Food Lion 2001 Annual Report Download - page 16

In Belgium, young managers are trained
through the Junior Management Program
known as JuMP. Store personnel are trained
via the Job Training and Wine Training
Schools. In 2001, more than 15,000
associates were trained in Belgium and
Greece in preparation for the transition to
the Euro. In 2001, all Delhaize Belgium
cashiers began participating in a course,
“The Work at the Cash Desk”, covering
issues in the fields of ergonomics, customer
care and communication.
In Greece, Alfa-Beta ran more than 130
training programs in 2001 with almost
2,000 participants. In the Czech Republic
and Slovakia, Delvita started its Retail
Academy in 2001, providing training on
core-business issues for high-potential
associates. By participating in the two-
days-a-month program over a one-year
span, associates can prepare for future
management positions with the assistance
of internal Delvita trainers.
An Attractive Workplace |
To attract and retain talented and motivated
people, Delhaize Group pays its associates
in each of the local markets a fair wage,
based on their skills and experience, the
local cost of living and the expected added
value to the Group. The compensation of
management is divided between base pay,
short-term incentive plans linked to annual
targets and long-term plans primarily in the
form of stock options of the Group. Through
the stock option plans, Delhaize Group
seeks to align management compensation
with the Group’s shareholder value.
Associate recognition however is not only
tied to financial achievements. All Delhaize
America banners, for instance, have
associate recognition programs, which
allow associates to earn recognition and
rewards for outstanding performance in
different categories such as culture
building, milestone events and celebrations,
health and safety, and leadership. In
Singapore, Shop N Save launched in 2001
its Associate of the Month Award,
recognizing high performance individuals.
Keeping people informed also helps to
motivate them. In its Corporate
Communication Guidelines Delhaize Group
aims at making sure there is no time lag
between internal and external information.
The Group invests significantly in internal
communication such as newsletters,
intranets, email, management meetings and
training sessions.
Delhaize Group’s operating companies
strive to provide a safe environment in their
stores, distribution centers and industrial
plants. Food Lion’s distribution centers
hold quarterly driver safety meetings. In
2001, Food Lion started a driver’s
newsletter, which covers a variety of
subjects, but emphasizes safety. Each
department manager is responsible for
training all new Food Lion associates in
safety issues. In December 2001,
Hannaford Trucking received the
Trailermobile “Safe Carrier of the Year”
award, which recognizes an outstanding
safety record for a private carrier travelling
more than 10 million miles.
14 |Delhaize Group |Annual Report 2001
Multimedia Training
In an organization like Hannaford com-
prised of approximately 20,000 people in
more than 100 locations, training needs
to be consistent from store to store. To
maintain this consistency, multimedia
technology became Hannaford’s training
tool of choice. Computer-based training
allows information to be delivered at a
significantly higher success rate than
speaker-based training. Hannaford devel-
oped CDs for training in, among other
subjects, safety, tobacco and alcohol sales
procedures, corporate policies, customer
service and inventory management.