It is said that customer Satisfaction is a Reflection of Employee Satisfaction( Reichheld, 2000). This is seemingly true when looking at a company such as Wegmans. Wegmans was founded in 1916, by brothers Walter and Jack Wegman, as a small family-owned food store in Rochester, New York State. It was initially called the Rochester Food and Vegetable Company and operated out of the Wegmans ' house. In the early 1920s, the Wegmans moved the store to a new location and expanded the product range to make it a full-fledged grocery store selling fresh produce, bakery goods, and canned goods. The store also had a small cafeteria( Wegmans, 2017).
In the early 1930s, the Wegmans changed the format of their store, introducing the self-service concept. The new store was incorporated as Wegmans Food Markets Inc. and was very popular in the New York region. Wegmans featured a lot of things that were considered innovative at that time, such as refrigerated food displays, a kiosk selling homemade candy, and a large cafeteria with a seating capacity of 300. Robert Wegman, son of Walter Wegman, became the president of the company in 1950. Under his leadership, Wegmans diversified into related businesses, acquiring an egg farm, developing an on-site meat processing center, and setting up a central bakery. The company also set up a subsidiary called Wegmans Enterprises Inc. to manage real estate development, leasing, and property management. In 1969, Robert Wegman became the chairman and CEO of Wegmans. Wegmans expanded in the 1960s by opening stores at different locations in New York State( Wegmans, 2017). The culture at Wegmans is popular among job seekers. It is a part of the reason why Wegmans had one of the best retention rates in the retail industry in the US. Reportedly, the average length of employment for full-time employees at the company was more than 10 years, and the average tenure even for part-time employees exceeded five years. According to analysts, potential employees were attracted to Wegmans because they knew that they would be treated well at the company, and be encouraged to play an active role in creating value for customers. Wegmans ' culture was articulated in its philosophy employees first, customers second, which some considered rather unusual in an environment where companies invested heavily in trying to win favor with customers. However, in spite of its expressed preference for employees over customers, Wegmans was known for its high level of customer service and had been identified by business week, another leading business magazine, as one of its customer service champs. This seemed to justify Wegmans ' belief that if the employees were happy, the customers would be too.
One of the keys to Wegmans success in keeping its culture strong and consistent was the company ' s slow pace of expansion. Wegmans typically opened only two or three new stores every year. This allowed it enough time for preparation, and employee training. Wegmans never opened a new store until it was fully prepared. Wegmans is not as popular as other companies such as Twitter or google but being ranked number seven on the fortune 100 best companies to work for, the primary factors that made Wegmans popular with employees were its high pay and generous benefits. The company was also known for its strong work culture, which served to create a high level of employee engagement( Fortune, 2016). Have you ever heard of a grocery store where everyone loves to come to work and is friendly? Yes, Wegmans has been named one the best stores that provide good customer service and make you feel at home.
According to the business insider, Wegmans is also ranked number twelve one of the most enjoyable business to work for, an example of their great corporate culture is Wegmans ' scholarship program launched in 1984. Since then, more than 26,500 employees have been awarded scholarships totaling $ 85 million, the company says. Hornell, an employee in the meat department stated that " The Company has good values and goals and does a good job of living by them "( Bort, 2014).
According to the Northeast Human Resource Association( NEHRA), a major HR association operating in the New England region of the US, the reason behind Wegmans ' success in retaining employees was that employees felt " intense job satisfaction achieved by meaningful interaction with both customers and management ". Because of the family-oriented environment in the company, Wegmans ' will continue to yield good customeremployee reviews.
References 1. Bort, J.( 2014). The 25 Most Enjoyable Companies To Work For. Business Insider. Retrieved 17
February 2017, from http:// www. businessinsider. com / 25-best-corporate-cultures-2014-8