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With 15 years of professional experience in the home improvement industry, Jim Rivas was hired as a store manager by Friedman’s Home Improvement, a four-store independent retail company with locations in Sonoma and Medocino counties in California.
Recognizing Rivas as someone with high performance results, a dedicated spirit and potential to grow in the company, CEO Barry Friedman presented NRHA’s Retail Management Certification Program (RMCP) to Rivas as an opportunity to advance his leadership skills and career. Rivas enrolled in the Spring 2015 session of the program.
During the six-month program, Rivas participated in three multiday workshops participating in case studies, lively discussions, role-play activities and group exercises, all on the topic of home improvement retail operations.
Rivas also completed a culminating business improvement project that had a significant impact on his career and the company he works for. Rivas demonstrated his ability to take ownership and lead a companywide initiative, resulting in two promotions, first to director of store operations then vice president of store operations. Read more about his project below.
The Idea: Rivas and his business sponsor wanted a centralized delivery dispatch system to streamline and unify the existing delivery processes across the company.
The Plan: Rivas realized that if resources were shared across stores and if they analyzed delivery locations, the process could be more efficient, uniform and cost-effective.
Project Implementation: Rivas strategized the project, laying out processes and responsibilities in detail. He then led the organized implementation of the new delivery dispatch system.
Return on Investment: The centralized delivery dispatch system has nearly doubled the amount of materials delivered with fewer assets involved. Delivery product revenue has also nearly doubled.
To read more about Rivas’ project and to learn more about RMCP, click here.
