The Blog of Spencer Roach

Whereas Part 1 focused on the changes that have already been implemented, Part 2 will focus on the changes that the company should make. While the company has looked at using technology to improve efficiency, and anybody who has ever worked at my store knows that the store definitely needs to move out of the 1980s into the 21st century, I have found a more fundamental problem that, if fixed, would greatly improve efficiency: improve accountability from both employees and managers, the red shirts and the blue shirts.

The TMAG system has allowed the company to punish those who are not on the clock when they are supposed to be on the clock, but what about employees who are on the clock but don’t work when they are? TMAG does not address that because it cannot. Ultimately, management is responsible for getting the most out of their workers, and this is where the company fails. My store is in the beginning stages of what I would consider a serious problem because of lack of employee accountability.

A few of my coworkers have a tremendous problem with getting things done. After my boss gives us our assignments, instead of getting them done quickly, these would rather dick around than get the tasks done. While I believe in the “work hard, play hard” philosophy, this group of people only wants to ”play hard.” This laziness became most apparent in April, during the beginning of our busy season in the garden center. Instead of addressing the problem when it first started, she ignored it and placed a tremendous burden on a couple of my harder-working coworkers and me to help her miraculously get everything done. If my boss would have forced the people working first shift to actually help in completing projects, then second shift’s workload would not have been so great.

Now, the three or four of us are getting tired of keeping the department afloat and are tired of the weak leadership shown by store management, and as we become more tired, the department will look much worse, and the store could ultimately lose a significant number of customers if the store is not properly conditioned and if certain items are not in stock.

Of course, when dealing with managers who have the retail skills to manage the department but lack the leadership skills, one needs to have strong managers at the top. Unfortunately, the current store director is gutless, possessing poor leadership skills - evident when he passes customer complaints down the line and being unable to deal with employee issues - and lacking retail sense. His incompetence, along with incompetence amongst other higher-ups, has made things difficult for the entire store.

Ultimately, to solve that problem, the current store director and a few other managers need to be fired. Holding employees and middle managers accountable starts at the top, and there is no cure for incompetence other than to get rid of it. However, solving some of the other problems does not require rocket science but rather the ability to hold workers accountable. I know that all my lazy coworkers can do a good job because I have occasionally seen them do so, but since they are not disciplined, they have learned that doing well is not a necessary part of working in retail, and this attitude must be eliminated if the store wants to have a higher degree of success.