When the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, we looked to Floor & Decor’s core values to guide us through this unprecedented time. As a retailer striving to meet our customers’ needs, we challenged ourselves to ensure safe shopping environments.

Our CEO’s main objective was to prioritize the health and safety of our associates and customers. In an effort initiated by our Safety & Loss Prevention leader, a cross-functional steering committee was formed to monitor COVID-19 developments, assess guidance from public health officials, and devise a response plan.

Floor & Decor’s COVID-19 response called for an all-hands-on-deck approach and included:

• Leveraging our global supply chain to source and distribute supplies, such as hand sanitizer and PPE
• Establishing the IT infrastructure required for associates in store support locations to work remotely
• Developing e-learning tools to educate associates on newly instituted procedures
• Allocating resources to support our customer care center and e-commerce operations as online, app, and phone orders ramped up
• Creating a case management system and training our safety and HR teams to investigate and escalate cases
• Designing an intranet page to serve as a repository of internal communications and other important information

We also maintained hours for our full-time associates, continued pay for associates with positive cases while quarantined, and closed stores by location on an as-needed basis. Our actions enabled us to transition to a curbside-only pickup and delivery model for a period of time and effectively reopen offering safe in-store shopping experiences.

Fueled by Floor & Decor’s entrepreneurial spirit and integrity, leaders from all business units functioned as one team to assume accountability for the safety of our associates and customers. As a result, we now have the infrastructure needed to operate effectively during a public health crisis including an emergency response SOP, safety policies, and communication plans.

Melissa Smith, CHRO