- Joined
- Feb 25, 2017
- Messages
- 10
Hi and hi again to the members who might remember my post from awhile ago about a potential leadership opportunity at my store. My considering a transfer and a general complacency in performing at a high level as a team member kept that from materializing. Almost two years later, I'm in a similar position. My SrTL whom I work closely with was told by Logistics ETL he wants to gauge my level of interest in being interviewed for an opening as Consumables TL during my annual review and walk me through the interview process. It is something she wants to keep on the DL for now. In the time since the previous opportunity I had, a lot has changed. I've worked closely with my SrTL - basically the same schedule, with the exception of this lull in retail quarter when TM's hours are cut - with the store's transition to the new process. Market was ahead of the curve in the sense that sense that they were pushing from "super sorted" U-boats for months before other other departments and behind in the sense that they were on an island, left with repush on a fairly consistent basis and given little to no support with their SP, zones, AF, and trailer push from those not on the thin list of those designated "consumables" on the grid.
Since the other 80 percent of the freight we receive is getting strung along in this new system, from more specific custom blocks to the new repack process of sorting in the backroom to the added responsibilities of pushers doing their backstock and trash, we've seen the challenges faced by the more nuanced process firsthand. Still, we cut some corners at the expense of the Market team, combining sorted vehicles to use empties for our own merchandise, holding off a little on receiving our C & S trailer when we have less than a panel left in our sorting, palletizing beverage vs. using more pushable flats and tubs, using one of their tubs from the ambient room when desperate to get through the sorting, and sending their repush into the backroom market area rather than the salesfloor, which goes against best practice in a process calls for "repush first" since Market TM's arrive later.
The conflict of interest between Market and non-Market, to me, reflects an overlap between workcenters saves their budget hours but makes it hard not to step on others toes without treading lightly. The two consumables team leads since their transition to new process have faltered with both dry market and PFresh more so due to the limitations of the new process than their own shortcomings as leaders, which is scary. We saw as each went from a perceived resolve to make the best of the transition to an almost indifference to the health of their departments to the point of resigning from the position I'm going to be interviewed for. One moment I tell myself I should relish the challenge of it. Then, I think of my frustration as a team member this past Q4 with having so much freight in the backroom that should be on the SF, both push from previous trucks and merchandise stowed away in backroom aisles that belongs on the shelf, either improperly sent as backstock by seasonal pusher or waiting in AF batches backroom TMs don't have time to get to.
I've shared that frustration with my SrTL and we work tirelessly to stay more or less caught up with the push, even when taking 400 - 800 boxes from the three toys departments per truck in Q4, sometimes unloading both trucks, unloading entire trucks solo and working with the pacer to build pallets and flats of toys that would fill up every few minutes. The learning curve was steep for me in the more nuanced process where the sorting is meant to be a "slow crawl," but leaders have recognized my efforts and adaptability thanks to my work ethic and knowledge of the store. Logistics ETL had put me with consumables several times when we were caught up with our own push and asked me of my interest of in working with PFresh to help manage their heavy workload, that it would be fulfilling and much-needed albeit a reprieve from the more physical nature of the work I do now. I've been in a comfort zone working with my SrTL though, which has kept me in my current position, and she appreciates my work as well. However, especially this time of year where hours are limited (I know TLs have a certain amount of guaranteed hours - 36?) I will be taking this opportunity more seriously. Just as they are expecting more of me - to be more of a leader than a worker - I am expecting more, given my own performance.
Does anyone have any tips on the interview process, how I can break out of my comfort zone of the same routine partnered with the same TL, how I can succeed as Consumables TL, and be patient when I occasionally don't? It is great there exists such a knowledgeable community I can turn to. Thanks.
Since the other 80 percent of the freight we receive is getting strung along in this new system, from more specific custom blocks to the new repack process of sorting in the backroom to the added responsibilities of pushers doing their backstock and trash, we've seen the challenges faced by the more nuanced process firsthand. Still, we cut some corners at the expense of the Market team, combining sorted vehicles to use empties for our own merchandise, holding off a little on receiving our C & S trailer when we have less than a panel left in our sorting, palletizing beverage vs. using more pushable flats and tubs, using one of their tubs from the ambient room when desperate to get through the sorting, and sending their repush into the backroom market area rather than the salesfloor, which goes against best practice in a process calls for "repush first" since Market TM's arrive later.
The conflict of interest between Market and non-Market, to me, reflects an overlap between workcenters saves their budget hours but makes it hard not to step on others toes without treading lightly. The two consumables team leads since their transition to new process have faltered with both dry market and PFresh more so due to the limitations of the new process than their own shortcomings as leaders, which is scary. We saw as each went from a perceived resolve to make the best of the transition to an almost indifference to the health of their departments to the point of resigning from the position I'm going to be interviewed for. One moment I tell myself I should relish the challenge of it. Then, I think of my frustration as a team member this past Q4 with having so much freight in the backroom that should be on the SF, both push from previous trucks and merchandise stowed away in backroom aisles that belongs on the shelf, either improperly sent as backstock by seasonal pusher or waiting in AF batches backroom TMs don't have time to get to.
I've shared that frustration with my SrTL and we work tirelessly to stay more or less caught up with the push, even when taking 400 - 800 boxes from the three toys departments per truck in Q4, sometimes unloading both trucks, unloading entire trucks solo and working with the pacer to build pallets and flats of toys that would fill up every few minutes. The learning curve was steep for me in the more nuanced process where the sorting is meant to be a "slow crawl," but leaders have recognized my efforts and adaptability thanks to my work ethic and knowledge of the store. Logistics ETL had put me with consumables several times when we were caught up with our own push and asked me of my interest of in working with PFresh to help manage their heavy workload, that it would be fulfilling and much-needed albeit a reprieve from the more physical nature of the work I do now. I've been in a comfort zone working with my SrTL though, which has kept me in my current position, and she appreciates my work as well. However, especially this time of year where hours are limited (I know TLs have a certain amount of guaranteed hours - 36?) I will be taking this opportunity more seriously. Just as they are expecting more of me - to be more of a leader than a worker - I am expecting more, given my own performance.
Does anyone have any tips on the interview process, how I can break out of my comfort zone of the same routine partnered with the same TL, how I can succeed as Consumables TL, and be patient when I occasionally don't? It is great there exists such a knowledgeable community I can turn to. Thanks.
