MMR: Mass Market Retailers, June 24, 2019

MASS MARKET RETAILINGÕS MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN Melissa Kremer that it is an important part of her role as well Our commitment to our team is central to our culture and who we are as an employer she says We work hard to support our team members with opportunities to learn and empower them to do their best work which is one of the reasons we hold up mentorships of all kinds including traditional reverse and peer to peer Our teams work closely with their leaders to identify new growth opportunities and challenges that make the most sense for their individual career and development goals and are genuine and authentic to them More and more I hope to encourage mentorship by sharing my own experiences oversight of the companys benefit plan and recruitment She was promoted to senior vice president of retail health in 2013 and appointed senior vice president and chief customer officer in 2014 followed by a promotion to executive vice president in 2015 She was named to her current position in 2017 Her path to the C suite helped her realize the importance of mentoring and being a mentor My first mentor probably didnt even know at the time how crucial he was to my staying with Hy Vee she says At the same time its a duty and a reward to mentor others to help them grow to see them achieve A young lady I hired as a parttime employee just made vice president she did the work she has the skill and she has the talent all I did was help with a pathway Finding people has changed dramatically prompting Laing to test out new avenues It used to be as a retailer that youd post a job and people would come to you Today youve got to go find them she says adding that she also taps a recruiter whose job is to identify good matches to join the Hy Vee management team As we grow and expand we have to find and develop talent faster than we ever have before Melissa Kremer Executive VP Chief HR Officer Target MINNEAPOLIS In her role as executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Target Corp Melissa Kremer is responsible for all aspects of human resources for the retailers global team of 350000 employees Its a really exciting time to work in HR Kremer says External trends data technology talent strategies and business models are all converging Connecting it all in an experience that our guests love takes vision agility and compassion on the part of our team This is the work I love to do most helping our team make connections develop their skills and leadership abilities and deliver on our purpose for our guests I also love helping them find the resources they need to live full and balanced lives Its all about creating a culture where our team members feel inspired and challenged to be their best every day Kremer notes that Targets efforts to do right by its people have helped the retailer attract the talent it needs to staff its stores and serve its customers In 2017 we announced our industry leading commitment to increase our minimum starting hourly wage Kremer recalls In a very tight labor market the response has been telling This past holiday we set out to hire 120000 seasonal team members By offering a higher starting wage we were able to reach our seasonal hiring goal ahead of schedule which gave us more time to train and prepare for the busiest season of the year It made a big difference and our holiday results clearly showed what an excellent job they did But as important as our wage commitment is its just one facet of our teams experience An exciting time to work in HR in a company where they find so much support to grow their skills and careers make a difference in their communities and take care of themselves and their families For example we know paid leave is incredibly important to our team so were shifting from parental leave to paid family leave because we know there are many different situations when a team member needs time off to care for a family member across a career at Target Equally important retail workforces are unique in their mix of hourly and salaried positions so one of Targets philosophies is to offer the same family focused benefits like paid family leave backup care and adoption reimbursement to both hourly and salaried team members in the field as we do at headquarters Kremer joined Target in 2004 as a recruiter Since then she has held HR leadership positions supporting Targets largest commercial businesses and has also led the key talent functions of recruiting learning leadership development talent management and strategic workforce planning She has been instrumental in driving the HR strategies behind Targets organizational transformation delivering largescale structural and operational changes and building global HR teams Kremer says that one of the early highlights in her career at Target was the opening of the companys headquarters location in Bangalore India in 2005 I was fairly new to Target it was my first foray into global leadership and it was such a rewarding experience she recalls Another highlight came a few years ago when Target was developing its omnichannel strategy We built the team and capabilities that today are placing Target in the retail winners circle quarter after quarter by successfully blending physical and digital shopping in all the ways that matter most to our guests Kremer says Diversity and inclusion are also important to Targets business and the experience of its customers Our team serves all families and draws relevance from all backgrounds Kremer says And our diversity and inclusion efforts are driven by teams across Target coming together to create relevant experiences for each other our guests and communities In a nod to the theme of this issue of MMR Kremer points out that Target also stands tall when it comes to advancing women in the workforce Women comprise more than 50 of our U S management she says And the percentage of women in our total U S workforce approaches 60 We have a deep focus on bringing more women into business areas like technology and supply chain The gender diversity within our leadership team and board of directors is also something were proud of and work hard to protect and advance Given those priorities Kremer notes that Target places a great deal of emphasis on talent development and mentoring and adds Sheila Laing Executive VP Chief Administrative Officer Hy Vee WEST DES MOINES Iowa In the less than two years since Sheila Laing was promoted to executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Hy Vee Inc she has overseen major enhancements to employee benefits at the supermarket chains 245 plus stores Among the enhancements are health savings accounts parental leave 100 paid maternity leave adoption reimbursement healthy lifestyles wellness programs and critical to many retail employees part time insurance benefits We have pushed our insurance company Midwest Heritage Insurance Services to help us create medical dental disability and other insurance benefits for variable hour employees for several years we finally found a carrier with a platform capable of this offer and willing to create it with us for part time employees says Laing whose career spans more than 30 years at Hy Vee We cant operate without good people and having wellpriced valuable benefit offerings is an important component of the health and satisfaction of our employees Weve just passed our one year anniversary of this new benefit and have more than 6500 plans written She notes that the retailer has 5700 16 and 17 year old employees many working their first job and more than 28000 18 to 24 year olds many still covered by parents insurance plans but not all of them There are also about 18000 adult part time employees Hy Vees program for part time employees the first of its kind in the retail industry offers 11 elective benefit options that range from dental to pet insurance Hy Vee and Midwest Heritage worked in tandem to identify a wish list of benefits A companywide survey indicated that 80 of part time employees considered benefits a key component when choosing a part time position The benefits program for parttime employees is just one of the recent developments that have made Laings role at Hy Vee so satisfying She also revels in celebrating employees and lauding their accomplishments An atmosphere of collaboration respect and open communication is what she believes makes Hy Vee special I feel the best in my role in two ways when I am working one on one with an employee and can help them find a solution or resolve a problem and when I am talking and training or explaining in front of a group of employees and I see smiles Beyond her executive role at the company Laing is a member Sheila Laing of the board of directors of the Iowa Healthiest State Initiative HSI which was created to promote health and well being by contributing to programs that make it easier for Iowans to live healthier She sees parallels between that organizations work and her efforts at Hy Vee There are numerous parallels the goal of HSI is for Iowa to be the healthiest state in the nation it is currently number 21 When we have physically moving emotionally strong and mentally healthy citizens of our state we have them as employees moving our company forward Making sure that programs for healthier lives are in place is one competitive edge she uses in courting top talent to Hy Vee With the U S at record low unemployment rates Laing has to ensure that Hy Vee is competitive in the marketplace Her toolbox includes a newly revitalized recruiting department tuition assistance forgivable loan programs and refer a friend incentives Talent development is crucial she says We are a growing company building and innovating as we grow We need experience but we also need fresh new ideas Identifying talent and then developing that talent to fill future roles are key to our success Laing herself is a case study of Hy Vees emphasis on nurturing talent and then promoting its rising stars She began her career at Hy Vee in 1987 as a parttime checker stocker She rose through the ranks at store level from cheese island clerk to shift manager and eventually went to a distribution center where she served as human resources manager of distribution She was promoted to director of human resources in 1997 and named assistant vice president of human resources at the chains Chariton Iowa distribution facility in 1999 In 2005 Laing became assistant vice president of employee benefits and in 2009 was named vice president of human resources a role that included 40 MMR June 24 2019