HR Retail 2025
2025
TBD
Day Two - Tuesday, April 9: Empowering Your Workforce
7:00 am - 8:00 am
Breakfast & Registration in the HR Hub
Come on down to kick of another action packed day with a hearty breakfast in the HR Hub!
8:00 am - 8:05 am
Welcome Remarks
8:05 am - 8:20 am
Chairperson’s Opening Remarks
Curtis Campbell -
Senior Director, Marketing,
Hughes
8:20 am - 8:45 am
Modernizing Associate Development for an Ever-Changing Retail Environment
Sherry Yaskin -
Vice President, HR - US Stores & Operations,
The Home Depot
Jessica Steinberg -
Senior Director, HR, Southern Division,
The Home Depot
Home Depot has been working on rethinking the way their front-line associates are prepared to deliver the best customer experience possible. They will talk through some of their development initiatives such as:
- Using mobile technology to enhance product and project knowledge
- Retooling and upskilling associates through in-house technology training programs
- Growing career opportunities for field associates
8:45 am - 9:10 am
Keynote: What’s Your Listening Strategy? Keeping the Human Connection in HR in a Digital Age
Brynn Diaz -
Senior Manager, People & Culture,
LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics
Throughout the conference you will continue to hear more around innovative ways to push HR forward with cool new technologies. But when you go high tech, how do you keep the human in human resources and ensure you are in touch with your workforce? At LUSH, Brynn Diaz is exploring:
•Constructing a listening strategy to truly stay in touch with what your employees are thinking
•What really works for monitoring staff engagement?
•Recognizing your employees contributions in meaningful ways
9:10 am - 9:40 am
Fire-Side Chat: Employee Empowerment is More Emotional Than Physical
Curtis Campbell -
Senior Director, Marketing,
Hughes
Amy Dasilva -
Corporate Communications Manager,
QuickChek Corporation
Empowerment is more than just giving your employees the physical tools they need to do their job. Emotional tools, which include modern approaches towards communication, recognition and growth are essential in creating and maintaining employee satisfaction & loyalty – which have a direct impact on the customer experience. In this session, Amy DaSilva, head of corporate communication at QuickChek and Curtis Campbell, Sr. Marketing Manager for Hughes will discuss QuickChek’s efforts to enhance the employee experience.
9:40 am - 10:20 am
Panel Interactive: Creating a Compelling Employee Value Proposition
Karyn Alvarez -
Recruiting Director,
The Container Store
Chip Borsi -
Manager, Retail Insights,
Indeed
Kim Delaney -
Vice President, Field Recruiting,
Sephora
Maureen Harper -
Head of International HR & Training,
formerly at Taco Bell
- Understanding your organization’s best selling points in attracting and retaining talent
- Leveraging effective feedback and survey tools to hear what your employees value
- Incorporating people analytics to understand your current workforce and future candidates
After 30 minutes of hearing from the panelists, audience members will have the opportunity to discuss a related follow-up question in smaller groups for 10 minutes.
10:20 am - 11:00 am
Rise & Shine Break in the HR Hub
Pop over next door for a caffeine jolt for the remainder of a jam-packed day!
11:00 am - 11:40 am
Panel Interactive: Nurturing the Next Generation of Leaders
Matt Hirst -
Senior Director, OD, Talent Management and Learning,
GameStop
Myke Mansberger -
VP, People,
Bombas
Christian Martinez -
Vice President, Training & Development,
Journey's
Zuleika Sgro -
Vice President, People,
Saje Natural Wellness
Sarah Mitchell -
Industry Director, Retail,
CareerBuilder.com
Eric Anderson -
Vice President, Learning & Development,
Tailored Brands
The pressure is high for capable leadership in a constantly changing industry. Join your colleagues to discuss how organizations are:
- Recruiting the right candidates to grow and lead your organization
- Providing opportunities for professional growth to develop highly engaged talent
- Changing learning & development methods for different demographics
After 30 minutes of hearing from the panelists, audience members will have the opportunity to discuss a related follow-up question in smaller groups for 10 minutes.
11:40 am - 12:00 pm
Keynote: Building Your Employer Brand: Unlocking Best Practices in Retail
Chip Borsi -
Manager, Retail Insights,
Indeed
The tight labor market, coupled with evolving work and job seeking habits, has intensified the battle for top retail talent. The hiring experts at Indeed analyze the current retail landscape and outline tips and best practices in building a prominent and trustworthy employer brand.
12:00 pm - 12:40 pm
Town Hall: Airing Out Compliance Concerns
Carla David -
Vice President, Retail & HR Administration,
PVH
Steve Engdahl -
Chief Product Officer,
Access
Stephanie Miller -
Director, Employee Relations, U.S.,
Lowe's
Brian Rose -
Director, State Affairs & Advocacy,
RILA
Kevin Vilke -
Senior Director, Field HR, EEO Officer,
Barnes & Noble
Expansion and growth brings with it a multitude of new labor law and compliance issues. With the ever-changing employment law landscape varying by state and city how do you ensure your stores across the state or country are remaining compliant? The panelists will open discussion before you submit questions on the app for the moderator to pose to them – and the rest of the room!
12:40 pm - 1:40 pm
Networking Lunch for All Attendees at the Marker 10
Get to know your fellow attendees better during our sit-down lunch.
1:40 pm - 2:10 pm Workshop: Revamping Succession Planning as a Talent Exchange
Rob Ollander-Krane - Director, Talent Planning & Performance, Gap Inc.At Gap Inc., Rob Ollander-Krane got rid of the 9 box to make succession planning less threatening, more focused on development and more effective. Rob will walk you through:
•Why Gap eliminated the 9 box and what they replaced it with
•How this change took the pain out of succession planning
•How it is working and holding managers accountable for talent metrics
1:40 pm - 2:10 pm Workshop: Troubleshooting Your Retention Problem
Bob Farmer - Director, HR - Eastern Region, MeijerCome ready to participate during this lively session that will outline how Meijer (yes, you’ll also learn how to pronounce that), the originator of the retail supercenter, has significantly reduced hourly turnover in their retail stores. Bob will walk you through the checklist of initiatives that Meijer has embarked upon over the past few years to increase team member engagement, improve productivity, and reduce turnover. You’ll hear about both financial and non-financial investments that you can make at your company to have a big impact.
1:40 pm - 2:10 pm Boardroom 3: Building Up Your Pipeline and Your Community with Refugee Work Readiness Training
Brandy Lindsey - Director, HR, Supply Chain Network, NordstromAt Nordstrom, Brandy Lindsey has been piloting an intiative to engage a community of Congolese refugees recently settled in the Cedar Rapids area into the workforce by providing a work readiness training program. She will talk through some of the successes and learnings of the program thus far. Before opening it up to the group for discussion, Brandy will also share how her team at Nordstrom is sharing the program with other community leaders in the area for greater impact.
2:10 pm - 2:40 pm Case Study Interactive: Career Pathing for Greater Retention
Dave Brewer - Director, Store Operations, HR, Family DollarOrganizations across industries are learning that today’s employee values personal and professional development in addition to monetary compensation.
- Set up Individual Development Plans and career pathways
- Emphasize soft skills training and not just technical training
- Increasing retention through employee development and feedback programs
2:10 pm - 2:40 pm Workshop: Evaluating Your Family Benefits
Mary Beth Ferrante - Founder of Live.Work.Lead., Maven Clinic- Benchmark your current family benefits offerings against your peers
- Learn the most important criteria in creating a modern, comprehensive family benefits strategy
- Identify trends in women's healthcare, fertility, maternity and return to work that most impact your business
2:10 pm - 2:40 pm Boardroom 4: Gamify Your Onboarding
Eric Ueno - SVP, HR, Hot TopicEric Ueno will share how his team implemented the Hot Topic Journey for new hires – complete with a caping ceremony! – before opening it up for discussion to the rest of the group.
Eric Ueno
SVP, HRHot Topic
Retailer Roundtables by Organization Size
2:40 pm - 3:10 pm Working Groups For retailers with >100,000 employees
For retailers with >100,000 employees
2:40 pm - 3:10 pm Working Groups For retailers with 10,000–100,000 employees
For retailers with 10,000–100,000 employees
3:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Chill Out Break & Store Tour Group Meet Ups in the HR Hub
Grab a refreshing drink before heading out into the city for your selected store tours!
Retailer Site Tours
Space is limited. Sign up when registering for the event.
4:00 pm - 5:15 pm YETI
Ivy Ford - Director, Employee Experience, YETIAt YETI Flagship, you can check out YETI products in their element, and shop exclusive instore customization options or stop by to grab a cold beer snack at the Barrr.
4:00 pm - 5:15 pm TOMS
Katie Sanchez - Store Manager, TOMS AustinTOMS Austin location on South Congress is a community space and cafe for people who are inspired by what TOMS is doing. Katie will share more about the TOMS cafe experience for employees and customers.
4:00 pm - 5:15 pm LUSH
Brynn Diaz - Senior Manager, People & Culture, LUSH Fresh Handmade CosmeticsLush North American has been creating fresh and handmade cosmetics for the past 20 years- keeping our customers’ bathtubs and showers a little more magical through our retail shops across Canada and the US. Join the LUSH team for a tour of their location on 6th street and learn more about how their employees provide such an inviting store experience!
5:15 pm - 6:30 pm
Party Like It's Prohibition: Speakeasy Cocktails at Eleanor's
Go back in time with speakeasy cocktails and roaring twenties jazz! Set in a building dating back to the Jazz Age, the Eleanor is located in the heart of downtown Austin's historic Warehouse district.