Can you help by Monday night? Henry professor please
twada3
norstoms_2.docxTitle:
NORDSTROM. By: Tkaczyk, Christopher, Fortune, 00158259, 10/18/2010, Vol. 162, Issue 6
Database:
Business Source Complete
HTML Full Text
NORDSTROM
Contents
ListenSelect:
Section:
FIRST
100 BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR: No. 53
The high-end retail chain makes a point of filling the management ranks with people who started their careers on the sales floor.
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
HEADQUARTERS: Seattle
EMPLOYEES: 49,447
THE BUSINESS: Founded as a shoe store in 1901, the $8.6 billion luxury retailer has grown into a national chain of 115 department stores and 72 Nordstrom Rack discount outlets. The company has weathered the recession and plans to open 19 new stores this year.
THERE'S A REASON Nordstrom has a reputation for top customer service, and it's not just that its salespeople are nice. It's also because the retailer has promoted many of them into management-where they still remember the sales floor. Five of the nine members of the executive committee started that way. At Nordstrom it's about identifying talent early-and giving people autonomy. "We rely on the employees to use their best judgment," explains Erik Nordstrom, president and EVP for store operations (and the founder's great-grandson). That judgment-if good-is quickly rewarded; clerks are often promoted within a year. Young potential leaders are invited to join a six-month training program. "Leadership is grounded in experiences," says HR and diversity head and onetime saleswoman Delena Sunday. "We want to make sure people get enough experiences to grow their career."
MENTORING
The company encourages informal mentoring; some employees get cash incentives to develop clerks they manage.
SELL MORE, MAKE MORE
Commission-based compensation is tied to performance. Annual profit-sharing bonuses, based on years of service, can yield up to an additional 3% of annual salary.
GREAT INVESTMENT
In addition to a 401(k), the employee stock-purchase program gives workers a 10% discount on Nordstrom stock. Since the program was launched in 2000, the company stock has climbed more than 300%.
DISCOUNTS
Managers get a 33% discount on store items; nonmanagers get 20% off. Nordstrom-branded products can be had for 40% off retail for all employees.
"I came to Nordstrom because I wanted a career, not just a job. It's a great company to realize your goals. We're given the power to run our own business. We're encouraged to try new ideas."
-GEMMA LIONELLO, VICE PRESIDENT AND REGIONAL MANAGER
PHOTO (COLOR)
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE)
~~~~~~~~
By Christopher Tkaczyk
This content is for personal, non-commercial use, and can only be shared with other authorized users of the EBSCO products and databases for their personal, non-commercial use.
· Result 2 of 77
· HTML Full Text
Find Similar Results using SmartText Searching.
Tools
· Save
· Cite
· Export
· Share
© 2014 EBSCO Industries, Inc. All rights reserved.
IRST
100 BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR: No. 53
The high-end retail chain makes a point of filling the management ranks with people who started their careers on the sales floor.
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
HEADQUARTERS: Seattle
EMPLOYEES: 49,447
THE BUSINESS: Founded as a shoe store in 1901, the $8.6 billion luxury retailer has grown into a national chain of 115 department stores and 72 Nordstrom Rack discount outlets. The company has weathered the recession and plans to open 19 new stores this year.
THERE'S A REASON Nordstrom has a reputation for top customer service, and it's not just that its salespeople are nice. It's also because the retailer has promoted many of them into management-where they still remember the sales floor. Five of the nine members of the executive committee started that way. At Nordstrom it's about identifying talent early-and giving people autonomy. "We rely on the employees to use their best judgment," explains Erik Nordstrom, president and EVP for store operations (and the founder's great-grandson). That judgment-if good-is quickly rewarded; clerks are often promoted within a year. Young potential leaders are invited to join a six-month training program. "Leadership is grounded in experiences," says HR and diversity head and onetime saleswoman Delena Sunday. "We want to make sure people get enough experiences to grow their career."
MENTORING
The company encourages informal mentoring; some employees get cash incentives to develop clerks they manage.
SELL MORE, MAKE MORE
Commission-based compensation is tied to performance. Annual profit-sharing bonuses, based on years of service, can yield up to an additional 3% of annual salary.
GREAT INVESTMENT
In addition to a 401(k), the employee stock-purchase program gives workers a 10% discount on Nordstrom stock. Since the program was launched in 2000, the company stock has climbed more than 300%.
DISCOUNTS
Managers get a 33% discount on store items; nonmanagers get 20% off. Nordstrom-branded products can be had for 40% off retail for all employees.
"I came to Nordstrom because I wanted a career, not just a job. It's a great company to realize your goals. We're given the power to run our own business. We're encouraged to try new ideas."
-GEMMA LIONELLO, VICE PRESIDENT AND REGIONAL MANAGER
PHOTO (COLOR)
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE)
~~~~~~~~
By Christopher Tkaczyk
Authors:
Huselid, Mark A.1 (AUTHOR) [email protected] Beatty, Richard W.1 (AUTHOR) [email protected] Becker, Brian E.2 (AUTHOR) [email protected]
Source:
Harvard Business Review. Dec2005, Vol. 83 Issue 12, p110-117. 8p. 2 Color Photographs, 1 Chart.
Document Type:
Article
Subject Terms:
*WORKFORCE planning *EXPERTISE *ORGANIZATIONAL effectiveness *STRATEGIC planning *COMPETITIVE advantage *HUMAN capital *BUSINESS planning *CRITICAL success factor *PERSONNEL management *BEST practices
NAICS/Industry Codes:
541612 Human Resources Consulting Services 923130 Administration of Human Resource Programs (except Education, Public Health, and Veterans' Affairs Programs)
Abstract:
Companies simply can't afford to have "A players" in all positions. Rather, businesses need to adopt a portfolio approach to workforce management, systematically identifying their strategically important A positions, supporting B positions, and surplus C positions, then focusing disproportionate resources on making sure A players hold A positions. This is not as obvious as it may seem, because the three types of positions do not reflect corporate hierarchy, pay scales, or the level of difficulty in filling them. A positions are those that directly further company strategy and, less obviously, exhibit wide variation in the quality of the work done by the people who occupy them. Why variability? Because raising the average performance of individuals in these critical roles will pay huge dividends in corporate value. If a company like Nordstrom, for example, whose strategy depends on personalized service, were to improve the performance of its frontline sales associates, it could reap huge revenue benefits. B positions are those that support A positions or maintain company value, inattention to them could represent a significant downside risk. (Think how damaging it would be to an airline, for example, if the quality of its pilots were to drop.) Yet investing in them to the same degree as A positions is ill-advised because B positions don't offer an upside potential. (Pilots are already highly trained, so channeling resources into improving their performance would probably not create much competitive advantage.) And C positions? Companies should consider outsourcing them--or eliminating them. We all know that effective business strategy requires differentiating a firm's products and services in ways that create value for customers. Accomplishing this requires a differentiated workforce strategy, as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Harvard Business Review Notice of Use Restrictions, May 2009Harvard Business Review and Harvard Business Publishing Newsletter content on EBSCOhost is licensed for the private individual use of authorized EBSCOhost users. It is not intended for use as assigned course material in academic institutions nor as corporate learning or training materials in businesses. Academic licensees may not use this content in electronic reserves, electronic course packs, persistent linking from syllabi or by any other means of incorporating the content into course resources. Business licensees may not host this content on learning management systems or use persistent linking or other means to incorporate the content into learning management systems. Harvard Business Publishing will be pleased to grant permission to make this content available through such means. For rates and permission, contact [email protected]. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Author Affiliations:
1Professor of human resource management, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 2Professor of human resources, School of Management, SUNY Buffalo, New York
Full Text Word Count:
4215
ISSN:
0017-8012
Accession Number:
18916545
Publisher Logo:
· Result 139 of 159
American Accent
