Lowe's Human Resource Paper

I.    Human Resources Project of Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse by SarahLane Gaines and LaDarrius Hutcherson.

        A.   The purpose of our project is to analyze the recruitment, selection, compensation, benefits, performance appraisals, and health and safety at Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse located in Anniston, Alabama.

        B. Lowe’s is a retail home improvement store that includes departments in hardware, paint, plumbing, appliances, paint, lawn and garden care, electrical, plumbing, and home décor. There is a wide variety of customers that shop at Lowe’s, from skilled professions to every day handy men. The store location we interviewed has 1 store manager, 1 human resources manager, 4 assistant store managers, 14 department managers, many customer services associates, and currently employs 125 people. The Human Resources Manager for this store, Yasmine Childs, stated that this Lowe’s is a relatively small store, and it is worth only about $22 million.

        C.   The information for our research paper was provided to us by Lowe’s Human Resources Manager, Yasmine Childs, located at 4901 McClellan Boulevard, Anniston, Alabama 36201, where she can also be reached at (256) 499-9030.

        D. We chose to do our research paper on this organization because we are both very familiar with this store. Both of our fathers frequently visited this store while we were growing up, so both of us spent a great deal of time in Lowe’s in our lifetime. Lowe’s has always had a positive environment with friendly employees, so we knew this would be a great company to learn more information about.

II.   Description of Organization and Its Personnel Function

        A. At all Lowe’s store locations, there is one Human Resources Manager on duty that operates and orchestrates everything related to human resources in that particular location. A Human Resources Manager also oversees all of the hiring and firing that goes on in a particular store. Yasmine is in charge of career opportunities, new ventures, expertise requests, business deals, job inquires and much more. The only time she has someone help her is if she comes across something that she is not familiar with, or if she is behind in some of her duties and tasks. This person will come from the corporate office from time to time to help guide her through miscellaneous things that occur in the store that is extremely difficult for one person to handle. There is also an Area Human Resources Manager who is over Yasmine, and steps in when certain problems and situations occur.

        B. Ms. Childs handles the majority of the business in her very small office, which is located beside the entrance doors, right behind the customer service desk and next to the break room. The break room has a very large table where meetings are held, and this is also where Yasmine conducts all of the applicant interviews. She stated that her office was “extremely cramped”, but yet convenient enough to keep up with all the documents needed for her job. She has cabinets full of documents ranging from application forms to write-up slips. Her office may be small, but she has plenty of storage for the information she is required to collect. Yasmine’s office has wall to wall cabinets full of all the things vital to complete her day to day duties. She keeps her office very well organized and knows exactly where everything is located. Yasmine does not spend all of her time in her small office while at work, she also goes out on the floor to oversee employee practices and make sure business is running accordingly.