Maintaining Brand in a Recession:

How Your Talent Distinguishes the Customers' Experience

February 24, 2009

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EMS designed their management dashboard to include what mattered most: Imperative Business Objectives (such as revenue growth, self-funding environment, superior customer service), Key Performance Indicators (such as traffic, conversion, gross margin, selling productivity, increased number of high value customers, customer re-purchase rate), and tactical priorities (from District Manager coaching, to “clean & green” mentality that eliminated waste, aligning guide behavior with selling strategy, and keeping business language customer-focused).

Regular meetings reviewing scorecard metrics focused on what to continue and what to do more of, including commitment from their District Managers to execute on what mattered most. So that they did not “become numb” to measures, dashboard metrics were discussed conversationally and always tied to the brand and value proposition-- did the customer like their experience with guides to decide to try the product. Every meeting began and ended with people discussing what they had contributed to the results. EMS’s results in the fall of 2008, the worst economic climate in retail history, still showed positive results.

Talent metrics supported the business success. EMS’s talent rated themselves as more satisfied and engaged than in prior years. Turnover was lower in three key stores’ than they had seen in 8 years; everyone shared pride in a 20% increase in talent who said “I can’t imagine leaving.” These results correlated with an 11% increase of guides who believe their job is important to the company mission, a 16% increase in agreement with their manager on top priorities, and a 13% increase in having someone care about their personal development.

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