Only two retail companies rank among 100 best workplaces for innovators
Retailers were conspicuously missing from an annual listing of companies that energize employees by rewarding creativity wherever it arises.
Only two retail companies made Fast Company’s fourth annual “One Hundred Best Workplaces for Innovators” list: Retail Business Services, the services arm of Ahold Delhaize USA, and Alex Lee, a grocer and retail retailer wholesaler whose brands include Lowes Foods, KJ’s Market and Merchant Distributors.
The list was created in collaboration with Accenture. Fast Company editors and Accenture researchers collaborated to score nearly 1,500 applications, and a panel of eight judges reviewed and endorsed the top 100 companies globally.
“These innovative organizations have cultures that offer meaningful employee engagement, and a chance to change the world,” said Paul Daugherty, group chief executive of technology and CTO at Accenture.
Retail Business Services, which ranked No. 25 on the list, is based in Quincy, Mass. The company provides services to Ahold’s Food Lion, Giant Food, The Giant Company, Hannaford and Stop & Shop brands.
The company cited the following as examples of actions that helped earn its Top 100 recognition:
• The launch of its Innovation Center of Excellence, which is focused on cultivating and piloting new digital technology solutions to innovate retail employee and customer experience;
• Innovations such as frictionless checkout solution, which was developed in its IT innovation lab, and a production planning solution that replaces paper-based production with a dynamic, mobile-enabled tool providing accurate, real-time data to enhance efficiency for retailers; and
• A focus on creating a culture where innovation can thrive with practices like an omniwork flexible workplace policy, resources to support mental health, in-person and virtual days of service and culture-building events like Fun at Work Day and Friendsgiving.
“At Retail Business Services, our teams deliver on a promise to provide innovative solutions and expertise to the retail brands we support so they can focus on growing their businesses,” said president Roger Wheeler, president. “Our people operate largely behind the scenes but do important work that fuels our retail partners’ strategies. I’m proud to see the quiet – yet extraordinary – innovation they demonstrate every day recognized on this prestigious list.”
Alex Lee
Based in Hickory, N.C., Alex Lee ranked No. 62. The company puts a spotlight on innovation with its annual “Sparx” program, a Shark Tank-style event that allows employees at the grocery and retail wholesaler to pitch ideas, with the winners earning seed money for further development.
The company plays up the program year-round, soliciting ideas from employees on a biweekly basis. The submissions are reviewed monthly, and a $100 spot award is given to the winning employees.