By Pat Lawrence
Diane Murphy, the Outbound Manager and Felicite McCoy, Human Resources
Manager for Coldwater Creek. |
The East Coast Operations Center of Coldwater Creek is more than
an employment experience for women. It’s a paid opportunity
to be recognized, rewarded, and get great buys on clothes. The Parkersburg
facility serves customers from coast to coast, sending out the apparel,
jewelry and decorative items within 24 hours of being ordered. During
their peak season, from September through January, Coldwater may be
staffed with 1200 people. During spring and summer, the number is
reduced to about 600.
Felicite McCoy, Human Resources manager for the company, says that
70% of their employees are women. Four of the eight members of the
management team are also women.
She says there are benefits to working at Coldwater Creek besides
the employee discount. “The dress is always casual – shorts,
jeans, T-shirts, whatever is comfortable. We have a special activity
for employees every month. People who work hard are recognized monthly,
and annually with money and a good parking space. We offer a base
pay plus bonuses that are paid based on productivity and error rate.
The bonus can be as much as $3.17 an hour over the base pay, which
can make a big difference in the money someone takes home.”
Felicite is responsible for developing the on site company store
where employees can shop for bargains on Coldwater Creek merchandise,
including samples, returns and overstocked or out of season items.
“Everyone gets a discount when they order from the catalog,
but the store is one of our favorite benefits.” She also designed
‘the mommy shift’, for women who wish to earn a little
extra money and still be home for their kids after school. “The
shift is from 8:30-2:30 in the call center or the distribution center.
Sometimes it is just two or three days a week. We get enthusiastic,
dependable employees; they like getting out, getting paid and being
home with their family. Flexibility works for everyone.”
Coldwater employees also enjoy the monthly birthday celebration,
company picnics, marshmallow roasts and the occasional visit from
celebrities, like the Easter Bunny. Felicite says, “We are all
here to do a job, but we want to make sure everyone has fun while
they are doing it.”
Diane Murphy, the Outbound Manager, has been with the company since
before they opened the 600,000 sq. ft. Parkersburg location in 1998.
She started as a “picker”, pulling items to be shipped.
She was promoted to the lead position, then to supervisor and then
to management within two years. “Over 98 % of our orders are
shipped within 24 hours. We tell people to expect delivery in five
to seven days, but we try to make it even sooner. When we can, we
ship the same day we get the order.” Diane makes sure there
are enough “pickers and packers” to keep distribution
efficient. “Our people stand on their feet all day. They have
to be fast paced. We do a good job here and we have a lot of fun.”
Her department is responsible for everything that goes out of Coldwater
Creek. During peak season, when shifts may run from 5AM till 3AM,
her days can be pretty long.
‘Inbound’ is the receiving department for all goods including
the area where inspectors checks every incoming item for quality and
measurements. Diane says, “That department is ALL women!”
With stringent quality control and a workforce that often doubles
in size, good staffing is essential at Coldwater Creek. Felicite says,
“We interview each person, looking for high energy people who
are committed – and nice. We do reference checks, background
checks and a drug test.” During the holiday season the company’s
customer service representatives field as many as 45,000 calls per
day. Customer service agents participate in an intensive, two-week
customer service, computer, and product-training program before they
start.
Diane, says, “We take care of our customers first, but we all
work together and we take care of each other too. Managers and employees
contribute to a fund that helps coworkers in case of crises or catastrophic
situations. The common thread in everything we do is service. It all
starts there.”
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