If you're with the Mervyn's department store chain, you don't panic. You call in the SWAT team. Mervyn's SWAT team is 34 managers with varied expertise in areas such as merchandising, advertising and buying. They race from division to division, usually at a moment's notice, to help with various workplace crises. Mervyn's created the team three years ago as an experiment to deal with workforce issues such as flextime and parental leave.
SWAT assignments range from a week to six months.
The team helps Mervyn's respond effectively to a broad array of staffing needs, market changes and unanticipated opportunities. They also spread the best practices they observe in various departments to the rest of the company. The SWAT stint gives employees broad exposure within the company, so they're often lured off the team by the Mervyn's managers they impress. When you want people at your next meeting to think creatively to solve a problem, watch your language. How you frame a problem can make it more difficult for others to think creatively.