TO BE THE BOSS, YOU NEED TO
MOTIVATE OTHERS
Want to move into a management role? It
takes more than business savvy and decision
making skills, says research by The
Creative Group. When advertising and
marketing executives were asked to name
the most important factor they consider
when promoting professionals to management
positions, more than half said they
look for candidates with strong motivational
or leadership skills. Interpersonal or
soft skills followed, with 19 per cent of the
response.
The national study was conducted by
an independent research firm and is based
on 400 telephone interviews – 200 with
advertising executives randomly selected
from agencies with 20 or more employees
and 200 with marketing executives randomly
selected from companies with 100
or more employees.
The Creative Group outlines five key
traits for those seeking a promotion to a
supervisory role:
1. Vision. A sharp understanding of
where your business is going is essential
to success. Great leadership relies on a
clear vision of the future as well as the
ability to inspire others toward your
goals.
2. Focus. Effective managers keep their
eyes fixed on the prize. They know
when to sacrifice short-term wins to
pursue bigger-picture objectives.
3. Creativity. The most successful leaders
share a willingness to turn established
business practices on their heads and
foster a culture of smart risk-taking.
A passion to innovate and advance the
company overrides their fear of failure.
4. Flexibility. Good managers know
change in the workplace is constant
and that agility is central to getting
ahead. This means they can pivot at a
moment's notice to take advantage of
opportunities as they arise.
5. Resilience. Sometimes the act of
striving towards business goals means
you will fail. The best bosses can
bounce back and turn a setback into a
well-timed gain.
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT TOPS
HR TRENDS IN RETAILING
As large and medium-sized retailers shutter
and online retailing grows, surviving
bricks and mortar stores must redefine
themselves – and the HR function must
adapt to meet the challenges. That was
a clear message at the Retail Council of
Canada’s recent HR conference.
The conference examined several HR
trends affecting the retail trade:
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Engaging store managers/associates and
home office staff across multiple brands
and business units has become more significant.
In implementing the Hudson’s
Bay Company’s “transformational change”
program after it bought Saks Off Fifth and
Lord & Taylor, CHRO Stephen Cerrone
says that engaging its beefed-up workforce
started by recognizing that “people
had something to say.” In May last year,
The Bay asked its staff 40 questions across
10 categories, with more than 38,000 employees
providing 64,365 responses to
three questions on “commitment.”
For H&M, “employee engagement is
a top focus,” said spokesperson Emily
Scarlett. The fashion retailer’s strategy
includes encouraging employees to take
responsibility and to set their own development
goals.
MULTI-GENERATIONAL WORKFORCE
Rebecca Wood (Genuine Parts Company),
Kristen MacLellan (Starbucks) and Ted
Moroz (The Beer Store) say retailers are
using mobile technology to attract younger
people, who normally form the bulk of
sales associate teams.
However, managing retailers’ growing
multigenerational workforce is a trending
concern for retail management, says
Norm Sabapathy, People EVP at Cadillac
Fairview. He says retailers’ HR departments
are accelerating initiatives to “tap
into the needs and motivations of its diverse
workforce” so they can better work
together toward the corporate goal.
“Our ability to influence how we bring
talent into retailing is important because
different generations are all looking for
different things coming out of their work,”
said Wendy Swinden, VP HR at Wal-
Mart Canada Corp.
news
THE MOST SUCCESSFUL LEADERS
SHARE A WILLINGNESS TO TURN
ESTABLISHED BUSINESS PRACTICES
ON THEIR HEADS AND FOSTER A
CULTURE OF SMART RISK-TAKING.
Continued on page 11
8 ❚ MAY/JUNE 2015 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL