At the HR Summit 2014, a four-day human resources and management forum held from June 3rd to 4th, Itsuko Tamura, President and CEO of Isetan Mitsukoshi Human Solutions Ltd. (IMH), gave a lecture titled "How to Develop Frontline Leaders." The lecture began with an anecdote from her days as a new employee. Tamura, who assumed her current position in April 2011, began her career on the front lines. She gained experience in the women's underwear department, where she received strict guidance from senior employees and salespeople from client companies. "The store atmosphere was one of nurturing the new employees. I learned how to make proposals that exceed customer expectations on the front lines." Isetan Mitsukoshi achieved approximately 1.32 trillion yen in fiscal 2013 (Isetan Mitsukoshi Group consolidated), accounting for approximately 20% of all department store sales in Japan. The Isetan Shinjuku store holds the record for the highest annual sales of any single store in Japan. Tamura has witnessed this growth from various vantage points, including storefront staff, back-office staff, and the president of a group company. "Since our founding, we've anticipated and embodied customer expectations. By interacting with as many customers as possible, we've been nurtured by the front lines and our customers."
She also emphasizes that one of the mechanisms supporting store operations, the source of this growth, is a comprehensive education and training system. Approximately 200 training programs are available as off-the-job training, which can be combined with on-the-job training, and IMH plans and manages them. "By bringing instructors in-house, we can maximize the experience cultivated within the group and develop specialists," she says.
■From mystery shopping to consulting. A new example from IMH
IMH has created a system that divides salesperson skill levels into four levels, making it easier to understand the current situation, set goals, and develop training plans. Recently, five or six years ago, the company began implementing "awareness-deepening training" to heighten sensitivity to customer needs by imagining customer lifestyles and thoughts and observing and learning from the behavior of top salespeople. For example, during daily morning meetings, leaders share recent examples of customer service and encourage everyone to think about services they can offer to customers. "The key is not to teach, but to enhance each salesperson's awareness."

IMH also introduced its "in-store performance survey." Customer service performance surveys are conducted at each Isetan Mitsukoshi store by mystery shoppers. By quantifying customer service skills, they are "visualized," enabling the setting of detailed goals for improving sales performance.

This know-how was also put to use in the group's new business, "Isetan Mirror" (small cosmetics store), operated by IMH. "The approximately 100 salespeople working in nine stores have received training on over 20 brands before hitting the shelves. However, since this initiative began in 2012, all of them were first-year salespeople. Since they couldn't learn from their seniors, they supplemented their experience by sharing case studies, improving teamwork. Furthermore, the salespeople's feedback is motivating, as it reflects their own opinions in the products and stores," says Tamura. As a result, the salesperson retention rate reached a 90%, an unprecedented level in the cosmetics industry, and the company won the Nikkei MJ Award at the 2012 Nikkei Excellent Product and Service Awards.

This year, IMH also began fully leveraging the human resource development expertise it has cultivated through these efforts to provide external companies with a service in which its consultants provide reports on solutions based on interviews with customers. Approximately 50 companies interested in human resource development at the Isetan Mitsukoshi Group attended this lecture and listened intently.