Summer is several months away, but if there’s one message I think about now, it’s “game on!”
Game on, that is, for anticipated summer volume. And the biggest part of summer plans — one that too many produce managers procrastinate on — is training.
The calendar may read March, but it’s later than you think. When I made my spring rounds around our chain. I’d ask, “Memorial Day is eight weeks away. What do you have lined up for extra summer help? You might have the ‘regular’ college kids returning to work this summer? Two of them? Are you sure? You think you have a cashier earmarked for summer produce duty? Is that confirmed? You’re promoting a courtesy clerk to part time? Starting when? June is too late, you know.”
It might be game on for a busy produce summer, but you can bet the training game plan too often is like a can getting kicked down the road.
So, what can a produce manager do proactively, instead? The first thing is to meet with the store manager now and bring along a mock midsummer labor schedule.
“I’m going to max out my part-timers, certainly,” the produce manager may begin. “And with the anticipated summer volume and one experienced person on vacation (on average) per week, I’ll need three extra part-timers to cover it all.”
This is the ideal produce and store manager collaboration. They either promote, transfer or hire the extra needed labor.
Typically, the extra bodies are green. How soon can they start? It’s always a good idea to bring summer help on early — the sooner, the better.
If a produce manager can start training people by, say, mid-April, that’s ideal. This gives them enough time to become familiar with handling produce.
It’s always good to pair the trainee with a seasoned produce clerk. The new produce trainee should shadow everything the experienced clerk does. Everything from product identification, handling, prep, stocking and rotation to identifying priorities, customer service, and more.
Speed is good, too, and another reason to begin training early. Time + reps = speed. Time in the equation is of the essence.
It’s time to get the summer help identified. Time to add the people (as many as possible) to the schedule. Time to let them get familiar with the produce, with the crew and with the fast pace that’s sure to follow.
Summer is the heaviest produce volume of the year. With experienced clerks rotating in and out taking vacation time, the busiest quarter of the year is often run with the least experienced people.
How will your standards and stock conditions hold up? With a little training foresight now, you can still be in the game.
Armand Lobato works for the Idaho Potato Commission. His 40 years’ experience in the produce business span a range of foodservice and retail positions. E-mail lobatoarmand@gmail.com.
