BRAINTREE, Mass. -- Kimberly Betts, director of communications for Ahold USA, warned that the pipeline of experienced talent will be shrinking for food retailers.
Betts is also president of the Network of Executive Women, an organization based in Chicago formed to attract, retain and develop women in retail and consumer packaged goods companies.
She said the time is now for retailers to seek nontraditional ways of recruiting and grooming new talent into their organizations and "not just rely on people who have grown up in the store."
Within the decade, Betts said, "as baby boomers start to retire, a lot of companies will be faced with quite a few people who have been around a long time and are going to retire. Hopefully, it won't be a just-in-time situation for these companies. We won't have the luxury of just hand-picking people who have grown up in supermarkets."
One aspect of food retailing that Betts would like to see challenged is the notion that "you're not going to make it if you don't grow up in supermarkets.
"I think there is a lot of money being left on the table because from a demographics standpoint, the leadership in our organizations does not reflect who our customers are," she said.
Not only is the majority of shoppers women, she pointed out, but shopper demographics are increasingly nonwhite. "We have ethnic groups from all corners of the globe being represented in our customer base. So it's not just about women. It's about all kinds of people. For the company that figures it out, there is tremendous opportunity there."
One nontraditional way to promote and retain good talent is to make the top executives accountable for the success of others, she said.
"I really think it needs to be a deliberate effort where the CEO and CEO's direct reports are personally invested in the success of [new talent] because only then will these people not get swallowed up by the existing culture that might reject them. It's kind of like introducing a new organ into the body. The body can very easily do all kinds of things to reject it. It's probably one of the most important ways that executives can try to ensure success of transplants from other industries."
Betts, who has been with Ahold for seven years, said she has been lucky in having good mentors at Ahold that have helped in her advancement.
She credits Bill Grize, president and chief executive officer of Ahold USA, for having a deep passion and commitment for diversity within the company. "He has a tremendous amount of passion around the issue and is committed to it. He is a huge supporter of NEW, and one of the first to step up to help. He has been a huge supporter of me."
Betts said Ahold focuses a lot of attention on building a diverse talent pool at the retail level. "At the end of the day, it's all about development and taking advantage of opportunities that become open, "she said.
Kimberly Betts
director of communications, Ahold USA, Braintree, Mass.
Kimberly Betts, 36, is a transplant to food retailing having worked for a low-tech manufacturer before joining Ahold USA in 1997, first working for Stop & Shop as manager of development and director of change management. This year Betts was named director of communications at Ahold USA. She was director of business process implementation in the business transformation team at Ahold USA.
Last year Betts was elected president of the Network of Executive Women, a position she will hold for two more years. She is one of the founding leadership team members of NEW.
Betts earned a bachelor's degree in International Relations and Russian language, and a master's degree in training and development from Lesley University.
