January 20th, 2023, Joshua Kennedy
Home improvement retailer, Home Depot, is making changes to its pay policy for hourly workers in the United States. Effective 16 January 2023, the company will pay employees to the nearest minute, based on when they clock in and out of their shift - replacing their older policy of rounding off to the nearest quarter of an hour.
How have Home Depot’s metrics performed since the payroll change was announced?
According to YouGov BrandIndex - which tracks consumer sentiment towards thousands of brands daily - Home Depot’s Reputation score declined after news of the new payroll policy broke on 11 January 2023. The Reputation score - which measures how proud or embarrassed people would be to work for a company - declined from a net score of 31 on 11 January to a net score of 24 on 18 January.
The Atlanta, Georgia-based company’s Index score - which measures average Impressions, Value, Quality, Reputation, Satisfaction, and Recommendation scores for the brand - also declined over the same period. The Index score dropped from a net score of 42 on 11 January to a net score of 31 on 18 January.
Conversely, Home Depot’s Buzz score - which measures if customers have heard something positive about the brand (whether in the news, through advertising, or talking to friends and family) in the past two weeks - saw some improvement since the announcement. The brand’s Buzz score moved positively from a net score of 13 on 11 January to a net score of 14 on 18 January.
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Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. Home Depot’s Reputation scores are based on the question: “"Imagine that you were looking for a job (or advising a friend looking for a job). Which of the following companies would you be PROUD TO WORK FOR? Imagine you (of your friend) were applying for the same sort of role at the following companies that you currently have or would apply for. / Now which of the following companies would you be EMBARRASSED TO WORK FOR? Imagine you (or your friend) were applying for the same sort of role at the following companies that you currently have or would apply for.” The answers are delivered as a net score between -100 and +100.
The brand’s net Index score is based on the Average Impressions, Value, Quality, Reputation, Satisfaction, and Recommendation scores for the brand. The scores are delivered as a net score between -100 and +100.
Home Depot’s Buzz scores are based on the question: “Over the PAST TWO WEEKS, which of the following brands/stores have you heard something POSITIVE about (whether in the news, through advertising, or talking to friends and family)? / Now which of the following have you heard something NEGATIVE about over the PAST TWO WEEKS?” The answers are delivered as a net score between -100 and +100.
Scores are based on an average daily sample size of 210 US-based adults between 1 January 2023 and 18 January 2023. Figures are based on a 3-day moving average. Learn more about BrandIndex.
Picture Credits: Jason Rice on Unsplash