Interview with Jaci Edgeworth, Director People Potential North America at lululemon athletica

May 31, 2011 - PRLog -- Companies are preparing themselves for growth opportunities as the economy slowly rebounds. In doing so, they are looking for proven ways to grow their employees in the performance and productivity. There is a strong internal drive, not just within HR, but also within the entire organization to bring current talent to the next level of leadership and productivity to drive the organization.

Jaci Edgeworth, Director People Potential North America at lululemon will be speaking at the Talent Management & Leadership Development Conference from July 21-22, 2011 in Toronto, Canada.

Jaci Edgeworth is the Director, People Potential for lululemon athletica. lululemon athletica is a Vancouver, British Columbia based retailer of high-end yoga and run inspired apparel. Prior to joining lululemon, Jaci was the Director of Workforce for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Organizing Committee.

Jaci answered a series of questions, written by marcus evans, on how to drive a culture of individual and organizational development, accountability and innovation. All responses represent the view of the Ms. Edgeworth and not necessarily those of lululemon athletica.

1. How are traditional Human Resources being transformed through lululemon athletica’s innovative people development and total rewards philosophy?

Jaci Edgeworth: lululemon’s mission is to elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness and our People Potential department’s mission is to empower great people to achieve their goals and live a life they love.  We have grounded our people development and total rewards philosophy in these two things.  What sets us apart is our culture of goal setting and all of our programs are designed to support employees to set & achieve big harry audacious goals (“BHAGs”) in all aspects of their life.

We reward people who work with the intention of greatness and who produce amazing results.  Performance drives results and impacts the bottom line. Paying for performance attracts entrepreneurs who are fired up by being a top performer.  It ties everybody to the company’s results. From funding people’s goals to yoga & fitness classes to top of market pay for exceptional performance, our total rewards programs continue to be innovated by, and for, our great people.  Unlike most corporate training & development, “functional” development is only 1/3 of our people development philosophy. By focusing on every single employee’s personal development and unique greatness, we empower our people to create a full life that they love.

2. What rewards are reaped from the culture of goal setting and personal responsibility at lululemon athletica?

JE: Everyone employed at lululemon writes and posts their goals on the wall.  We pursue goals in three areas – personal, health, and business.  We coach and support the goals of our people in all three areas because we know that people who are successful in their personal lives are more likely to be successful in all aspects of their life. We support our employees goals so that they can live a life they love at work and outside of work.  We aim to create an environment where there is little distinction between work and play.  We know that employing people who love their lives attracts other great people to our company and which allows us to elevate more lives to greatness!

Our People Potential practices are grounded in the principles of self-responsibility and high performance. We are not patriarchal or matriarchal, (traditional HR models often focus on “taking care of people”, this is not consistent with our culture which supports the responsibility of each person for their own life) we create the space for people with personal responsibility to achieve their goals and we reward people for high performance. We focus on developing and rewarding leaders who develop other leaders.  Our goal is that 80% of our leadership roles are filled through internal development. We believe that it is the responsibility of every leader in the company to develop 2 successors who will be better at the job than they are.  This is what will make us successful through a period of extremely high growth.

The number one reason people leave lululemon is to pursue a goal in their life. The basis for success at lululemon is giving without expecting anything in return.

3. Can you tell us a little about the lululemon manifesto and how it contributes to employee wellbeing?

JE: “lululemon produces products that help people to live longer, healthier, and more fun lives”.  This quote from our manifesto directly influences the way we work and the way we interact with our communities.  We offer free yoga classes, participate in “sweat” challenges, host the most rocking cheer stations at local races, organize run clubs and group rides, have “bliss ball” recipe contests...and we blog about it all!!

The manifesto embodies the culture of people at lululemon.

4. What is the advantage of developing people from the three perspectives of self, leadership, and functional?

JE: Unlike most corporate training & development, “functional” development is only 1/3 of our people development philosophy. By focusing on every single employee’s personal development and unique greatness, we empower our people to create a full life that they love. We know that people who are successful & happy in their personal lives are more likely to be successful in all aspects of their life and will attract more great people to our company.

We have found that people cannot be great leaders of other people until they have “practiced” our principles of self-development on themselves.  The greatest leaders in our company are those who have spent countless hours & energy reflecting on who they are being and how they react to a variety of situations.

5. What advice can you give to other companies on expanding and developing their pool of leadership talent?

JE: 2 People Ready to Go and Grow” is one of lululemon’s important corporate objectives.” Get everyone focused leadership development and makes it the responsibility of every leader in the company.

The marcus evans Strategic Talent Management & Leadership Development Conference will take place on July 21-22, 2011 in Toronto, Canada.  For more information on this conference, please go to: http://www.marcusevansch.com/JaciEdgeworth

For further information, please contact:
Michele Westergaard
312 540 3000 ext 6625
Email: michelew@marcusevansch.com

# # #

Marcus evans conferences annually produce over 2,000 high quality events designed to provide key strategic business information, best practice and networking opportunities for senior industry decision-makers.