Implementing NWoW—adidas’s New Way of Working

In yesterday’s Advisor , Gregg Tate, GPHR, showcased the New Way of Working (NWoW) at adidas®. Today, how NWoW was implemented.

adidas Group AG, headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, was founded by Adi Dassner; hence, the correct pronunciation is AH-dee dass, with the accent on the first syllable. (Note: adidas is spelled with the lower case “a,” even at the beginning of a sentence.)

adidas is the world’s second largest athletic footwear and apparel company, with 50,000 employees, and over 3,000 of their own retail stores globally. The company operates in roughly 200 countries around the world.

Tate, adidas’s senior vice president, Human Resources—Commercial, delivered his program about NWoW at SHRM’s Annual Conference and Exposition in Orlando.

Rolling Out NWoW

It was HR and the training people’s job to incorporate NWoW into the company’s DNA, says Tate.

After executives approved the program, the team conducted 83 Leadership Journey training sessions to head-of-function employees. These consisted of a 3-day meeting, a 2-day meeting, and a 1-day meeting. The facilitator was a “torture expert,” says Tate, but these sessions “get the elephants out.”

Then came 586 NWoW Workshops for many more employees. Here’s an example of the enthusiasm. Employees change the “Am I living it?” question to an emphatic ”Living It! (and spreading it)” and sign off personally.

Sales comp—with customer focus? Yes, find out how on October 21, 2014, with a new interactive webinar, Customer-Focused Sales Compensation Plans: How to Reward Sales Reps and Ensure Better Customer Traction. Register today for this interactive webinar or find out more.

What did we learn? asks Tate. Sooner or later you have to DO. (As Tate says, When is the best time to plant a shade tree? 20 years ago.) Yes, he admits, they are still struggling in some ways, but struggling “in the spirit of the NWoW.”

What is HR’s role in developing and implementing NWoW? Tate points out three key objectives of HR:

1. Leadership. That is, ensuring that adidas has the right level and strength of leadership now and in the future.
2. Right people. That is, being sure that the right people are in the right jobs, which also means offering opportunities and especially relocation packages. It’s matching dreams and capabilities, Tate says.
3. Out-of-the-box thinkers. Where will the company be and where will the consumer be in 2020? In sports? In fashion? In retail? And where might adidas head? Fitness centers/nutrition? Sports camps? Sports resorts? Do they want to be resort managers or hotel managers?

Engagement at adidas

We strive for head intelligence and heart intelligence, says Tate. Satisfied with your job but not engaged? That’s not enough at adidas. They want you thinking, “I get to go to work today.”

While you are working on a new way of working, how about a new way of sales compensation? Isn’t it time to get a real customer focus? Find out October 21 at BLR’s new webinar—Customer-Focused Sales Compensation Plans: How to Reward Sales Reps and Ensure Better Customer Traction.In just 90 minutes, on October 21, you’ll learn how to align your sales compensation plan design with your customers’ needs as well as your organizational bottom line.

Register today for this interactive webinar or find out more.

Join us on October 21 for a lively explanation of how to take a marketing-oriented, customer-focused approach to sales compensation design and management. Our presenters, both seasoned sales compensation thought-leaders, will teach you how to design a program that aligns different sales approaches with your customers’ dominant needs—and ensure your sales force is driven to achieve you most desired results.

Register today for this interactive webinar or find out more.

How to design customer-focused sales compensation? Join us October 21 for a new interactive webinar, Customer-Focused Sales Compensation Plans: How to Reward Sales Reps and Ensure Better Customer Traction. Earn 1.5 hours in Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) Recertification Credit. Register today for this interactive webinar or find out more.

By participating in this interactive webinar, you’ll learn:

• How to apply a marketing-based approach to sales compensation that focuses on changing customer buying patterns
• How to create compensation plans for different types of selling—consultative, relationship, and transactional
• Effective compensation pay measurements that incorporate the customer experience as a factor in reaching sales goals
• Smart tactics to better connect your sales staff to your customers’ mindsets as well as their product and/or service needs
• And much more!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014
1:30 to 3:00 p.m. (Eastern)
12:30 to 2:00 p.m. (Central)
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (Mountain)
10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (Pacific)

Approved for Recertification Credit

This program has been approved for 1.5 credit hours toward recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI).

Join us on October 21—you’ll get the in-depth Customer-Focused Sales Compensation Plans: How to Reward Sales Reps and Ensure Better Customer Traction webinar AND you’ll get all of your particular questions answered by our experts.

Register today for this interactive webinar or find out more.

Train Your Entire Staff

As with all BLR®/HR Hero® webinars:

• Train all the staff you can fit around a conference phone.
• Get your (and their) specific phoned-in or e-mailed questions answered in Q&A sessions that follow the presentation.

Register today for this interactive webinar or find out more.