Home Depot

Assignment One: Chapter 17 (Silzer, Dowell) They Can Do It! You Can Help!

A Look at Talent Practices at the Home Depot

Jeanetta Swanson

Dr. Tonya D. Moore

Talent Management (HRM 532)

October 23, 2011

1. Discuss how the leadership at Home Depot intended to use its organizational talent to gain a competitive advantage in the Do It Yourself industry.

People differentiation is important when consumers deal directly with employees. Employees are the frontline defense against waning customer satisfaction. Home Depot prides itself on having a knowledgeable sales staff in their home improvement warehouses. The consumer knows that the staff will be helpful and courteous, and this is very important to the consumer who may be trying a new home improvement technique with limited knowledge on the subject (Competitive advantage, 2011).

Home Depot established a competitive advantage by hiring building contractors and putting them in the aisles to help customers with home improvement problems (Cable, n.d.). The company used sophisticated selection criteria to select people with a customer-friendly orientation. Home Depot's strategy of employing former tradesmen was combined with the advantages of high energy leadership, a high esprit de corps, and success feeding upon success. While the former tradesmen did not make up the majority of the staff, they served as a catalyst to encourage other employees to sharpen their skills on product knowledge and provided the backbone of the unique Home Depot service strategy (Darrow, 2009).

Faced with a retail buyer with little knowledge of prices, products, or applications, Home Depot enabled the do-it-yourself home owner (Darrow, 2009). The “contractor grade” associates provided technical support for the home owner and empowered them. For example, Home Depot associates might show customers the right kind of wire needed, they might sketch the customer a diagram of how the...