Business with a soul that focuses on employees and customers

JDG Trading, ranked among the top 10 employers in the Giants category, is ‘a business with a soul’, as evidenced by its strong focus on employee engagement and customer service. So says Pamela Barletta Group Executive: Human Resources.

The JD Group boasts some of South Africa’s most iconic retail brands within its portfolio,

Barnetts, Bradlows, Supreme, Electric Express, Hi Fi Corp, Incredible Connection, Joshua Doore, Morkels, Price ‘ n Pride, Russells, Penny Pinchers, Timber City and Unitrans Auto.

The diversified retailer deals in furniture, appliances, consumer electronics, building materials and motor vehicles) and consumer finance (credit and Insurance) business. It has more than 20 000 employees and generated turnover of R15 741 million last financial year.

Barletta adds, “The group celebrates its 30th anniversary in July next year and, like any soon to be 30-year-old, it has undergone a number of changes. Chief among these is the shift in focus from pure furniture retail.

“Our growth path uses both organic innovation and acquisitions,' she explains. Thus, the entry of Hi Fi Corp and Incredible Connection into the JD Group fold. SteinBuild (including Penny Pinchers and Timber City) and Unitrans Auto are the latest additions. In this way, the group has extended its reach to encompass building materials and cars.

“Our objective is to participate in the entire customer experience as they improve their livelihood over time – from building a house, to transforming it into a home and parking the car in the garage. All of which can also be financed and insured by us,” Barletta says.

The group, she reveals, is now looking towards the future; an exercise which has led to an obsession with execution around all strategies which will take it forward.

To this end, the financial services were decoupled from the furniture retail business which allows it to expand its offering beyond existing brands.

More recently, it implemented an Enterpise Resource Planning (ERP) system (SAP) rollout, centralised logistics, and centralised HR.

Barletta says, “The human capital strategy can be summarised as a drive to be worldclass in our fields of expertise by providing customised business solutions to business needs through people.

“Our approach to human capital is around engaging, empowering, enabling, and energising our employees. This means they can achieve their full potential whilst creating a sustainable organisation that delivers.

“Our commitment to transformation is evidenced by an implicit understanding of the importance thereof, not only within but also to the broader society in which it operates. It recognises the critical role it has to play in the transformation process and has set up a Transformation department to ensure that the appropriate strategy exists and that it is aligned to the DTI’s B-BBEE code,” she elaborates.

The Group is currently a level 5 contributor.