‘Rite Times’ gets the message out to associates
A big part of the reason behind Rite Aid’s success is that the story has changed. It’s no longer about swimming upstream or playing defense. Today, it’s about creating a retail healthcare company and aggressively turning that dream into reality.
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“Years ago, we spent a lot of time talking about the very real needs we had in terms of managing the day-to-day business,” Bob Thompson, EVP operations, shared with Drug Store News. “Today, we talk a lot more about growing our company heading forward. We’ve made it pretty clear externally and internally that we have made a transition from turnaround to growth.”
To reinforce that message, Rite Aid produces an electronic newsletter called “The Rite Times, Rite Now” to keep associates updated on what’s happening in the company. After every earnings call, for example, chairman and CEO John Standley releases a video for associates that explains the quarterly financial results and provides updates on key initiatives. “John takes the time every quarter to record this video message and it really helps us in keeping our team informed and energized. And in every earnings release and virtually every communication that he has with the outside world, he emphasizes that it’s really our 90,000 associates who are working together to deliver these great results. John underscores that, because he believes it.”
“The Rite Times, Rite Now” is crucial to Rite Aid’s ability to execute against its strategy, Thompson noted, especially as its business model continues to evolve beyond filling prescriptions into offering additional healthcare solutions. “There are so many things that we’re working on, that one of the critical things that we have to stay focused on is the message that individual associates are hearing; it’s a lot to process,” he said. “So we spend a lot of time working within our company to organize and filter the messages in a way that the store teams can easily process what the priorities are.”