Home Depot Customer Training Case Study

The Home Depot is the fastest growing retailer in U.S. History and currently has more than 2,200 convenient locations throughout the United States (including the territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands), Canada, China and Mexico. Stores average 105,000 square feet with approximately 23,000 additional square feet of outside garden area (The Home Depot, 2012). The retail inventory consists of up to 40,000 different kinds of building materials, home improvement supplies, appliances and lawn and garden products for all of your project needs. Selections may vary from store to store because

Advocate: Home Depot’s corporate leadership, project sponsors and store leadership will also be responsible that the change process goes smoothly and that the store associates have all the tools they need to succeed in this change.

The Home Depot mission statement reads as follows: “The Home Depot is in the home improvement business and our goal is to provide the highest level of service, the broadest selection of products and the most competitive prices. We are a values-driven company and our eight values include the following: excellent customer service, taking care of our people, giving back, doing the “right” things, creating shareholder value, respect for all people, entrepreneurial spirit, and building strong relationships.”

Home Depot is a leader in the home improvement retailer industry. While many companies are falling behind Amazon and Walmart, Home Depot continues to beat its earnings estimates and attract investors. This part of the report will analyze the core competencies, strengths, and weaknesses of Home Depot to give insight into its recent successes and interpret possible downfalls.

From its roots as a vision in 1978 of a home improvement superstore The Home Depot has become a giant in this sector. Influenced by the “do-it-yourself” customer or the corporate contractors each policy and business plan is developed with a consumer stake holder emphasis. As its founders stated “We’re in the people business” (Planning), and this is maintained in its business structure today. Set up as a direct to consumer warehouse of home improvement and building products

Lowe’s also offers several development opportunities and resources through the company’s Generous Tuition Reimbursement Program, Certified CPE course offerings, Management Development programs through the Lowe’s Leadership Institute, and skill and competence development courses (“Learning and Developing”, n.d.). The Home Depot continues to give raises, bonuses, and develop and promote employees with good work ethics. Home Depot typically promotes from within the company.

The Home Depot knows how important it is to have knowledgeable employees on hand at all times, in fact, it is one of their main goals and they focus on it consistently. According to The Home Depot (2003-2010 Homer TLC, Inc),”The Home Depot’s goal is to help customers create the home of their dreams whether they want to do it themselves or have it done for them” (para 4). This gives them an advantage because they believe in well trained employees who are very knowledgeable and able to help customers on the sales floor. They set up training programs for all employees where they learn basic information and may also specialize in an area, for example, bathrooms, and an employee will be able to inform a customer about everything there is to know about bathrooms and remodeling them or such. The Home Depot offers and encourages extensive training programs to stay above the competition and keep well knowledgeable employees. The Home Depot (2003-2010 Homer TLC, Inc) website also states that for most people, their home is their biggest financial and emotional investment they make. The Home Depot really takes that to heart and shows deep appreciate for their customers by offering many “How-To” and

The Home Depot’s two main customers are at home “do-it-yourselfers” and contractors. The main products and services offered help solve the wants and needs of customers involved with home construction and maintenance,

The Home Depot (THD) is the second largest retailer (besides Wal-Mart), and the largest home improvement store in the world (THD, 2012). The company has not had any need to recruit employees in the past, but recently they have had an issue fielding applications for qualified personnel to work in their kitchen planning departments inside the stores. The issue is not that there are no willing people to fill the spots, but that THD has been unsuccessful finding people who have the qualifications to fill the positions. Associates can be recruited from other areas of a store, but the training process is extensive and expensive, so the company is looking for means to fill the positions with more qualified individuals. Thus, the training process would be shorter and less expensive, so the employee would be in the position quickly. This paper outlines a recruitment plan for the position.

The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is a home improvement, construction products and services retailer operating over 2,000 big-box stores in the United States and abroad. The Home Depot was founded in 1978 by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank with the vision of one-stop shopping for do-it-yourself (DIY) customers, installation services for do-it-for-me (DIFM) customers and competitive products for the professional market. Their DIFM installation programs include products such as carpeting, flooring, cabinets, countertops, and water heaters. In addition, the company provides installation of various professional products like generators and HVAC systems.

(The Home Depot, Inc, 2006) Customer service at home depot is one of the most important priorities. What better than enhancing customer service than providing a small coffee shop in the store for our early risers? The benefits of this service will make it convenient. Most of The Home Depot early risers are contractors who purchase their materials early to start their projects for the day. Having a small coffee shop in the location will save the customer time by not having to stop elsewhere for a quick breakfast before a long day at work.

Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement retailer operating in 45 states, Canada, Chili and Puerto Rico. Home Depot stores aim to serve both do-it-yourselfers and professional contractors with home improvement superstores carrying between 40,000 and 50,000 different products. Home Depot has also been listed as one of Fortune's most admired specialty retailers for the past six years. In order for companies to succeed in the competitive current marketplace they must consider not only the bottom line and their investors but also their impacts on the community, their employees, and their customers. Home Depot was founded on the idea that treating employees well is an important responsibility. Home Depot believes employees that are

One of the differentiating factors of Home Depot was that it incorporated within its members a major aversion to any kind of beauracracy and hierarchy. It was a usual practice at the stores to ignore all kind of paperwork that was sent to them by the headquarters. They undervalued such directives to the extent that they would throw these papers in the waste basket or mark them with “BS” stamp and send it back to the headquarters. They believed that all this was a waste of time of the managers and they had more important things to address to at their stores, the most important of them being : satisfying the

Lowe’s serve DIY customers and also provides installation services and other services such as electricians, painters, plumbers and landscapers. Average Lowe’s has two kinds of stores, a 117,000 square-foot and the other one is a 94,000 square –foot. This remodeling of the stores layout was done in 1980s, after the arrival and success of the biggest rival “Home Depot”. A typical Lowe’s store carries approximately 40,000 items. These items include other brands too such as allen + roth, Kobalt and Utilitech. Lowe’s product line includes products for home decoration, house maintenance, repairing, remodeling & redesigning, and constructing a new house or office. Items that may not be available in the stores are still available to customers by placing special orders. The installation services of Lowe’s are available for more than 40 product categories. Installation services contribute to the net sale too with the greatest sales coming in flooring, millwork, and

A strong foundation for success and growth was already in place in Home Depot under Marcus leadership. The company demonstrated a very strong culture, built on entrepreneurialism and customer service. Abundant promotion opportunities were created due to rapid growth attracting carpenters, plumbers and other building professionals as salespeople. Most of the non-entry-level jobs were filled internally, and from the 400 department heads, just a dozen came from outside the company. Additionally, employee stock