Organization Name: Holt Renfrew
Industry: Retail
Name of Contact: Tara Deegan, Director, Total Rewards & HR Analytics, Holt Renfrew
Web References: Holt Renfrew, Redwood E-Learning Systems, Canadian HR Reporter, HRPA – Human Resources Professional Association, The Globe and Mail
Description of How Social Media is Used for Business Performance:
According to the Human Resources Professionals Association,
“A robust compensation, rewards and benefits strategy builds higher employee attraction, performance, retention and satisfaction. But one size does not fit all: Designing flexible and effective compensation, benefits and rewards strategies that fit your organization and industry is a significant challenge for all organizations.”
In 2008, Canadian luxury retailer Holt Renfrew was faced with the challenge of ineffectively communicating the company’s superior compensation and rewards package to its 2,200+ employees. For decades, the retailer synonymous with providing outstanding service and value to its customers had fallen short in effectively delivering perks to their employees. As a result, employees were unaware of the program’s added value to their compensation, thus they were not taking full advantage of it’s benefits.
Holt Renfrew’s objective was to design an internal marketing tool that effectively delivered the value of the company’s Compensation Total Rewards program to its employees. “The program needed to embody the same look and feel as B2C programs and convey key attributes of the Holt Renfrew brand: luxury, style, ownership and empowerment,“ says Tara Deegan, Director, Total Rewards & HR Analytics, Holt Renfrew.
“The primary obstacle in designing such an educational tool was crafting a communication strategy that would cater to the varying schedules and levels of computer access available to a significant number of part-time, store-level employees,” says Kelly Hadden, Director, Learning & Development, Holt Renfrew.
With the help of Redwood E-Learning Systems, Holt Renfrew launched an award winning e-magazine solution for its network of employees. This interactive tool features video content, employee testimonials and a compensation calculator to determine an employee’s true hourly rate. The compensation calculator allows employees to better understand their true compensation by adding the dollar value of various benefits to the employee’s hourly rate. Doing so, can clarify that an $11/hour employee truly earns approximately $46/hour. According to a 2002 survey of salaries by The Globe and Mail, “a salesperson at Holt Renfrew can earn as much a $80,000 a year.”
“We have to attract good people and we also have to retain the talent that we have… this program allows us to do both of those things”
Lessons for Others:
In order to remain competitive in attracting and retaining quality talent, it is pertinent that organizations communicate the benefits of being an employee of their company both clearly and creatively. Doing so will foster a positive working environment and passion amongst likeminded employees who share the same appreciation for innovation, quality and efficiency.
Submitted By: Cristina Avila
To contact the author of this entry please email at: cristina.l.avila@hotmail.com
If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Programme Director, Social Media for Business Performance.