I totally agree with you MAD.... I will have to compete with the HBA dept. manager, she's been there longer than me and did run both depts at one time.   I don't know who would do a better job... I think we are comparable... I find running Cosmetics alone is hard, let alone HBA...

We have merchandise managers at my store.  We opened in January 2007 and started out this way so no one had to compete for the manager spots.  Some managers have more than one area.  Some of the merchandise mangers found more that one area too difficult and their assistant agreed.  I am not sure how it is on the grocery side.  They used to be on a rotating schedule with different days off each week and different hours each day.  I think customers liked having people in the departments when they came in to shop.  Some areas have only the merchandise manager and several departments share mids and closers.  Now they have the merchandise mangers working Monday to Friday 7am to 4pm.

Thanks for the input, cvan.  I've heard about other stores changing the hours/days for merch supers.  I would like to keep my hours and days, but I still think managing (in my case) 3 depts and doing it well, would be out of my reach--IF I plan to keep sane.  We would lose about 6 dept mgrs, if we convert.

YUCK.

 

Mad

My store has the merchandise managers doing so many things they don't have time to work in their departments.  They have to put away returns and zone  first thing in the morning.  They don't get to scan pick list or scan the back room untill after lunch.  Price changes seem to be an afterthought.  It just does not seem that everyone works as  a team.  Some of the merchandise managers will help in other areas some will not and just stay in their department all day.  It still comes down to who you know and if you are an assistants favorite or not.  The MM in electoronics missed most of last week due to car trouble but yet talked about being out of town over an hour away and was bragging about his mini vacation.  

 

At the store where I work, that's a priority.  If the Dept. Mgr. I work for doesn't get his price changes done, either he or an assistant will often ask me to do them on my close nights or mid shifts.  Kinda hard to get through them sometimes if you have customers coming along every two minutes asking, "Do you work here?"  Glad I get paid the same even if I'm answering that type of question...

I do price changes for photo lab every now and then.  It seems like when I check they are always late price changes for us.  That means that they are on the 4th day.  We could never let our price changes get in the 4 day column.  That is why it seems to me that they are lower priority now than they used to be.  At my old store if one was late they would ask me to do it now they don't seem to care.

Getting the freight out and price changes WERE the priority at my store...now it seems that the only thing of importance is zone, zone, zone!  We used to zone as we put the freight out.  We can no longer combine the steps...it's zone first, then, if there aren't other "priorities" you can work the freight!  and, don't forget about cleaning and doing the floors in your area!  It used to be that maintenance did the floor care...not any more..and the few times that they do it is with a lick and a promise...they never go under anything so the accumilation of crud is everywhere!

Don't understand the mentality (I know it is WalMart) but, doesn't it make sense to get the product out to the floor where the customers can buy it rather than it sitting in the back room?  Customers don't care if everything isn't perfectly pristine...they want products to choose from...not empty shelves!  Wonder if HO will ever see the light.  Seems to me HO is setting the stores up for failure...and I haven't even touched on the scheduling problems that we all are having to deal with!  LS

of the things that i have learned the dms will no longer be in the back room that is for the instock team to deal with they will deal with onhand changes and all that we are to do only price changes and customer service that is it it makes me wonder if our \hours will change to reflect the customer flow

there will be auto pick lists for the instock teams and  there is bin locatios we just got done labeling our bins

labeling your bins ?  We had to make sure all our boxes were labeled, but my bin is such a mess..  I have a lot of overstock and boxes are stacked behind the first box two or three deep.  I did have a full timer that worked my bins, but she is cutting her hours to part time... so now I don't know what is going to happen. 
This new program will not work if the people doing it are not PROPERLY trained... and we all know how that goes.

the bins are labeled and then there is a way to put what you have in the bins in the 960 and then that is how you do it the instock teams will be responsible for onhand changes we will be only in charge of price changes and customer service dms will no longer be in the back room

I had a customer ask me once " do you work here?" I was in the ladies dept. folding shirts and I just looked at her and said "Nah, I didn't have enuff laundry to do at home so I came here to do some folding." She had the same sense of humor that I do so she just laughed and said it was silly of her to ask. That was back when we wore the blue smocks that had the big May I help you on the back.

I had a gentleman come thru ladies one day and we had half the dept. on clearance and he asked if we had anything for his wife that was $1.99 and I just looked up and said "Yeah, she has you." After dealing with the same customers day in and day out you know which ones you can joke with and which ones you can't.

I have an older gentleman (about 75) that comes in and looks for me so he can tell me about his wife who has alzheimers and is in the local nursing home. I have never met his wife, but I love hearing about his day and I love the way he still talks about her after being married for over 50 years.

Yeah, they told us about this new program last week.  Like most everyone else, I think the HO must be on drugs.  A co-mgr will be inspecting our bins on Monday.  Unless I get a Gemini at 7 am, I don't have a prayer.  I was out of town until Thursday last week, and they just wanted me to work freight.

 

Mad

the new program is like the old one dont work well when they dont work the freight or bin it right i have to come back tonight and work my back stock bc regional is touring all of kc area yipppeeee not

Jason makes a very good point.  Home office may come up with the greatest programs that ever hit a sheet of paper.  Yet, the success of any program depends on the people that are supposed to make it work.  All that it takes to bring any program to its knees are a few key people not doing their part.  Doesn't matter what store you work at or where you work in the store.  If the goods are not on the shelf at the right time and in the right place, it's a lost sale.

 

Further back in this thread, if I recall correctly, there was a comment about another program that reduced the number of sales associates on the floor to the bare minimum and increased the number of in-stock associates moving product to the shelves on the sales floor.  Not sure how this would work in other makets, but such a move would be disasterous for the store where I work.  I think that customer service is the one area where this company can shine and diferentiate itself from other retailers.