Is your store's daily routine a 'friend' or 'enemy'?
I once transferred to a new store as an assistant produce manager. No pressure.
My boss was a stickler for details. I, on the other hand, came from a history of shall we say, laissez faire managers. For the less indoctrinated (as I was) laissez faire is French for “let people do as they choose.” It’s a laid-back management and fewer regulations. Cool, right? But for business, it’s not exactly a good style if you want to keep things in order — especially in a demanding, robust produce operation.
This didn’t mean I was opposed to wholesome discipline. In fact, I welcomed it.
When an organization has a good foundation — with rules, order, purpose, written goals — and follows a reasonable and balanced schedule, everyone knows where they stand. (Or they should.) In such a regimented system, everyone knows their responsibilities. They know what time to get things started, when to complete tasks and how to do everything correctly. It’s amazing how good a produce operation can run when a manager instills this routine.
In fact, someone once said, “Routine is either our best friend or our worst enemy.”
As someone who had come up through the ranks with a few laissez faire managers, that routine was counterproductive. People tended to cut corners, and others had to pick up the slack. For example, I once witnessed a clerk arrive for their 7 a.m. shift at 7:20; by the time they finished their coffee, checked the schedule, visited with their friend in the dairy about the upcoming sports pool and generally goofed around, they didn’t begin stocking produce until 8:30 a.m. The produce manager? He was oblivious and, sorry to say, just as guilty. Multiply this by half a dozen clerks in a crew, and that routine was indeed our worst enemy.
The new store experience with the good-routine boss changed all this.
His expectation was that the same type of clerks get all their personal stuff wrapped up prior to their shift and that the 7 a.m. person better be loading carts at that time and hustling to stock produce at, oh, 7:02 a.m. No chit-chatting around the store, no Houdini-like disappearing acts, no slurping coffee the first half hour. No kidding.
Every shift’s expectations were noted on the manager’s daily to-do list. This was an informal but written duties outline the produce manager filled out early in the day. It listed what items (especially) needed rotation that day, which merchandising changes had to take place and what areas needed special sanitation attention.
Related: Read more insight by Armand Lobato
Some days the list was long, some days not so much, but every day presented plenty to accomplish. And only by sticking to a set list did our team make it all happen.
Funny thing is, we all grew to like it, and every day most everything got done.
Another thing about having a good work routine is that we rarely fell behind in stock conditions. We rarely got caught with our pants down (Our way of saying “in poor condition.”) by the store or — worse — the district manager.
Bad routines drag a produce department down into lethargy. Good routines make all the difference in the world. Produce crews, in fact, take on a renewed sense of pride; so much so that even when the manager is off for the day or on vacation, a well-disciplined crew morphs into a crew of temporary produce managers on its own.
The best compliment is when a store manager says (to the produce manager), “Your department is always in such great shape. I never even know when you’re gone.”
The biggest winners in a “good routine” store? Your customers. They benefit by having a consistent, clean, neat and organized store to shop in, offering the best and freshest selection, that is also staffed by friendly, knowledgeable and well-trained clerks. This builds volume and leads to stronger gross profit, less shrink, and repeat sales.
It doesn’t just happen. You must work at building your good system and nurture it — demand that everything has a place and everything is in its place. Every shift. Every day. That everything evolves into your best friend: a good routine.
Armand Lobato works for the Idaho Potato Commission. His 40 years of experience in the produce business span a range of foodservice and retail positions.
