Family Dollar 2005 Annual Report Download - page 14

Our Associates
value
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Family Dollar’s Associates are our greatest
competitive advantage and our most valuable asset.
We employ more than 42,000 hard-wo rking and
talented Associates in our stores, distributio n centers
and corporate offices. But at Family Dollar, we’re not
satisfied with creating and pro viding jobs; we’re
committed to building careers. The Company’s
financial stability and gro wth o ppo rtunities attract top
candidates to the Company; training, defined career
paths and significant potential for advancement
keep them here.
Our success begins with recruiting. In 2005, we
created a significant number of new jobs to support
our growth. We opened 500 new stores, creating
more than 3,000 jobs primarily in the neighborhoo ds
where our Customers live. We opened our eighth
distributio n center in Marianna, Florida, creating more
than 400 new positions, such as the one filled by
Brian in the shipping department. In 2006, with the
opening of o ur ninth distributio n center in Rome,
New York, we will create additional career
opportunities. To support our aggressive gro wth
agenda, we have developed end-to-end technology
applications that have impro ved o ur recruiting,
screening and selection processes.
One of o ur top priorities is to pro vide our Associates
with a compelling place to work. To achieve this
objective, we have invested in building career paths for
each po sition to create development choices for those
Associates who wish to grow in their careers with the
Company. Here at Family Dollar, we prefer to promo te
talented Associates from within. To support these
efforts, we offer focused training and professional
development pro grams that allow Associates to
pro gress up the Family Dollar career ladder.
To attract and retain talented Asso ciates, we
must offer equitable and competitive compensatio n.
During the last several years, we have partnered with
a leading compensation co nsultant to review and
improve our compensatio n programs. In 2006, we
have asked our Shareholders to approve equity-based
compensatio n programs that are based on pay for
performance principles. These new compensatio n
pro grams will better support our effo rts to recruit and
retain talented Associates who will help us realize
Family Dollar’s growth opportunity.
Our dedicated training pro grams, career growth
and advancement opportunities and equitable
compensatio n programs will help us hire and retain
talented Family Dollar Associates and will drive higher
returns for Shareho lders.