target pres.pdf
TRANSCRIPT
TARGET
Buying and Merchandising Operations Research
De’Asiah Brooks, Justin Larkins, Amber Childs
Bedford High School 481 Northfield Rd. Bedford, OH 44146
March 2016
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Table Of Contents:
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY _______________________________________________ 3
2. INTRODUCTION ______________________________________________________ 4
2.1. Description of the business or organization _______________________________________ 5
2.2. Description of the community _________________________________________________ 6
2.3. Overview of the business or organization’s current culture and employee engagement strategies
3. RESEARCH METHODS USED IN THE STUDY
3.1. Description and rationale of research methodologies selected to conduct research study______ 7
3.2. Process used to conduct the selected research methods_______________________________ 8
4. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION OF THE STUDY
4.1. Findings of the research study__________________________________________________10
4.2. Conclusions based on the findings______________________________________________ 12
5. PROPOSED STRATEGIC PLAN
5.1. Objectives and rationale of the proposed plan_____________________________________ 14
5.2. Proposed activities and timelines_______________________________________________ 15
5.3. Proposed metrics or key performance indicators to measure plan effectiveness_____________ 18
6. PROPOSED BUDGET_____________________________________________________________ 19
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY_________________________________________________________________ 20
8. APPENDIX _____________________________________________________________________ 21
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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Our group has created four different activities for Target in Bainbridge in order to increase
employee relationships, manager behaviors, and bring value to employees lives. These three
things all help increase employee engagement in the workplace. The four activities include:
Activity Importance
1. Red Teams Increases employee
relationships
Red Teams allows employees to sustain long lasting relationships while also adding value to their work
2. Holidays at Target Holidays at Target increases employee engagement, touches on manager perception among employees, and adds value to employee lives
3. Annual shift swap Increases employee engagement and connects workers with managers
4. Target team meeting Increases employee knowledge of company which adds to how much employees value their jobs
Proposed Budget:
Activity Cost
Employee Incentives $20,000
Holiday’s at Target $40,000
Mandatory Meeting $3,500
Total Cost $63,500
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2. INTRODUCTION
2.1. Description of the business or organization
Dayton dry goods company was founded in 1902 by George Dayton and was renamed
Dayton Company nearly a decade later to better reflect the vast amount of goods and
services sold. The Dayton Company establishes the practice of giving 5 percent of pretax
profits back to the community in 1946. In doing so, it becomes the second American
company to establish a preset amount of annual giving. In 1962 when the company
created a chain of retail stores Stewart Widdess and his team began the search of a new
name, thus the beginning of Target. On May 1, 1962 Target has its first grand opening in
Roseville, Minn. Target is now the second largest discount retailer in the United States.
By 2001, Target has chain stores located throughout fortyseven states. In 2005, Target
exceeds $50 billion in annual sales for the first time. Target’s purpose is to fulfill the
needs and fuel the potential of guests by delivering outstanding value, continuous
innovation and exceptional experience consistently fulfilling their Expect More. Pay
Less.® brand promise. Target’s competitors are Walmart, Walgreens, Staples, GameStop,
Babies R Us, and Dicks Sporting Goods. Target has a vast amount of products including
but not limited to: food and produce, electronics, beauty and cosmetics, shoes,
sportswear, clothing, bath, bedding, appliances, furniture. jewelry and accessories, and
toys. This research project will focus on the Target located in Bainbridge,OH.
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2.2. Description of the community
This research project is based on the geographic region of Geauga County, OH. Geauga
County has a population of 93,972. Geauga County is made up of Bainbridge, Chardon,
Aurora, and several other surrounding cities. As shown in the graph below Geauga
County consists of 96% white, 2%
black, 1% hispanic, and 1% other. There
is a very equal divide between gender
with 52% of the population consisting of
females while the other 48% are males.
The average median household income
in Geauga County is $66,428 while
Ohio’s is $48,081. Compared to the rest
of the country Geauga County’s cost of
living is 4.9% higher than the U.S. average. The median home cost is $182,600.
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2.3. Overview of the business or organization’s current culture and employee
engagement strategies
Target hires from ages 15 and up. Sixty percent of employees are either in secondary or
postsecondary school. Most employees are between the ages of 17 and 40. Bainbridge
Target employs 143 team members. There is a calendar in the break room that displays
all employees birthdays and anniversaries. The break room is appropriately decorated for
every holiday season and there are usually games, puzzles, and trivia sheets that
employees can complete during their breaks. Target supplies food to employees on all
holidays and on other select days throughout the years. They also have paycheck
pancakes where there is pancakes for employees on every payday friday.
Nonbreakroom engagement strategies include giving employees store credit or other
incentives each time they get a guest to sign up for a RedCard. Target scores workers
based on their speed, pleasantness, customer feedback, and a variation of other
measurable achievements. Target employees earn competitive pay, health insurance, paid
time off, vacation days, 401k, life insurance, and many other benefits. All employees get
10% of all merchandise sold in target. Target has several different
departments which include: Pizza Hut, StarBucks,
pharmacy, frontlines, backlines, and produce.
Throughout the year target team members will
have huddles where the manager or LOD discusses
tactics that should be used, new strategies and
goals, or acknowledges work well done.
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3. RESEARCH METHODS USED IN THE STUDY
3.1. Description and rationale of research methodologies selected to
conduct the research study
We utilized several different research strategies in order to understand what measures
would most effectively increase the amount of engagement among employees at Target in
Bainbridge,OH.
Research Method Rationale
1. Manager Interview Gain an overall perspective of how our
company aims to keep employees
engaged (Primary Data)
2. Employee Survey
Sample 1
Gain insight on current employee
engagement
3. Customer Survey Understand customer's assessment of
employee engagement
4. Employee Survey
Sample 2
Gain view of employee interest and view
of company
5. Internet Research
Employee Interest Tactics
Assess how others try to engage
employees and understand why they are
not engaged
6. Internet Research
Employee Relations
Understand the common relationship
between coworkers in retail
7. Internet Research
Target Corporate Responsibility
Understand Targets ideologies and
current goal plans
8. Focus Group
1&2
Test proposed plan with current
employees (10 people each)
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3.2. Process used to conduct the selected research methods
1. Manager Interview
We conducted an interview with Target’s store manager Lori Carson on January 28, 2016. This
interview allowed us to gain further knowledge on Target’s current ideologies on customer
engagement and relations. This gave us a better idea of how much money is currently spent on
trying to keep employees engaged.
2. Employee Survey Sample 1
We conducted a survey from 67 out of the 143 employees. The results of the surveys allowed us
to measure how employees feel about work and company engagement. This helps understand
how much more should be invested into engaging employees. It also helps us understand how
employees perceive the satisfaction of their guests. This further helps us understand how
engaged employees are but also provides a way to measure the success of our proposed ideas.
3. Customer Survey
We went throughout the Bainbridge store and gave several customers an oral interview. We
interviewed twelve different guests. These one on one interviews allowed us to gauge the
thoughts of everyday customers and understand the vibe they received from employees. The
survey provided customers’ perspective of employee engagement and interest in their jobs. Our
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customer surveys also provided another way to measure the success of the newly implemented
ideas.
4. Employee Survey Sample 2
Our second survey presented to employees yielded 20 results. These results demonstrate
employees view of Target as a whole. It also allows employees to provide suggestions that will
boost employee engagement and their overall satisfaction of being a Target employee. These
results will aid in the process of deciding which tactics will be most successful in achieving the
goal defined by our proposed plan.
5. Internet Research Employee Interest Tactics
This secondary data allowed us to understand common tactics used by companies to keep their
employees engaged. It also allows us to understand how much companies are willing to spend to
ensure that more of their workers are positively engaged. We gained a better understanding of
the purpose of the tactics that Lori, the store manager, informed us that Target already uses.
6. Internet Research Employee Relations
Our research of trends in employee relations gave us a idea of how to improve relationships
between coworkers. This is important because we believe that if you had good relationships with
your peers you will enjoy your job more thus being more engaged. We related this information to
the responses we received from our employee surveys and discovered a direct correlation that
will allow us to understand how to effectively break the barriers between coworkers and also
workers and management.
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7. Internet Research Target Corporate Responsibilities
This research allowed us to ensure that our proposed ideas coincides with Target’s current
ideologies and goals. It provided further insight into what Target companies should be doing
from corporates view. Researching this information allowed us to improve our proposed
activities by intertwining them with current Target policies and goals.
8. Focus Group 1&2
We conducted a focus groups with two different groups of customers asking the same questions.
We asked their opinions on some of the strategies we created to help us engage employees and
create better relationships throughout the company. This allowed us to get another opinion to our
ideas and understand ways that our ideas can be improved. We also gained several new ideas
from the responses we received. This gave us an idea of how many employees found our ideas
effective, which allows us to set goals for how long it should take before we see and
improvement due to our newly implemented ideas and also what areas we should expect
improvement in.
4. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE STUDY
4.1. Findings of the research study
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The interview conducted with the manager of the store, Lori Carson, demonstrated areas
of employee disengagement and opportunities for improvement. This allowed us to form
a plan that not only further engaged workers but also increased productivity in specific
areas. Our employee surveys informed us on what the employees feel should be changed
in order to get them engaged in their work and the company as a whole. Surveys given to
Target guests gave another perspective of what areas customers believed workers were
disengaged in. All of this data put together allows us to form a plan that satisfies all. We
have accessed the pains of managers, employees, and also customers. Knowing what
each group feels can be improved allows us not to only increase production by engaging
more workers but it also allows us to engage customers as well.
Our internet research allowed us to understand why Gallop’s report is sadly very
accurate.The Internet research demonstrated both positive and negative policies
companies are utilizing for employee engagement. Reviewing Gallup’s report helped us
create a much more reasonable and attainable goal as to how many employees we should
expect to be engaged. The report also explained that disengagement is significantly tied
with the actions of mangers. We also gained a deeper understanding of ways many
companies engage their companies and how much they spend on it.
In the past, everyone knew all their coworkers and had outside relationships with most
of them. In today's society very few people interact with their coworkers beyond
company doors. Several statistics show that people who have close and appropriate
relationships with their coworkers are more engaged when they are at work.
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Conducting a focus group gave insight into what current employees and managers
positively responded to. Many employees are willing to do more as long as it deems
valuable to them. In fact, reportedly 18 of the 20 employees who participated in our focus
group said that they like when they are assigned different tasks and are allowed to do
something other than their designated daily tasks.
4.2. Conclusions based on the findings
Research Method Conclusions
1. Manager Interview
★ Target has several tactics to increase employee engagement currently enacted
★ Target is setting goals and also measuring a results and reporting it back to employees
2. Employee Survey Sample 1
★ Employees understand the specific goals they are expected to meet however, there is no clear rationale of explaining goals
★ Employees understands if they are engaged or not
3. Customer Survey ★ Customers can tell which employees are engaged and which are not
★ Customer perception of employees affects their experience and ultimately Target’s amount of profits
4. Employee Survey Sample 2
★ Employees take pleasure in being able to do different jobs
★ The repetitiveness of the job directly affects workers disengagement
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5. Internet Research Employee Interest
★ Disengagement is a worldwide problem
★ There are many ideas of how to fix said problem
6. Internet Research Employee Relations
★ Employee relationships have a direct correlation with employee engagement
7. Internet Research Target Corporate Responsibilities
★ Understanding Targets policies, beliefs, and long term goals
★ Evaluating previous Target customs and understanding how reenacting them can increase profit and employee engagement
8. Focus Group 1&2
★ Knowing what employees respond to
★ What engages employees or what things do they feel have purpose
We have concluded that in order to increase employee engagement we must also focus on
manager behaviors, employee relationships, and how working for Target can bring value to
employees lives. We also must find a way to differentiate our employees from our competitors
employees. We want to show that our workers have more meaning than simply stocking shelves
or checking customers out. We understand that Target already uses very good practices as far as
encouraging employees and commending them on their work. We must still find a way to
increase these practices or better perfect them to ensure that we gain as much employee
engagement as possible. We have created many creative and extensive ideas but we also
understand that there are many simpler things that we should be doing to engage our workers.
Some of these things include simply thanking employees and understanding the depth of the
simple tasks that they do every day. Employees who know that what they are doing is a very big
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part of the company are more engaged and eager to work. Our findings allowed us to understand
what we can do to make Target a better place for customers, employees,and managers. Another
key element found throughout our research phase is that their should not be a barrier between
employees and managers. Although, we have made a distinction for the sake of our plan we
clearly understand that managers are also employees and this is a fact that should reign true in
the workplace.
5. PROPOSED STRATEGIC PLAN
5.1. Objectives and rationale of the proposed plan
Our primary goal is engage Target employees, substantiate long lasting friendships
among employees, and subsequently increase sales by satisfying the needs of more
customers. This proposal will also commemorate past ideologies used by the Target
company in the past and bring them back to life. Target has a long history of giving back
to communities. We will incorporate employees into this tradition by not only giving 5%
of our earnings back to local schools but by also going out into the community and
personally helping others. The most important thing we aim to achieve is making every
Target employee feel important and valued.
Objectives Rationale
Increase employee engagement Disengaged employees cost companies and businesses millions of dollars each year. Engaging as many employees as possible will save us money by increasing productivity
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Giving back to the community Giving back to the community increases local awareness of businesses and increases customer loyalty. On the other hand employees working together create positive bonds and feel a greater sense of self worth
Get more customers to sign up for RedCards
Customers who have a RedCard will shop at our store more than those who do not. The more RedCard sign ups we have the more money we can potentially earn.
5.2. Proposed activities and timeline
Red Teams:
We will introduce RedTeams November 1,2016.
This date was chosen because November is a
very busy month and employees must work
together during this time in order to successfully
satisfy guest needs. Employees will be separated
into various teams and will compete to gain the
most RedCard signups and completing several
other benchmarks. RedTeams create healthy competition in the workplace and allows
employees to work together. All teams will receive a monthly reward based on the final
rankings. This engages workers and encourages them to strive for success. RedTeams
also increases productivity among workers increases sales. Competing to gain more
RedCard signups attracts more loyal and frequent shopping guests also increases sales.
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Holidays at Target:
In 1963, Dayton’s would create a Santa auditorium and would bring several childhood
stories to life such as Christmas Carol, Cinderella, Peter Pan, and many more classics. In
spirit of embracing past traditions practiced by Target we will reinvent “Holidays at
Dayton”. Starting December 3, 2016, employees will dress up and act out select stories.
This will occur every following Saturday in the month of December. This allows
employees to work together while entertaining guests. We will also have promotional
tieins each week that corresponds with the
specific characters that will be represented
by customers. For example, if employees
are dressed as Star Wars characters than we
would have a special discount on select
Star Wars merchandise that week. This will
also draw in more customers because many families will come in to see the characters.
Annual Shift Swap:
On January 1, 2017, we will begin an annual team
member swap. Select workers will be moved to a
randomly selected department. This allows
employees to do different tasks, work with different
employees, and learn the basics of working in the
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department they have been assigned to. Since Target has over 100 employees many do
not have the chance to interact with each other. Shift Swap allows employees to have
healthy encounters with other workers they normally would not come in contact with.
Annual shift swap day creates new relationships and allows workers to explore new
positions. It also is a way to train employees in different areas which can be very
beneficial for the company.
Target Team Meeting
Starting in January 2017, there will be a fun meeting for all team members. In this
meeting managers will discuss goals that were not met as well as ones the ones that were
met. They will discuss how we should aim to achieve goals that were unattained and why
theses goals are important. Employees will be recognized for their hard work and
dedication. Also employees will receive further insight into the company's current
standings. The purpose of this meeting is to let employees know that they are a valuable
asset to the company and that they are trusted with valuable information. This meeting
should also increase the esteem of workers and make them more engaged in their work.
Food and entertainment will be provided at
all meetings. This will also be a paid
meeting.
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5.3 Proposed metrics or key performance indicators to measure plan effectiveness
Our goal is to engage employees and create healthy peer relationships while increasing
profits. In order to track the status of these goals we will do the following:
Goal
Measuring Goals Success
Engage Employees ● We will create a new question on the current online customer survey that asks them to evaluate their cashiers engagement and overall engagement from all employees
● Compare sales year with implemented ideas to the sales of the prior year
Create Healthy Relationships Among Employees
● Evaluate each different teams ability to work together and reach specified goals
Attract loyal customers ● Track the number of customers signing up for RedCards and using Cartwheel, the target app.
6. Proposed Budget
The following are necessary costs elements of the proposed plan:
Activity Cost
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Employee Incentives $20,000
Holiday’s at Target $40,000
Mandatory Meeting $3,500
Total Cost $63,500
The proposed budget is created to estimate expenses necessary for the Target located in
Bainbridge, OH to carry out our proposal. Employee incentives derive from Red Teams we
expect to spend twenty thousand dollars on prizes and rewards for employees. The budget
created for “Holiday’s at Target” will cover store decorations, employee costumes, and event
advertising. Target will also be expected to cover labor costs for Target team member mandatory
meeting.
Return on investment:
Our proposal will effectively increase employee engagement, although this holds no cash value it
will increase the value of the company. Engaged employees are more productive and increases a
company's profit. We also expect to draw in a larger spectrum of customers.
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