Yesterday and Today

Yesterday I went into work at 8 o'clock. It's order day. It generally takes me all day long, pushing it, to complete my order. BUT... new management (the new co-manager that is) has decreed that order books must be turned in by noon.

Okay.

Before, the emphasis was on doing a "good order", defined by corporate as checking every item, noting how many they have decided you are to have in stock, and when you fall below half of that amount order back up to that number which is designated "basic" stock to have on hand. Corporate has also decided that the ordering process alone for my department takes 5.5 hours. (The method they "test" as the way we should do it is to "look at every item" and then decide how much to order.) That's not counting starting the day by pulling old ad signs and putting up new ones. It is not counting the time out for breaks and lunch. Nor is that counting the time that I am "distracted" from the process by going here and there to show customers where they can find something, or even stopping to answer their questions and then, after finding my place, going back to ordering. Nor does it count time on the cash registers when we are called as back up cashiers.

The new co-manager told me that "It shouldn't be a problem for you to order by noon because, by now, you know your department well and the basic on most stuff is either one or two. If you have one, don't order." End of conversation.

So, just skip the process of checking the book to see what the basic actually is-- which varies greatly from area to area and sometimes even from item to item. And, sorry, with 7700 items to order, no, I do not know the basic on all of them and no, the basic is NOT always one or two.

But, I just decided I'd do it her way. After all, that would get me done by noon.... and the added advantage FOR ME will be that I will not have a huge amount of freight to get out on Wednesday, consequently I should not have to be late to church because I had to stay and get my freight out.... and all because I'm doing just what I was told to do.

The drawbacks to that are that I will not have the merchandise on hand that corporate wants me to have and I will have more empty spots when we have stock tests which raise the chances of me missing. UPPER management does not like it when we miss. As a matter of fact, if the WHOLE STORE misses over five, the manager has to call the REGIONAL manager and explain why.


So my way of thinking on this is: just do what you're told and if the consequences come out poorly, then those who have told you what to do will have to readjust what they want. If it works out fine, then it will be fine for both of us, because I'll have less freight to deal with.... but more disappointed customers because I've run out of stuff.

Funny thing about this is, corporate also likes for the merchandise to be there so they won't lose sales. It's all a balance. Don't overstock because it ties up inventory unnecessarily. That's why they determine our "basic" to have on hand. Oddly enough, that basic on hand is supposed to represent the amount normally sold over an eight week period of time. Of course, it's an average and like all averages, it doesn't accurately represent individual situations. But right now they aren't letting us allow for how our situation differs from everyone else's.

A long, long time ago, I began to realize that the company I work for does NOT want me to feel any personal ownership to any part of what I do there. It was very disappointing to me when I began to grasp the truth of that position. I am not to think of this as MY department, and MY reputation means nothing to them; I have no personal space. I am not to feel I have control over any part of what I do. I am just to come in there and do what I'm told and do it exactly the way they want it done, and as time goes on, more and more that I do is explicitly laid out for me from upper level management. And I must do it faster and faster with fewer and fewer people to help. And to show that it means nothing to them that one person has worked for ten years and another two weeks, to show the difference in experience and job expertise counts for nothing at all, they pay everyone exactly the same. Come to work as a full-timer today and you will make exactly the same amount of money per hour as I do after having been there for several years.

One thing I remind myself of regularly now-- that I didn't have to say to myself before-- is: You don't own this company. It's not yours in any way. You are WORKING FOR the people who own it and you are here to do it the way THEY want it done. The End.

When I get to feeling a little "down" over some of those issues, I always stop and remind myself that I AM BLESSED to have a job in a beautiful environment that plays instrumental easy listening or gospel music, that is CLOSED ON SUNDAYS and closes every day at 8PM. I've been very fortunate in all the years I've worked there that I have only had to work a handful of Wednesday nights. So, since I'm not living for my job, but because I have a job to keep living, I count my blessings and do my job as unto the Lord, which means I submit to whatever I'm told to do and keep a good attitude about it.

In an effort to show the new management team that I am a "team player", I am trying to give them as much extra time as I can to get seasonal set because we are really being hounded by upper management because we "are way behind" in having that done. The added advantage of getting more money is also a huge help to me right now with higher electric bills and other expenses that I have. To that end, after I turned in my order yesterday, I volunteered to work in seasonal until closing.

I was quite amazed that I was able to work from eight until eight with enduring energy all day long. I really didn't even feel that tired until after I had sat in my car for the drive home. After that I was a goner. I didn't recover and went to bed early.

I'm able to write this much today, because it's my day off from work.

I met Jeni at Walmart at 10AM to get the kids. She is going to an orthopedic surgeon today for a consultation on what can be done to help her elbows. I think the idea is elbow replacement. Afterward, she's meeting a friend for lunch to celebrate her birthday. (Tomorrow is Jeni's birthday.)

So, I have the kids with me. I finished up the sales tax this morning and mailed it on my way into town. I got my devotions done too.

Now, I am going to get started on other things I NEED to do instead of just doing what I like to do...