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care for them.
According to Brandon Janes, manager of
the Texas Backyard at the HEB Plus! store located at Stone Ridge Market in San Antonio, “Product has to be native and hardy to survive that strong Texas sun and 100-degree heat,” he says, noting the advantage of cultivating relationships with growers in the area.
Employee Partners
The concept of “locally grown” is equally important to H-E-B’s internal operations as it is to its external suppliers. Partners mirror the makeup of the community. This commitment to hiring flows through the company. “We make a conscious effort to have partners reflective of and connected to the diverse markets in which we compete,” says Harris.
The other hat Harris wears is the diversity hat, and that is focusing on the workforce and marketplace. “If you have people in manage- ment and in the store who understand the culture and speak the language, it breaks down barriers and enhances the shopping experience,” he explains.
“You have to know your market, or it comes off disingenuous,” continues Harris. “We have 11 diversity counselors strategically placed in all of our regional markets to educate partners on product handling and drive awareness upward on cultural nuances so we do not offend anyone,” he says, adding, “We also do diversity training. It does not mean you are able to teach diversity, but that you have a working under- standing of what it means so if someone wants to engage in a diversity conversation, you do not have to run away from them; you can actu- ally embrace it, and it puts everybody in a more comfortable position.”
Partner Empowerment
H-E-B empowers its employee partners through incentivized health and wellness programs, as well as innovative educa- tional/leadership classes that create an energetic work ethic but also a more balanced, happier life, according to Leslie Sweet, public affairs director for the Central Texas region.
Partners actively participate in sustain- ability initiatives and devote hours of their weekends volunteering in charitable commu- nity events, adds Sweet. “We have personal conversations with our partners for every dollar donated. This way, H-E-B allows store partners to take charge of funding to support charities that are dear to them. At the same time, H-E-B is diligent to vet the organiza- tions to ensure the charities are solvent and above board with their services,” Sweet
assures. For example, “We have a partner with an autistic child, and she was organizing a walk for Autism. H-E-B lent financial support and resources for the event, and the effort motivated 40 more partners to join the walk, stimulating awareness to help the cause, while creating new collaborative friendships.
“Our partners have their fingers on the pulse of folks in Texas,” says Winell Herron, group vice president of public affairs, diver- sity and environmental affairs. “We have corporate initiatives that run across all of our
stores. We have regional community outreach initiatives that are focused on particular market areas and then we have very targeted grass roots initiatives store-by-store, looking at what matters to our partners and what people care about in their community,” says Herron, adding, “It’s not just about writing a big corporate check.”
H-E-B builds a powerful synergy between its partners, suppliers, customers and the community, the foundation for award- winning sustainability. pb
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