In a surprising but not unheard-of move, Home Depot will require its out-of-store employees to work some in-store shifts. This is in the midst of a sales decline, so clearly, some very specific moves are being made.
What’s Changed at Home Depot?
Now, all Home Depot employees are required to work one eight-hour shift every single quarter. This is regardless of their job, or whether or not they usually set foot on the sales floor.
Are Any Employees Exempt?
Not a soul is exempt, and that includes remote workers and senior-level management. Imagine the looks on those poor rich people’s faces when they learned they may actually have to work as hard as the lower-level staff.
Why Is Home Depot Doing This?
There is a method behind this madness; it’s a good idea to bring higher-up employees down to the ground so they can understand what’s truly going on in their company. It’s impossible to truly strategize solutions when you’ve never seen the problems firsthand. That way, when thinking about what the actual customer experiences in their store, they have something to draw from.
In a memo introducing the initiative, Chief Executive Officer Ted Decker said, “We need to stay connected to the core of our business, so we can truly understand the challenges and opportunities our store associates face every day.”
Is This a Good Idea?
This is the type of thing that will work well if employees are excited about it, but it’s safe to say nobody will be. Home Depot should prepare for horrible attitudes aplenty, and if these people don’t feel prepared, it’s easy to see how some of them might quit on the spot.
What Other Companies Are Doing This?
This isn’t the first time this has happened. Taco Bell did this once, and even Elon Musk sees the benefits of it at Tesla. It’s a tested strategy that works.
