Zimbabwean gleans tips from Xerox, Wegmans

So when Precious Simba stepped into a Wegmans store in the USA, it was akin to Gulliver entering Brobdingnag. “Here, retail is 10 times, 15 times bigger than what we have,” said Simba, who helps oversee 29 Spar stores. “What they call a department, I call a store.”

The 26-year-old supermarket executive is in the United States through the Fortune magazine/State Department Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership. The effort started in 2006 and links women around the globe with members of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Leaders list for a month-long internship.

Xerox Corp. is a participant in the program. And Simba was in Rochester recently meeting with Wegmans executives and Xerox managers, learning about the American way of doing business. Her itinerary included meeting with members of Xerox’s Women’s Alliance and its Black Women’s Leadership Council. Simba previously spent a week with New York City marketing agency Young & Rubicam.

As western Zimbabwe retail operations manager for the Netherlands-based Spar chain, Simba, handles issues such as inventory flow, store layout and staff training. “I want to grow professional in my career,” she said. “I’m at that level where it is make or break. And I want to push my career another level higher.”

Which already could be happening if not for State Department requirements that she return to Zimbabwe at the end of the month. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve been given I think three job opportunities,” she said with a smile. “The vision I have now of my career path is so much broader.”

Along with business ideas, Simba will return home with plans for a mentoring program for high school girls, pushing ideas like higher education and the corporate ladder as well as skills such as effective networking. “No one ever sat me down and taught me these things,” Simba said, “but they are vital.” – MDANEMAN@DemocratandChronicle.com