Diversity In Action

JCPenney is making diversity part of its fabric

The business case for diversity is strong for any retailer, and especially strong for JCPenney as its customer base changes

Some JCPenney associates pose with the new, smarter point-of-sale registers.

The JCPenney afterschool fund provides quality programs for disadvantaged kids.

IT touches all aspects of work at JCPenney, and IT pros are in high demand as the company develops new tools to better serve its customers.

The retail giant is also making a major reorganization of its diversity strategy. "Inclusion is becoming part of the fabric of the company," says Fernando Serpa, corporate diversity and inclusion director.

When Serpa moved into his job last May, the diversity strategy was focused on externals like recruitment. "We wanted to change the focus to what we could do internally to create an inclusive environment and engage all our associates," Serpa says. It's his goal to empower everyone at the company to "take ownership of their needs and tie them back to the business."

JCPenney is, of course, one of America's largest retailers in department store, catalog and e-com sales. The business case for diversity is strong in retail, and especially strong for JCPenney because the company's customer base is changing and becoming more diverse, Serpa says. "Our challenge as a company is to meet the needs of these new customers and create an exciting shopping experience for them."

JCPenney's IT pros are located in five logistics centers, each the size of about a dozen football fields. These huge, computerized operations are the heart of the company's sales, especially in catalog and e-commerce, Serpa explains. An operator enters the information and sophisticated robots pull the merchandise.

The company website, www.jcpenney.com, is an important component of the business. After Amazon.com, JCPenney is the largest retailer for online sales, and the number-one site for apparel and home goods, ranked third of the top fifty online retail sites by Internet Retailer magazine. On any given day, 450,000 people view 12 million JCPenney pages.

No wonder hiring of IT people is robust. "IT really touches everything," Serpa says, He notes a special need for apps developers, computer engineers and ops processors.

Fernando Serpa.

One important upgrade is the faster, smarter point-of-sale registers in the stores. They go beyond recording sales to helping salespeople find items for customers. They are, in fact, smart computers, Serpa says.

Clearly these super-registers need reliable bandwidth at all times, and the company needs competent techies to keep things running smoothly.

Everyone at the company, not just the IT pros, is benefiting from Serpa's reorganization of the diversity strategy. JCPenney has instituted regional diversity teams in the company's northeast, south, central and west regions.

Each region has a number of districts, and each district has a number of department stores. Each regional diversity team has a member from each district, who may be anyone from a senior manager to an hourly worker. "Everyone has an equal voice," Serpa says. The idea is for each team to develop its own goals and strategies, focused on a number of areas like community outreach, recruiting or work/life issues.

JCPenney also has affinity groups for its associates, some established a dozen years ago or more. The Hispanic group is one of the oldest, and a women's group, a gay and lesbian group and an Asian group are the newest. The African American group sponsors an annual conference that even high-ranking company execs attend.

"We're hoping to make our affinity groups into business partners that will help move our business forward," Serpa reveals.

For example, the gay and lesbian group has put together a marketing plan to help JCPenney appeal to GLBT customers. Domestic partner benefits have been offered since 2004, and gay and lesbian issues are important to the company, Serpa says.

Recently he attended a national conference for gays and lesbians. "Many people came up and said, 'We are so glad to see JCPenney here taking a stand and being a part of this community,'" he recalls.

There are even plans to use the affinity groups to help develop the next generation of company leaders, adding diversity to the company's current fast-track opportunities. The intention is to include additional training and development for high-potential diverse leaders.

A formal mentoring program is being discussed, and the company is developing a pilot work/life program.

JCPenney also offers opportunities for community involvement. A particular interest is the JCPenney afterschool fund. Launched in 2001, it provides high-quality programs for disadvantaged children. Employees also contribute to the United Way and Salvation Army and participate in Junior Achievement.

Ultimately, Serpa hopes that everyone at JCPenney will appreciate being part of an enterprise that puts high importance on the strength of inclusion and diversity. "We want everyone to feel included as part of the business," he says.

D/C