pratikkk

MP Guru
Employee Retention of Home Depot : The Home Depot or simply Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services. The Home Depot operates 2,248 big-box format stores across the United States (including all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam), Canada (all ten provinces), Mexico and China.[2] (12 store chain). The Home Depot is headquartered from the Atlanta Store Support Center in Atlanta, Georgia.[3]
In terms of overall revenue reported to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, The Home Depot is the largest home improvement retailer in the United States, ahead of rival Lowe's, and the fourth largest general retailer.[4] The store operates out of large warehouse style buildings averaging 105,000 ft² (9,755 m²) with megastores operating in larger facilities (the company's largest store, located in Union, New Jersey is 225,000 ft²)

Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer and one reason for its success is the way it recruits, develops and retains new employees and new leaders.
With nearly 2,100 stores in the United States, Mexico and Canada and new stores continuing to open, Home Depot's workforce of more than 350,000 associates grows substantially each year.
A challenge for any organization growing that fast is the recruitment, development and retention of able employees and leaders, particularly in a retail business where turnover can be quite high.
Home Depot develops most of its own leaders, says Leslie Joyce, vice president for learning. "We place almost 17,000 people in leadership positions annually and about 80 percent of those are internal promotions," she said. Leadership positions range from department supervisors to vice presidents.
"The message we send to Home Depot employees is that there are great advancement opportunities within the company," she added.
Joyce will discuss how Home Depot recruits associates and prepares qualified associates to assume leadership responsibilities during a keynote address at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology's Leading Edge Consortium entitled "Talent Attraction, Development and Retention" Oct. 27-28 at the Mariott Southpark in Charlotte, NC..
"We look within our workforce for people who are self-starters, who want to learn more about the company and the business and who are committed to superior customer service. The people most likely to move up are those who show an ability to lead regardless of their role within the company," said Joyce.
Once in the leadership pipeline, Home Depot provides a variety of training and education programs that help employees succeed. "We want them to be prepared so they can better serve customers. And to do that, we provide them with as much training and development as we can," Joyce noted.
The training is designed to be specific to the job and the needs of the associate. Each curriculum follows a consistent path for all employees throughout the country.
"The goal," says Joyce, "is to have learning for all Home Depot associates so that they can excel at merchandising, operations and leadership consistent with the demands of their roles and our customer's expectations."
Research shows that customers have high expectations for Home Depot and that's why the uniformity and consistency from store to store is important, according to Joyce.
In hiring employees, Joyce says Home Depot throws a wide net in order to attract quality people. The company uses a variety of sourcing and selection methods to enhance the quality of applicant pools and hiring decisions.
One recruitment strategy is developing partnerships with agencies that are likely sources of qualified workers. HD is committed to working with AARP and Department of Labor offices to find work opportunities for AARP members and others who are looking for meaningful work.
Another partner is the Department of Defense. "We've found that military personnel transitioning out of the service are a good fit with the Home Depot culture because of their strong work ethic and commitment to doing the right thing," said Joyce. "It's been a productive relationship. We even conduct interviews on military bases."
The recruiting, hiring and retention methods seem to pay off because Home Depot experiences less employee turnover than most retail operations, says Joyce. "Employee turnover is both costly and disruptive to an organization and its customers, so it behooves us to hire the best possible people and provide them opportunities to grow within the organization."


In 1991, Home Depot was well on its way to conquering the home improvement retail market in the United States. At the time, the retailer was supporting 28,000 employees in 174 stores throughout Georgia, Florida, Texas and New Jersey, and annual sales had soared to $5.1 billion. There seemed to be no end in sight to the company’s growth.

B ut as each new store opened, Home Depot faced a growing problem: How could senior management communicate important information to employees while maintaining the same cor porate culture at each of its stores? Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank came up with an effective solution: Deliver quality programming over a business satellite network. So in 1990, the retailer opened its first broadcast facility in Atlanta. Staffed with just three people, the facility was barely 4,000 square feet, recalls Bruce Covey, senior engineer of Home Depot Television.

Initially, programming focused on motivating employees and training them about the many different products carried in Home Depot stores. A key broadcast was a Sunday morning program called “Breakfast with Bernie and Arthur,” a culture-building show designed to make employees feel empowered, connected and part of the Home Depot family, Covey says. “In the early days, everybody was very excited about it,” says Covey, who has worked at Home Depot Television for the past 13 years. “The company was rapidly growing and had a strong entrepreneurial culture. The management team in Atlanta truly wanted to communicate with employees.”

Fifteen years later, Home Depot still relies on that same philosophy, and as the company continues to grow and evolve, so does Home Depot Television. The company is continuously discovering new ways to harness the network’s power as a delivery tool for corporate communications, product knowledge, employee news and operational strategies. Today, the satellite-enabled network delivers 30 hours of programming each month to Home Depot’s employees, who now number 325,000 at 1,957 retail and landscape supply stores and Expo Design Centers throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

AIG is contractually obligated to pay a total of about $165 million of previously awarded
retention pay to AIGFP employees (in respect of 2008).This amount is due pursuant to a
retention plan entered into in early 2008.About $55 million of retention pay was
previously paid around December, and about $93 million of additional retention pay will
be eliminated because of losses at AIGFP (in accordance with the terms of the plan).AIG
is also obligated to pay about $6 million of guaranteed pay to AIGFP employees under
contractual obligations outside of the retention plan.
AIG is required to make these payments on or before March 15 by the terms of the
retention plan or individual contract guarantees, all of which pre-date TARP and AIG’s
current Chief Executive Officer. Outside counsel has advised that AIG is legally obligated
to pay and, under applicable law, risks a doubling of the amount owed as a penalty.In
addition to this and other legal obstacles, business requirements necessitate payment.
AIG has also attempted to develop acceptable alternatives to restructure guaranteed
amounts owed.However, efforts have not been successful for payments in respect of 2008
in light of the employees’ contractual rights to receive these payments combined with new
tax limits under Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code that limit the ability of
employers and employees to alter payment dates for deferred compensation.However, AIG
has committed to use its best efforts to reduce the amounts AIG owes in respect of 2009.
This will be accomplished through voluntary acts such as salary reductions, through
negotiations when we sell businesses and through other arrangements over time.We
believe that guaranteed payments at AIGFP for 2009 can be reduced by at least 30%.

In 1999 employee turnover shot to its highest level in nearly two decades. On average, 1.2 % of the workforce left their jobs each month last year. This did not include departures due to layoffs, downsizing, or departures of temporary staff. Job turnover is soaring for a few reasons. One is definitely the strength of the economy. If companies need to find workers they can raise salaries, which increases the likelihood that someone will leave a job for one that pays more. Another reason is the loosening of bonds between employer and employee. There are lower levels of loyalty in today’s work environment. I believe money and perks can be used to attract people to a company but to retain skilled workers, it takes more then just tangible elements. In order to retain good employees, today’s workplace must make the proper adjustments to meet their demands. Good employees will not continue to work for a jerk if they know they can find a good job elsewhere. Empowering employees, career advancement opportunities, the right job fit, and a positive workplace environment can foster loyalty and commitment. But, most importantly, is high-quality leadership. First of all, employee ownership equals empowerment. Empowerment is getting employees to do what needs to be done rather then being told what to do. A controlling manager is not at the core of empowerment. “Efforts toward continuous improvement take hold only when employees feel a sense of pride and ownership in their jobs. And pride and ownership are the heart of empowerment efforts. Empowered individuals take initiative to find better ways to accomplish their everyday tasks” (Eitington, 161). Empowering employees allows them to be part of the decision making process. This leads to a better company image, employee satisfaction, and decreases employee turnover. At Home Depot, headquartered in Atlanta, employees who are responsible for maintaining product aisles in the company’s stores, proudly and prominently display their names for customers to see. A smart organization gives its employees a sense of ownership. This doesn’t have to be in financial terms, as shown with Home Depot. By giving employees an integral role in the operation of their departments and business units, the company fosters loyalty and commitment from employees. It also inspires them to do their best. Giving employees enough freedom and power to carry out their tasks allows them to take ownership of the results. When individuals believe that the work they are doing is important and that their tasks are meaningful they will maintain commitment to the company and will desire to grow with the company. Secondly, developing clear career advancement opportunities is an important step in fostering a sense of loyalty, trust, and commitment. Career plans, rewards for achievement, and encouraging further education are excellent ways to support employees. A career plan will help the employee set their long- term goals. Career development plans are agreements between employee and employer and they spell out exactly what one will receive to develop their skills such as tuition, time-off, formal training, classes, etc. Plans also include milestones for the achievement of learning goals. Rewards for achievement whether monetary such as a raise in pay or nonfinancial such as a change in title to reflect the level of work achieved are all-important to the fostering of loyalty and fulfillment
 
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