Fair Pay and Creating the Right Environment for Frontline Workers

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This chapter explores the importance of fair pay and incentives for frontline retail and blue-collar workers. It discusses the trend of raising the minimum wage and highlights Best Buy's efforts in this movement. The chapter also examines the impact of financial incentives on performance and discusses Best Buy's approach of incorporating bonuses into base pay. Furthermore, it emphasizes the need for a strong employee value proposition and the importance of offering opportunities for advancement and skills acquisition.

When Hubert Joly became CEO of Best Buy in 2012, online retailers like Amazon were exploding in popularity, and Best Buy was facing a sea change.

But Joly famously turned around the struggling electronics retailer by changing the organization’s holistic strategy. He prioritized fair pay for workers, opportunities for employees to advance, and working with consumers, the larger community, and even competitors.

In this episode, you’ll learn how Joly re-defined Best Buy’s purpose and aligned incentives with that larger strategy. You’ll also learn how he found mutually beneficial ways for the company to work with competitors and suppliers, including Amazon, the e-commerce giant that once threatened the company’s survival.

Key episode topics include: strategy, business management, corporate social responsibility, leadership and managing people, retail strategy, leading through change, leadership transition, innovation, customer service.

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· Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Best Buy’s Hubert Joly on Walking the Talk of Stakeholder Capitalism (2021)

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