So the Nordstrom saleswoman hailed a cab, sped out to the airport, and hand-delivered the ticket to the customer who narrowly caught her flight. Va. Store in suburban Washington, D. C., where he has developed an extensive international clientele. Nordstrom would rather leave it up to me to decide what's best. Employees who witness a colleague performing a heroic are encouraged to write up a description of what they saw and submit it to their managers. The week's collection of heroics are printed up and circulated among associates.
Heroics are part of a program of praise and support.
When individuals and departments have a successful day or are on target to reaching their goals, they are verbally saluted over the store intercom during the morning announcements before the store opens. At monthly store meetings, customers' letters of appreciation are read, and individuals' positive achievements are recognized and cheered by co-workers. But it all comes back down to giving its 40,000 employees responsibility and authority. Nordstrom considers that act the ultimate expression of leadership. We assemble a team and allow them to fail, but obviously, we're there for them when they need us.