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SUPERVALU Case Questions

1. Evaluate Supervalus new professional development program. What do you like/dislike about
the program? Will it appeal to the college recruits? Why or why not?
In order to have a competent workforce Supervalu designed a program named Professional
Development Program (PDP).
Program Objective:
The core idea behind launching PDP was to attract high potential college graduates who want
to make careers in distribution, retail and corporate activities.
The need of the company was to do a better job in getting entry level people into the core
business and PDP satisfy this need.
Agenda:
The main agenda of PDP was
To compete effectively on college campuses for the best talent.
To retain the talent.
To build internally developed leadership capability.
To save money.
To assist in the diversity of business.
Issues:
The idea behind launching PDP was excellent but the planning part of PDP ignored some issues
which affected the overall success of the program.
One of the important things which they ignored is their current employees; the program
was purely for fresh graduates and had no incentive for the Supervalus current
workforce.
Secondly PDP was focusing on the graduates having minimum CGPA 3 and ignoring the
talent of people with CGPA less than 3 which also affect the overall effectiveness of the
program.

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Appealing Factors for the Fresh Graduates:
The PDP is a program purely designed for the fresh graduates; it appeals to the fresh graduates
as it provides them
It provides them with the opportunity of learning the retail and distribution business.
The PDP helped them groom for their personal growth; it is designed in such a way that
it gives candidate a chance to learn each unit of the business.
Lastly it provide the candidates a chance and gain experience through working with one
of the largest food retailer company and a leading food distribution company Supervalu
and helps in understanding the culture of large organizations.


2. What do you think about the way the program was created? What might you have done
differently? Why?
As mentioned earlier the program was all about hiring and training fresh talent who have
completed their four years of education and interested in working in retail and distribution
business.
The PDP was designed in such a way that it enables the fresh inductee to learn each unit of the
business
Supervalu scope of training was divided in three career ladders



PDP was a 2 years rotation based program across 3 units the rotation scheme was:
1
st
rotation 12 months in the main area of interest of trainee
2
nd
rotation in one of the areas left out of three
3
rd
rotation of 6 months again in the area left
Career
Ladders
Retail Distribution
Corporate
Activities
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This rotation helped the trainee and the company both as it helps in developing skills related to
all the three areas of the business and will help trainee in its career development and the
overall business to grow.
The program required 4 years degree with minimum CGPA of 3, strong computer skills,
excellent communication, presentation, leadership and analytical skills.
Doing it Differently:
The program must give such chances of growth to itsexisting employees, there should
be a mechanism through which managers nominate the names of potential people to be
a part of PDP and they should also be given a chance to polish their skills.
Secondly the program focuses on the people having CGPA 3 whereas according to me
CGPA should never be the only criteria; people with CGPA less than 3 have also potential
and their talent must be catered.
There should be some incentive for the internal employees as well so that they feel
motivated in helping the trainee to learn. The program does not provide any incentive
to the current employees so they do not welcome and help the trainee in their learning
process. This thing might damage the essence of PDP which is to train fresh graduates.
So this issue should be handled carefully.

3. What should Paul Cimmerer do as of August 1999?
Supervalu is a large organization with diverse businesses; they are in retail and distribution both
such companies have strong culture and in retail & distribution people/employees are very
important. The philosophy of Supervalu is Total commitment to serving customers more
effectively than anyone else could ever serve them.
So in order to serve customers Supervalu must have loyal and dedicated workforce; for this
Paul Cimmerer launched PDP.
The overall idea and procedure is already discussed in the first two questions.
Paul Cimmerer should launch the program with some changes:
The program should extend to a next level.
The number of trainees should be increased.
There should be a proper procedure of providing growth opportunities to employees on
a lower level with required talent through PDP.
The incentive should be given to other employees as well for the success of PDP.
The CGPA should not be considered as the only criteria and should include other equally
important criteria and people having CGPA 2.5 should also be given a chance.

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4. What are some of the future challenges that he need to anticipate with respect to
professional development?
The challenges that Paul Cimmerer needs to anticipate with respect to PDP are discussed
already.
Supervalu is a rich organization in terms of diversity; diversity in terms of people, business,
culture, career etc
The challenges that PDP might face in future are many; there are many risks attached to PDP
the way it is planned.
Some of them are:
The PDP might face a challenge from its current employees as there is nothing in it for
them. The opportunities in terms of career development and growth given to fresh
internees/trainees are very high which might de-motivates Supervalus employees as
they feel neglected.
The program also neglects the talent of people with CGPA less than 3. There should be a
way to deal that talent as well.
The PDP roles and responsibilities including coach, advisor and program sponsor must
be supervised carefully if any of the three show negligence to their job it might destroy
the overall objective of the whole program.
The environment provided to the employees should be learning with a team culture
otherwise the trainees could not learn and gain a fruitful experience. The program
planners need to work on the environment as they might face a strong opposition from
current employees.
So in order to make PDP a complete success the program heads need to mitigate these
challenges or risks and need to plan to overcome these challenges.