STORES Magazine - January 2008 - (Page 30)

EXECUTIVE SUITE / COVER STORY Retailers expand their efforts to lure – and reel in – top young executives BY SUSAN REDA, EXECUTIVE EDITOR I t’s not the competition that’s keeping retail CEOs awake at night. It’s not the economy, nor is it top-line growth. All that tossing and turning at 2 a.m. is the result of a growing talent crisis. The scarcest, most valuable resource in retailing is no longer financial capital, CEOs say. It’s talent. Retail companies are facing a shortage of high-quality managers that threatens to alter economic performance and jeopardize top-level succession. A number of major retail chains, including Macy’s, JCPenney, Saks Fifth Avenue and Kohl’s, have spent the past few years overhauling their recruitment strategies and training programs to target, attract, groom – and hopefully retain – promising young talent. It’s an uphill battle. With nearly every other industry facing the same talent shortfall, retail companies find themselves competing against financial services firms and CPG giants (to name just a few) in their attempts to lure top candidates. Retail HR executives say formulating a talent management strategy is a must, but whether or not training programs will eventually fill the retail pipeline with talent and ease the looming shortage remains to be seen. “Having a strategy in place for attracting college graduates and developing future managers appears to be a solid investment, but this is a daunting challenge,” says Kathy Mance, vice president of the NRF Foundation, the education and research arm of the National Retail Federation. “We’ve all read umpteen articles on the Boomer exodus, the constraints on corporate spending and the fickleness of Gen Y. These factors have come together to form the perfect talent storm.” The data bears this out. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the United States will face a 30 STORES / JANUARY 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - January 2008

STORES Magazine - January 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Build a 'Bot Sneak Peek at Fashion Trends What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Cover Story: Fishing for Talent Retail CEO Compensation Research Concept2Watch E-Commerce Payment Solutions Online Merchandising POS LPInformation LP Vantage Point Newsbeat Industry Watch Cover Story: Making LP PCI-Compliant Mall Security Video Surveillance Industry Perspective Forum RFID Business Intelligence Data Management Logistics Turning Green into Gold Love of – and for – the Outdoors Loeb Retail Letter ARTS Update Point of View NRF News Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - January 2008

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