Stores to SC?

[Puckpsyd]

Hey DC Peeps! I am a 21+ year vet of stores who recently got my degree in supply chain and operations mgmt. I enjoy many aspects of stores, and conceivably, many aspects of supply chain, without ever having worked there. I am looking to progress my career and have seen opportunities for jobs as OM at local RDC's and Sortation Centers. I am interested in people's overall perspectives of these places, especially if they went from stores to either of them, and especially if they have any thoughts on the role of OM, from any vantage point.

Thank you.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

@Hal please assist.

 

[Hal]

Hello. I've been in RDC for over a decade now. I'm not currently an OM as I've moved into different roles within Target. I'm only quasi familiar with Sortation Centers do to some of their responsibilities being adjacent to my current role.

The good: Being an OM can be an awesome experience when you have a great partner and a great leader. If you get into a building with a solid culture it can be a good experience as long as you go in humble and willing to learn. Obviously there will 100% be bad days but it's more learning from your mistakes and being able to explain to leadership what failed, why it failed and how you plan to address it or take partners to address it. I'll admit that since the addition of Lead Warehouse Workers it has caused a lot of OMs to get lazy and not be as skilled at their job as they could be.

The bad: if you have a bad partner it will be bad. If your partner is a complete asshat who is undermining everything you do, it can be an absolute nightmare. Outside of massive HR policy violations it can be incredibly hard to get rid of a bad OM. And if you come into a struggling team and can be tough to right the ship.

My advice is if you become an OM, get the experience and then do your best to find your favorite part and then try to get into a support department role. Production Controller, HRBP, APOM, Inventory Control Quality Assurance Leader. Whatever it is. It will make your life so much easier.

 

[PennylessMan]

Hal hit the nail on the head, I for one enjoy the challenges of operations as an OM, but I kinda had a leg up since I worked just about every position in the warehouse before getting promoted. Going into it, and not being used to the way the warehouse operates(especially Target) can be daunting, and is usually where outside hires either make it or break it due to the stress. My partner OM came from the stores and although he doesn’t have the technical knowledge I have, his people skills are stronger, so it works for us.

 

[Dcnewb4now]

I’m not sure which DCs have multiple OMs per department, but sign me up! At our DC, each key is down at least 1 OM and with the reduction of headcount over the last year+, each department has 1 OM with the “flex” basically training any new OM of covering what vacation they allow us to take.

Maybe all DCs aren’t like ours, but the moral is definitely low at ours and those of us that are left, are looking at other opportunities. The only thing that keeps me as well as any other internal promotion there is the amount of vacation we get. As that gets more and more difficult to take, the more I tell myself to spruce up my resume and start actually applying places.