project

Aldi Stores

Organization and Management

Chosen Company and Why

Choosing a company to do my research project on was a bit of a challenge. I wanted to pick

something that interested me and that I wanted to gain more information on. During the

beginning phase of this project I had originally thought of the Kringle Candle company. As I

began to research the company, I was realizing that it was a fairly small company and that it

wasn’t sparking my interest as much as I had thought it would. So, on a Saturday morning my

family and I were out shopping and came across the Aldi store in Concord, NH. We decided to

go into the store and check it out as the outside looked different from most grocery stores. The

uniqueness of the store fascinated me. This was immediately a place that I wanted to obtain

more information on. This became a mystery to me and I wanted my big questions answered.

Why were they so different.? Why would they charge for use of carts and not have people

bringing carts in? During this course I was able to understand more of the process and

management practices within the company.

How I gathered information and how I organized it and analyzed it to come to my conclusions

Aldi has a different approach than most grocers. I was fascinated and wanted more

information on how they made their decisions and what their focus was. I began to research

into what their decision-making principles, employee motivation and the overall organizational

culture were. Immediately, I felt that if I was to work in retail, this would be where I would

want to go. I am drawn to places that put their employees first. I chose to focus on

researching information and testimonials from the Aldi website. I took bits and pieces from a

testimony and organized them into the categories that I wanted to cover. As I dug a little

deeper in my internet searches, I came across several websites that gave overviews and

discussed what the business model was. When deciding what information to share; I felt that

my focus was still on the parts involving their efficiencies and staff rather than their actual

products. This got me thinking of ways that we could cut cost and put more money into the

pockets of our staff in my current organization.

Decision Making Principles

Aldi focus’ on 3 main areas. Consistency being one of them. This not only means being

consistent with prices but also in how they deal with their employees and customers. They

believe that consistency leads to reliability. Being consistent has placed the brand as a 24/7

discount supermarket. Simplicity of the company is another Aldi focus. They are a no-frills

shopping center that is characterized by simplicity, efficiency and clarity. Aldi doesn’t spend

extra money on advertising. They do not do special promotions that need advertising either.

Their prices stay low, so they have no need for the extra time and supplies that you need when

doing specials. Responsibility is the last value that they focus on. They value the employees,

customers and other parties that they work with. Aldi pays well enough to increase their

efficiency. They focus more on customer satisfaction and less on marketing. Most of their

products are local as well. This cuts down on shipping costs and they have better fresh quality.

Back when Aldi was started in Germany by 2 brothers, they made the decision to only stock

nonperishable items. This cut down on expensive overhead. During the 1960’s the brothers

had a falling out regarding the option to sell cigarettes. This caused a whole new restructuring

of the company. At that time the decision was to split the company int Aldi Nord and Aldi Sud.

One chose to sell cigarettes and the other did not. They legally and financially separated in

1966. Later in 2018 they decided on a growth plan to remodel and expand the store count by

2022. In this plan they are adding additional refrigeration to accommodate more fresh, healthy

convenient products.

Human Resource Management

Strategic human resource management has operational efficiency as its core strategy. They are

a 360-degree feedback model company. Employee decisions are valued and there is a high

level of participation. Decentralizing the organizational structure and management delegation

is an important part of why they are successful.

Efficient Human Resource Strategy

Less employees but more efficient employees make it so that they can pay their employees

more. Average pay is higher at Aldi and they have reduced turnover. This structure motivates

good work ethic. Employees are challenged and take pride in their work. Aldi believes that

people are the key to every success. Human resource managements efficient system that

focuses on giving an industry leading training package. Employees are highly motivated. Their

recruitment process accounts for the choosing of energetic people with the can-do attitude.

Aldi also chooses to promote within the company. This increases employee motivation. With

stores being small and with a lower number of employees they are able to have strong

communication. This makes for positive psyche of the employees. Their hope is that

employees will not just feel like a number but that they are needed and valued. Aldi’s growth

and success are due to their commitment to building the efficiencies in all areas. This ranges

from store construction to distribution to the very specific products that they sell. You will not

see one isle that is dedicated to hundreds of cereals. They choose to pick the best and most

affordable to keep on the shelves. They are just as much a philosophy as they are a grocery

store. Everything has been thought of and thought of and reinvented to have the best quality

of products and savings for the customers. We can see that in the mission statement of Aldi.

They make consumers aware of how much they back their product and believe it to be the best.

It is very clear that they do things much different from a standard grocery store.

Roles in the Stores

Teams are the Aldi store strategy in action. They are all led by dynamic, responsive, dedicated

team leaders. The team leader contributes the core values of Aldi. The atmosphere is

cooperative with employees that are certain to lean with one another. They collaborate to

complete the daily responsibilities and believe that you will never have the same day twice.

Aldi has a flat hierarchy that is simple. This is a great way for the leaders at Aldi to get to know

their people. It keeps everyone informed and allows to an open communication of ideas. They

encourage suggestions to empower more effective decisions making. As they stay informed on

their employee's progress, they are able to promote within and have an open flow of

suggestions. This empowers them to make more effective decisions. As a result, they can

recognize the talent early on. Earlier in the research; it was stated that Aldi has changed in

some aspects over time. Innovation and team approach have really been what led to those

decisions in the first place. Store staff are the face of the Aldi shopping experience and the

most valuable asset the company has. It is a challenging career because of its fast-paced

environment, but that is why they say it is extremely rewarding. Managers are so impactful as

leaders due to their extensive training program. They learn all that it takes to be a successful

manager of a store. This is done by working closely with the store manager and district

managers to learn how to be efficient and effective in conducting the daily operations; along

with leaning, coaching and developing associates. Providing our employees with personal

fulfillment and development, training, recognition, attractive compensation and job security is a

serious commitment that they keep.

Conclusion

Depending on what Aldi you work at you can have a different experience. The vision and goals

are set but sometimes if you have a manager that is not as emotionally intelligent it can

become too fast paced and rigid. After searching youtube to find out what employees had to

say; I discovered that many employees wouldn’t recommend working there. This is due to the

constant stress of getting things done very quickly. They are given thirty minutes to stock and

due to the low number of staffs hired, they have very little slow time. This causes people to

become burnt out. According to the youtube video, not all if many continue to stay motivated

by the vigorous work as was stated in the Aldi roles of the store. My opinion is still that this is a

smart company and you will never make everyone happy. I believe that their products are safer

without any certified synthetic colors, msg, or partially hydrogenated oils. This is a right move

for our people and a smart business move. Researching the company has opened my eyes up

to the non-sense spending that occurs in my business. I do not agree with keeping the business

short staffed to save money though. If people don’t have some type of down time to enjoy

being around their coworkers outside of collaboration meetings, then they will become burnt

out. Sarah a district manager of Aldi has a positive experience working in management for

Aldi. According to her, she feels that the fast pace is what makes the job exciting. She enjoys

getting to know her employees and working together towards the goals. This is very much how

I feel about my current position as well. Every day is a different day and we never repeat the

same day twice.

Work Cited Page

www.Aldi.com

www.Careers.aldi.us/storeoverview

DTHS Sponsored Content-Aldi District Manager Sarah-YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jkCD_l5j3I

https://www.feedough.com/aldi-business-model-aldi-cheap/

Jan 19, 2018

PR Newswire Article, Aldi expansion 8/9/18

NEWS PROVIDED BY ALDI Inc.

Jun 12, 2017, 08:00 ET