VALUING DIVERSITY AND
INCLUSION AT JCPENNEY
At JCPenney, diversity and inclusion are more than slogans. They are part
of the company’s culture and the way JCPenney does business. “If we are to
remain our customers’ No. 1 retail choice, our work force must reflect our
customer base and understand their needs,” says Fernando Serpa, corporate
inclusion and diversity director for JCPenney.
For that reason, diversity at JCPenney extends
beyond race, ethnicity and gender to include all of
the backgrounds, cultures and religions associates
bring to their jobs. That diversity goes hand-in-hand
with inclusion. “Inclusion is the environment we
create that allows these differences to thrive,” says
Serpa. “We want to provide the opportunity for ev-
eryone to fully participate in the success of the business and to be valued for
the distinctive skills, experiences and perspectives they bring to JCPenney.”
For instance, JCPenney is rolling out a company-wide diversity and inclusion training program for all 155,000 associates that will be completed by
next spring. In the home office, Associate Resource Teams (ART) representing African-American, Latino, Asian-American, women and LGBT associates
provide input on marketing campaigns targeting specific consumer groups. At
the store level, regional diversity councils bring together senior managers and
hourly associates to identify the most important issues in their region. “An
associate in one of our stores took it upon himself to learn Spanish to better
serve his customers,” says Serpa. “Today, not only is he the store’s No. 1
salesperson in customer credit applications, he’s helping other associates in
the store learn Spanish.”
The success of JCPenney’s diversity and inclusion initiatives can also be
seen at the company’s Queens, N.Y., store, where 46 percent of the neighborhood’s residents were born outside of the United States, and the store’s
associates come from 34 different countries. “That store has one of the highest sales volumes of any of our stores and a very low turnover of associates,”
says Serpa. “It is a shining example of how diversity and inclusion can lead
to success.”
SHUTTERSTOCK
New York for 11 weeks each summer to
learn about product buying and merchandising.
The best performers have positions waiting for
them when they graduate. Similarly, INROADS
launched a two-year store-management internship program in 2004, which today has 150
diverse college students working in 40 stores
across the country. “If all goes well, the interns
are offered a team leader position at the end
of the program,” says Sanderson. “That person
will be on a career path to have his or her own
store and a base salary in the low six figures in
three to five years!”
One way to attract more diverse talent
is to change the perception that there are
limited career-advancement opportunities in
retail. “We’re working to get the message out
at colleges, including historically black colleges
and universities, that there’s a very lucrative
career path for a young person of color who
is interested in store management with a
leading retailer,” says Sanderson. Another way
is to actively recruit through diversity-related
organizations and media, rather than wait for
job applicants to come knocking at the door.
And once a diverse work force is in place,
it’s important to emphasize inclusion at every
opportunity. “Each time the store leadership is
brought together for strategy meetings or to
prepare for the holiday season training, there
