March 6, 2015
Retailers dot Fortune’s ‘100 Best Companies’ list
Fortune has released its annual list of the "100 Best Companies To Work For" and Wegmans, The Container Store, QuikTrip and eight other usual suspects have been recognized as employers of choice.
There’s no surprise that companies including Nugget Market and REI are on the list. They’re on it every year. But why is it that no new companies ever seem able to crack Fortune’s list or others published by other sources? Does this mean that strong employers aren’t successful in making the case for their companies or they simply choose not to get involved? Could it also mean that companies don’t see the need to go from being good to great employers since that often equates to investing more money in their human assets?
Walmart’s recent announcement that it is raising base wages for hourly workers and improving scheduling practices and training programs serves as an indicator that the retailer wants to be seen as a more attractive employer to both its current employees as well as prospects. So why aren’t more retailers publicly competing for talent?
A common excuse for not being able to do better by employees has been company size but, as the Nugget Market experience shows, that should not be an impediment. Nugget, a family-owned operator of supermarkets with 15 stores, is the smallest of the retailer’s on Fortune’s list. It has made the magazine’s Top 100 for 10 straight years.
The company attributes its success to the working environment created for employees, proving the adage that "people don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses." Nugget lists the turnover of its full-time staff at nine percent. The other retailer’s on Fortune’s list report full-timer turnover rates between three percent (L.L. Bean) and 16 percent (Build-A-Bear).
"Each associate’s attitude and eagerness to have fun on the job translates into a unique shopping experience for our guests," Eric Stille, CEO and president of Nugget, told the Daily Democrat. "Encouraging our extended family to enjoy their time at work naturally creates a win-win for everyone; associates and guests alike."
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Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Why do you think there is so little change to the companies named to the top places to work lists like that published by Fortune? Why do so few retailers go out of their way to promote themselves as employers of choice?
Poll
The article says it all: If employees are valued and rewarded they stay. If not, they go. Too few retailers treat their employees well. Instead they focus on keeping costs low, calculating that employee churn as a cost of doing business. So few retailers promote themselves as employers of choice, because they couldn’t live up to their own hype.
What a provocative question! Why do so few retailers go out of their way to promote themselves as employers of choice? Well, first of all, it’s because they know they are NOT the employers of choice. What flummoxes me is that so many of these things could be fixed, and not just by paying more. More humane schedules, more effort to train managers, more effort to train employees, more opportunities for management training and career path options. Just more effort would go a long way. The missing link is in connecting that effort to real benefits for the business. The benefits of low turnover, both to the company and to customers, have been proven time and again. But the desire to ignore it and disbelieve it persists—because changing that belief requires effort.
The companies that show up on the lists of “top places to work” also show up on lists of the companies with the best customer service and companies that are most profitable. There is a definite correlation between companies who take care of employees and the most successful companies. While it seems like a no-brainer for companies to invest in their employees and their hiring practices, some companies still view the cost as too risky. They are set in their cultures.
So why don’t more companies promote themselves as employers of choice? Because if they can’t deliver, they earn a negative reputation. It’s like a brand promise to the employee versus a customer. But the ones that do earn the coveted title of “best place to work” have good talent hoping to be hired.
A great many retailers have to deal with unions and that may be one issue resulting in a poor rating. Retailers also may have poor managers especially in large chains and not get many high marks. Lastly I think there are so many workers in the industry that turnover is the issue, and they just do not stay long enough to rate their stores.
It is a matter of mindset. Most (large) retailers run their business based on their P&L. They look at it every month (or every week or every day). Each time they look at it they see a line for “labor.” The number across from that word is a negative to the bottom line. They are reminded of this constantly, both internally and externally (thank you Wall Street.) That “labor” line is lumped with rent, freight, warehousing, shrink, utilities, etc., all items that one says, “Reduce these numbers and the bottom line will be bigger.”
Those retailers who are in the elite group of top places to work for have a different mindset. They see employees as assets. I have known Danny Wegman for over 40 years and from the very beginning he understood that the employee in the store produces more sales and profit with his/her interaction with a customer than he does. The folks at The Container Store have almost the exact same philosophy. It is great leadership, and a great leader recognizes what assets make the business successful. For retail especially, that asset is the employee.
For the first 10 years that this list was complied, Southwest Airlines led the list. In the 11th year they did not make it. The question is why? The answer is simple; they did not apply and have not applied since.
The question is how important is it to your organization to be on the the list. It may not cost a lot of direct dollars, but it does cost a lot of time and commitment to make the list.
I know a lot of companies that could and should be on the list but are more committed to being a great place to work than being on a great place to work list.
Okay, because it’s Friday, I’m gonna tell you a little story. Last week was our lady’s lunch out. We went to a restaurant that was new to us, but it was one of Ford Fry’s places (if you live in ATL, you get it).
Not knowing the menu, we asked our waitress what was popular and what she might recommend. She told us the most popular and then went on to praise her favorite dish, the mussels. Now, the mussels were a few dollars more than many of the dishes, but all of us love mussels and she had convinced us that we could not go wrong.
The mussels arrived and each of us had at least 4 of the 8-10 mussels, empty. The broth tasted like a beef broth. Hardly a go-with for mussels. Rechecking the menu, that is not what it said. Bottom line? Not even close to good.
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that a seasoned waitress in a restaurant of this nature is usually not THAT wrong about a dish. Much more likely the problem was in the kitchen.
I thought Ford Fry should know about this so I, of course, lambasted it on Yelp.
So, why don’t retailers promote themselves as employers of choice? They don’t always know what’s going on in the kitchen!
Should they? You betcha, my 2 cents!
There are a lot of good retailers that could make the list. But how does Fortune find them and how do the retailers find Fortune? Is there a better list to make than Fortune? Perhaps Fortune is lazy so they just repeat what they have listed in the past.
The only list that matters is the one I have. I have no idea what kind of politics goes into making that list. Many wonderful retailers are small and privately held. There is no way they would make the radar of Fortune Magazine. I have a feeling that Fortune magazine is not on the radar of a lot of best retailers to work for.
It requires work, and when a store managers idea of work is unlocking the doors in the morning, filling out paperwork all day for headquarters and locking the doors at night, the hourly wage set gets little encouragement. It’s not a matter of going “out of their way,” it’s a matter of “getting out of the way.” Way too much emphasis is placed on gathering statistics on what happened yesterday and not enough on how to make tomorrow better.
No matter what you do with history you can’t change it. Retail could change the future if they would spend less time gathering history. By the way, most of this is done because key players don’t get into the stores and talk to the people who know what is going on. It’s much easier to sit behind a desk and look at numbers.
Here is your answer—retail management is lazy and lacks vision. Go to any large department store and grab the manager and walk him over the floor. Then ask him to name the employees he saw. Most would do well to name two of ten. A retailer can’t be considered a good place to work when the employees aren’t recognized as people. Think for a minute about the best place you ever worked—did the manager know you? Bet he or she did!
I am a huge fan and supporter of The Container Store. They have been on this list “forever” and deservedly so. They have a rigorous hiring and training program investing many dollars in a person before that person ever makes it to the selling floor. Their philosophy is hire the right person who will be there for the long haul, train them well and pay them well. This continues to make them eligible for this list and a high ranking year after year.
These included retailers know what they are doing and are not doing to “toot their horn.” They want good reliable stable staff and recognize and appreciate their people, and thus they achieve their goal.
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The article says it all: If employees are valued and rewarded they stay. If not, they go. Too few retailers treat their employees well. Instead they focus on keeping costs low, calculating that employee churn as a cost of doing business. So few retailers promote themselves as employers of choice, because they couldn’t live up to their own hype.
What a provocative question! Why do so few retailers go out of their way to promote themselves as employers of choice? Well, first of all, it’s because they know they are NOT the employers of choice. What flummoxes me is that so many of these things could be fixed, and not just by paying more. More humane schedules, more effort to train managers, more effort to train employees, more opportunities for management training and career path options. Just more effort would go a long way. The missing link is in connecting that effort to real benefits for the business. The benefits of low turnover, both to the company and to customers, have been proven time and again. But the desire to ignore it and disbelieve it persists—because changing that belief requires effort.
The companies that show up on the lists of “top places to work” also show up on lists of the companies with the best customer service and companies that are most profitable. There is a definite correlation between companies who take care of employees and the most successful companies. While it seems like a no-brainer for companies to invest in their employees and their hiring practices, some companies still view the cost as too risky. They are set in their cultures.
So why don’t more companies promote themselves as employers of choice? Because if they can’t deliver, they earn a negative reputation. It’s like a brand promise to the employee versus a customer. But the ones that do earn the coveted title of “best place to work” have good talent hoping to be hired.
A great many retailers have to deal with unions and that may be one issue resulting in a poor rating. Retailers also may have poor managers especially in large chains and not get many high marks. Lastly I think there are so many workers in the industry that turnover is the issue, and they just do not stay long enough to rate their stores.
It is a matter of mindset. Most (large) retailers run their business based on their P&L. They look at it every month (or every week or every day). Each time they look at it they see a line for “labor.” The number across from that word is a negative to the bottom line. They are reminded of this constantly, both internally and externally (thank you Wall Street.) That “labor” line is lumped with rent, freight, warehousing, shrink, utilities, etc., all items that one says, “Reduce these numbers and the bottom line will be bigger.”
Those retailers who are in the elite group of top places to work for have a different mindset. They see employees as assets. I have known Danny Wegman for over 40 years and from the very beginning he understood that the employee in the store produces more sales and profit with his/her interaction with a customer than he does. The folks at The Container Store have almost the exact same philosophy. It is great leadership, and a great leader recognizes what assets make the business successful. For retail especially, that asset is the employee.
For the first 10 years that this list was complied, Southwest Airlines led the list. In the 11th year they did not make it. The question is why? The answer is simple; they did not apply and have not applied since.
The question is how important is it to your organization to be on the the list. It may not cost a lot of direct dollars, but it does cost a lot of time and commitment to make the list.
I know a lot of companies that could and should be on the list but are more committed to being a great place to work than being on a great place to work list.
Okay, because it’s Friday, I’m gonna tell you a little story. Last week was our lady’s lunch out. We went to a restaurant that was new to us, but it was one of Ford Fry’s places (if you live in ATL, you get it).
Not knowing the menu, we asked our waitress what was popular and what she might recommend. She told us the most popular and then went on to praise her favorite dish, the mussels. Now, the mussels were a few dollars more than many of the dishes, but all of us love mussels and she had convinced us that we could not go wrong.
The mussels arrived and each of us had at least 4 of the 8-10 mussels, empty. The broth tasted like a beef broth. Hardly a go-with for mussels. Rechecking the menu, that is not what it said. Bottom line? Not even close to good.
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that a seasoned waitress in a restaurant of this nature is usually not THAT wrong about a dish. Much more likely the problem was in the kitchen.
I thought Ford Fry should know about this so I, of course, lambasted it on Yelp.
So, why don’t retailers promote themselves as employers of choice? They don’t always know what’s going on in the kitchen!
Should they? You betcha, my 2 cents!
There are a lot of good retailers that could make the list. But how does Fortune find them and how do the retailers find Fortune? Is there a better list to make than Fortune? Perhaps Fortune is lazy so they just repeat what they have listed in the past.
The only list that matters is the one I have. I have no idea what kind of politics goes into making that list. Many wonderful retailers are small and privately held. There is no way they would make the radar of Fortune Magazine. I have a feeling that Fortune magazine is not on the radar of a lot of best retailers to work for.
It requires work, and when a store managers idea of work is unlocking the doors in the morning, filling out paperwork all day for headquarters and locking the doors at night, the hourly wage set gets little encouragement. It’s not a matter of going “out of their way,” it’s a matter of “getting out of the way.” Way too much emphasis is placed on gathering statistics on what happened yesterday and not enough on how to make tomorrow better.
No matter what you do with history you can’t change it. Retail could change the future if they would spend less time gathering history. By the way, most of this is done because key players don’t get into the stores and talk to the people who know what is going on. It’s much easier to sit behind a desk and look at numbers.
Here is your answer—retail management is lazy and lacks vision. Go to any large department store and grab the manager and walk him over the floor. Then ask him to name the employees he saw. Most would do well to name two of ten. A retailer can’t be considered a good place to work when the employees aren’t recognized as people. Think for a minute about the best place you ever worked—did the manager know you? Bet he or she did!
I am a huge fan and supporter of The Container Store. They have been on this list “forever” and deservedly so. They have a rigorous hiring and training program investing many dollars in a person before that person ever makes it to the selling floor. Their philosophy is hire the right person who will be there for the long haul, train them well and pay them well. This continues to make them eligible for this list and a high ranking year after year.
These included retailers know what they are doing and are not doing to “toot their horn.” They want good reliable stable staff and recognize and appreciate their people, and thus they achieve their goal.