Opportunities for Growth

Sandra: The Company has really set a clear direction in regards to where I should guide myself in my career. I've been with the company for nine and a half years, and it's been great. The reason I've stayed with the company is I feel part of a family. I know exactly what the priorities are, and I love servicing the customers, and I know that Macy's goal is to provide and improving the shopping experience, and I want to be a part of that goal and to achieve that I want to be a part of becoming leaders in the retail industry, and I see a lot of potential with Macy's. Mark is my store manager, and he really guides me in the path to my career by making sure that I schedule myself for the classes provided by Macy's and going to training sessions, and having that continuous communication with me in regards to my performance and my career.

Adam: I was with a company that was acquired by Macy's. I stayed on for a couple of years, and then I actually left the company for a period of time. And while I was gone, I realized what kind of opportunities Macy's provided their associates, and I was missing that at my company at the time. And so I decided I really missed Macy's. I missed those opportunities. I missed that kind of family environment that you have with our coworkers and everybody. And so I decided to come back. I was rehired, and my manager that rehired me took notice, and worked with me. It was in a different department - men's fragrances, and they took notice, and worked with me, and eventually I got promoted to a fragrance assistant, and just kind of worked my way up from there. And that's one thing that I really like about Macy's is the opportunities. When someone sees your potential and works with you and guides you in the right direction.

Fedalia: The Company has such great commitment in growing talent - from HR to store managers, everyone gets involved in assessing the talent in the building, in each and every location. And it's nice, because there's always that priority in taking a look at the counter managers and taking a look at the GSMs, and taking a look at the team leaders and the MTMs in the building, where they're going to go from where they're currently at.

Vicky: While I was in that internal promotion program, to get us going, we had assignments each week. And I would work really closely with my department manager at that point, and she was like, "This is what you need to work on. This is what you're really strong with. Let's set goals for you." And so I'd have goals over a three months period. What does an assistant store manager want to see from me? What does my department manager want to see from me? And so I would turn those in each week, and each week I'd get something else that I would work on.

Fedalia: Tangible goals.

Vicky: Yes, exactly. I would write it out. We'd sign off on it. We'd discuss it, and we'd make sure that there was something that I could attain, but something that was far out that maybe I didn't even think that I could do. But I did it, and I succeeded. So, it was great. It was a great opportunity.

Mark: I think some of these internal development programs that you're talking about are the reasons why a lot of us stay with Macy's. Nowhere do you have the opportunity or do I feel as strong of an opportunity as Macy's has provided for someone like myself and someone like-what it seems like for all of us. One of the reasons I stayed with Macy's, of course, is the people. Obviously, the people. I mean, I feel very strongly about my mentors, my managers that I have had, you know, where I said, "You know what? I want to be like that manager. I want to lead like that manager." Or "I want to lead a team like my manager's leading right now." However, I have to say one of the strongest-even as strong as working with other people is the personal growth that Macy's provides for us. When you really think about a company where you can go into all different areas-I mean, even looking at us right here, you know, we have a GSM. We have an MTM. We have an HR manager, a store manager here. We've got all other areas, too. We've got staffing managers. We've got buyers. We've got planners. There's all these sorts of different avenues that you can really go into in this organization, and it really provides a lot of personal growth that you can develop amongst yourself.

Fedalia: There's lots of opportunities.