Adidas employees in India take charge of franchise outlets

Amid stiff competition from sports-lifestyle brands such as Puma, Nike and other global brands present in the country, Adidas, for the first time has delegated responsibility of its franchise stores to about 75 employees in India. The move ensures that each store performs on the parameters like sales, conversions from walk-ins and actual purchases.

Now the annual increments and bonus of these employees including Adidas Group India managing director Dave Thomas and its brand managers will also depend on the performance of stores owned by them. The company called all its 450 employees across hierarchy and verticals to apply for 'store ownership' under the 'heart' programme. While participation was voluntary for most employees, for leadership team it was mandatory and the selection was made from across finance, human resources, marketing, supply chain and communication including other functions.

The company operates around 500 Adidas outlets and 250 Reebok stores in the country, run by franchises. The 'heart' programme has be rolled out at 75 stores in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and other big cities, which will be followed up in other areas too.