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People performance (continued)
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Sharing best practices
and developing leaders
at Ahold USA companies
Ahold Annual Report 2012
Ahold at a glance
Investors
perfori
Governan
In the retail industry, managers from different companies sometimes
come together in "share groups" to discuss common issues and
exchange knowledge, to learn from each other and to find out about
practices that have worked well in another company. In that same
spirit, Ahold USA held a District Director Academy in July 2012 that
brought together store operations management from all four of the
U.S. local retail divisions for the first time ever. The three-day meeting
gave participants an opportunity to share best practices in the pursuit
of operational excellence, and focused on the critical role district
directors play in bringing their company strategy to life.
In preparation for the academy, HR teams surveyed district directors
on where they see gaps and challenges in their day-to-day work and
translated these into high priority focus areas. During the three days,
district directors discussed initiatives that worked well in their divisions
in each of these areas - and where they felt they could learn from
each other. Together with their Regional Vice Presidents, they
developed their own regional action plans to apply the practices
they identified as best suited to their local businesses.
The academy included sessions on how to lead teams and build
talent. These addressed how to create a culture where people feel
accountable; techniques for listening, giving feedback and coaching
employees to improve performance; and useful strategies for district
directors to support the talent and bench strength in their districts
and stores.
As a result of the academy, district directors in several divisions have
already rolled out new initiatives to develop more efficient store
processes and to identify and implement best practices within and
across regions. These include holding regular meetings between
store department heads and divisional leadership, and instituting
weekly calls between regional leadership and their teams in the field.
