Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren doesn't want to lose touch with what's going on in his business and the best way for him to achieve that is to spend as much time as possible in the company's stores.
"It's just a good experience," Mr. Lundgren told The New York Times. "I learn as much by going through a store as anything I do, much more than sitting in my office at my computer or holding a big meeting here, because I'm learning and seeing exactly what our customer is seeing."
According to Mr. Lundgren, he is out in the field two or three days a week. "I just go and pop into a store. I have the cell phone number of every store manager, and I call them and 95 percent of the time they're there. And they have a little small heart attack at first and I pick 'em up off the floor... So we walk through the floor, and they have had no time to prepare for my questions, they've had no time to prepare the store."
"Ultimately, they (managers) view it as a good experience," Mr. Lundgren told the Times. "If I have my issues or concerns or my complaints, I generally don't take it out on that store manager. I would take it back to management, you know, about what we're doing to the store to not make it as good a shopping experience as it needs to be."
Being accessible is difficult in an organization with 170,000 people, but Mr. Lundgren has added monthly 30-minute webcasts to his store visits to avoid being isolated from the company's employees.
"When I do these webcasts, I say: 'I'll find 30 minutes every single month to talk to you guys. But here's my plan, I'll speak for 15 minutes about current events, what's the most important things that are happening that you need to know about, and then I'm going to take your questions for the next 15. And you just e-mail me your questions, and Ill give you an instant response.' And I always get more than I have time to answer."
Discussion Questions: How important is it for top executives to spend time in stores? Are there common mistakes that headquarters executives make when visiting stores? What other ways can management be sure it stays in touch with employees and customers?