At Stop & Shop, diversity’s not just a buzzword — it’s good business

Banner Staff

It’s an organizational mantra repeated up and down the line at the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company — for this multibillion-dollar business, success depends not only on locating and employing a diverse group of motivated and talented associates, but also on encouraging those associates to share their ideas and perspectives.

Tapping into workers’ unique skills and experiences is what smart businesses do, and Stop & Shop — the largest food retailer in New England, with tens of thousands of employees in stores, distribution centers, offices and manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and beyond — is certainly that.

But perhaps more important, empowering associates to stand up and be heard helps an enterprise as large and thriving as Stop & Shop remain responsive to its customers, because the folks the company employs live in the same neighborhoods and are cut from the same cloth as the people shopping in its stores.

The commitment to community is written right into Stop & Shop’s diversity mission statement.

“We aspire to be an organization that is reflective of all segments of the population in the areas in which we do business; where all associates are treated with respect and the individual can grow professionally based upon the quality of [his or her] contribution and competence; where customer service is a priority and all customers are valued and treated with respect,” the mission statement reads.

It’s a commitment reinforced from your local market’s stock room all the way up to the administrative offices at Stop & Shop’s Quincy headquarters, where the buck stops with the company’s president and CEO, Jose Alvarez.

“By following these principles, we truly will be a better place to work and a better place to shop,” said Alvarez, 44, a Princeton- and University of Chicago-educated Cuban American who ascended to Stop & Shop’s top spot in April 2006.

Following those principles also helps Stop & Shop continue its long tradition of establishing partnerships with the communities it serves. Throughout its history, Stop & Shop has provided support to hundreds of local organizations throughout New England and elsewhere, placing a premium on being recognized as a diversity leader both in the business world and in the community.

Locally, Stop & Shop has for more than a decade been an avid supporter of Bottom Line, a Jamaica Plain-based college counseling service for disadvantaged and underserved youth, many of whom are students of color. Bottom Line’s dedicated staff assists Boston Public Schools students throughout the college application process, and stays with them until the students earn their college degrees.

Each year, 10 deserving Bottom Line students receive scholarships from Stop & Shop. The company also takes a number of interns from the program each summer, an instrumental bridge to recruiting these talented young individuals to become full-time Stop & Shop associates once they’ve graduated.

Stop & Shop’s commitment to partnership extends to a variety of other ethnic, religious and professional organizations as well, including the Latino Professional Network, the National Asian American Professional Association, the Black Ministerial Alliance, the Boston Ten Point Coalition and the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting.

The company also looks inward in its desire to emphasize partnerships. Stop & Shop prides itself on providing its employees with all of the elements they need for a fulfilling work experience, including competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits packages. In addition, Stop & Shop emphasizes the importance of creating opportunities for those associates looking to further their professional careers, and works to increase the number of minority employees at higher levels through internal promotional programs.

One such initiative, Stop & Shop’s retail management internship program, was developed in 1997 to introduce more women and people of color to retail management careers within the organization. The four-year rotational program allows interns to experience a number of different facets of the business, from in-store management to positions at the corporate headquarters, preparing them for entry into Stop & Shop’s management team after graduation. In addition to affording students the opportunity to develop valuable business skills, the internship program also helps participants get started on the path to achieving their career goals — each year, Stop & Shop has consistently employed more than 80 percent of the program’s graduating seniors as full-time associates.

Stop & Shop views its associates as the organization’s most valuable resource and is always looking for talented individuals who are eager to join a motivated, friendly and diverse team. For more information on job opportunities at Stop & Shop, visit www.careerswithstopandshop.com.