Nordstrom’s employees and management are the company’s most valuable resource. An article written in the Seattle PI describes exactly why this is true. It states that, “Nordstrom salespeople make decisions as if managing their own business; they are trusted to do what is right. Everyone else in the company is there to help the sales staff make the sale and please the customer” (Mulady, 2009). The way the employees are treated and valued is a perfect portrayal of the company’s mission of providing the best possible customer service and value to the customer.
Even though the salesperson is the front man for the company, the human resource and management team act as the glue that holds the company together. The president of the company, Blake W. Nordstrom, says that people in support positions “like myself or someone in human resources that isn’t on the floor manning a register,” needs to understand that their job is to use the “energy and the activities they’re doing contribute to a better customer and employee experience” (HR Magazine, 2006). It is, therefore, extremely important that the workers in the human resource department stay connected to the selling process in order to stay connected with the employees, as it is this connection that helps the employees provide the best service to their customers.
Company History and Background
In 1887, 16-year-old boy named John W. Nordstrom left his home country, Sweden, for the city of New York City. He arrived with only five dollars in his pocket, unable to speak a word of English and started working in gold mines. One morning in 1897, he picked up a newspaper and read the front-page headline "Gold Found in the Klondike in Alaska." Although the labor was hard he managed, in two years, to earn $13,000 in a gold mine stake and returned to Seattle.
Back in the Northwest, John was eager to invest his money. In Alaska John became best friends with Carl Wallin, who owned a shoe repair shop in downtown