Management

Lowe’s announced plans to hire up to 300 information technology professionals, including 150 new positions. The company reported that positions are now open across all IT professions, including business analysis, engineering, communications network, e-commerce, application development, program management and project management.

Gap said Chief Design Director Patrick Robinson is leaving the company effective immediately. Robinson had been executive vice president of Gap global design for adult and body for four years. The company said it will conduct a search for a successor.

If you had better salespeople, would your organization have better results? While improving the caliber of your salespeople isn't an overnight fix, it ultimately starts somewhere. Here are a few ideas to help you lead your team to better results:

Crocs beat quarterly estimates as its colorful plastic clogs sold well, but its second-quarter forecast fell short of market expectations. The company also named Jeff Lasher as its new chief financial officer. Lasher was Crocs' principal accounting officer and interim principal financial officer since January 2011.

Levi's has named Walker MacWilliam as its new global head of men's design. MacWilliam will be responsible for the design and development of all Levi's men's product categories globally. MacWilliam joins Levi Strauss & Co. from Coach, where his responsibilities included the conceptualization, design and development for all categories of men's and women's including wearables, bags and accessories.

We all like to have our own ideas reinforced; it's difficult to hear the cold, hard facts. Like successful leaders and managers who are willing to speak up and be heard, I've identified 10 things company presidents don't like to hear. As good managers, it's your responsibility to speak the truth. So here goes:

Destination Maternity announced the hiring of Chris Daniel as its president, effective June 1. Daniel will report directly to Ed Krell, CEO, and will have responsibility for all merchandising, design, marketing, visual, sourcing and branding functions of the company.

As the economic recovery gains steam, the retail industry is expected to be one of the strongest for job growth this decade. But the quality of jobs selling clothes, computers and other goods has declined in recent years to the point where few can be classified as careers.

OfficeMax announced that Michael J. Lewis will assume the role of executive vice president and president of retail, effective May 2.  In this position, Lewis will report directly to Ravi Saligram, president and CEO of OfficeMax, and will have full responsibility for the retail P&L and all aspects of the retail business, including merchandising, store operations and real estate. 

At age 50, Caitlin Kelly lost a salaried job at the New York Daily News, so she started working as a sales clerk at The North Face. As a successful freelance writer, she felt burned out by the constant pitching of stories and the lousy pay for those stories. She was restless in the New York City apartment she shared with her well-employed male partner. Kelly had decided against becoming a mother, and no pets shared the apartment.