Big Lots 2011 Annual Report Download - page 7

YOU WIN WITH PEOPLE
Clearly, I feel good about our business. After years of
doing what we said we were going to do, I think we’re
ideally positioned for the future. That goes for our team
as well. Each of the growth opportunities I’ve highlighted
has created employment opportunities. We encourage
our associates to grow with the organization and move
into broader roles, and I estimate that as high as 80% of
our new jobs or open positions in the merchant areas are
now filled through internal movement or promotions.
To support future growth, we need a pipeline of talent…
a workforce with the skill set and knowledge base to
take on new challenges. We continue to invest heavily
in a variety of associate training and development
programs, including:
u
Merchant In Training (MIT) Program — Over the last
six years, we have recruited and developed our next
generation of talented merchants, planners, and
allocators. The program is expanding and is deeply
ingrained in our culture.
u
1,000 Ways To Succeed — Store talent for the future is
also extremely critical. Last year, we launched this new
store management training program which pairs our
best and brightest store managers with new managers
to help them learn the ropes.
u
BEST Program — A new competency-based talent
development platform for our store organization,
which we began piloting with assistant store managers
this year. BEST will drive how we select, develop, and
promote all levels of store management, building a
pipeline of talent for the future.
u
Leadership Institute — An intensive leadership
development program for our district managers and
district loss prevention managers.
We will continue to hire and develop the most talented
individuals in the industry. I’ve always believed our
people are our greatest asset, and this is true today more
than ever.
A YEAR OF SIGNIFICANT MILESTONES
As I mentioned earlier, 2011 was a record year on
many counts.
u
We exceeded $5 billion in sales for the first time in our
company history.
u
We earned $2.99 per diluted share, the highest EPS
in company history.
u
We returned $359 million of cash to shareholders
by repurchasing approximately 11 million shares, or
15% of the Company’s shares, at an average share
price of $32.79. Not bad considering where our share
price finished the year.
u
We became an international company by expanding
into Canada.
u
We invested more than ever in the training and
development of our associates.
u
We gave back to our community at unprecedented
levels through a number of noteworthy causes. Our
national Lots2Give™ program has provided hundreds
of thousands of dollars to struggling schools across
America. We have a 17-year national partnership with
Toys for Tots… and deep involvement with a local
charity, the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, which we
support financially and with volunteer initiatives. But
these are just a few examples. We are committed to
giving back to the communities we serve and do so
through a number of other programs in education,
social services, and the arts.
These milestones were made possible by executing
a consistent, focused strategy, one that we’ve been
executing for some time now. We remain clear in our
purpose and passionate in our pursuit of being nothing
less than the best, most exciting extreme value retailer.
On behalf of the entire Big Lots organization, our Board
of Directors, and our over 37,000 associates, I thank you
for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Steven S. Fishman u Chairman, CEO and President
2011 BIG LOTS, INC. ANNUAL REPORT