This is actually very discouraging.
Did you know that Wal*Mart got its start as a major success story precisely because Sam Walton invented the inventory system that is now the backbone of every major retailer? Through his system's capability, when properly used, to accurately track practically all of the merchandise in any scale of retail distribution network, he was able to cut enormous amounts of waste and make the "big box" store a possibility.
Oh yeah. I actually read his book. Fascinating read. The man was cutthroat, but knew his stuff.
A pity those that came after him are all Classroom-to-Boardroom Business Majors who have never worked a sales floor in their lives. Seriously, the Corporate Directives we get reek of policies made by people who don't comprehend retail at a practical level.
Heck, a few years ago they commissioned a third party to conduct a study on workplace efficiency and come up with "solutions" to help "alleviate confusion as to what associates should be doing". Which basically boils down to requiring Sales Associates - ie the people whose job it is to be there for Customer Service and keep your shelves stocked - to stand around in the backroom filling out
paperwork that confirms that yes, they know how to do their job and yes, they did their assigned tasks for the day.
You know, instead of the managers having to leave their dens at the back of the store and actually walk the floor once in awhile. And yet they added a whole new level of management around that same time. Madness. Too many chefs in the kitchen, not enough line cooks.
Sorry for the derail, but this is just madness to me.
You had the Sales Associate on the bottom, and then you have the Department Manager. Then you have the Zone Manager who can override the Department Manager. Then you have the Assistant Manager who can override both the DM and the ZM. A Co-Manager (though they call them "Shift Managers" now) above the Assistants, Zones, and Departments. And on the top of the pile is the elusive and rarely seen Store Manager.
That means on any given day I have five managers who can assign me work and none of them are talking to each other or coordinating decisions.
