In a fast-paced retail environment that increasingly tasks workers with providing a better in-store experience, brand identity and company culture are one and the same. And much of the work of establishing and maintaining that falls to a retailer's human resources leader. 

To ensure a successful transition to an HR leadership position overseeing thousands of employees working in stores and locations all over the country, Anne Buchanan, newly named chief human resources officer for Guitar Center said that tapping into the resources and cultural identity that already defined the retailer were critically important.  

A self-styled HR veteran, Buchanan brings years of retail experience working with organizations like BCBG Max Azria Group, and brands like Frye, Bebe and Joe's Jeans. Her career experience includes several facets of the retail industry, from product design and marketing to storefront operations. 

But it was Guitar Center's passion for its product that moved her to answer the music store chain's opportunity, she said. Below, Buchanan talks about her mindset as CHRO ahead of a busy holiday season for Guitar Center, and how her past HR experience is informing her future with the brand.

The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

The big retail trend is towards stores that are more experiential. As part of that, employees are being asked to use more of their soft skills, like communication and outreach. How do you train employees to deal with that kind of environment?

BUCHANAN: We have a healthy log of product training that we're continually evolving. We partner with our vendors to put together training on various products. It could be a new guitar, new drums, it could be some type of electronic equipment. And we really try to do more microlearnings, maybe 5-10 minutes long, so that each employee can be educated. When you walk into our stores, there's so much product, and it's hard to be the expert of everything. So I think we do a great job at investing the right resources to ensure that our employees are prepared to answer questions from our customers and really sell the product, and also understand whether the product is right for the customer.

And then you can move into the soft side of training, where we have a strong catalog interpersonal type training: greeting customers, dealing with customers. I think that's something that sets us apart from other retailers, the fact that we really invest in this type of training and development for our people.

One of the unique things about Guitar Center is what employees do on the job. You have people who stock shelves and work on the supply chain, which is standard for retail, but you also have people who are really customer-facing, and they get involved in teaching people how to play instruments. That's something you don't always see. Has that been something you've noticed as you're onboarded?

BUCHANAN: For sure. It's amazing when you walk into our store. We were, I would say, a founder in terms of in-store experience. It's always been about that for Guitar Center. And when you talk to musicians and folks, that's one of the big things. You can go in and play instruments, loud and proud, and people are smiling and happy to see it.

To be able to go into our store and, whether you're a new musician, an emerging talent or someone who's played for a long time, you're going to find people who are educated on all these amazing products. But then also you can further your talents by going to do lessons, and we're offering more and more to our customers to make it a more holistic musical experience where you can play and grow skills at the same time.

The holidays are coming up. In your experience with retail, what do you emphasize to managers and recruiting staff around this time of year?

BUCHANAN: It's interesting to talk about this because I feel like holiday hiring has changed so much over the years and having been in retail for multiple years, I've kind of seen the swing. I remember in the mid-2000s, holiday ramp-up started in October and carried through the first couple weeks in January. In those days it was critical to advertise, source and screen early.

Over recent years, holiday needs from a retail perspective have changed. Today, customer service is face-front. For Guitar Center, we're fortunate to have a workforce that is full of amazing musicians and gear experts. These talents are so special that we leverage them fully during the holiday season by flexing part-time hours out to meet the demands of holiday traffic in stores. It's an ideal way to ensure that we provide our customers with an excellent in-store experience, because as you can imagine, there's so much gear and so many products to learn.

So to hire staff in October and expect them to be prepped and ready by November doesn't really make a lot of sense. And if you look at the composition of our workforce in terms of part-time and full-time, we're really fortunate to have the availability to flex up to accommodate store hours, but more importantly our customer needs.

It's always a challenge to deal with the scheduling during busy times of the year. How do you approach managing hourly workers, and are there innovations that can help you do so?

BUCHANAN: I think timekeeping systems and workforce management systems have evolved so much these days where you can really anticipate your peak hours, and in my recent experience, flexing up during those hours hasn't been problematic. Retail employees understand that this is the busy time of the year during the holidays, and people are ready to step up and give more in terms of hours and in terms of coverage. 

How do you feel about the concept of culture and the importance of organizational culture? How do you define it in the context of managing people?

BUCHANAN: I've always thought about culture in the way that, when you walk into someone's home, you generally have a feeling about their home and their family — you don't have to know them necessarily or spend a whole day there to figure it out. That's kind of how I think about culture. You walk into a retail store or a corporate office and you kind of get a feeling.  

... It's also about the history of the company and the past as well as today. For Guitar Center, there's a rich, deep history, and I think a rich, deep culture. We have musicians, music is a theme. People love music. People play music. People talk about music. That brings a bit of fun to the atmosphere — it's not so sterile in that regard. You hear music in the hallways, you can see the pictures of musicians and bands that have a deep relationship with Guitar Center