Office Depot Decision Making Process

Office Depot Decision Making Process

Office Depot: Decision-making process

Hiring process: Importance of the interview

Office Depot is an office supply company with a focus upon providing services for a wide variety of different types of customers. It strives to meet the tangible and virtual office supply needs of both individuals and businesses. Because of this service-focused emphasis, Office Depot employees must be personable and able to engage with the public. Even managers without direct contact with customers must be sensitive to what people want and need, not simply on a logistical level but also on a personal level. An employee's ability to be able to relate to others can only be determined through a face-to-face interview.

Ideally, an interview with a prospective employee should involve more than a simple, short question-and-answer format. The interviewer should pose open-ended scenarios and ask probing questions. "What would you do if a customer was dissatisfied with product x?" "What is your vision for the future of the company?"

Maintaining top talent through mid and annual appraisals

To maintain and reward top talent, a company must constantly 'take the temperature" of each worker's performance, to identify high-quality employees. Workers who go above and beyond what is expected must feel rewarded for their efforts, in the form of praise -- and promotions -- or they will leave the company in search of new opportunities and challenges.

Giving employees specific, action-based feedback through the appraisal process is also essential. Every employee deserves to receive constructive criticism. This is a reflection of the fact that every employee, no matter how competent, needs to have a sense of how his or her role at the company could be enhanced. Feedback does not necessarily have to be negative: it is just as important for the employee to know what he or she is doing right as what he or she is doing wrong. One of the greatest frustrations of many employees is when they receive a negative appraisal after not being informed what they could and should have changed.

The reasons for keeping top talent: Mission and vision of the company

"Delivering winning solutions that inspire worklife" is the stated mission of Office Depot. The centrality of acting as a facilitator of the success of others in the company's mission statement is why it is so critical that Office Depot employees understand the needs of customers. Inspiration and winning are important values of the company, not simply making work 'happen.' The company stresses the need to take the everyday nature of the customer's workday to the 'next level' of success and excellence.

Growth of the company and succession

At present, Office Depot an international purveyor of office supply products: its outreach extends as far as the Czech Republic and Japan. The company was incorporated in 1986 and it sells its products through retail stores, as well as online and directly to other enterprises. In 2009, Office Depot sold $12.1 billion of products and services to individual consumers and businesses (Company facts, 2010, Office Depot).