Project Description
Designing and implementing a cohesive, team-based merchandising organization based on leading industry practices and enabling better partnership, scalability, and retention.
The Client
A North American home décor retailer operating over 200 large format stores, featuring in excess of 50,000 unique items across broad product categories.
The Challenge
The client was experiencing substantial growth, but their merchandising organization had not kept pace. While they had consistently invested in buying teams, the planning and product development / sourcing teams were under supported and misaligned. Additionally, the buying, planning, allocation, and development teams were all siloed and lacked clear understanding of cross-functional roles and responsibilities, causing duplication of work efforts or failure to complete some key activities.
This environment made it increasingly difficult to build and successfully execute meaningful strategic plans. The siloed nature of their teams also created challenges in developing internal bench strength and providing meaningful career paths for associates, which negatively impacted long-term retention.
The Parker Avery Solution
The Parker Avery Group worked closely with the client’s merchandising leadership and human resources to document the existing organizational environment, allowing the design of a more cohesive, team-based organization that would be self-sustaining and scalable over time. The project included the following activities and deliverables:
- In-depth interviews with divisional leadership to understand existing functions and challenges for each role
- Role-redesign assessments to document how current roles should change and/or what new role types may be needed
- Workload complexity analysis by team to ensure headcount and talent levels are positioned correctly
- Comparison of existing model with industry best practices
- Talent review and alignment sessions with leadership to reposition existing talent and identify gaps
- HR job grade reviews to ensure consistency across levels
- Revised job descriptions
- New career maps to demonstrate cross functional movement and long-term bench strength development
- Detailed change management and communication plans for transition to future state
The Result
The client adopted a new organizational design that will ensure merchandising teams are positioned for success and are scalable for future growth. They were able to realign resources to areas with higher complexity, provide stronger role clarity and cross-functional partnership, and enhance long-term career development and overall retention.
