Casual Dining: Applebee’s


One of the leading organizations in terms of casual dining is Applebee’s International, a business held by IHOP which manages restaurants and other franchises in the United States. (Applebee’s 2007) In this industry, employee retention is deemed as an imperative process. This is basically because each individual has to undergo a great deal of training before taking on the major responsibilities for the organization. In the restaurant business, the ability of the individual employee to interact amicably and affably with the customers ensures that these customers will return to acquire their services.


In the case of Applebee’s, their use of the human resource system called people metrics gave them the Nation’s Restaurant News’ and People and Performance Award Council’s “excellence in retention” award. (Wright, Snell, and Jacobsen 2004, 36) Basically, the company recognized the importance of leaders in the organization. Managers and supervisors in the different franchises have been incurring huge turnovers in the past years thus hurting the operations of the firm.


For companies like Applebee’s the managers are given the responsibility to build his/her own team. In the same regard, the company realizes that for a unit to actually operate well, they should hire the right people. Thus, keeping in mind the company’s regard to strong leadership, managers are hired based on the fit between the skills, competencies, and leadership qualities.  


 


Office Supplies Organization: Office Depot


Office Depot is one of the leading suppliers of office products and services in the United States. Their operations tend to focus on sales which mean that the pursuit of every employee is customer satisfaction. (Office Depot 2007) This establishes the orientation of the company of being customer centric. However, the company recognizes that in order to fully reap the benefits in acquiring customer satisfaction, the management has to establish a fully satisfied base for employee satisfaction.


This is imperative given that the competitors of the company like Staples tend to cover the same processes and focus more on business to business sales, similar to Office Depot. In this regard, the company’s rate of turnover often reflects the consequent loss of clients. Basically, these clients tend to establish a relationship of trust with their respective sales agent. Once these agents leave the organization, there is a huge possibility that the clients they possess tend to tag along the shift of organizations.


In the case of Office Depot, the market that they operate in sells product that are indistinguishable and interchangeable. The paper or staplers that they sell most probably have a counterpart with their competitors. On the whole, retention is manifested in the level of satisfaction of employees in the organization. There are articles that indicate that Office Depot place the welfare of the employees within the lines of their respective customers. (Walsh, Rice, Syms, and Davis 2004, 105)      


 


Upscale Retail: Nordstrom


One of the familiar names in upscale retail is Nordstrom. This company is based in Seattle with major competitors like Bloomingdales and Saks Fifth Avenue. The said company is noted for its topnotch customer service. However, its employee retention programs should also be taken into account. In the article of Joison (1999) the system in Nordstrom revolves around the concept of ample compensation. In the said report, the company provides their individual employees a base salary and allows for additional earning with their pay-per-performance commission scheme.


Looking at this, this reinforces the reputation of the company with having the best customer service in the industry. However, classical theories on human resource management as well as other organizational studies manifested the fact that monetary compensation is not sufficient to keep the employee from leaving the company. In the case of Nordstrom, they have addressed this by establishing a culture of excellence, trust and respect towards their personnel. (Joison 1999) This is then attached by some minor perks like discounts on the merchandise of the store. Thus, the realization that the individuals who deals directly with the customers requires the same level of care made the company one of the formidable competitors in the upscale retail industry.  



 


References 


Applebee’s (2007) Work with Us. Available at:  http://www.applebees.com/WorkAwards.aspx [Accessed 27 February 2008]


Joison, C. (1999) “The Cost of Doing Business? – employee turnover and retention in the retail sector.” HR Magazine.


Office Depot (2007) About Us. Available at: http://www.officedepot.com/renderStaticPage.do;jsessionid=000093aQo1suZ1sFWZy_cEygV8u:10gga5344?file=/companyinfo/default.jsp&template=companyInfo [Accessed 27 February 2008]


Walsh, D., Rice, R., Syms, D., Davis, J. (2004) “Preparing for Protests: What Companies Need to Know to Protect Their Employees and Facilities When They Find Themselves in the Path of Protests.” Security Management. 48(10), 105.


Wright, P., Snell, S., Jacobsen, P. (2004) “Current Approaches to HR Strategies: Inside-Out versus Outside-In.” Human Resource Planning. 27(4), 36.



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