing Engagedly, Purdys faced multiple performance-related challenges:
The combination of capability gaps, leadership turnover, and pandemic-related pressures made improving performance management and engagement an urgent priority.
To address these challenges, Purdys partnered with Engagedly and rolled out a structured system for OKRs, quarterly check-ins, annual reviews, and learning modules. The rollout was phased, starting with Support Office staff and then retail managers, paired with training and support from Engagedly’s Client Success team.
Goal-Setting and Reviews:
Goals were cascaded from executives → departments → managers → individuals. District managers also set shop-level goals to align team priorities with organizational objectives.
360 Feedback & Learning:
360 feedback processes were introduced to strengthen development, while learning modules supported professional growth and compliance.
Feedback Loops:
Regular check-ins improved clarity, collaboration, and alignment between managers and employees, fostering stronger communication and accountability.
The implementation of Engagedly streamlined and automated processes, providing real-time visibility into goal alignment, performance, and engagement.
While Engagedly cannot be seen as the sole driver of sales and revenue growth, its impact was clear:
In the first year of implementation (Support Office only), performance across channels was up approximately 7% against target.
In subsequent years, external challenges such as the pandemic, rising cocoa prices, and supply chain disruptions created headwinds that required pricing adjustments and impacted sales. Despite this, performance held reasonably well given the context, and Engagedly continued to support alignment and performance management during volatile conditions.
Beyond sales results, Engagedly helped enable a measurable cultural shift:
Following an Accountability workshop series, managers embedded accountability practices into daily management and integrated these principles into Engagedly.
For the first time in recent history, Purdys was able to achieve its production goals.
Tuition reimbursement: Up to $1,500 for full-time employees and $750 for part-time employees.
360 Feedback: Participation among retail managers increased to 70%, up 20% from the prior year.
Retention: Strengthened by a culture of learning, growth, and high engagement.
Real-time tracking of goals and engagement metrics provided leadership with data-driven insights to make better strategic talent and performance decisions.
While Purdys is still exploring the full potential of Engagedly’s AI features such as Marissa Co-Pilot, they anticipate these tools will further streamline processes, save time, and free managers to focus on team development and strategic priorities.
Purdys sees Engagedly as a key HR technology partner in performance management, learning, and broader talent initiatives. Looking forward, the company plans to explore:
These tools will help build a stronger leadership pipeline and prepare Purdys for sustained growth.
Leadership commitment is the biggest driver of success. Our President champions Engagedly at every monthly huddle, highlighting OKRs and modeling how they cascade across leadership levels.
HR partnership is equally critical. The People & Culture team set up the process, guided leaders and employees, facilitated OKR-setting, drove quarterly check-ins, ensured timely reviews, and nudged leaders when needed—building consistency and trust.
Progress over perfection. By embedding practices gradually and celebrating milestones, we built momentum, drove adoption, and ensured the system delivered both performance and cultural impact.
By embedding Engagedly into its culture, Purdys Chocolatier transformed fragmented, manual processes into a structured, scalable performance management system. The result: 100% review completion, stronger accountability, improved engagement, measurable cultural impact, and sales growth in year one — even amidst leadership turnover, pandemic disruptions, and market volatility.
Book a demo with Engagedly today and see how our platform can help you achieve similar results.
