That’s right; my time management and my rosters.
I’m still loving being part of the Tauranga Central team; it’s so much fun and I’m feeling more and more like I’m adding value to the store. But, I’ve found the lead up to Christmas rostering and recruiting extra temps to help out, a massive job. So what do I need to do? I have to make sure my planning and time management is really good. In a nut shell, I need to start planning to get what I need done as well as delivering the requirements for my SMDP programme. It’s fair to say I’m lacking in this area at the moment.
On a positive note, my three month secondment in the Tauranga Central store is up in the second week of November so I’ve had to look for another Service Team Leader position. I applied for a role in our Papamoa store (about half an hour drive south from Tauranga) and got the job! This will mean some mad rushing around trying to make sure I leave a detailed and easy to follow handover for the next Team Leader and also get as much done on the Christmas rosters.
Moving to the Papamoa store will be a good chance to start again. I’m going to start as I mean to go on - plan, plan, plan. I also have set myself a goal to use my time each day wisely and concentrate on the tasks that add the most value to the store and my SMDP.
On a more personal note I’m really going to miss the Tauranga team. It’s been a really fantastic time and I’ve learnt so much. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to start my Phase Two.
It’s been so fantastic to start using all the skills and learning’s I’ve built up since I started my new Service Team Leader role in February.
The Tauranga Central team are a great bunch with lots of experience and knowledge (many of the full time team have been in the store for over 10 years). I am thoroughly enjoying my new role and having the responsibility and the ability to provide input into the daily running of the store. It’s my job to look after the front end of the store; that’s check outs, product services, entertainment (music DVD’s etc), as well as the cash office and staff roistering.
I’m slowly getting the hang of fitting all I need to into my working day. My Store Manager provided me with some timely feedback on how to use my time more wisely. As a Team Leader, I need to support and lead my team, and remember not to get too bogged down in their tasks. He was absolutely right and that feedback has really helped.
Aside from getting used to my new store and my new role, I was privileged to attend our annual Christmas Conference. What a wicked two days that was. I got to travel up to Auckland and see presentations on the new stock for this Summer/ Christmas and beyond (we got all sorts of sneak previews and heaps of free stuff).We had dinner at the Auckland Museum where the two creators of the new children’s programme The WotWots (from Weta) gave us a presentation. As well as all the fun and excitement, it really showed the impact the teams in stores can make on our customers to ensure that we provide a great Christmas shopping experience for them.
So that’s me for the next month. As well as getting my head around rosters (then thinking about Christmas ones), I’ll be working my hardest to ensure my team are providing fast and friendly service in a clean environment.
It started off with me spending 3 days in Auckland attending a leadership course. I discovered a lot of new tools to help me manage my time and lead a team effectively. It was great to see all the other SMDP’ers from induction there too. Then I had a catch up with our Regional HR Manager and the course facilitator.
It was great to find out how they thought I was doing on the course. They suggested I apply for a Service Team Leader role that was coming up in our Tauranga Central Store (in case you’re wondering The Warehouse in-store career path traditionally goes Team Member, Specialist Team Member, Supervisor, Service, Sales or Nightfill Team Leader, Assistant Store Manager, Store Manager). After that meeting things have flown by so fast.
So I could apply for the role in Tauranga (which had a start date of early August) I had to re plan how my learning in Fraser Cove was going to go. When I drew up my calendar in February, the plan was to finish all my SMDP stage one learning and get signed off at the start of September. So that I could get signed off earlier, I had to try and condense all my learning into a few weeks.
So I applied for the Tauranga position and got it (all in the same day!). This meant another re-assessment of how I was going to fit in the rest of my learning for stage one of SMDP and also get the relevant knowledge together so I could start my new position in Tauranga. I had one week to get it all in!!! So I decided to focus on the most important, which was learning all about the Service Team Leader role.
I was very lucky to have a great Service Team Leader to follow around for the week. Gaylene passed on so much information - It was fantastic. I learnt all about rosters, audits, appraisals and all other things Service Team Leaders do. I will be forever grateful to her for setting me up so well for my new position in just one week!
So that’s the end of my crazy but exciting month. I can’t wait to write all about my new store and new role next month.
And…. I’m getting closer and closer to sign off for stage one of SMDP!
This is particularly scary as it means as well as making sure all my paper work is up to date, I have a presentation to prepare and present! I know I shouldn’t be worrying but I’m already freaking out about my sign off presentation and how it will go. I have heard many times the more you do it, the more confident you become at public speaking (although I still haven’t seen any proof of this yet). I do like the saying “do something every week that scares you” though. So have decided to go forth with my preparation and try and ignore the butterflies in my stomach.
I’ve had a very exciting month learning all about checkouts and was even trusted enough to supervise the checkout on a Saturday night. I’ve also increased my CD and DVD collection by about a million while learning all about the music / entertainment departments. I had what was possibly my scariest first day in a department behind the music counter. I wasn’t letting anyone go away on a break to leave me alone at the mercy of the young technologically savvy gamers or tired eyed parents who just want a cheap Dora DVD. I mean how hard is it to find a DVD in here? But I found after a few days I could easily explain the benefits of buying a new cell phone on the XT network and find the latest Isla Grant music DVD. Phew!
Another very dangerous area is the “Head to Toe” departments (clothing, accessories and shoes). I have learnt that the hanger must be in the shape of a question mark when hanging stock and that The Warehouse sells some very cool clothing at bargain prices! (this was the dangerous part).
In amongst this I’ve been able to attend various meetings on our new company initiative - Invigorate. In an extremely simplified way, it’s having the right people in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. Doesn’t sound like rocket science and it’s not. The Warehouse has listened to its customers and what they want and now they are looking to provide it. Although there are team members who are finding it hard to go through this change, at the risk of sounding too enthusiastic, I see it as a positive change for the better.
I’m really looking forward to next month as I’ll be able to catch up with the other SMDP participants again. We’re all in Auckland for a 3 day leadership course. So anyone who sees’s a young lady with black hair in a Warehouse uniform looking dazed and disoriented, please point me in the direction of Albany!
It’s June already! I feel like I’ve learnt so many new things and am slowly starting to understand how The Warehouse operates.
Let me see - I started out in the stockroom learning all about how to receipt in stock and how to get it ready to go out on the shop floor. I was totally amazed at how much paper work was involved. Definitely not for the faint hearted!
Then I got to spend a week in the ticketing cave of the store. This was a huge eye opener as I didn’t realise how much work goes into printing out tickets for the mailer each week. I must say, good organisation and excellent computer knowledge are a must for this job. After mastering the ticketing, I found myself moved onto night fill. After adjusting to the hours (being at work until 4.30am) I found I loved it. It’s a completely different atmosphere to working during the day and I now have a huge respect for the guys and gals who work these unsociable hours. Because the bulk of the stock and tidying up is done during the night shift, I can see how important it is to have a strong night fill team. Now I’m back to working during the day and making my way around the shop floor learning all about the different departments.
I’ve really enjoyed learning more about the products The Warehouse sells and being knowledgeable enough to help customers when they want to find something. It’s been interesting to see the different levels of passion team members have for the departments they work in and the effect it has on store presentation etc. There’s a wealth of knowledge within the Fraser Cove store, with some team members having been with the company for over 10 years. This has been fantastic for me, as I’ve been able feed on the knowledge of some very experienced people.
Two other highlights for me have been;
- Attending a Region 5 Managers Meeting – this was quit exciting to see how these are run and
- I got to go to the Whakatane store for 3 nights and help out/ learn about stock take. This is quit a large undertaking compared to the one night stock takes I am used to.
All in all it’s been a great two months and I can’t wait for the next.
Oh yeah!! I made it through 4 weeks here at The Warehouse. What a fantastic, exciting and challenging few weeks it’s been. Moving from working for a retail shoe store chain to a much bigger company has been a great, but at times, overwhelming experience.
For my first two weeks I packed my bags and headed for the big smoke (Auckland Support Office). There I met up with other Store Manager Development Programme (SMDP) participants at a similar stage as me in their training and built up some really great friendships! The induction truly opened my eyes to how big The Warehouse really is (8,500 employees) and the impact I will eventually have as a Store Manager.
I was (and will still be) given so many fantastic opportunities during the training period. This is so that when I complete the Programme, I’ll pop out the end as a great Store Manager. The challenge is to keep the enthusiasm going even when it gets tough and keep taking the opportunities as they arise.
After our induction it was off to my store of learning; Fraser Cove in Tauranga. In I walked, knees shaking, not sure what I was in for. But pretty soon I realised just how fantastic the team are here at Fraser Cove. And how much support I have. Because I am used to a more “hands on” approch of learning, I’ve had to adjust to a more research based programme. I’ve learnt that we plan, act and then review. In my first week in the store I spent time in the Tauranga stockroom. It’s been great doing some more physical work again and mastering the company stock system TUI. All the while adding plenty more Warehouse acronyms to my vocabulary (this is a challenge on its own!).
So all iin all I’ve had a pretty fantastic first few weeks at The Warehouse. Stay tuned for my next installment.
Feel free to ask me questions - I’ll try and answer them as best I can.
For more information on the Programme, or career opportunities at The Warehouse, check out our website www.thewarehousecareers.co.nz
