Apr 5, 2017

By: Leslie G. Sarasin, President and CEO, Food Marketing Institute 

20161208-FMI-1055_ed WEBFood retailing is a diverse and remarkable industry that strives to make a difference in each local community it serves every day. The food retail industry employs more than 3.4 million individuals and brims with extremely talented individuals, providing them with good jobs that can lead to great careers with hard work and determination. This isn’t just rhetoric – many members of FMI’s Board of Directors started out 25 or 30 years ago as baggers or cashiers, and after years of hard work rose to become CEO.

As an industry, we are only as strong and successful as our workforce. Each time a customer picks up a bunch of bananas, a carton of eggs, or a gallon of milk, there are hundreds of transactions and interactions that had to occur to get that product on the shelf safely and affordably.  When a store has fully stocked shelves year-round, it is because millions of employees are clocking in every day and making it happen.

The industry feels an enormous responsibility to make sure our associates who aspire to build good careers have the opportunities necessary to advance. We take the growth of our associates – personal and professional – seriously. Creating a culture of leadership isn’t just management-speak for food wholesalers and retailers, as evidenced by the tens of millions of dollars invested each year to educate and increase the skills of their associates. We provide tuition support for employees attending college and graduate school, and send thousands of workers to school to obtain a Retail Management Certificate, which can be the ticket to upward mobility in our companies.

In today’s competitive environment, we simply can’t afford to leave anyone behind or any resource untapped. Too many miss amazing opportunities simply because we can’t find a way to get our foot in the door or aren't being guided to the right door to stick our foot in. The grocery industry feels a responsibility to not only offer that open door, but to seek out that next generation of leaders, whoever they may be. 

With support from FMI, food retailers are facilitating career opportunities and leadership development in several ways. One way that FMI member companies have personally committed to support these relationships is by partnering with the iFoster Jobs Program. This partnership with iFoster presents a tremendous model for making our businesses, our communities, and most important, the lives of young people stronger and richer– in all meanings of that word.  

The rapid rise in job market concerns reveal an industry awareness of the personnel challenges inherent in the changes technology and modernity bring. How, for example, will the industry maintain its high standards of customer service as it increases its reliance on machines, electronics and digital? The labor concerns run deep as our industry contemplates what’s needed in its next generation of leaders. For this reason, FMI is refocusing and redoubling its energy on its Future Leaders eXperience program. The event is designed as a learning laboratory to offer cross-functional, cross-company and cross-industry interactions. The unique format cements networking opportunities and aims to create long-lasting relationships.

Remember where you were when you first started your career? Remember the mentors and friends who helped steer you in the right direction? FMI and its team are dedicated to helping you recognize and support the rising leaders in your midst. We are investors in your future.