Can Corporate Employees Hack It On The Retail Floor?

In today’s edition of Forbes Edge, we’ll take a look at some apps to help boost your productivity at work, the latest on Boeing’s clash with its union and more. But first, let’s dig into a new policy for employees of Home Depot.

Do you think everyone should work at least one customer service or retail job in their life?

Home Depot seems to think so. The retailer will now require all its in-office and remote corporate employees to work an eight-hour shift every quarter, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg.

Though site and client visits from corporate staff are within the normal standards of operation, quarterly requirements are a new step for the company, which makes more than $150 billion in annual revenue and employs 450,000 people. The policy’s success, writes senior contributor Jack Kelly, will largely depend on its implementation. Poor in-store training for corporate employees could lead to inefficiencies, and if not taken seriously as a learning opportunity, it could also build resentment.?

Apart from Home Depot and DoorDash, which implemented a similar program in 2022 that required corporate employees to complete at least one food delivery a month, few retailers have set requirements for “on the ground” work.?

It is an unusual move, yes, but it comes at a time when rising labor activism has ignited unionization movements across industries. Union petitions with the National Labor Relations Board have nearly doubled since 2021, and are up 27% in the last fiscal year.?

Philadelphia Home Depot employees voted to unionize in 2022, and just this year workers at Apple, CVS and Amazon have unionized.????

Happy reading, and hope you all have a lovely week!

—Maria Gracia Santillana Linares, Careers Reporter

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Work Smarter

Practical insights and advice from Forbes staff and contributors to help you succeed in your job, accelerate your career and lead smarter

• Looking for new ways to increase your productivity at work? Here are some apps that can help.?
• ‘Your immediate work circle is enough,’ and more networking myths that are holding your career back.?
• What to do if your manager is glossing over problems.

Careers Q&A: Tammy Sun, CEO and Founder of Carrot Fertility

Ahead of World Menopause Day on October 18, Forbes sat down with Tammy Sun, founder and CEO of Carrot Fertility, a fertility coverage program that companies can offer as a benefit, to talk about how menopause is affecting women (and men) in the workplace and how folks can advocate for increased benefits or support at work. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.?

Carrot recently released its annual Menopause in the Workplace report. What was one piece in that research that stood out to you the most?

One of the most surprising things for me is that about a third of Millennial women are already experiencing symptoms related to perimenopause. That is an enormous number. And upwards of 70% anticipate and believe that this is going to be a very significant workplace challenge as they move forward through perimenopause and into menopause. So the awareness, education and the de-stigmatization of this issue is contributing to our ability to really understand the depth of the problem. This data is important for us to make visible to both employees and employers that this is an issue. I’m heartened to know that more are feeling empowered to speak out about this.?

Definitely. How are employees moving past this conversation between themselves and bringing it up to their employers?

I think there’s a lot of employee advocacy in this space. A lot of women are using women ERGs (employee resource groups) inside companies, and they’re bringing the topic into those ERG groups, organizing other women at work. These topics and conversations go straight up to the management team and even the boardroom [in the ERGs], so I think that is a very powerful trend that’s happening now.

What’s a piece of advice that you have for folks in these ERG groups to really be heard by management?

One of the things that holds people back from being heard is the sense that HR doesn’t care, or that it won’t really matter because ‘I’m just a single person.’ I think that’s a misconception about HR that is important for HR leaders, people leaders, benefit leaders, to react and respond to. It’s about hearing from employees about what they want because they only want to buy products and put programs in that people will actually use. So I think most people would be surprised to know that you would find a very open, receptive and communicative audience with your company’s benefit leaders. If even in that case you don’t feel comfortable bringing up the conversation on your own, if there’s not already an ERG, you can think about making a group of women at work and organizing a small group of colleagues to raise the issue together as a group. I’ve seen that work really well for menopause, but also for broader fertility benefits like IVF and egg-freezing where employees, both women and men, will self-organize and bring an issue to the benefits leader and sometimes the CEO. So don’t be afraid to approach your benefits team.

That’s an excellent point—how do you bring men into these conversations?

Yeah, men are also an important part of this conversation. It’s about advocating and supporting other women, but also themselves. I mean, men go through hormonal changes as well. And there’s issues around fertility––half of all infertility is male-related infertility. We have a low testosterone program in addition to a menopause program that supports men as they age and as their hormones change as well. And so I think it’s a really exciting time for women, but also an exciting time to make sure that we are being inclusive of men and that they have the opportunity and responsibility to engage in their healthcare. At the same time, I do think that lots of men would be willing and excited to join conversations that sponsor and promote better healthcare for women. They should want that! Because it’s better for their business. If you care about your business outcomes as a man, then you should care about how your women colleagues are being supported.

Touch Base

News from the world of work

• Boeing fights its union: After withdrawing its “last and final” offer to its striking workers on Wednesday, it filed an unfair labor practice charge against the union with the NLRB, saying that the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers failed to bargain in bad faith.?
• PLUS: The aerospace firm also announced Friday it would be laying off about 10% of its workforce. A company spokesperson told the Seattle Times it would not be laying off striking employees, meaning the initial cuts could be among white-collar staff, including engineers and nonunion salaried employees across the organization. And now it’s looking to raise $35 billion in funds via stock and debt offerings, as well as new credit.?
• Female leadership suffers when private equity firms invest, according to a new study by consultancy LCap of 1,424 European companies. On average, the percentage of women in leadership tumbles to 16% by the end of a private equity investment period, down from about 20% at the start. While the percentage decrease can be from new leadership brought in, only about 8% of new C-suite executives brought in by the firms were women.?
• Social security benefits will increase 2.5% in 2025 to reflect cost-of-living increases. Retirement benefits could increase, on average, about $50 per month.?
• The largest federation of labor unions in the U.S. and the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency, announced Thursday they would partner tobetter understand the impact of technology, including AI and automation, on their jobs.The first of its kind, the AFL-CIO/NSF partnership could serve as a model for how unions work with other federal agencies on workforce development.

Quiz

A U.S. labor board accused which tech company of interfering with workers’ rights to collectively advocate for better working conditions by restricting Slack access and social media activity?

A. Meta

B. Google

C. Apple

D. Microsoft

Check if you got it right here.