Archived Food Leadership

[CIHYVS]

Food is one of the four Target AE11 focus points. Let's enhance The Break Room's effectiveness, and ultimately our company's success, to build the Food Culture that Target needs to compete in the Grocery Retail Industry. Through this thread we can share, exchange, cultivate, and give feedback on Food Safety, Food Best Practices, wins and opportunities that may benefit others, and any other related communications that can both make our roles as Target Leaders more effective and drives sales at all levels.

 

[CIHYVS]

I am a new Consumables Team Lead at a ULV GM store. The store is struggling through many challenges and I feel overwhelmed by the extra weight created by the limitations of a GM store. I have a notebook full of questions and I am in desperate need of help. I may add more information about myself as we go but finding some of my recent post on this new version of The Break Room may give you some insight into what I am up against.

So, I started as CTL earlier this year and one of the biggest challenges I am facing right now is building the Food Culture inside my store. When I started, the CTL position had been vaccant for 3 months and all related responsibilities were neglected or minimally managed by poor communication between ETLs/LODs. Every food score was red, e.g. Food Dashboard, Food Index, Safety Index, Steritech, BRLA% in cooler/freezer, A/B/C Markdowns, Receipt to Sales, etc. All red. I have managed to pull most of my scores up to green but there are a few that I can't get up. These scores are more directly influenced Team Members, Teams, and Leadership who have a poor work ethic and just don't care. FLOW doesn't FIFO when filling the floor, or push to the piece (too much product stuffed or flexed instead of back-stocking it; not pushing to secondary locations and end caps), or attempt zone integrity. Instocks does not check dates when pulling or working product in the back room or the sales floor. Pricing does not do any of their task on time for dated products, vendors flex at will and move labels around, POG never sets a transition/revision correctly nor do they check dates, FIFO, clean anything, or replace old fixtures that are missing or broken. There is always a ton of back stock in the back room and food seems to wait the longest before being located. Research Team never checks all locations before changing counts which automatically orders way too much food that ends up going out of date b/c we can't sell it. Research also hits all the vendor products which create negative counts that show up as huge loss %. ETL's and SrTLs are worse than TMs because they prioritize every other store task above Food Safety. I am literally the ONLY person at my store that has written any performance documents (Coachings, CAs) on TMs relating to Food Safety. Freshness Fridays never happen and if they do, it is to push the McCLane truck. No one cares yet I am the focus of all the blame for the opps in Food.

How have you handled the increased emphasis and support on Food, Food Safety, and building a Food Safety culture? What are your wins and opps and what results can you speak to? I coach and coach but HR won't CA or final anyone due to our huge turnover rate of employees. I can't motivate through reward or incentive as my ETLs remind me.

What can I do?

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

It's a mindset & team effort to resolve. Training & good etl's is the key. Movitate the team by example & being proactive.
Always say thank you for doing it right. Challgene all teams to be successful on food safety & FIFO daily. Included pa, br, frontend, & instocks, phamarcy teams too. have them own a sections like pets, seasonal & hba.
Let us know what happens.

 

[Srtlctl]

As a senior tl consumables I understand the work you are doing as I deal with it daily as well as LOD shifts, captainships and being a mentor to several other tls but consumables is rewarding hardwork. A lot of stores in my market place their best tl in consumables so be proud of your position. If you have questions throw them out there there are lots of leaders on this site which can help answer them. I am sure you have heard that it is all about getting the buy in of your peers and teams and the best way to start to get that is through getting out there and working with them to tell them to see what the challenges are as to why best practice is not being followed. Don't just shove best practice down their throats but tell them the whys surrounding the importance. Spend some time with the flow team pushing to the piece while FIFOing, explain to them and show them how overstocking affects everyone from the guest who can't get the product out to the BRTM who has to backstock the product coming back from CAFs bc there is too much on the shelf and the pull numbers are thrown off. As for instocks spend some time with them shooting outs and help them push their pulls if they push theirs, if not have them work with you as you push them so they can see the affect that their shooting outs and research has to filling the floor. We created a list of what items are vendor products which our ISTM have so that if they don't remember if it is vendor they can check the list. Vendors can be a friend or foe depending on your relationship with them. It is all about setting the expectations to the vendor expectations which you can find on wbench then holding them accountable through the use of the vendor survey and vendor notes. Being a newer CTL I would recommend that you have a vendor day to bring all of your vendors in and set the expectations, check wbench and search for vendor days. I am lucky enough to have awesome relationships with my vendors but it is hard work to maintain it. Focus on the communication too. I make sure that all endcaps are mapped at least a week and a half before they are due to be set and post all of the vendor ones are posted in receiving too. The vendors are then responsible for setting them and my consumables team just has to follow up on the signing and labels. Another key is to make sure that someone is following the consumables routines daily from the cleaning log to walking vendor areas to SDA. I am lucky enough to have some great tms who are in consumables when I am not there or am LOD, you have to find the right people and manage the talent. It is all about right people, right place, right time. It may even come down to making a detailed list for each day of exactly what needs done and in what order. If you feel that you don't have the support of the leadership in your building you need to get with your ETL and voice these concerns. Come prepared to speak about it but rather than vent make sure that you can speak to the specific situations, what their affect is on the business and what needs to be done about it. ETLs don't want the excuses just the solutions. Good luck and let me know if I can help in any way

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Great answers from srctl!

 

[Srtlctl]

One other thing make Freshness Friday fun. If we can have RedCard Collatoral we can have the same for Freshness Friday. As a CTL you should have access to TIPP and you can order Target Dogs on there. Maybe twice a month offer one up for whoever finds the oldest outdate or the most outdates. Another is for each outdate a tm finds during FF they get a raffle ticket. Partner with your ETL-HR to do a drawing for a polo. And don't forget to write GTC and verbally recoginize those who have helped drive freshness at huddles.

 

[redeye58]

We used to get a Starbux for the most out-of-dates found during freshness runs.

 

[Bullseye Flow TM]

One other thing make Freshness Friday fun. If we can have RedCard Collatoral we can have the same for Freshness Friday. As a CTL you should have access to TIPP and you can order Target Dogs on there. Maybe twice a month offer one up for whoever finds the oldest outdate or the most outdates. Another is for each outdate a tm finds during FF they get a raffle ticket. Partner with your ETL-HR to do a drawing for a polo. And don't forget to write GTC and verbally recoginize those who have helped drive freshness at huddles.

Another TM that transferred from another store said they got $5 gift cards for oldest outdates & another for who found the most.

 

[commiecorvus]

Another TM that transferred from another store said they got $5 gift cards for oldest outdates & another for who found the most.

They do that at our store, also for dented cans. Not every week though.

 

[tellmeaboutatime]

You have to set the expectation and follow up. It has to involve the whole store. A good place to start is with the flow team trainers. Are the trainers team members that rotate product and pull dented cans? If they don't then how are they teaching someone how to properly stock? Inspect what you expect from the team. After a team member stocks coffee, check and see if it was rotated, if not coach. Pick your battles too. 8 facings 12 deep of canned peaches, are probably not going to be completely rotated. I can live with that. But coffee, boxed potatoes,salad dressings , baby food etc and all of dairy need to rotated every time. There really is no option. It kills me to toss out packaged gum, boxed juice drinks and mayo. I know those items sell, just rotate them so I don't have to mark them out. Keep a 3 tiered cart at the end of the canned good aisles when stocking just for dented cans. Recognize team members when you see them rotating product. We make Freshness Friday fun. Team members win Starbucks for finding the most products, the oldest product, or even their birthdate. Get with the plano tl and make sure that team knows how to put items in the SDA short date function. Again recognition is key.
When you are stocking make sure you are practicing what you preach. If you don't help with freshness friday and you don't take the time to rotate, why should they?
I have wonderful vendors. I complete the surveys each week and I am very honest when scoring them. I have the BRTL keep me updated on any issues they have had with too much product or not keeping their backroom area clean. Anyone who is scored red I will talk to and let them know why. I want them to know it is important. If they are red 3 consecutive weeks, it will be escalated to HQ. Also I must talk to each vendor at least once a week. The receiving TM is a huge help with this. I let them know what is coming up and when what is coming down and when and any incremental space I may have for them to help sell through any overstock.
Freshness is a hard job, but it should also be a total store focus. Consistency is key! Recognize! Teach team members how to put items in the SDA short date function! The team will take their cues from you. Remember to take partners. Backroom tl can help make sure product is rotated when backstocked.Flow TL can help audit a few keys areas to make sure they are being rotated. POG tl to make sure items are being scanned into short date on SDA. Pricing TL to make sure that outdated casestock product is not being ticketed clearance. GSTL to have cashiers check outdates on checklane merchandise (check your kodak cameras and 5 hour energies!)Have a show and tell. If you wind up pulling a cartload of outdated merchandise because of rotation issues, take it to the next huddle! Add it up and let them know in dollars what you will be tossing.

 

[lololo]

Food sells itself.

With that said, there are tons of ways to go the extra mile to make profit. QMOSing correctly is one way. For example, if you get product on a truck that is already damaged or out of date (more often this is produce), then correctly QMOS it like that. It will save the store money.

Properly rotating dates in dairy. This saves a lot.

End caps. Side end caps. Displays. It should all make sense for sales. If it sales well, it should be on some sort of endcap. Partner with your backroom TL to see what all you have in the back. If you have a lot of one product, make room for it and put it out. Partner with your GSTLs to use their endcaps at the checklanes. Partner with your hardlines teamleads to see if you can use some space for clearance or TPCs if it makes sense (air fresheners, detergents, etc.)

Also, Freshness Fridays are huge. Make them count

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

On damaged p-fresh product directly from a truck, you should be asking for a credit from the vendor. The store shouldn't take the hit.

 

[Formina Sage]

I think he's in a store serviced by a Target FDC. We QMOS that product.

 

[CIHYVS]

Thanks for all the replies. After networking with the other CTL in the district, I have come to realize that I am WAY over tasked, under scheduled, and too nice. I have taken the entire Consumables piece on myself, shouldering the weight that the rest of the store should be taking. I am thinking of ways to delegate up my leadership chain. For example, I was trying to find ways to push our ADSD food deliveries with 2 or three people. The delivery always happens around noon when we are slammed with the lunch crowd. I was whoring myself out to other TL's to borrow their TMs to push in 30 minutes. I asked HR to work with me on schedules and our distributor to change our delivery window but both kind of shrugged me off. My ETL said I needed to find the time and TMs to push the delivery in enough time without offering help. So last week, I stuck some lolli thermometers in the deliveries and when they went over 15 and 41 degrees, I stopped the push and QMOSed the rest. Then this week I refused the entire delivery because the LOD could not come up with a single TM to help me push the entire truck. It took 2 multi-thousand dollar QMOS reports and a pissed off McCLane rep to get our Group Merch's attention. At first I thought I would be looking for another job but instead I believe the defecation has rapidly decelerated against the oscillating cooling apliance. Our incoming STL met me for lunch between classes last week to "align our visions". I asked him to look at my Outlook Calendar which contains all the task I am responsible for from all the ETLs each day and week, many of which overlap and add up to over 60 hours a week. Then I asked him to look at how many hours I am scheduled each week on average (34 for the past 6 months) and to consider that I usually get stuck setting HBA/Consumables add every Sunday by myself due to lazy LODs. The new STL is an old school Army guy too so his ideas from his years in military leadership that have made him known as a fixer of red stores meshes well with mine. Hopefully his arrival in a few weeks to our dysfunctional store will be the beginning of our rebuilding process.

Thanks for all of your help as it has been invaluable in creating some action plans. I am always open to the good and bad comments.

 

[lololo]

It took 2 multi-thousand dollar QMOS reports and a pissed off McCLane rep to get our Group Merch's attention...

The new STL is an old school Army guy too so his ideas from his years in military leadership that have made him known as a fixer of red stores meshes well with mine. Hopefully his arrival in a few weeks to our dysfunctional store will be the beginning of our rebuilding process.

I don't know, man. It sounds like you're playing with fire, even if you are in the right.

 

[CIHYVS]

I don't know, man. It sounds like you're playing with fire, even if you are in the right.

Honestly, by that point, I could either compromise and start down a road that created the issues in the store in the first place or take a shot on getting fired. I have some savings left over from a few vacations with Uncle Sam so I am thankful to be able to not stress loosing my job so much. I chose Target and I still choose adhere to the standards that I laid out at the interview, while training, and have worked by everyday in the store. There is a huge difference between using common sense to advance the business through interpreting BP as strong guidelines and making choices that ignore BP because it is easier to lie. cheat. sneak, manipulate, and shirk responsibility and blame on others. I have noticed in my local stores that the longer an ETL has been with the Company, the meaner, more stubborn, and unhappy they present themselves as at work. It is because most of them have compromised their fundamental work ethics little by little until they can't climb their way out of the crappy hole of a career and life that they dug themselves into. Like I said, I will risk doing the right thing and walk out the door with my pink slip with my head up looking forward to the next opportunity I can start rather than hate my job, hate my family, and hate my life.

As I told my ETL today during our business walk ( as she was regurgitating all my ideas to fix stuff as her new action plans; glad I take home a copy of my BW and LS for my records), Best Practices are "guidelines and recommendations" on how to best run our business when an ETL is bending them. It becomes the Target's Bible when citing all the ways you aren't following it when it comes time for a coaching, CA, or a Termination.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Take smalL steps first, then take bigger steps. In other words, proper training & following bp is first for you to avoid ca. Then ensure training & understanding to others to make a green store.

 

[SRTL HL]

Personally, I've opened 4 PFresh remodel stores in the last 6 months. Starting a great food culture is tough to do! It sounds like you're on the right track though. Take partners. Collaborate with other leaders and try to get them invested in, or at least aware of, your process. The biggest thing with food, however, is to build solid routines. There is a huge workload as a CTL, so good routines go a long way. Then I'd work on educating the team. Has everyone done the food safety training on workbench? Briefly talk about a specific opportunity at huddle. If you notice a consistent opportunity around FIFO, make sure your team knows that that is a priority. Provide positive reinforcement and recognition for those TMs doing a great job.

I'd also recommend using the best execution model. Assess, plan, prioritize, execute, and review. A strong food culture is very difficult to establish, but will pay off in spades.

 

[CIHYVS]

I just wanted to follow up on this thread. The Food Culture came after a few months and we peaked with a series of 95% and above Steritech visits. By mid 2012, the wow factor of taking a non-existant Food Culture averaging 70% on the last year of Steritechs before I started was gone. It became the norm and then the expected everyday without the support of STL,ETLs, or peers. So we fell back to the low 90% for food audits and are currently boarder line yellow to close out round 6 and the year. In mid-september, I received a CA for working off the clock because I logged onto my Outlook email to print off my tuition reimbursement information that required I send it to my @target.com account. So I gave up and stopped being FFF, focused only on my task each day, and only communicated the bare minimum to maintain accountability. I didn't care if I was term'd and for the next three months I was TL of the month. In December, I was offered a nice pay raise and a move to another work center to apply my skills and fix the team/process. HOLY ROLLERBLADING CHRIST!

So now I have a great ETL bossman and a well oiled machine of a team. Life is grand. STL told me last week I am on succession plan to ETL by next spring. Not buying into it yet but almost 2 years in the trenches makes my current role so much more, dare I use the word, enjoyable.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Good job!