Costco Research

What is the American Dream? There are as many opinions on that topic as there are individual minds to think about it. But one thing stands clear: People want to feel appreciated and respected. People want to be happy. Think about it, most people have to work for a living. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to have all that at once? Of course! Who wouldn’t want that? After some research, I have determined that working for Costco can meet those needs. While some companies put major importance on various aspects of employment, it has become clear that what works best is to focus on your employees and their state of well-being. Costco is known in the business world as a great company to work for. There have been stories in the media saying such. The turnover is very low, barely over 5%, and the pay is very good (Desjardines, 2008). Costco’s culture is appealing because Costco seems to send a message that they value each and every employee. Each person is made to feel that they are valued as a person, and not just cashier #4, for example. This is something that most people find they need out of a company. The more valuable one feels, the more they are willing to do the best they can for the company. Costco seems to have a very dominant culture, in that their core values are shared by most employees. The turnover rate is low. That sends the message that employees that work at Costco are happy, and have no desire to look elsewhere for employment. This is something that I share with Costco. No one likes to look for jobs, go on interviews, start a new job, be the newest employee, etc. These are all things that take a person out of their comfort zone. Once you find a job with a company that you can share your goals with, you should plan to stay there until one of you changes your goals. That being said, it is obvious that Costco has a very strong culture. The fact that there is a low turnover shows that the core values are shared among employees.

References: Childers, P. (2005). Organizational culture affects the bottom line. HR Magazine, September(2005). Desjardines D., (2005). Culture of Inclusion: where top executives lead by example. Retailing Today. Retrieved May 23, 2008, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FNP/is_23_44/ai_n15969651 Goldberg/Ritter A.B/B., (2008). Costco CEO Finds Pro-Worker Means Profitability. CBS News. Retrieved May 26, 2008, from http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=1362779 Kjerulf Alexander, (2007). Analysts to Costco: Stop treating your employees so well. Positive Sharing. Retrieved May 25, 2008, from http://positivesharing.com/2007/07/analysts-to-costco-stop-treating-your-employees-so-well/ Robbins, S.P. (2005). Organizational Behavior (11th ed.). Columbus, OH: Prentice Hall.