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Newsletter Articles
“Employees First” - A Key to Driving Reputation, Retention and Results
This year Rochester New York’s Wegmans Food Markets, a
privately held supermarket with $3.4 million in sales (2004) and
31.3% of the market (2003), tops
While most people probably haven’t heard of Wegmans (unless
you live in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia where
its 67 stores are located), if you read “Employees first, customers second” This is Wegmans’ motto. It permeates everything they do. It demonstrates they understand the impact that satisfied and performing employees have on customer satisfaction, results and reputation. They promise employees and customers: “Every Day You Get Our Best;” and they mean it.
Wegmans isn’t new to this philosophy. They have been employee focused since 1950 when President Robert Wegman (now 86 year old chairman) began adding employee key benefits because he thought they needed them. Today, Wegmans provides full- and part-time employees with high-end market salaries, generous college scholarships and extensive training programs, including unique knowledge gathering trips — like sending cheese manager, Terri Zodarecky, to European cheesemakers and sponsoring trips to a Napa Valley winery to help employees cultivate their interests in and knowledge of food and fine cuisine. These experiences translate into better customer service. Wegmans also fosters employee satisfaction and achievement by listening to employee suggestions and recognizing them for their contributions. For the last 15 years, the Pittsburgh store has sold “chocolate meatball cookies” — suggested by bakery employee, Maria Benjamin, who originally made these popular cookies, from a secret family recipe, for other employees. This recognition often comes directly from Danny Wegman, son of Robert and company president, who makes a point of visiting stores to personally thank employees for great work. This focus on meeting employee needs pays off. About 20% of Wegmans’ employees have 10 or more years of service and turnover rate for full-time employees is only 6%; the grocery chain average is 19%. This means considerably lower employee replacement costs than most. Another part of Wegmans’ success is how they cultivate customer service passion by encouraging each and every employee, regardless of position, to do what it takes to make sure no customer leaves unhappy. They have been known to cook Thanksgiving dinner for a family whose oven was too small for the turkey they bought. In the long run investments like these pay off. Gallup reports that shoppers with an emotional connection to their supermarket can spend as much as 46% more than non-emotionally tied customers. Not to mention the pride employees must feel knowing each of them can make a difference. Wegmans is not alone
The other companies on the
Energized employees make the best ambassadors
Employees are the face of any company. Consequently, companies,
like those on the Energized employees not only perform, they also talk about what they do — to their customers, friends, neighbors, family. They become the company’s best ambassadors, and recruit and refer their friends. Based on talk, performance and practices, the company gains a reputation for being a prime place to work, which is a valuable asset to have in today’s climate of employee turnover. Even with all of last year’s uncertainty, the 100 Best Companies on the list added 22,590 employees. Why focus on employees? Research and experience clearly show it’s worth the time and money to build a high performing workforce. The cost of replacing an employee typically ranges from one to three times his or her annual salary and the average company loses about $1 million with every 10 professional employees who leave.
It makes sense on the investment side as well. According to a recent
analysis done by investment firm Frank Russell Co for the Great
Place to Work Institute, money invested in a portfolio of stocks of
How to drive reputation, retention and results by putting employees first
Despite the performance of the
Belongingness and esteem are two basic human needs. People who have
these basic needs met become much better workers.
(A. Maslow, Motivation and Personality, 1954) It’s clear that the companies identifying and meeting basic employee needs create employee satisfaction and performance. They also reap strong reputations, employee retention and results. Here’s a clear and simple five-step approach aspiring companies can take to reach these same benefits:
Any company can do it There is no secret formula to satisfying employee needs, driving results and being recognized for it. It simply requires understanding the power and importance of employees and the benefits of putting them first. Endnotes
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For more than 20 years, Barbara has counseled clients on the challenges surrounding cultural change. She has helped align organizations and communications with business objectives and employee needs to drive high performance. Prior to joining H&K, Barbara served as managing director of Burson-Marsteller's Corporate/ Financial Practice and Organizational Communications, led Marketing and PR at Saint Mary's College of California, was part of the M&A team at Adams & Rinehart and served as VP of Marketing & Advertising at The Bowery Savings Bank (now part of Washington Mutual).
