My Story – Part 2

I already talked about what we decided to do as a result of our strategy session regarding our new organizational chart and the shifts in responsibilities. Now here is how we implemented the change.

Over a period of three weeks we did the following four steps:

1. We finalized the new plan. It came after much debate and discussion, but we did come up with a plan that all our key managers were in favor of.
2. We rewrote the job descriptions to reflect the new org chart. We wanted to be fully prepared and able to head off any objection and concern.
3. We executed on our plan. One by one, we talked to all our staff about the changes, presented the new job descriptions and the fact that they were going to be effective by the end of that week.
4. We then instilled confidence in the new team. Once the band-aid was ripped off quickly (we did it all in one day), we assembled the teams the fist of the following week to instill confidence and move on.
5. Finally we finished executing on our plan. We filled the new empty positions from existing staff mostly, we moved to lean scheduling and project based scheduling and we fulfilled all our objectives that we set out to do.

There were some hiccups and twists, and we did lose one person unexpectedly, but in the end, the results were pretty much as we had planned.

The proof is really in the pudding. By pinpointing our inventories of time, changing our org chart, becoming more efficient and having a structure that gave us more flexibility, we were able to save enough to create a new position inside the store while saving approximately 6-8% off our total wage costs (depending on the store), so far year to date.

There’s nothing quite like the power of community involvement to build a close team. If you and your staff can volunteer together and do good in your community, it will not only help your community, but your staff’s satisfaction as well. 

Earlier this fall, our Fredericton staff entered in a team into the McInness Cooper Dragon Boat Festival, which helps to raise money for Kids Sports New Brunswick and New Brunswick Amateur Athletes.

Our team had to raise over $1,000 to enter a team, which we did through different fundraising events at the store this past summer. Then our team of 20 rowers participated in two training sessions, and then race day. This event was ideal for us because it showed the importance of working in unison to achieve the maximum results.

It was an amazing event and loads of fun for everyone involved. Take time to empower your team by giving back to your community.  It’s a win-win situation.

Image Courtesy of Flickr

There’s another kind of Inventory you NEED to track – and it won’t be easy

I’ve recently been thinking about some of our operations and a mentor of mine one said; “Your company has inventory of time. Where is your company’s inventory of time”, meaning where are our time wasters and inefficient processes.

When you really look at what activities your company needs to do on a daily basis, what activities it actually does on a daily basis, and how many employees you have doing those activities, inventories of time can easily become apparent.

As an example, over the past year, we recognized that in our stores, we had a forklift certified labourer working full time who would be there to unload trucks, do regular facility maintenance as well as odd jobs around the stores. However there were times when that person was doing other more mundane work because they had some inventory of time available to them.

On the other hand, we had receivers at each store who would receive all the shipments into our computerized inventory system, help tag and label the products and help merchandise these products on the retail floor. When she was not busy doing these jobs, she would help out at the checkouts, or do other more mundane jobs around the store, again because she also had some inventory of time.

(more…)

The way you portray leadership qualities and instil confidence directly affects your employee’s performance

During good times and especially in bad, do you portray leadership qualities in your daily interactions with your staff? As leaders, we always have to conduct ourselves in a manner that instils confidence in the eyes of our team. Employees look to management for leadership during turbulent times. And in today’s economy this is more important than ever.

Okay, so you believe that you do instil confidence in the way you conduct yourself. Well, what about those little personality quarks or habits that come out when things aren’t going so well? Do you have a “tell”? That’s the poker term that used for habits of physical ticks that gives away someone’s hand when they’re trying to bluff. You may be wondering, what are some of these tells? (more…)

When you ensure your customers have everything they need before checking out, you’re doing them an enormous favour (not to mention in increasing your Average Ticket Size).

In our stores this spring, our entire team has been attending our spring training sessions. Recently, during a session, we had a great discussion about selling additional items to customers and how it was truly a service to them.

At my stores, our company purpose is to find solutions that provide enjoyment, relaxation and a sense of pride to our customers. Customer service is our number one value. Our staff knows that when we are serving a customer, we must always remember our purpose and do everything we can in order to ensure success for our customers. Most often, that means suggesting other items that will ensure that they are successful and get the most out of their purchase.

(more…)