Store Operations & Human Resources
A retail jewellery sale normally requires face-to-face interaction between the customer and the sales associate, during which the items being considered for purchase are removed from the display cases and presented one at a time with their respective qualities explained to the customer. Consumer surveys indicate that a key factor in the retail purchase of jewellery is the customer’s confidence in the sales associate.
Customer satisfaction
A customer satisfaction index covering 12 criteria was introduced during 2005/06 in certain trial stores and was expanded to all stores during 2006/07. Each store is benchmarked against others in its district, region and across the division based on customer feedback. The scores are reported on a monthly basis, highlighting areas of good performance and those for improvement.
Training
Providing knowledgeable and responsive customer service is a priority, and is regarded by management as a key point of differentiation. It is believed that highly trained store sales staff, with the necessary product knowledge to communicate the quality, attributes and competitive value of the merchandise, are critical to the success of the business. The development of the customer satisfaction index has improved the division’s ability to design and implement its training programmes by identifying areas of strength and opportunity.
The US division’s substantial training and incentive programmes, for all levels of store staff, are designed to play an important role in recruiting, educating and retaining qualified store staff. The preferred practice is to promote managers at all levels from within the business in order to maintain continuity and familiarity with the division’s procedures.
Retail sales personnel are encouraged to become certified diamontologists by graduating from a comprehensive correspondence course provided by the Diamond Council of America. Over 50% of the division’s full time sales staff who have completed their probationary period are certified diamontologists or are training to become certified. All store managers are required to be thus qualified. The number of certified diamontologists employed by the US division increased by 9% in 2006/07. Employees often continue their professional development through completion of further courses on gemstones.
Goals and incentives
All store employees are set daily performance standards and commit to goals. Sales contests and incentive programmes also reward the achievement of specific targets with travel or additional cash awards. In addition to sales-based incentives, bonuses are paid to store managers based on store contribution and to district managers based on the achievement of key performance objectives. In 2006/07 approximately 23% (2005/06: 24%) of store personnel remuneration was commission and incentive-based. US head office bonuses are based on the performance of the division against predetermined annual profit targets. Promotion and salary decisions for principally non-management head office personnel are based on performance against service level and production goals; for managers they are based on annual objectives and performance against individual job requirements.
Store manager
Each store is led by a store manager who is responsible for various store level operations including overall store sales and branch level variable costs; certain personnel matters such as recruitment and training; and customer service. Administrative matters, including purchasing, merchandising, payroll, preparation of training materials, credit operations and divisional operating procedures are consolidated at divisional level. This allows the store manager to focus on those tasks that can be best executed at a store level, while enabling the business to benefit from economies of scale in administration and to help ensure consistency of execution across all the stores.
Recruitment, retention and promotion
Although staff recruitment is primarily the responsibility of store and district managers, a central recruitment function supplies field recruiters from its US head office in Akron, Ohio. Methods such as internet recruitment are used to provide stores with a larger number of better-qualified candidates from which to select new staff.
Management believes that the retention and recruitment of highly-qualified and well-trained staff in the US head office is essential to supporting the stores. A comprehensive in-house curriculum supplements specific job training and emphasises the importance of the working partnership between stores and the head office.
A key motivator for all staff, and in particular for store based employees, is the division’s practice of internal promotion. All district managers and Vice Presidents of Regional Operations have been a store manager within the division.
UK
Training
Management regards customer service as an essential element in the success of its business. The Signet Jewellery Academy, a multi-year programme and framework for training and measuring standards of capability, is operated for all store staff. As part of this programme, 1,000 sales associates and 1,100 store managers and assistant store managers (representing 81% of store management) have now passed the Jewellery Education & Training Level 1 qualification accredited by the National Association of Goldsmiths. Upon completion of each of the four levels, staff are better able to deal with customer requirements. The programme was enhanced during 2006/07 to improve basic product knowledge and jewellery repair skills and further developments are planned for 2007/08.
ACE, an improved customer service and training programme was introduced in 2006/07 and will be developed further in 2007/08. ACE is a flexible programme consisting of six elements that better enable store staff to meet the needs of customers.
In conjunction with the Signet Jewellery Academy, training in management skills for all tiers of store operations management was developed further last year to support the enhanced store associate training programme and to build general management skills.
All store personnel have daily performance targets. They are given training and weekly feedback on their performance from store and field management to help them achieve these targets.
Recruitment and retention
Recruitment procedures, including online facilities, continue to improve the suitability of new store personnel, helping to ensure that they meet key basic requirements and are motivated to work within a jewellery store environment. Field and human resources management are responsible for the recruitment, review, training and development of sales staff, thereby ensuring consistency in operating standards and procedures throughout the business. All new store staff receive a structured induction programme that covers all aspects of store operations, product knowledge and customer service. A financial reward is received upon completion.
The division-wide commission-based remuneration programme was in operation for the whole year in 2006/07 for the first time. The level of commission paid is dependent on a combination of store and individual performance. To continue to improve the recruitment and retention of top quality staff, a three year programme to enhance the employee benefits package was begun in 2006/07.
Promotion
The division’s preferred policy is to promote store management from within the business; approximately 80% of store management appointed in 2006/07 were so promoted. Each chain always has a number of sales staff who are qualified to advance to store management level, thus assuring the availability of newly trained managers familiar with the division’s operating standards and procedures.
Store support
In order to increase staff selling time and to improve efficiency, operating procedures are routinely reviewed to identify opportunities to enhance customer service and reduce in-store administrative tasks. The Signet intranet provides a computer-based platform for improved communication between stores and head office, with sales floor and back office administrative functions being simplified and standardised through this medium.
Opportunities for better store procedures and employment practices were identified through a staff opinion survey. It is believed that the results provide a basis for further improvement in the motivation and retention of staff.
Head office
Management believes that successful recruitment, training and retention of head office staff is important. Accordingly, structured recruitment, training and performance management systems are in place. Internal career advancement is encouraged and is supported by succession planning. Teamwork and service to the stores are encouraged through a performance bonus plan for head office staff, which is based on the division’s results. In the first quarter of 2006/07 part of the divisional head office function was relocated in order to enhance efficiency. The implementation of a three year programme to improve training in head office will commence in 2007/08.