Retirement Paper

Assignment 1: Retirement Speech

Introduction

Ahem, could I get everyone’s attention please.

*Voices die down to a mutter as silence falls over the room*

Hello everyone and welcome to Faye’s retirement party. I know it is hard to believe but today we will be sending off one of the most valued members of the Holt Renfrew’s family. As most of you already know, my name is Louie V. Ton, the manager of the largest Holt Renfrew store located on Bloor Street, at the heart of Toronto and today I will be walking everyone through Faye’s journey with us at Holt’s, her future plans and then ending off with some nice wishes from everyone. So without further ado, let’s get started, shall we?

Personal Achievements in Faye’s Career and Success in Making a Recognized Difference

It is exciting to think that as we end this year and start anew, Faye will also be starting another chapter of her life. Faye has been with Holt Renfrew for over 40 years. When we both arrived in the July of 2016, Holt’s only had about 200 employees across the country, and a measly number of 50 employees at our store. While she only expected to stay for a few years as a customer service representative before moving on to new endeavors, she soon learned that working for Holt’s was never boring. As a result, she stayed on board to become a Human Resource Assistant, Administrative Coordinator, Manager of Human Resources and finally her current position as Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition. Faye has also had the opportunity to travel and represent the face of talent acquisition at Holt Renfrew around the world as she has served on the boards of SHRM, the World Federation for Human Resource Management and the North American Human Resource Management Association. Consequently, Holt’s was recognized by Maclean’s Magazine as a remarkable company with innovative HR practices in its Fall 2047 article “Seven HR Practices at Winning Companies That You Are Missing”.

Contribution Made to the Work Place Environment

Since becoming the head of HR, Faye has helped develop Holt’s in the following ways:

•   Contributed to modifying the company hierarchy to help Holt’s be more responsive
•   Increased the number of staff on the floor at all times to better serve our customers
•   Launched the annual Diversity Awareness day to increase inclusion and education in the workplace

•   Grown store staff from 50 to 150 employees
•   Reduced turnover and increased employee retention from 79% to more than 81%
•   Helped develop and select a new brand and logo for Holt’s

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