When you ask most consumers what is Goodwill, the most popular answer you will hear will speak to the retail store. As leaders in retail, we understand this and strive daily to serve as positive brand ambassadors for Goodwill, providing great experiences for the millions of customers who come into our stores annually. One thing most customers and even many employees don’t realize is that our retail stores serve as places where mission services flourish as well. There are so many employee success stories that have occurred because of the mission-centered work happening across every retail location including stores, ecommerce and supply chain operations.
For example, every store has a dedicated Goodwill Way Guide who assists employees with supportive services to help them become more successful at work and at home. Just this year alone, Guides have provided over 500 points of assistance to our retail teams enabling them to be more successful.
Across the retail network, store partnerships with organizations like Boys and Girls Club, Project SEARCH, Patheon, Harrigan and DVR help youth and adults with disadvantages and disabilities learn job skills and realize achievement through working retail jobs.
Also, Goodwill’s training programs allow employees to learn marketable skills they can leverage in their retail roles and beyond such as forklift training and leadership training through the Career Path program. From my vantage-point, it’s an exciting time to work in a retail store for many reasons:
- The ability to serve Goodwill’s great mission economically.
- The opportunity to help each other grow, learn and be successful.
There is a lot of mission work happening in retail every day and exciting opportunities exist to foster people’s growth and skills far into the future.
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