HRM 6100 Module 3 Written Assignment: Training, Development and Performance at Costco Example

From Peer to Supervisor: Development and Performance Management at Costco

Student Name

Master of Science in Human Resources Management, Thomas Edison State University

HRM-6100: Human Resources as a Strategic Partner

Mentor Name

Month Day, Year

From Peer to Supervisor: Development and Performance Management at Costco

The Promotion That Went Wrong

The incident used here is illustrative. Maria, a cashier with nine years at a Costco warehouse and consistently strong performance, was promoted to front-end supervisor. Three months later, wait times at the registers have risen, two cashiers have complained that she plays favorites, and she has told her manager she is not sure she wants the job. The warehouse manager asks HR how to respond.

Why Development Matters in a Promotion-From-Within Strategy

Costco fills most management positions from within, as discussed in Module 2. This practice builds loyalty and preserves the culture, but it creates a predictable challenge: excellent individual contributors are promoted into roles that require different skills, such as delegating, giving feedback and handling conflict among people who were recently peers. If development does not accompany promotion, the company risks losing a good cashier and gaining a struggling supervisor. Development is therefore not a separate HR program but a condition for the staffing strategy to work. Ton (2014) notes that companies investing in employees also invest in the training that makes promotion from within work, which is the investment this incident tests.

Training That Builds Supervisory Skill

Strategic training is designed to produce behaviors the strategy requires and is evaluated by results, not attendance. Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2006) described four levels of training evaluation: reaction, learning, behavior and results. Many organizations measure only the first two. For new supervisors, the levels that matter are behavior, whether the supervisor actually delegates and gives feedback on the floor, and results, whether register wait times and team turnover improve. A supervisor training program should be judged on those levels.

For Maria, training should focus on three skills: scheduling and deploying cashiers by demand, giving feedback to former peers, and handling complaints of unfairness through consistent, transparent decisions. Short sessions combined with practice on the floor and coaching from an experienced supervisor are more likely to change behavior than a single classroom course.

Performance Management

Performance management connects individual goals to the business and provides feedback that helps people improve. Feedback is not automatically helpful: pooling hundreds of studies, Kluger and DeNisi (1996) found that roughly one feedback intervention in three made performance worse, most often when it pointed at the person instead of the task. Feedback for Maria should focus on specific behaviors and results, such as how she assigns registers at peak times, rather than on general judgments of whether she is "cut out for management."

A Ninety-Day Plan

The plan sets clear expectations, provides support and measures progress. If Maria still wants to return to her cashier role after ninety days, the company should allow it without penalty, which preserves an experienced employee and signals that development is supported rather than forced.

Lessons for the Company

The incident suggests three improvements. First, prepare promotion candidates before they are promoted, through a short supervisory development program for employees identified as ready. Second, assign every new supervisor a mentor from another warehouse for the first ninety days. Third, evaluate supervisor training at the behavior and results levels, tracking measures such as team turnover and service times. These steps make Costco's promotion from within more reliable.

Conclusion

Maria's difficulty is a predictable result of promoting strong performers without preparing them for supervision. A strategic approach links training to the behaviors the role requires, uses feedback that focuses on tasks, and evaluates development by its effect on performance. For Costco, investing in new supervisors protects the strategy of promoting from within.

References

Kirkpatrick, D. L., & Kirkpatrick, J. D. (2006). Evaluating training programs: The four levels (3rd ed.). Berrett-Koehler.

Kluger, A. N., & DeNisi, A. (1996). The effects of feedback interventions on performance: A historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory. Psychological Bulletin, 119(2), 254-284. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.119.2.254

Ton, Z. (2014). The good jobs strategy: How the smartest companies invest in employees to lower costs and boost profits. New Harvest.