Home Depot corporate employees ordered to work 8-hour shift in stores

The corporate employees at Home Depot will get a first-hand experience of what it is like to work in one of the stores.

The company will require all corporate employees, even senior management and remote workers, to do an 8-hour shift in a store each quarter, Bloomberg was first to report.

The requirement starts during the 2024 fourth quarter, a memo to employees said.

CEO Ted Decker told employees, “We need to stay connected to the core of our business, so we can truly understand the challenges and opportunities our store associates face every day.”

A spokesperson told Bloomberg that Home Depot had asked staff to spend time in stores, Bloomberg reported. But the initiative was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, Forbes reported.

While the move will show those at the corporate level what it is like to work in a store, Forbes speculated that it could work as long as they get support and preparation, but if they do not, the publication said the initiative could backfire and could make front-line workers unhappy and create further divisions.

Corporate workers may not know the products or services in stores and may have challenges interacting with consumers directly, Forbes surmised. That could affect store operations and not make them work efficiently. Forbes said it all comes down to training for corporate employees and making sure that can meet the standards they set for retail workers.

DoorDash introduced a similar program where all employees in the U.S., Canada and Australia have to do a single food delivery every month through the WeDash program. WeDash allows decision-makers see how those choices impact Dashers and customers to keep the company on track, Forbes reported.

LinkedIn said Macy’s and Taco Bell have similar programs.

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