Training is Overrated
Years ago, one of my first jobs was working at Nordstrom. I had been working in the distribution center on a seasonal basis. When layoffs were approaching my manager offered to help me out.
He recommended me to the Alderwood store north of Seattle, where I was hired to work in Mens Sportswear.
My first day I got about an hour of training on the cash register, how to mark price tickets for returns and then set loose. The total policy manual consisted of "use your best judgment," and don't be late. Not showing up was one of the few things that as a matter of policy would lead to termination. Showing up ten minutes late could get me fired.
Nordstrom at the time just passed a billion dollars in annual sales, had 65 stores across the country, and the policy was use your best judgment.
While attending school in New York, I worked at Barneys New York. I worked ten hours a week, during evenings and on Saturday. Before anybody was allowed on the sales floor, we had to undergo three weeks of training. Barneys is a terrific company, Fred Pressman, son of the original Barney, introduced Giorgio Armani to the US.
But Barneys never got to where Nordstrom is in sales or success. For the past year, If you had invested in Nordstrom stock you would be very happy. Year-to-date sales has eclipsed five billion dollars for 191 stores. Barneys ended-up barely avoiding bankruptcy by selling out to a Japanese partner Isetan, and now is owned by Jones Apparel.
So which approach to training is correct? The reason Nordstrom could train people as they did at that time was culture. Nordstrom has such a strong and defined culture, that there isn't any ambiguity for a new employee trying to understand what the company stands for, nor is it foggy about an individual's personal responsibility within that framework.
Culture for a growing company is very important. If you read our Philosophy and Culture handbook, you'll get a very good introduction to what we believe. But it doesn't pay dividends until each individual employee internalizes our culture and evangelizes that culture to everybody. If you have absolute conviction in our core beliefs and our Company culture, you will sell a ton of pools.
Read the handbook, talk to each other and be positive about our culture, preach it to our customers and reap the success. Our culture is not about what we don't do (and in fact only Ron or I should make a decision about what we won't do for a customer) it's about what we do. We build the absolute best pools in the shortest amount of time for the least amount of money possible. Believe in it, believe in the Company, believe you can do it, sell a ton of pools.
He recommended me to the Alderwood store north of Seattle, where I was hired to work in Mens Sportswear.
My first day I got about an hour of training on the cash register, how to mark price tickets for returns and then set loose. The total policy manual consisted of "use your best judgment," and don't be late. Not showing up was one of the few things that as a matter of policy would lead to termination. Showing up ten minutes late could get me fired.
Nordstrom at the time just passed a billion dollars in annual sales, had 65 stores across the country, and the policy was use your best judgment.
While attending school in New York, I worked at Barneys New York. I worked ten hours a week, during evenings and on Saturday. Before anybody was allowed on the sales floor, we had to undergo three weeks of training. Barneys is a terrific company, Fred Pressman, son of the original Barney, introduced Giorgio Armani to the US.
But Barneys never got to where Nordstrom is in sales or success. For the past year, If you had invested in Nordstrom stock you would be very happy. Year-to-date sales has eclipsed five billion dollars for 191 stores. Barneys ended-up barely avoiding bankruptcy by selling out to a Japanese partner Isetan, and now is owned by Jones Apparel.
So which approach to training is correct? The reason Nordstrom could train people as they did at that time was culture. Nordstrom has such a strong and defined culture, that there isn't any ambiguity for a new employee trying to understand what the company stands for, nor is it foggy about an individual's personal responsibility within that framework.
Culture for a growing company is very important. If you read our Philosophy and Culture handbook, you'll get a very good introduction to what we believe. But it doesn't pay dividends until each individual employee internalizes our culture and evangelizes that culture to everybody. If you have absolute conviction in our core beliefs and our Company culture, you will sell a ton of pools.
Read the handbook, talk to each other and be positive about our culture, preach it to our customers and reap the success. Our culture is not about what we don't do (and in fact only Ron or I should make a decision about what we won't do for a customer) it's about what we do. We build the absolute best pools in the shortest amount of time for the least amount of money possible. Believe in it, believe in the Company, believe you can do it, sell a ton of pools.
posted by Don Sheu at 2:39 PM
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