Disconnect - One Bath Bomb Away from Destruction

When looking at Lush the back of the house is where a lot of the focus will be on as it prepares the entire experience we as customers see. I have talked to the employees as well as location managers. The employees are engaged in their work, they always have something to do, someone to assist, and they are tasked with a totally new project (new person, new preferences) with each interaction.

With each new interaction they constantly have to be innovative to come up with the perfect solution for their customers... And the beautiful part is, they get it right before making you spend ridiculous amounts on products for them to just collect dust in a medicine cabinet. As noted in the Experience Economy by providing new experiences to their customers with interactive parts this also adds an extra element to refresh their customers.

The employees have the advantage of being able to put in their opinion and make suggestions to what they think can be improved. However, a large component of that experience happens in employee training. Having interviewed both employees and upper management (as well as individuals who made the jump into managerial roles) it was evident that the support and resources to truly connect staff and product knowledge were limited.

Upper Management's focus on profit making has overshadowed the incentives and even the motivation of the employees. While 50% off products can come in handy, the underlying focus on expansion is definitely the largest issue. Looking at the Fashion Valley location as one example, even the Lush in the Seattle Mall I found... the functionality of the store, staffing are things that the organization as a whole, and the individuals responsible for tasking have let become medicore.

When looking at connecting the employees of Lush, they really connect with each other and they try to make sure that they take care of each other on the team. The vibe and atmosphere is definitely visible among the employees and their values, personalities, and this does help transition into empowerment and motivation, however from the employee perspective, their resources apart from their own emotions and their teammates is limited... In other words the support they feel from Managers and Floor Leaders is limited.

The management thinks that they do the same, but in reality the employees sometimes feel that they are not always on the same page as the senior executives. The primary issue of this that I noted when observing the floor, as well as feedback received from employees is that upper management is so focused on the financial gains that they are overworked, not as knowledgeable as they should be on products (which is one of the Lush Brand's biggest selling points) and thus they are not as motivated.

Overall, I would like to take this project in the direction of really analyzing how this company can improve with their back of the house tactics and how the team can essentially try to sync together to try and be on the same page so that they can gain ultimate success.