Safeway
Mandy Cooper
Ohio Christian University

Author Note
MG3020 Managers in Organization
Professor Smith
July 13, 2014
Safeway
In American Falls, Idaho in 1915 M.B. Skaggs bought a business from his dad. It was a small grocery store; however, he had big plans. He had a business strategy that indeed was very successful. This strategy included offering value to the customers as well as expanding the business by keeping his profit margin narrow. In 1926 he had expanded to 428 Skaggs stores over 10 states.
In that same year, he merged this company with 322 Safeway (formerly Selig) stores and became incorporated as Safeway, Inc. (“Our Story”, 2014, para. 1). This merger allowed Skaggs to almost double his business in just a short amount of time. Within two years he listed Safeway on the New York Stock Exchange. Even in the midst of the Great Depression, he never lost sight of his mission to offer value to all his customers. Safeway was the first grocery store to offer produce by the pound, added “sell by” dates on perishable foods, added nutritional labels, and even made parking lots all in the 1930’s.
Today there are over 1600 Safeway stores in the United States and Canada. Some of these stores operate under a different name, but they still hold true to the vision of M.B. Skaggs to offer the customer great value. They have stores in Northern and Southern California, Nevada, Texas, and Alaska. “We’re proud to be a part of local communities, and our customers can always count on us for great prices on the freshest produce and meat, plus thousands of everyday lower prices down every aisle” (“Our Story”, 2014, para.3). They offer recipes and more on their website and also the option of having your groceries delivered right to your door. This is available over the phone or on their mobile app.
In today’s business world, it is so very important to understand diversity in the workplace.
According to Bateman and Snell (2013):
Today nearly half of the U.S. workforce consists of women, 14 percent of U.S. workers identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino, and 11 percent are black . . .U.S. businesses do not have a choice of whether to have a diverse workforce; if they want to survive, they must learn to manage a diverse workforce sooner or better than their competitors do. (p. 206)
Managing a diverse workforce is no easy task. As a manager, you must recognize what characteristics are common to each group, yet treat each employee as an individual as well. Diversity should not be something we endure, but rather something we embrace and utilize for our advantage. Safeway does just that. “Our mission is to gain a competitive advantage by attracting and retaining the best talent and engaging our employees’ skills to increase customer and team loyalty” (“People”, 2014, para. 3). Safeway believes that embracing diversity allows them to come out stronger and more adaptable. How can you reach a diverse customer base if you yourself are not diverse? This gives them a competitive advantage because from within the company they can offer what the customer wants. This diverse group of employees gives them the insight into the different cultures and backgrounds they need to better serve their communities. There are many challenges that Safeway can face due to the size and diversity of their workforce. Regardless of the laws put into place regarding discrimination and unfair treatment, it still occurs in today’s business world. Despite every effort by a manager, it can still be hard to get people from all backgrounds to work towards the same goal. Stereotyping is another negative affect that comes with having such a diverse workforce. Like I stated above, it is important to understand each group, but each person is still an individual and must be treated as such.
Another challenge of diversity can come from harassment. According to Leigh Goessl (2008), “Negative attitudes can arise which may lead to harassment of others who are different from the person(s) provoking this behavior” (para. 9). No matter how great the manager is, harassment is still going to be an issue. There are always going to be those people that have negative attitudes toward those who are different from them. This is why it is so important to promote understanding of diversity as well as acceptance.
I believe that Safeway’s top management is definitely committed to cultivating diversity throughout the company. They have even placed diversity into their performance appraisals. This ensures that all leaders are following the guidelines that Safeway has put into place regarding their diverse workforce. Annual reviews are conducted to ensure that leaders are hiring and promoting women and minorities into management positions. Another measure put into place are the workshops offered to managers and supervisors that show them how to incorporate diversity into their daily business lives.
Many years ago, Safeway realized that it was important for the workforce to reflect their customer base. They found that 70 percent of their customer base was women and therefore, they needed to hire more women. Women know what other women want and that would help to give Safeway a competitive advantage over their competitors. Until that time, male leadership was prominent in this industry and it was time to change that. According to Ann Pomeroy (2007), “The foundation of today’s diversity initiative was laid down in 1997, says Farnham. A diversity workshop to educate managers was designed, balanced workforce goals were created, and a system that holds managers accountable for meeting those goals was developed. Metrics to track their success were put in place” (para. 9).
As one can see, Safeway has diversity at the core of their strategic plan. They realized the importance of having a diverse workforce in order to reach a diverse customer base. It says this on their website, “By recognizing and celebrating our differences, we embrace our collective talents and use our contributions to create a more successful company” (“The Foundation of our Success”, 2013). Larree Renda, executive vice president talks about the important of not just talking the talk, but more importantly walking the walk (Pomeroy, 2007, para. 12). This is the reason Safeway was and continues to be a success.

References
Bateman, T.S. & Snell, S.A. (2013). Management. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Goessl, L. (2008). Challenges of diversity in the workplace. Retrieved from http://www.insidebusiness360.com/index.php/challenges-of-diversity-in-the-workplace-23210/
Our Story. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.safeway.com/ShopStores/Our-Story.page
People: Diversity and inclusion. (2014). Retrieved from http://csrsite.safeway.com/home/people/diversity-and-inclusion/
Pomeroy, A. (2007, February). HR Magazine: Cultivating female leaders, 52(2). Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/publications/hrmagazine/editorialcontent/pages/pomeroy.aspx
The Foundation of our Success. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.careersatsafeway.com/why-work-for-us/diversity