1. Developing and Supporting Our People
Our People
Hbc is one of Canada’s largest employers with over 55,000 full-time equivalent positions in our stores and offices. We support our associates through ongoing education, career development, health and wellness benefits, retirement programs and much more.
Associates by Province
| Province | Number of Associates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| AB | 6,134 | 11% |
| BC | 7,995 | 14% |
| MB | 1,750 | 3% |
| NB | 964 | 2% |
| NL | 288 | 0% |
| NS | 1,697 | 3% |
| ON | 28,712 | 49% |
| PE | 202 | 0% |
| PQ | 9,332 | 16% |
| SK | 1,147 | 2% |
| Grand Total | 58,241 | 100% |
Corporate Management
| Male | Female | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Executives | 23 | 4 | 27 |
| General Managers | 27 | 11 | 38 |
| Directors | 89 | 56 | 145 |
| Management | 1,349 | 947 | 2,296 |
Associate Engagement
Earning Our Stripes
In 2007, Hbc began a five-year partnership with the Gallup Organization to measure the engagement levels of associates and customers on an ongoing basis. This program, Earning Our Stripes, asks associates 12 core questions each year to determine how they feel about working at Hbc. Over 57,000 associates across Canada participated in the first annual survey online, on paper or by phone.
“Hbc’s management team is committed to engaging their associates across the country. The work we are currently doing together is designed to help Hbc associates learn and grow, which ultimately can improve the way they will interact with Hbc’s customers.”
Ken Leigh Shearer, Managing Partner, Gallup Organization
Based on the feedback, reports are generated at the store or department level. Each manager then works with his or her team to resolve issues, build on strengths, develop an action plan and provide targeted training and development.
The Earning Our Stripes program is linked to Hbc’s long-term success. We know from Gallup’s extensive research that engaged associates are the most productive, stay longer and build the strongest customer relationships. By developing solutions at the local level based on the survey data, we can have a measurable impact on our associates’ performance.
Hbc Awards
Hbc celebrates the achievements of our associates throughout the year in various categories, including team performance, commitment to customer service, leadership, entrepreneurship, length of service and community involvement. In 2007, over 10,000 Hbc associates and 36 teams were recognized for their achievements.
The Team Hbc Awards are designed to recognize the contributions of our associates as individuals or as part of a team, no matter how large or small, in helping us achieve our vision of delivering unparalleled customer service.
The Pinnacle Awards are the highest accolades among the Team Hbc Awards. Associates who receive this award have demonstrated the following:
- Service dedication – to the community and to the customer
- Inspirational leadership – commitment, trust and teamwork
- Entrepreneurial spirit – innovation, fresh thinking and commitment to enhancing Hbc across all banners
- Pace/urgency/accountability – taking personal responsibility, having a positive impact on Hbc, acting decisively, taking risks and making Hbc a better place to work and shop, and contributing to overall results
President’s Excellence Awards recognize the outstanding performance of teams and their contribution in driving the results of Hbc:
- Stores – financial results, customer service, community spirit
- Merchandising – financial results, entrepreneur award
- Enablement teams – strategic partnerships and their contribution to financial results
Making a Difference Awards are distributed to Hbc locations for the purpose of recognizing individual contributions. Making a Difference Awards recognize individuals at stores and in corporate divisions who demonstrate exceptional performance and go above and beyond job expectations, driving a level of customer service never seen before in Canadian retailing.
Long Service Awards recognize the contribution and dedication of associates who have established service milestones. At each milestone, associates are presented with a certificate, pin and token recognizing their commitment to Hbc.
2007 Award Winners:
Jackie Davison, Home Outfitters 5113, Kitchener, Ontario: Gift Registry Specialist
Considered the special order queen, Jackie spends countless hours searching for product – for all customers. On one occasion she spent her day off visiting stores in the region to meet customers’ needs. Jackie takes great interest in improving the business, and her improvement ideas have resulted in a high conversion rate of the wedding lead list. Her positive attitude inspires and motivates. She has established a presence in her store and is looked to for direction. Jackie genuinely cares about people and Hbc and so she brings out the best in the team, helping its members see how they play a vital role in achieving the goals of the store and the Company as a whole.
Satish Kumar, Bay 1114, Calgary, Alberta: Full-time Sales Associate
Satish is a caring, respected, humble associate who possesses a can-do, willing and open-minded attitude. He takes ownership of his departments and ensures that strategies have been implemented. He treats customers with respect. When he learned that there was a problem with an item for a wedding, he took the item to a local tailor, paid for it and returned it to the customer in less than half an hour. He is a great leader; recently, a customer wrote in to acknowledge how obvious it was that his team thought the world of him. Satish leads by example, is a great role model and always provides customers with optimal service. He encourages associates to strive to be their best, to reach for the next level, and empowers them to make their own decisions. He spent one of his days off helping someone on his team who was new to the country find housing closer to the store. All these things create loyal and engaged associates and delight customers.
Monique Lefrançois, Zellers 206, Lasalle, Québec: Senior Associate
Monique is an exemplary associate. With 20 years of service, she is a “godmother” when training new associates in customer service. She is our best associate in credit enrolment and, as the number one FSB associate, she is the group’s mentor. She works closely with customers to guide them in their choices, whether cosmetics or computers. Her commitment is complete, regardless of the department she is assigned to. A customer who has been shopping at our store for 20 years insists on being served only by Monique. She may end up waiting several hours or come back another day if Monique is not scheduled to work the day she comes by the store. Monique has long been living the principles of QBQ: The Question Behind the Question – in fact she could have written the book instead of the author, John Miller!
Kelly Nelson, Zellers 192, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario: Food Service Supervisor
Kelly’s customer service is incredible! She has many regular customers and, as they cross through the parking lot, Kelly sees them and sets their regular table with their drinks. Recently she found a ring after the customer left, and returned it to the customer when she returned the next day. One day an elderly gentleman came in very upset as his wife was in the hospital. He ate his dinner, then realized he had left his wallet at the hospital. Kelly covered the bill so he could get back to his wife. He returned the next day to pay and thank her for her thoughtfulness. Kelly goes above and beyond in customer service: she helps special needs customers by buttering their muffins, spreading peanut butter or jam on their toast, fine-chopping their dinners and helping them in and out of their seats. She waits in line to pay the bill for the elderly who can’t stand for that long and helps customers to vehicles with heavy parcels. She has built a very dedicated restaurant clientele base who come to the restaurant daily. Her team says that she is the best boss anybody could work for. She is a very strong Hbc performer in all areas driving Hbc profitability. On top of all she does for us she is a mom, involved with the naval cadet league, and she volunteers. She is highly regarded by all.
James (JD) Stickle, Bay 1148, Lethbridge, Alberta: Receiver
As dock manager, JD treats every customer, delivery and pickup with respect and customer service. JD doesn’t just do his job, he does his job well, committed to those extra details that make everyone go WOW! He helps customers get items into their vehicles, and recently delivered something purchased at another store for an associate. He has made a real mark as the Regional Energy Conservation Champion. JD and team also work with a local real estate company that picks up our excess boxes to use for customers who are moving. As a result, the Bay has reduced the time and cost of compacting cardboard, and the real estate company and its customers are happy. JD is described as a straight talker who wears his heart on his sleeve in all dealings with his store associates. He does so much for our Company with his coaching, knowledge and customer care – a fine example of service never before seen in Canada.
Continuous Learning
Future Executive Program
The Hbc Future Executive Program (FEP) welcomed 66 new participants in June 2007. This well-established program is focused on building the leadership talent pipeline for Hbc. In the 2007 program, 68 percent of the group was promoted into the program from positions within Hbc. The balance of the participants are recent graduates from universities across Canada.
After three years of building the FEP talent pool:
- 81 percent of store operations alumni are in targeted positions and, of those, 8 percent are store managers
- 85 percent of the merchandising stream alumni are in targeted positions and 11 percent are buyers
Hbc recognizes the need to understand the needs of our Generation Y associates in the FEP, so we added some new elements to the program in 2007:
- Exit interviews with participants who leave the program to assess opportunities and trends
- A centralized development opportunity provided to alumni in June to accelerate their personal growth
- Career interest discussions with graduates of the program
Summer Internship Program
Hbc also continues to sponsor a summer intern program for university students in the second or third year of their undergraduate studies. They are given a role within the business, either in store operations or at a home office, for a period of three months. This allows them to gain business experience, and in some cases they continue their relationship with Hbc by joining the FEP upon graduation. In 2007, Hbc hired 57 summer interns for positions throughout the Company.
Executive Development
In 2007, Hbc created 12 new leadership development programs targeting our store management teams and support functions. The programs were aligned with key leadership competencies identified in our Hbc Leadership Profile. In particular, we tested an intensive retail-based three-day business simulation program for our store operations management team. The post-training assessment showed that 72 percent of the pilot stores had higher gross profit than control stores in their market. Hbc was the first retailer in North America to test this program, which previously had been available only in Europe.
In support of ongoing learning among our leadership team, we introduced a Learning Event program in 2007. Our SVP team hosts these events, in which an expert external speaker shares knowledge with a cross-section of Hbc leaders via video conference from a home office in Toronto.
Online Personal Approach to Learning (OPAL)
All Hbc associates are offered the opportunity to continue learning through OPAL. In addition to general knowledge and courses on Company-wide initiatives, specialty courses such as product knowledge, health and safety, and computer skills are also available.
In 2007, 125 new courses were added to OPAL. These courses focus on improved service performance. We also introduced department-specific course catalogues in 2007, with more to come in 2008. Hbc expects to have over 400 courses available in its online catalogue by the end of 2008.
Hbc Courses and Programs| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| OPAL course catalogue | 200 | 225 | 350 |
| OPAL course completions | 96,893 | 79,127 | 167,115 |
Certificate in Human Resources Management Program
Following the internal relaunch of the Certificate in Human Resources Management (CHRM) program, over 100 Hbc associates participated in 2007. CHRM graduates can apply this accreditation toward the completion of a university degree or certificate at select schools.