A guest post by Stan Duncan, Senior Executive Vice President of U.S. Human Resources and Global Head of Management for Westfield, LLC. Below is an excerpt of my thoughts on human resources and performance management at Westfield from “Evolution and Future of HR: 1986-2014″ by Lindsey Long.

Perspectives From the Field

Stan Duncan was the first of three members to provide insight into human resources evolution. As the Senior Executive Vice President of Human Resources and the Global Head of Management & Organizational Development for Westfield Group, Mr. Duncan provided a summary of human resources and performance management at Westfield, the world’s largest retail real estate company.

Westfield, while very successful, faces significant growth challenges due to changes in the world’s economy and changes in the way people approach shopping, as fewer people shop in traditional malls since the proliferation of web-based retail. Mr. Duncan explained that in order to compete, shopping centers must provide a valuable experience for the customer, the communities they serve, and must also make use of new technology and consumer buying trends. For example, Westfield is the first in the industry to offer a mobile app to navigate the mall and get store coupons.

Westfield also presented its journey with performance management. Mr. Duncan explained that turnover at Westfield is very low, which on one hand shows positive employee engagement, but on the other may make it more difficult for new fresh talent to join with the skills and competencies that ensure ongoing growth and commercial innovation. This can be a challenge in any organization where loyalty is culturally important: it may be difficult to strike the balance between rewarding loyalty and recruiting outsiders.

In addition, like many corporations, Westfield faces challenges in moving from a vertical to a horizontal organization. In the vertical model, there is typically a clear career ladder; while in a horizontal model growth is offered up through the organization as well as laterally and cross-functionally. For some organizations this presents a new mindset around talent management and career progression. Westfield is proactively addressing this through the design and implementation of performance acceleration programs and new team structures that support these career paths.

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A guest post by Stan Duncan, Senior Executive Vice President of U.S. Human Resources and Global Head of Management for Westfield, LLC.

At Westfield social media is considered more than just an ecommerce and marketing tool, it’s also an important listening tool. Through our research we’ve found that listening to our customers and employees on social media channels can help improve corporate communications, employee engagement, and market-research.

Listening to Customers
As a global company, one of our challenges is segmenting our audience and learning what works in different markets. Westfield uses Facebook to create brand pages for each mall and develop online communities in cities across the globe. With these pages we can learn which discounts and benefits our customers respond to and which stores they are interested in.

Beyond market research, we’re interested in learning how to create value for Westfield through social media. A great example is our Westfield Australia social media program. Beyond Facebook and Twitter, the Westfield Australia team uses Pinterest and a blog, authored by Westfield Insider Alyce, to connect with customers online.  The blog and Pinterest offer a unique value to the online experience and ultimately help lead the customer to the product.

Listening to Employees
The second important element of Westfield’s social media strategy is listening and learning from employees. Social media, while multi-faceted, is simply another communication tool. We use social media to learn how we can improve internal communication and employee engagement.

As an internal communications initiative to increase collaboration, we’ve begun a pilot program with Yammer, a private social network for enterprises. The program has been kicked off in Australia and the United Kingdom and we have plans to integrate the social network globally. With Yammer, Westfield employees can share ideas and find expertise, answers and information across departments, geographies and levels. We’ve seen early efficiencies across business units through this simple social media collaboration tool.

A Competitive Strength
A well thought-out social media strategy does not always entail a fancy, flashy campaign or celebrity endorsement. We’ve learned that a majority of the benefits of social media come from listening. While there is no right or wrong way to approach social media as part of your marketing and communications efforts, our investment to social-listening has become a competitive strength for Westfield in the industry. So next time you like something Westfield did or thought we could have done it better, feel free to share that information with us online – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

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A guest post by Stan Duncan, Senior Executive Vice President of U.S. Human Resources and Global Head of Management for Westfield, LLC.

Though many may not think of performance management when listing key business disciplines, it certainly holds as much importance as sales and marketing, accounting, or operations. It is through effective performance management that companies have the ability to truly gauge employee satisfaction, make sure valuable team members are engaged, meet goals, and improve overall health of the organization. Other benefits include the opportunity to address performance problems and improved communication between employees of all levels.

When recent employee engagement results at Westfield indicated that despite an overall positive sentiment, there was a feeling that the performance management system could be improved, we took the feedback very seriously. Accordingly, the senior leadership team engaged in intensive research regarding effective performance management and worked to make significant changes to the performance management culture at Westfield. Our new program was recently unveiled to Westfield employees. Some of the significant changes include:

•  A consistent framework for all employees in terms of how performance is evaluated, shifting away from the subjective evaluation tools used in the past
•  A standardized method for managers to assess and establish performance goals, providing more consistency in results
•  A strong emphasis on performance when determining promotions vs. hours worked
•  Incorporating measurement of core values within the review process
•  Introduced a balance of reward results, competencies and behavior

Ultimately, we believe that it is imperative that we are transparent with employees regarding how their performance is evaluated. The transparency will heighten accountability for both employees and the organization. In the spirit of this sense of transparency, we have been forthcoming with employees over the results of the survey and the steps we are taking to respond.

Strong individual performance leads to strong organizational performance and greater capabilities. Our goal to ensure that all employees understand Westfield’s vision and core values and how their work contributes to Westfield’s success. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we want employees to feel that their efforts are appreciated and noticed and that Westfield provides them with the ability to develop their careers.

Optimize the effectiveness of high performing teams; true performance orientated culture creates an environment where there is clarity for the outcome and team members hold each accountable for results. No one goes underground in this type of high performing team in fact team members demand excellence from the team/project.

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A guest post by Stan Duncan, Senior Executive Vice President of U.S. Human Resources and Global Head of Management for Westfield, LLC.

Following a yearlong dialogue with employees nationwide, Westfield in the U.S. unveils our official company vision, purpose, and values.

For the past 50 years, Westfield has earned international acclaim as a pioneer in the world of retail property ownership, design, and management.

From our humble origins as one small delicatessen opposite a suburban train station— we have taken such an unbelievable ride.  Today, our investment portfolio of 119 shopping centers is one of the world’s largest— valued at some $60 billion.

This remarkable evolution could only have been made possible from the tireless efforts, vision, perseverance, and creativity brought to bear by our Westfield team members.  During this past half-century, our senior executive leadership and all our employees have steadily built a definitive company culture.  It’s something we often refer to as “The Westfield Way”.

“The Westfield Way” is all about rolling up our sleeves and getting things done.  Putting in a hard, honest day’s work each and every day.  Finding solutions fast and with ingenuity.  “The Westfield Way” means never deferring responsibility and never making excuses.  Never waiting for someone else to complete a task that can be done on our own.  It’s the belief that none of us is above offering assistance to a shopper struggling to carry bags or having difficulty locating where they parked.

While this company culture has remained very much alive—even after 50 years—it’s never been formalized systematically.  “The Westfield Way” has always been learned organically, as new employees follow the example of longtime veterans.  However, in recent years, we’ve seen more and more great companies taking the time to clarify their company culture and values for the benefit of their employees, stakeholders, and customers.

At Westfield, too, we’ve come to believe that clearly defining our company values can help give us a clearer sense of our direction and serve as a guiding force in developing our strategies and annual goals.  We’ve come to believe that by identifying our values we’ll be better positioned to assess business options and make good collective decisions.

For all these reasons, Westfield has just spent the past year engaged in a rigorous analysis of the behaviors long understood to be associated with the “Westfield Way”.  We’ve conducted focus groups with our employees to better understand this culture and give us the ability to formally enunciate four principal core values which—until now—were not explicitly identified as such.

Earlier this year, we brought 500 of our top managers together for our 2011 National Meeting, where we unveiled these values to all in attendance.  We challenged our teams to imbibe these values to their fullest and to disseminate them to all the employees under their supervision during the course of field training sessions.  We are now encouraging all Westfield employees to consider themselves “brand ambassadors” in the truest sense and to embody our core values in their everyday interactions with fellow employees, retailers, as well as the shoppers and the communities whom we serve.

We are convinced that the promulgation of these core values will allow us the best opportunity to realize our company vision and company purpose.  And we are certain that these values will help continue to differentiate Westfield as a cutting-edge innovator with a living culture that guides us in all we do.

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A guest post by Stan Duncan, Senior Executive Vice President of U.S. Human Resources and Global Head of Management for Westfield, LLC.

Employee engagement is defined as the measurable degree of an employee’s emotional attachment to his or her job, coworkers and employer. At Westfield, employee engagement is more than just something we strive toward—our employees drive our success, so their happiness is of the utmost importance.

At Westfield, we believe in open dialogue with our employees; there’s no better way to determine what they want than asking them directly. We also know that higher employee engagement results in greater commitment from employees, increased productivity and efficiency and greater potential for creativity and innovation. To that end, we routinely survey our employees on areas such as pay, benefits, and work/life balance. As a result, we’ve learned that Westfield employees are highly engaged in all of the above areas and hold positive views of their immediate managers as well as the company’s leadership. Committed employees make for a healthy workplace; conversely, when employee engagement is low, morale suffers across the board, which eventually leads to costly employee retention issues.

But employee engagement is more than just a successful retention device; it also increases productivity and helps ensure that you’ve got employees who are a good fit. For over 50 years, Westfield’s corporate culture has attracted individuals who enjoy working in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment and thrive on making a difference. Part of the key to our success is that our employees have a certain degree of autonomy and feel that they are able to plot their own career path. Employee engagement creates a winning culture and gives Westfield a distinct advantage in a highly competitive field; when our employees succeed, Westfield succeeds.

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Westfield Galleria at Roseville and Westfield Southcenter celebrate winning top design & architecture awards.

On December 2, 2010, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) recognized two Westfield shopping centers, Westfield Galleria at Roseville (Roseville, CA) and Westfield Southcenter (Seattle, WA) with Gold Awards for top achievement in design of retail properties in the United States.

The design of the Westfield Galleria at Roseville (pictured above) revitalization project (completed in 2009) offers a mosaic of compelling spaces.  Boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces are blurred to a striking effect. 

Glass walls, skylights and high windows create an aura of transparency and luminescence, while an open-air promenade reveals exterior-facing shop entrances, a sweeping expanse of granite and greenery, and breathtaking clear façade. Inside the property, a sophisticated retail store design has punctuated the recent arrivals of such world-class brands as Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Juicy Couture, and flagship locations for H&M, Pottery Barn, and Crate & Barrel.

So too, the destination’s new café-style dining terrace features stunning graphic design allowing its restaurateurs to showcase the art of food preparation and the joy of eating well.

Minutes from downtown Seattle, Westfield Southcenter (shown above) has similarly unveiled a total design transformation.  Aesthetically, the center has been able to achieve a bold new expression that celebrates the organic beauty of the Pacific Northwest as well as the scale and majesty of nearby Mt. Rainier.  Westfield Southcenter’s new south façade, with its memorable silhouette, serves as a striking visual beacon visible from nearby highways. 

A dramatic glass entrance, with bold roof and exposed structure, is the centerpiece of the property’s new exterior and incorporates brick, stone, glass, and metal elements.  The revitalization project also provided the opportunity to open up the traditionally inward-focused center to the outside, with a new public face as well as street-facing shops and restaurants.

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Digitally navigate Westfield shopping centers in the U.S., interface with retailers and their promotions, receive real-time updates on mall events via Facebook.

Westfield has launched the Westfield Mobile App.  This exciting new application delivers a full suite of interactive features for Westfield shopping centers in the United States and provides shoppers a virtual personal shopping assistant right in the palm of their hand.  

Downloadable for free for the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android phones, the technology electronically maps Westfield’s shopping centers— their physical layouts, directories, detailed store information, customer offers and promotions, special events, and Facebook pages—onto one digital resource.  With just a click on their mobile devices, millions of shoppers can now easily locate their nearest Westfield center, map the quickest path to their favorite stores and other on-site amenities, interface with retailers and their hottest deals, receive real-time updates about shopping center activities, and find the show times and movie descriptions for every cinema in the Westfield portfolio .  

The Westfield Mobile App— distinguished by its stylish graphics, superior technology, user-friendly interface and immediately recognizable Westfield branding— allows shoppers to conveniently access the information they need to get the most out of their shopping journey.  With the Westfield Mobile App in hand, shoppers now have the ability to:

•           Locate the nearest Westfield shopping center by GPS along with maps and driving directions.

•           View digitally rendered and scalable layouts of every Westfield shopping center, with the ability to identify specific stores, restaurants, movie theatres, family amenities, restrooms, and more.  With a swipe of the finger, shoppers can navigate an entire shopping center.

•           Use an interactive directory with the ability to sort retailers alphabetically, by category or keyword.  With one touch, shoppers can also call any retailer by telephone or visit the retailer’s website— all within the Westfield iPhone App.

•           Receive real-time updates, offers, events, style trends, as well as retailer promotions and discounts— all integrated with Facebook.

•           Create a personalized shopping list and mall journey composed of specific retailers, desired product types, and walking routes to each selected store.  Shoppers can map their journey throughout the shopping center according to the products they are looking for.

•           Find detailed shopping center information, including hours of operation, local weather, concierge services, as well as Westfield’s numerous family amenities such as family lounges, family parking, play spaces, stroller locations, and more. 

•           Browse movie show times and details about each film playing within any cinema located at a Westfield center.

•           Make parking easier by recording their parking location either by voice or text note.

•           Purchase a Westfield Gift Card or check the balance on a pre-existing card.

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Now that the 2010 Westfield Style Tour is underway, word is spreading and the buzz is building nationwide.

Check out what they had to say about the Tour on the Shopping Center Weekly web site.

The Westfield Style Tour invades eight cities across the U.S. and features celebrity stylists like Stacy London of TLC.  Here’s a link that lists all the details, including locations, dates and times.

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A Full Fashion Extravaganza Coming To 8 U.S. Markets

Celebrity Guests Including TLC’s Stacy London to Appear at Cross-Country Tour Between October 8 and November 7

Westfield is delighted to announce the opening of the 2010 Westfield Style Tour, a series of weekend-long fashion and beauty events to be held at eight Westfield shopping centers during October and November 2010.

The award-winning Westfield Style Tour, produced by IMG (the producers of New York’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week) and sponsored by Virgin Mobile, features two full days of a complete fashion experience, including:

* Celebrity Appearances
* Free Private Fashion Consultations with Professional Stylists
* Free Beauty Makeovers from the Hottest Brands (Mac, Origins, Estee Lauder, Aveda)
* Fashion Shows Revealing the Latest Fall Fashion Trends
* Entertainment, Gifts and Prizes

Stylist Stacy London, star of TLC’s “What Not to Wear,” will appear at five Westfield shopping centers, hosting exclusive style seminars on the Westfield Fashion Stage and will also offer fall fashion tips and advice to all Westfield shoppers in attendance. Other celebrity guests include Leanne Marshall and Christopher Collins from the hit fashion television series “Project Runway”.

Free and open to the public, the Westfield Style Tour treats customers to a true fashion experience.   When arriving at the center, shoppers will be invited to relax in the exclusive Westfield Style Tour lounge where they receive Westfield’s “WStyle” magazine, a guide to the season’s hottest fashion trends.  This guide includes fashion and beauty tips from Stacy London, trends from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, plus a fun and easy “3 Steps To Style” quiz that helps guests to identify their Fall fashion needs.

Then, visitors will be escorted to indulge in a free detailed fashion consultation with a professional wardrobe stylist, complete with fashion recommendations pulled from the Westfield Style Closet – showcasing the hottest fall trends from popular Westfield retailers such as Coach, Bebe, Kate Spade, H&M, XXI Forever, and Gap.

Once guests have found their perfect outfit from the Westfield Style Closet, they are invited to have a free make-up consultation at the Beauty Bar, featuring samples and demonstrations of “can’t-miss” looks in makeup and accessories.

Armed with a new look and expert fashion advice, the budding fashionistas will have a chance to hear style secrets from Stacy London or one of the guests from “Project Runway”, and also receive discount cards and special incentives from participating retailers.  In addition, lucky shoppers can win a trip to Fashion Week 2011 in New York City or can qualify to win a $2,500 shopping spree.

The complete 2010 Westfield Style Tour schedule is:

Westfield Southcenter – Seattle, WA October 8-9, 2010
Featuring Leanne Marshall, Project Runway Season 5 Winner (Oct 8-9)

Westfield Brandon - Brandon, FL October 8-9, 2010

Westfield Fox Valley – Aurora, IL October 16-17, 2010
Featuring Stacy London, From TLC’s What Not To Wear (Oct. 16)

Westfield Annapolis – Annapolis, MD October 16-17, 2010
Featuring Stacy London, From TLC’s What Not To Wear (Oct. 17)

Westfield Garden State Plaza - Paramus, NJ October 22-23, 2010
Featuring Stacy London, From TLC’s What Not To Wear (Oct. 23)

Westfield San Francisco Centre – San Francisco, CA October 23-24, 2010
Featuring Christopher Collins, Project Runway Season 8 (Oct. 24)

Westfield Topanga – Los Angeles, CA November 6-7, 2010
Featuring Stacy London, From TLC’s What Not To Wear (Nov. 6)

Westfield North County – San Diego, CA November 6-7, 2010
Featuring Stacy London, From TLC’s What Not To Wear (Nov. 7)

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Explore the elevation of Mexican cuisine to an art form at Westfield Old Orchard.

Highly celebrated Mexican cuisine chef and restaurateur Rick Bayless recently visited Westfield Old Orchard in Skokie, Illinois to offer Westfield shoppers a live cooking demonstration, recipes and technique tips.

We’re excited to share an easy-to-follow recipe for the famous mango guacamole prepared by Bayless during his visit to Old Orchard, as well as an interview with the iconic chef.

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