Inside the Clothing Store

For years in a row, the Clothing Store was rated as one of the best employers in the geographic area. What makes a retailer that sells both men’s and women’s clothing a great place to work provides some insight for other employers striving to improve individual performance and retention. At the heart of the Clothing Store’s culture are these key ideas:

Educate your employees

Compensate employees competitively

Insure fair and equitable treatment

As a result, the store consistently has highly motivated and enthusiastic employees. Also, its turnover rate is 80% lower than other retailers in the area.

The store takes considerable time and effort to hire employees who “fit” the company’s culture and values. This effort means additional recruiting and selection attention by HR staff and operating managers. The firm also pays higher wages than many retailers and offers a competitive benefits package. Incentive programs allow some hourly employees to earn extra competitive averaging an additional 25% of base pay.

The firm also spends considerable time training its employees, which is much more than the annual training typical at other retailers. Extensive use of internal promotions demonstrates the firm’s commitment to providing career opportunities for employees.

At the store locations managers are expected to keep in constant communication with employees, help out in various jobs in the stores, and be more team leaders than “supervisors.” HR professionals have responsibilities in some areas of store operations, so that they maintain a sense of what employees and managers face daily and weekly.

All of these activities take considerable effort, but the payoffs make them worthwhile. Sales at the firm have increased annually and the number of customers has increased as well. Obviously, the Clothing Store has the “right outfit” that enables its employees to be significant contributors to its success.

Questions

1. Discuss how the culture of the Clothing Store is fostered by the HR activities and practice used.

2. Compare the culture at your present employer to the culture suggested by the examples at the Clothing Store. Then identify recommendations you would make to the executives where you work.