This week, I interviewed Jennifer Herskowitz, a Human
Resources manager for Macy’s Inc.
Jennifer was eager to reveal the Macy’s Making Magic Awards campaign
that officially began in 2009 (Herskowitz,
personal communication, April 5).
According to Nohria, Groysberg, and Lee (2008), a strong reward system
is a lever for an organization to fulfill an employee’s basic need: the drive
to acquire. Macy’s has created a
system to reward those in the company who have accomplished goals and created
“magic”, or made a difference within the company. The rewards system is based on several factors: hard number
results, nominations from others in the company, and a review from the team in
the Human Resources department (Herskowitz, personal communication, April
5).
Nohria,
Groysberg, and Lee (2008) mention the importance of a strong culture within a
company to fulfill another basic need: the drive to bond. Herskowitz said that Macy’s Human
Resources takes various steps to help create that culture. Some of the opportunities to bond
within the company are budgets for group outings. For example, company trips to the Giants game or an
afternoon at the bowling alley (Herskowitz, personal communication, April 5). Another way the company encourages
bonding is through volunteering.
Macy’s provides group volunteer opportunities during the workday for
groups to go and spend a half-day (morning or afternoon) volunteering. For example, just last month, Macy’s
sent five groups of 35 people to the San Francisco Food Bank to spend a Friday
afternoon volunteering their time and services (Herskowitz, personal
communication, April 5).
According to Nohria,
Groysberg, and Lee (2008), employees are also driven by the need to
comprehend. Herskowitz said at
Macy’s there is no set career path for any individual. There are several Learning and
Development classes each week, which give insight to other job functions across
the company, and it is not uncommon for people within Macy’s to grow by
transferring to another division or team.
For example, a person at Macys.com just last month transferred from a
managerial role on Site Merchandising team to a managerial on the User
Experience team. This is a new and
interesting role that is not entirely foreign to the manager, but will provide
new challenges and continue to mentally stimulate her (Herskowitz, personal
communication, April 5).
The fourth
drive, according to Nohria, Groysberg,
and Lee (2008) is the drive to defend.
Macy’s has been around for 153 years and still manages to be a
financially secure company. From
2010 to 2011, the Macys.com division almost doubled in size (Herskowitz,
personal communication, April 5).
Herskowitz felt confident that the employees at Macy’s knew that they
were valued employees, and that there is no need for the flight-or-fight
response. According to Herskowitz,
the organization has deep roots and a strong understanding of the importance of
making sure that each person within the organization feels secure within their
position, valued, and able to have their voice heard. As I discussed the four motivational drives with Herskowitz,
she displayed a high amount of confidence that her division of Macy’s, the
Human Resources department, has done its best to acknowledge and address the
drives with all of the employees.
Nohria, N.,
Groysberg, B., and Lee, L. (2008) Employee Motivation: A Powerful New Model, Harvard
Business Review, pp. 1-7.
Based on Jennifer's description, it sounds like Macy's is doing a pretty good job of fulfilling all four drives. Does this map onto your experience as a Macy's employee? Heymann and Barrera note that engagement of employees at the bottom of the ladder is not always as highly prioritized as it should be. Do you think that the systems in place at Macy's do an equally good job of addressing the needs of employees across all levels of the organization?
ReplyDeleteAs of 2009 (the year the company was restructured), there has been quite a bit of emphasis on reward and more so on recognition. As for the Heymann and Barrera article, I actually feel that the employees at the bottom of the ladder (associates) get the most in terms of rewards. They have more opportunities to win awards and receive recognition than any other part of the organization. It's the middle management that I feel Macy's needs to be more aware of rewarding. They do a great job with upper management and those at the bottom of the ladder, but sometimes miss those in between.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing about the reward system at Macys.com. By looking at the ways that they satisfy the employee’s drives, I would assume that the employees are all highly motivated. Would you agree with this assessment? You mentioned in your response that it often feels that the middle management lacks in rewards in comparison to the associates and upper management. What types of rewards do you feel would be effective for this level of employee?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing! Macys sounds like a great place to grow professionally. They offer some really great incentives. If those extrinsic rewards were removed would you be intrinsically motivated to go to work? Or do you think the rewards they offer is a big reason you stay?
ReplyDelete