To help support growth and expansion into new markets, retailer Dollar General Corporation created its Talent Development Center (TDC), a high-potential assessment process focusing on leadership development. The TDC aims to ensure adequate bench strength for critical leadership roles within the company while accelerating upward mobility of highly promotable employees.
Three current TDC programs focus on the acceleration of:
- Assistant Store Managers to Store Managers (TDC-SM)
- Store Managers to District Managers (TDC–DM)
- District Managers to Region Directors (TDC-RD)
The overall success rate of this initiative has been a critical element to improving retention and internal promotion rates.
Program Details
Participants in the TDC focus on the following:
- Overview of Dollar General’s operating goals and strategies
- Dollar General culture as it relates to Serving Others
- Financial reporting and key operating metrics
- Leadership attributes and core competencies
In each program, participants role-play various scenarios as the next-level supervisor. For example, in the TDC-DM program, the Store Managers role-play the position of District Manager and review a group of selected stores to identify top and bottom performers and coach accordingly. Another example includes assessing the participant’s ability to handle change management by having to solve a situation with unforeseen circumstances among a different group of stores.
In the TDC-RD program, District Managers role-play the position of Region Director and complete store visits with senior leadership. In each scenario, the next-level supervisor and HR Manager assess the participant’s readiness and ability to perform the functions of the next role.
TDC events contain a developmental component, as well. Participants of TDC-DM take part in a three-hour instructor-led leadership workshop that is designed to help future DMs improve their interviewing and hiring practices and raise the bar on providing and receiving feedback. Participants of the TDC-SM attend a one-hour Know Your Customer development session, which helps employees understand Dollar General’s core customers and their needs.
At the conclusion of each TDC event, the observers conduct individual feedback sessions with each participant to discuss strengths and opportunities. A “readiness-to-promote” rating is initially decided upon based on these observations. The TDC graduate, along with his or her immediate supervisor and HR Manager create a detailed development plan designed to address and strengthen areas of opportunity. As the graduates work through their development plans, their readiness-to-promote ratings are adjusted based on progress made.
Results
- Internal placement rates (IPRs) for DMs to the RD level are at 56.25 percent of attendees, a 6.25 percent increase over the previous year.
- IPRs for SMs to the DM level are at 61.68 percent of attendees, a 2.86 percent increase over the previous year.
- Retention rates for those who have attended these programs are another huge win, with 87.5 percent of DMs and 85.63 percent of SMs retained since completing the program, far surpassing previous year results by 22 percent and 15.88 percent, respectively.
- Although new, the TDC-SM program already has seen 44 percent of participants promoted to the SM level as compared to less than 30 percent the previous year.
