Canadian Retailer - Winter 2016 - 8

UNDER THE BANNER

THE POWER OF PEOPLE

Kamy Scarlett leads Best Buy Canada's human resources
department through ability, passion and trust in her teams
BY SEAN C. TARRY
GETTING TO KNOW KAMY SCARLETT
Candid questions from Canadian Retailer
elicit candid responses from one of Canada's
top human resources leaders, and speaker
at RCC's upcoming 2016 HR Conference.
What makes a great leader?
Self-awareness, and the willingness to
surround yourself with people who are
more expert than you are.
What's your favourite getaway locale?
I love travelling to the Maritimes and, of
course, living in beautiful BC is incredible.
Kamy Scarlett and the Best Buy Geek Squad

KAMY Scarlett is the senior vice president, retail and chief human

resources officer for Best Buy Canada, a role that has her enacting
the human resources and talent management strategies for the
Geek Squad, Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile brands in over 180
stores across Canada.
Scarlett began her career in retail over 30 years ago, starting
with a role at Zellers. She has harnessed invaluable experience in
both front line and support functions for iconic Canadian retailers
such as Dylex, Hudson's Bay, Loblaws and Grafton Fraser. Often
referred to as a 'unicorn' for her uniquely defined experiences in
retail, Scarlett brings a wealth of knowledge, a strong leadership
mentality and an acute skillset to lead her teams.
She has long attributed her success to the wisdom and dedication
of her colleagues. By encouraging her teams at Best Buy Canada
to draw upon the power of its people, Scarlett is now bringing the
company into a new retail frontier, all while maintaining a focus
on providing incredible customer experiences.
Known for her passion for people and ability to drive transformation, Scarlett believes the qualities that lead to successful
change are the same qualities that make a strong leader. Enacting the willingness to change requires a culture based on faith
in leadership and firmly rooted in open and transparent strategy and communication. She helps to embody this message of
trust and relay it to her teams, remaining firm on the idea that
people only fear change when they don't understand or trust the
intention behind it.
Kamy Scarlett will be speaking at RCC's 2016 HR Conference.
For more information concerning the conference and registration
information, visit www.rcchrconference.ca.
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CANADIAN RETAILER | WINTER 2016

What's more important-education
or experience?
Both. Education is important, but experience is invaluable-it shows the confidence
and humility to learn from people who
know more than you do.
What's your favourite mobile device?
If I answered "my Jeep" would that be
bad? My iPhone.
Do you shop in-store or online?
Personally from a time perspective, online,
although I love shopping in-store to learn
from other retailers, service models, training programs, layouts and signage.
Which do you prefer-fiction or non-fiction?
Always non-fiction; It's not unheard of for
me to read a biography in a weekend.
How would you describe your management style-hands-on or hands-off?
My team says I'm hands-on but not a
micromanager. I set strategy, remove barriers and work to support them in achieving their goals.
What's the next big game-changer in retail?
Companies always need to be evolving and
adapting, and how customers are choosing
to spend their time is the new currency. As
e-commerce and in-store experiences continue to further complement each other,
retailers need to show greater respect for
the customer's time, by providing the most
seamless shopping experience in any way,
anytime, anywhere they choose to shop.

http://www.rcchrconference.ca

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Winter 2016