Marrionnaud boss: We group stores into leagues, just like in football

The takeover of Ina Center, Privilege and Marionnaud by Chinese-held Hutchinson Whampoa in an international deal sealed last year has radically changed the strategy of Ina-Privilege Internaţional, which holds the perfumery chains on the Romanian market.
The new manager of the perfumeries, Sorana Georgia, with experience of the retail market in member companies of German giant Metro, has found an immediate way to check employees and motivate them at the same time.
"We group stores into leagues, like in football, so we offer employees the possibility to get different salaries. This way, people can envision a career plan," says Georgia, who also applied this method with hypermarket chains Metro and Real.
The business that Sorana Georgia runs currently consists of 24 Ina stores and 29 Privilege stores, while the Marionnaud brand, which sells selective products (high-end products that target customers with above-average income) is present on the Romanian market with one store opened in AFI Palace Cotroceni.
And since in a business which is permanently in direct contact with consumers, the employees' attitude can make the difference, Georgia started her term as a CEO with visits to the stores, at a time when employees were not familiar with who she was yet, in order to see how customers were treated.