Field Assignment:

The Sales Force In Action

David Yurman Store Manager: Jason Hoskinson

Eric Galan
Due: Apr. 21, 2015

Organizational Design

David Yurman
COO
Privately
owned

Carol Pennelli
CEO

Inventory
Manager

West Coast
Vice President

East Coast
Vice President

Vice President
Wholes
Division

Area Manager

Area Manager

Account
Executive

Store
Managers

Jason
Hoskinson
Store Manager

NonEmployee
Designated
Sales
Associates

Asst Manager

Ops Manager

Asst Manager

Sales
Professionals

Ops Manager

Inventory
Manager

Non-Employee
Department
Store Brand
Reps

Sales
Professionals

David Yurman is an American established luxury brand headquartered in New

York. Unlike most of the Luxury brands you see today, David Yurman is privately owned
by its creators the Yurman family. David Yurman is known for expensive high-end
quality designer jewelry and sets itself aside from other brands because of the signature
look of its merchandise. Though not well known globally yet, it is still a luxury leader
within the US and Canada. Do to the fact that the company is privately owned; its
structure is slightly different from its other corporate counterparts.

The Yurman

organizational design may have some similarities within its structure to other retailers,
but is quite unique in the way communication is transferred within the ranks.
Communication from the CEO down to the store management level is very open ended.
Due to the fact that there are no shareholders to take into consideration, David Yurman
down to the store management level communicate freely on all operations. Each have a

strong hold on the communication of sales goals, merchandise purchasing, and processes
in which to achieve set objects.

Recruiting System
In speaking with Jason Hoskinson (Store Manager
of David Yurman, Mall At Millenia), we discussed
the overall recruiting process that was in place at
David Yurman to maximize the quality of
candidates for open positions. It is quit interesting
to find out what process was in place in hiring sales
professional for each store. Due to the fact that
David Yurman is such a luxury brand they truly take
their time in finding a good fit for each store. With
that said they dont just use one way of recruiting.
When recruiting for an unfamiliar territories, two options are used. The Area
manager of that territory will shop the territory looking for a Store Manager, as well as,
recruiting from out side the territory for candidates. Filling the Store Manager position
first and then delegating recruitment to the store manager to fill subordinate positions
with the final approval and offers of employment being made by upper level
management. With the overall responsibilities of an Area Managers, it can become
somewhat daunting to do the overall recruiting. In these instances a talent-recruiting
agency is commissioned to complete the task of finding qualified candidates for
consideration. One agency that is used by David Yurman is 24/seven Talent: Retail
Talent Recruiting Agency. They receive a commission once the employee has completed
90 days of employment.
In a territory with an already established store, David Yurman will not only use
recruiting companies to do a lot of the recruiting but will also rely on the networking of
the existing staff to reach out to neighboring retailors for the best candidates. Most retail
is like a tight knit community and the best employees are easy to find. A lot of the time
positions wont even be posted or available, yet there will be an influx of applicants. As

Jason said to me, candidates will seek you out with such a successful brand as David
Yurman.

Training Program
Many companies in the retail industry have very basic training programs.
Retailers train their staff on the job while trying to multitasking operations and sales.
David Yurman is no different from many other retailers. Retail operations tends to have
pretty much all the same processes no matter what company you work for, with minor
differences in certain area such as product knowledge and culture. With the fact that
David Yurman recruits only the best for staffing of their retail stores most of the training
follows steady.
Lets start with how Store Managers are trained because obviously there should be
the most investments in the person that will drive the direction that the team needs to be
lead. Store Managers are hired on and are sent to another store location that best reflects
the overall design of final destination store. The first few days are teaching that manager
the history and product knowledge of the brand. The next few more days will consist of
operations training: opening and closing the store, managing the staff, inventory
management, recruiting and staffing, and leading and controlling processes. The rest of
the time is just shadowing and learning on the job. Mentors are assigned to new store
managers for reference, but once in their individual stores, they basically learn as the go.
Training for the Assistant Managers, Operations Managers, and Inventory
Managers is all done in their store under the guidance of the Store manager. There are
SOP Binders to reference, but the Store Manager communicates most of the training.
With each individual manager title lies a different responsibility with the Assistant,
Operations Manager, and Inventory Manager; so specific time has to be designated to
give each member of the management team time for specialized training in there area of
responsibility. This entire process takes only 2 weeks before they required to be up and
running to be able to open and close the store and make operational decisions on their
own.
The sales team is trained in the same fashion and consists of 2 weeks of
shadowing existing employees after the first few days with the Store Manager. The Sales
teams main focus is on learning the product and history of David Yurman inside and out.

Their ultimate responsibility is sales generation, clientele development, and customer

relations. Most of the employees are already experienced in these duties, so this doesnt
really need much attention in the eyes of David Yurman.

Leading/Directing Plan
Having strong leadership and maintaining a direction plan that is positive and
motivating in very important in David Yurman. As Jason said, You have to focus on
what is going well. There may be hurdles, but focusing on the positive can help support
and strengthen the teams loyalty and dedication. Immediate positive reinforcement and
coaching can help build a strong team and is something Jason tries to do. Though David
Yurman prides itself on having strong leadership and encourages a consistent direction
plan, there is no set standard for leading and directing. Each management team for its
respective store much cultivate it own structure of leadership that fits its environment.
The store manager creates an environment where communication is encouraged and
issues are resolved immediately. Each member of the team is empowered communicate
with each other so that the staff flows well together.
To reinforce the leadership
and directing, the management team
tries to maintain a presence with the
staff away from operations about 30
to 40 percent of the week. Running a
high-end luxury brand can really
take you away from focusing on the
sales staff.

With that 30 to 40

percent, the management team focuses on weekly, monthly and quarterly one on one to
make sure that sales goals are communicated. Establishing each persons commitment to
achieving these goals and setting action plans to make sure that these goals are achieved.
The manager makes sure each member of the team is still committed to the direction of
the company. Adjustments are made to the action plans if goals are not met, but the
process of communication is the ultimate key to the success of the team.

Controlling and Accountability

Controlling and accountability are very important to the success of any company.
Jason, as store manager, is ultimately responsible for controlling his team and holding
them accountable for their actions and performance. At the end of the day David Yurman
relies on him and the performance of his team is a reflection of him and affects his
performance reviews. When things arent going as planned, Jason tries to focus on what
is going well. Some times that is just not enough. You have to take corrective action to
make sure negative practices are eliminated and positive practices are reinforced.
During one on ones with the staff to go over performance sometimes they have to
discuss the negative. There are a few things that are reviewed such as sales performance,
customer issues, and completion of non-sales responsibilities.

Ultimately positive

reinforcement is key to keeping the staff motivated, but there has to be a system of
regulation.
Jason feels that any negative issues that can affect
business must be addressed immediately;

for

example customer complaints, loss prevention issues,

unethical behavior, etc When this happens and is a
first time issue then a informal verbal warning is
issued, if it continues then a formal verbal warning is
issued, but is documented on file. If actions continue
the a final warning is give with further action leading
up but not limit to the possibility of termination. This takes a process to get to the final
stage.
The controlling process is not black and white though. Jason takes many other
factors into consideration before taking corrective action. Over personal attitude, drive,
and dedication to the team is all very important factor before deciding to terminate
someone or document negative behavior. As a manager you must find way to coach
through the issue without using disciplinary action to be the controller. Communication
is the first preventive measure and the strongest way to help control and maintain
accountability.

Training Program Recommendations and

Improvements
For further consideration,
I asked Jason the question:
What out of everything we
discussed,

what

would

you

change or make better?

He

immediately

said

revise

reevaluate

or

he

would
the

training structure and I completely agree. I have worked in many

different sales environments both in retail sales and outside of retail. If
I were to develop a program for training, I would establish a training
academy or set up a training store where staff is sent for intensive and
structured

training.

Each

employee,

from

Manager

to

Sales

Professional, would get at least one month complete training before

ever stepping foot in there own store.
Starting with the Store Manager, I would first have him focus on
product knowledge and culture assimilation for the first full week. The
second

week

would

be

for

full

operations

such

as

inventory

management, operations, and human resources. Then last two weeks

would be learning management and training techniques to maximize
the quality of the training skill that will be implemented in the stores.
Jason told me that his ultimate issue was that he was never trained on
how to manage different personalities and that he had to learn it all on
his own. He wished that there were training programs that taught him
how to maximize his management skills.
When employees are hired on they would also be sent to the
training academy or training store, train in the same fashion as the
store manager.

Two weeks of assimilation training then, for none

management,

training

in

prospecting

clients,

CRM,

and

then

operations. After a month of this training send them to their respective

store for continuing training with the Store Manager.
Training should be continuous, so I would also setup a computer
based training program so that quarterly training can be completed to
make sure the entire staff is up to date with any changes in operation
or product knowledge.
I have learned through the company I am working at now that
computer-based training is invaluable to keep information fresh in the
minds of employees. It can be a preventive measure in helping avoid
issues that arise from information not fully being communicated from
upper management. Another benefit to this type of training is that it
allows the management and employees to go at his or her pace
continuing training.
Creating this type of
training program may take
a large initial investment
but can save money in the
long run.
focus

Managers can

more

operations,
management,
generation.

one

the

inventory
and

sales

The company

can be secure in knowing that the entire staff is fully trained and
consistently up to date with changes because computer based training
is easily tracked and can be monitored by the management staff to
make sure that the staff is within compliance with the train processes.
Another benefit to CBT is the ability to hold staff accountable for what
is learned from the training