Retail moves very quickly... what’ s on the shelves today is not good enough tomorrow
_____________________________________________________________________________ Anitra
Walden-Jacobs | Kroger grew more proactive over time.“ People were asking my advice before we signed the paperwork, which was great,” she says.
Integrated role
At Kroger, Anitra works within a structure built for a national operation. Each division has separate leadership, so coordination is essential to keep things consistent across the enterprise. A dedicated labor relations group bridges the business and its workforce.“ That group helps us understand strategically what we are seeing across the enterprise and what the plan is,” she explains. Maintaining alignment takes constant attention.“ It can get disjointed very quickly when you have a workforce this large,” she observes. Anitra focuses on inclusion early in the process.“ I’ m very big on bringing everybody under the tent that needs to be brought in,” she says. She looks for gaps.“ Whose voice is not at this table?” That question drives her decision-making, which often spans legal, HR, operations, and compliance. The pace of retail
Retail moves very quickly... what’ s on the shelves today is not good enough tomorrow
adds pressure.“ Retail moves very quickly because what’ s on the shelves today is not good enough tomorrow,” she explains.
Her role is to make sure the right input comes in before decisions are final.“ The worst case is when you are all the way down the line and realize you cannot move forward because you did not get the information or approvals necessary beforehand,” she says.
Her work has shifted toward anticipating issues rather than reacting to them.“ I’ ve gotten much better at saying, here is the risk now and here is the risk going forward,” she shares. Business partners expect more than risk statements.“ What they want to know is, what happens if I do this, and what does it look like in six months,” she continues. Her answer almost
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