Let’s get one thing very clear before we even began to contemplate proceeding into the juicy meat of this blog…
I DESPISE TWITTER.
If I had the ability and power I would abolish the site not only from the internet but from the annals of history assuming that I did not hang its metaphorical destroyed corpse of damaged and corrupted code upon a metaphorical wall with a metaphorical three foot long, six inch wide, barbed rusty spike for the world to see. (Un) fortunately, I am not the brutal draconian tyrant of the Internet with an almost anal attention to detail so such things are completely out of my power.
Like every topic I choose to focus my loathing upon, I do at least have the common decency and intelligence to have my reasons which I establish after I have gone through the trouble of trying to see the benefits and flaws with any system.
Twitter like many societal phenomena that are a blight upon this Earth, started out on paper as something beneficial. Even someone with as much hatred for the site as me, has to admit that when used properly it can be good. Twitter is a free service that allows users to update their Twitter account from a computer or cellular phone with Internet access. It’s a “free” advertising outlet, and is actually a good way to allow a business and/or individual. There are several examples I can think of to illustrate this (and there are many more as I’m sure a productive reader is bound to point out) involve someone or a small group such as a musical band, comedian, or anyone who will be making a public appearance linking their Twitter account upon their own website (a service Twitter and Facebook both offer) which they can use to post status updates that directly affect an upcoming public appearance, such as a sudden schedule change. Or for a real life example, this unique on wheels restaurant in Austin, Texas which uses Twitter to let their customers know where their one location will be each day. Doing this will let those who follow their web site or even their “followers” on Twitter see a small description that directly affects them, those who are paying –not just financially but also donating their time– to see them. Other positive uses could include a company setting up a company-wide Twitter account in which all their employees could access the account for sudden updates that pertain to them.
When a person in a society succeeds greatly, they are idolized by that society. The more prosperous the country, the more this seems takes place if only because of the greater amount of media coverage that seems to go along with more prosperous countries. Look at our culture, who do we idolize? Famous movie stars, pro-athletes, musicians, the list goes on. These are people who in many cases make more money a year than the President of the United States makes per year counting all the government benefits that come with the job (free healthcare for the rest of their life, a life time salary, etc). These are people who are idolized to the point of worship by the public. As John Lennon sardonically said during one infamous interview when he was asked about how popular The Beatles had become, “It’s like we’re bigger than Jesus.” There are countless tabloid magazines focusing entirely on the daily lives of these people. And every day average Americans BUY and READ this trash every day. These are magazines that have paid paparazzi (another lovely byproduct of scum we humans have created) millions for one picture as an example: the first pictures of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s baby went for a selling price of four million dollars. Let’s take a break to do some simple math. Let us assume that we have a class room of thirty college students who work part time jobs that pay them a very good salary that allows them to make twenty thousand a year. These college students combined income would have been a mere fifteen percent of the selling price for those baby pictures. If that amount of money were divided among those thirty students it would give each student $133,333.33; so much for school loans, huh?
Sites like Twitter that are designed for people who have a following will of course draw such people to it, so among the first people to begin using service are the celebrities. Thanks to major stars joining and others continuing to join daily Twitter’s popularity grows exponentially. In order to follow their idols, people join Twitter to both follow and as is most often the case, stalk.
Twitter, as I have stated is an extremely useful tool for those people/companies who use it properly. There is however, one topic that has yet to be discussed in this note when it comes to new and readily available technologies and a group of people such as Americans. Americans LOVE instant gratification and due to what some would call an information overflow with so much information and technology available to us at every moment of our lives, we are getting to the point where we feel the need to constantly be entertained. When a site like Twitter comes into contact with this type of behavior, you will end up having celebraties post their tweets that is of no serious value to anyone but themselves. These are entries that involve details of their personal lives that most people, wait make that most INTELLIGENT people don’t care about although the throngs of stalkers –I mean fans– will wait with abated breath for every detail this person posts.
So what does this say for the average Twitter user? Assuming this individual does not use their Twitter account for anything other than their business oriented uses, they do what the stars do, “tweet” about their day. The only difference is the average Twitter user is about as interesting as a blank piece of paper, but how we do love to emulate our role models. In fact if you were to compare the tweets of a regular user and a celebrity and remove the names of each user, almost every time the reader would not be able to distinguish one user from the other. During Conan O’Brien’s short run as the host of the Tonight Show, there was a segment on the show that illustrated just this called Twitter Tracker in which an annoying, testosterone fuelled announcer would constantly yell “Twitter Tracker” and boast that there was an “amazing” or “mind-blowing” tweet that a certain celebrity posted on Twitter that would “change the world” only for the tweet to be something mundane such as “I’m doing laundry.”
Twitter despite its useful features is most commonly reduced to a stage where the a celebrity can post all the common place events of their normal lives that anyone with a life would pay no attention to just so their stalkers can follow them for that mild ego boost these people have become accused to crave. As for normal people, it’s an outlet for their boredom and a chance to give them an ego boost by imitating the celebrities even if it is just a pointless waste of time.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating, there’s a reason the word “Twit” is the key word in the construction of the word Twitter.
Cheers,
Eric Summers
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
2.25 - "Enjoy Working at WalMart?" - Part III
Sunday, I reached a breaking point as I usually do when it comes to matters like these. This last weekend we had been understaffed during the bulk of it where we were just barely getting by each day, and on Sunday it was not entirely clear whether or not we’d have a closer in the department. Being a responsible associate, I decided to take matters in my own hands. There is a very limited stock of people in that grocery store who has the knowledge of how to appropriately run the dairy department I work in. That knowledge is the product of experience, it is not something you can merely be shown and pick up immediately, there are too many nuances that must be learned by actually performing them daily. During the facing hour, I took a telezon (the hand-held scanning computers we use) with me as I faced the department. ANY item that was empty or that had the capability of fitting a full case I created a pick for. This way, if we did have a closer, they wouldn’t have to worry about creating and catching picks in the system all night in addition to having to stock milk and eggs hourly. If we didn’t have a closer, then I could leave a note telling whoever was given the task of filling in to run the carts with the picks upon them since they’d go out. At the end of our facing at about 3:30 there were seventy-three picks. I went to the dairy department to pull them. Seventy-three picks may seem like a lot to pull, but it actually isn’t. It can be done in about ten minutes provided the telezon does not freeze up. There were already several people from grocery pulling them in my back room and one zone manager who was not a happy camper. I smiled as she complained about the picks, and said you’re welcome. This was the start of a very long argument as we finished up the job. I would like to point out that despite the fact she and I argued, she had some very good points and what she revealed to me was rather enlightening to noticing the larger problem, which allowed me to see that what we associates were dealing with also included the zone managers. Out of my respect for her, who has always worked very hard and has always been polite to everyone, I allowed her to hear my long series of complaints regarding the current strategies our store was implementing.
“Why did you create so many picks?! They have to be out of the system at two!” she said freaked out.
I calmly replied, “I work this department. I was out there, I saw the holes. They needed to be filled; this system doesn’t generate them fast enough. While we’re out there zoning, we have to see every product that we have missing, it gives us a chance to get a very good look at what we need. Why not take advantage of that time and create a list of everything that’s needed and kill two birds with one stone?”
“WE CAN’T DO THAT!”
“I just did. Besides what’s this about the picks having to be done by 2? You realize that that rule contradicts itself, between 3 and 4 we’re on constant watch for picks the system generates. You can’t tell me that management expects there not to be a single pick between those times when we all have to catch them daily.”
“No you don’t understand; I have to be over on the GM (general merchandise) side, as do all these ICS (inventory control specialist) people so we can take care of a truck on that side. Management won’t let us over there until all the picks are cleared on THIS side of the store.”
I was at a loss for words in my surprise at her honesty and my increasing disgust with management.
Through gritted teeth I responded, “You mean to tell me, that all the responsibility of the associates, the ones who are running the department are voided and transferred over to you guys? That’s not exactly what I would call fair. Not for you zone managers or for us. Since when did management decide that all the associates are ineffective incompetents who don’t know how to work their own departments?”
It would seem at this point we each found common ground.
She sighed in the same contempt that I seemed to have for the same problem, “You should see how hard it is for me to get help at times like this. This system is designed to keep guys like you from running around like a chicken with their heads cut off, and don’t try to argue you don’t do that Eric. I’ve watched you work, you run yourself ragged.”
“I at least have a method to my madness, and it works better than any policy management has ever enforced. As for me being overworked, if that’s the problem, then they should hire more help at the associate level. The associates are smarter than they’re given credit for; all they need is a chance to prove it.”
As we neared the end of the list after less than five minutes later, I smirked and asked her the thought that had been bubbling in my mind for the past few weeks, “B, Don’t you just love how effectively this system’s taken away everyone’s voice?”
Wally World’s well more than half the reason I’m so determined to get my bachelor’s degree, just so I can leave this type of situation. No one should be reduced to a level where they have to question their own value in the eyes of their managers. The bond between manager and associate should be something of an honor. A manager should EARN the respect an associate has for them. As it stands, the managers are doing everything in their power to lose anything to respect them for, and unfortunately those who do go against the system in place, those who do talk back about the problems, are shot down by those who give their silent consent.
It is a sickening environment.
But even in the darkest of times there are those among those that I work with who radiate in such a way that the days do not seem quite as dark as they could be. It is thanks to people like them that I still stand up and fight against policies like the ones I’ve described. These are my friends, they are on my friends list, and for what it’s worth, they’d make better managers than practically every single one of the ones currently in power. I would list their names, but as management has already warned during one of their store meetings, you can be fired for what’s posted upon your facebook pages. In the off chance that one of the managers should read this and attempt to use it against me, I will not give them any ammunition to drag others into it.
As for myself, I am not afraid.
An integral part of the evolution of a company is the differences of opinion amongst those working inside it. If you’re going to be successful, you must tolerate criticism.
I am relatively insignificant in the larger scheme of things. I’m just an associate who refuses to let his voice go unheard. Perhaps I have inspired my coworkers who might be reading this to realize that I think they’re worth more than what the company is suggesting they’re worth. Perhaps, I have even inspired others (customers) who are not Wally World employees to see how the other half lives.
I have taken the time in this entry to ensure that every complaint that I have has been backed up by facts, and I have made sure not to specify any names so as not to shift all the blame upon an individual. I gave respect where respect was due.
And it was because I respect my employer that I had the need to point out where they were failing not only me as their worker or their employees, but themselves.
Cheers,
Eric Summers
“Why did you create so many picks?! They have to be out of the system at two!” she said freaked out.
I calmly replied, “I work this department. I was out there, I saw the holes. They needed to be filled; this system doesn’t generate them fast enough. While we’re out there zoning, we have to see every product that we have missing, it gives us a chance to get a very good look at what we need. Why not take advantage of that time and create a list of everything that’s needed and kill two birds with one stone?”
“WE CAN’T DO THAT!”
“I just did. Besides what’s this about the picks having to be done by 2? You realize that that rule contradicts itself, between 3 and 4 we’re on constant watch for picks the system generates. You can’t tell me that management expects there not to be a single pick between those times when we all have to catch them daily.”
“No you don’t understand; I have to be over on the GM (general merchandise) side, as do all these ICS (inventory control specialist) people so we can take care of a truck on that side. Management won’t let us over there until all the picks are cleared on THIS side of the store.”
I was at a loss for words in my surprise at her honesty and my increasing disgust with management.
Through gritted teeth I responded, “You mean to tell me, that all the responsibility of the associates, the ones who are running the department are voided and transferred over to you guys? That’s not exactly what I would call fair. Not for you zone managers or for us. Since when did management decide that all the associates are ineffective incompetents who don’t know how to work their own departments?”
It would seem at this point we each found common ground.
She sighed in the same contempt that I seemed to have for the same problem, “You should see how hard it is for me to get help at times like this. This system is designed to keep guys like you from running around like a chicken with their heads cut off, and don’t try to argue you don’t do that Eric. I’ve watched you work, you run yourself ragged.”
“I at least have a method to my madness, and it works better than any policy management has ever enforced. As for me being overworked, if that’s the problem, then they should hire more help at the associate level. The associates are smarter than they’re given credit for; all they need is a chance to prove it.”
As we neared the end of the list after less than five minutes later, I smirked and asked her the thought that had been bubbling in my mind for the past few weeks, “B, Don’t you just love how effectively this system’s taken away everyone’s voice?”
Wally World’s well more than half the reason I’m so determined to get my bachelor’s degree, just so I can leave this type of situation. No one should be reduced to a level where they have to question their own value in the eyes of their managers. The bond between manager and associate should be something of an honor. A manager should EARN the respect an associate has for them. As it stands, the managers are doing everything in their power to lose anything to respect them for, and unfortunately those who do go against the system in place, those who do talk back about the problems, are shot down by those who give their silent consent.
It is a sickening environment.
But even in the darkest of times there are those among those that I work with who radiate in such a way that the days do not seem quite as dark as they could be. It is thanks to people like them that I still stand up and fight against policies like the ones I’ve described. These are my friends, they are on my friends list, and for what it’s worth, they’d make better managers than practically every single one of the ones currently in power. I would list their names, but as management has already warned during one of their store meetings, you can be fired for what’s posted upon your facebook pages. In the off chance that one of the managers should read this and attempt to use it against me, I will not give them any ammunition to drag others into it.
As for myself, I am not afraid.
An integral part of the evolution of a company is the differences of opinion amongst those working inside it. If you’re going to be successful, you must tolerate criticism.
I am relatively insignificant in the larger scheme of things. I’m just an associate who refuses to let his voice go unheard. Perhaps I have inspired my coworkers who might be reading this to realize that I think they’re worth more than what the company is suggesting they’re worth. Perhaps, I have even inspired others (customers) who are not Wally World employees to see how the other half lives.
I have taken the time in this entry to ensure that every complaint that I have has been backed up by facts, and I have made sure not to specify any names so as not to shift all the blame upon an individual. I gave respect where respect was due.
And it was because I respect my employer that I had the need to point out where they were failing not only me as their worker or their employees, but themselves.
Cheers,
Eric Summers
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
2.24 - "Enjoy Working at WalMart?" - Part II
Fortunately, there was this revolutionary idea that Wally World had designed years prior that they have implemented called the “Grass Roots Meetings.” In these meetings, associates were given the chance to speak directly to the store manager about the problems they were encountering. I attended each of these meetings and explained and pleaded for more help in my department. It was here that I also learned of the problems with the managers.
Our store manager held these meetings for a week, and then things began to change. Several managers ended up transferring to different stores, reducing the number of managers. The store seemed to be better run, and employee morale was up. However, cogs were turning in the minds of the corporate levels.
It is a well stated fact that wally world has one of the most efficient inventory systems known to date. About a year ago, they found a way to better optimize it. I won’t go into details due to the complexity of the system (and trust me as an information systems major I can pick the system’s logical components apart piece by piece and drag it out for several pages), but what it essentially accomplishes is track each and every product. When a case is sold, the system will allow the associates to know that they can fill the shelf with their back stocked product. It also allows associates to scan a product and then give them the exact location in the backroom of where it is.
While the system is actually quite remarkable, it is not without its flaws. The problems start occurring when you realize the key problem with any information system, the fact there will be humans using it. No system created for humans is without flaws, and humans will find them all. There are countless ways of causing errors in the system, from a cashier double scanning a similar product of the same price (but not the same flavor) to an associate pulling a product from a bin without scanning it out properly or likewise forgetting to scan something in properly to the warehouse sending fewer products than their order listed.
Wal-Mart’s answer to this is to create a new line of managers, the zone managers. So now the authoritative pecking order goes from associate – department manager – zone manager – assistant manager – co-manager – store manager. The mind reels. When faced with the problem of too much bureaucracy two years before, wally world eliminated the problem by removing some of the ranks of management. Now they’ve brought the problem right back, only with three times the middle men. As anyone with any knowledge in business (or a required business administration minor) will tell you, THAT’S A RECEIPE FOR DISASTER.
One key element that almost every corporation seems to struggle with are its levels of bureaucracy. Bureaucracy, while in small amounts allows the business to be managed, what inevitably ends up happening is there becomes an overload of people. The work required is spread about amongst too many people. Lines of communication become crossed and in the mix, the messages are lost. Confusion settles in, and what happens at the top is exponentially harder for those on the bottom. Those on the bottom as a result of bureaucracy, lose their voice as their voice lacks to power to move up all the new rungs of the ladder. At least now those at the top no longer have to hear the complaints of those below them.
Let’s now leave this textbook lesson in bureaucracy and return to my store. The system has now been implemented in almost all the store (excluding the fresh departments due to the nature and perishable nature of their product, they are on a completely separate system). Each zone manager is assigned to a specific area of the store on paper anyway. The problem I at least have with the system is its speed of generating picks for areas where an item can be stocked. While it will generate them on its own, the relay speed can take hours. It’s typically much faster for an associate to manually go through the department and manually create a “pick” for each item that can be stocked on the shelf. This problem wouldn’t be a problem at all really, more of a minor inconvenience. That way the people who run the department, the associates and department manager have control over their department, they do their tasks and get what they need when they need it. Management doesn’t seem to agree with that philosophy. To make sure those in top are in control, rigid time restrictions have been put in place. From 2 PM to 4 PM each day, there are to be no picks in the system. Strange considering that’s when our business is typically picking up each day, which would make sense for there to be MORE picks in the system so the associates can fill the holes the customers are creating upon the shelves to ensure that each product stays full.
Then management does something that I have opposed at every grocery store. Managers prefer style over substance. While appearances are important, it is my personal professional belief that there needs to be something backing up an appearance. In order to make their store look good, management has started over these past few months a completely rigid time slot where from 2 PM to 3 PM all associates are to drop whatever it is they are doing and do nothing but zone the store (facing the product or pulling everything from the back to the front). NO EXCEPTIONS and that is no exaggeration. I have had managers after I have drawn them out into a verbal argument tell me that they would rather have me leave a shelf space unfilled, our ability to make a potential sale, so I can do nothing but pull product towards the front of the shelf for an hour. I have been chastised by managers for running highest demanded products in the store which are my eggs and milk when they were empty during the two to three time slots. Associates have been called out for taking their lunches during this time slot because their department was backed up with product that wasn’t ran the night before, and since they would be unable to try to catch up during 2 – 3 they decided to take their mandatory lunch hour then so they could better optimize their time. Keep in mind that this is also the hour that most department managers in the store are beginning to leave in which they must leave responsibility of the department to the associates under them. Instead of being allowed to prepare the department for the closing shifts, they are expected to waste their time making sure it looks “pretty” for the managers when they do their store inspection. I cannot recall when I joined an organization with more in common with the military than a civilian grocery store, but apparently it changed without my say, which leads right into my next source of contention.
Remember the talk about bureaucracy and its effects on organizational communication? How has that affected the grocery store? NO ONE UNDER A CO-MANAGER RANK HAS A VOICE ANYMORE. If you are not one of three managers (the store or the two co-managers) you have no voice for disagreement, none. It just gets worse as it travels down the ranks. An associate now has five managers who are capable of issuing them orders. Attempts to offer suggestions about certain orders are treated with the sickening response, “I’ll ask *insert a person of greater rank than this person* about it, but in the meantime do what you’re told.” All responsibility is lifted off that person’s shoulders they’ve given you your orders, thereby completing their job, and you are still in the same position you were before. To make matters worse, somewhere along the way, there is no longer any way of expressing your contempt for the way things are being run, because the grass roots meetings are now extinct. Cut down by the lawn mower of bureaucracy. For those who are brave enough to express their complaints to the high ranking managers have had their jobs passive-aggressively threatened:
“If you don’t like it, why don’t you just quit?”
Our store manager held these meetings for a week, and then things began to change. Several managers ended up transferring to different stores, reducing the number of managers. The store seemed to be better run, and employee morale was up. However, cogs were turning in the minds of the corporate levels.
It is a well stated fact that wally world has one of the most efficient inventory systems known to date. About a year ago, they found a way to better optimize it. I won’t go into details due to the complexity of the system (and trust me as an information systems major I can pick the system’s logical components apart piece by piece and drag it out for several pages), but what it essentially accomplishes is track each and every product. When a case is sold, the system will allow the associates to know that they can fill the shelf with their back stocked product. It also allows associates to scan a product and then give them the exact location in the backroom of where it is.
While the system is actually quite remarkable, it is not without its flaws. The problems start occurring when you realize the key problem with any information system, the fact there will be humans using it. No system created for humans is without flaws, and humans will find them all. There are countless ways of causing errors in the system, from a cashier double scanning a similar product of the same price (but not the same flavor) to an associate pulling a product from a bin without scanning it out properly or likewise forgetting to scan something in properly to the warehouse sending fewer products than their order listed.
Wal-Mart’s answer to this is to create a new line of managers, the zone managers. So now the authoritative pecking order goes from associate – department manager – zone manager – assistant manager – co-manager – store manager. The mind reels. When faced with the problem of too much bureaucracy two years before, wally world eliminated the problem by removing some of the ranks of management. Now they’ve brought the problem right back, only with three times the middle men. As anyone with any knowledge in business (or a required business administration minor) will tell you, THAT’S A RECEIPE FOR DISASTER.
One key element that almost every corporation seems to struggle with are its levels of bureaucracy. Bureaucracy, while in small amounts allows the business to be managed, what inevitably ends up happening is there becomes an overload of people. The work required is spread about amongst too many people. Lines of communication become crossed and in the mix, the messages are lost. Confusion settles in, and what happens at the top is exponentially harder for those on the bottom. Those on the bottom as a result of bureaucracy, lose their voice as their voice lacks to power to move up all the new rungs of the ladder. At least now those at the top no longer have to hear the complaints of those below them.
Let’s now leave this textbook lesson in bureaucracy and return to my store. The system has now been implemented in almost all the store (excluding the fresh departments due to the nature and perishable nature of their product, they are on a completely separate system). Each zone manager is assigned to a specific area of the store on paper anyway. The problem I at least have with the system is its speed of generating picks for areas where an item can be stocked. While it will generate them on its own, the relay speed can take hours. It’s typically much faster for an associate to manually go through the department and manually create a “pick” for each item that can be stocked on the shelf. This problem wouldn’t be a problem at all really, more of a minor inconvenience. That way the people who run the department, the associates and department manager have control over their department, they do their tasks and get what they need when they need it. Management doesn’t seem to agree with that philosophy. To make sure those in top are in control, rigid time restrictions have been put in place. From 2 PM to 4 PM each day, there are to be no picks in the system. Strange considering that’s when our business is typically picking up each day, which would make sense for there to be MORE picks in the system so the associates can fill the holes the customers are creating upon the shelves to ensure that each product stays full.
Then management does something that I have opposed at every grocery store. Managers prefer style over substance. While appearances are important, it is my personal professional belief that there needs to be something backing up an appearance. In order to make their store look good, management has started over these past few months a completely rigid time slot where from 2 PM to 3 PM all associates are to drop whatever it is they are doing and do nothing but zone the store (facing the product or pulling everything from the back to the front). NO EXCEPTIONS and that is no exaggeration. I have had managers after I have drawn them out into a verbal argument tell me that they would rather have me leave a shelf space unfilled, our ability to make a potential sale, so I can do nothing but pull product towards the front of the shelf for an hour. I have been chastised by managers for running highest demanded products in the store which are my eggs and milk when they were empty during the two to three time slots. Associates have been called out for taking their lunches during this time slot because their department was backed up with product that wasn’t ran the night before, and since they would be unable to try to catch up during 2 – 3 they decided to take their mandatory lunch hour then so they could better optimize their time. Keep in mind that this is also the hour that most department managers in the store are beginning to leave in which they must leave responsibility of the department to the associates under them. Instead of being allowed to prepare the department for the closing shifts, they are expected to waste their time making sure it looks “pretty” for the managers when they do their store inspection. I cannot recall when I joined an organization with more in common with the military than a civilian grocery store, but apparently it changed without my say, which leads right into my next source of contention.
Remember the talk about bureaucracy and its effects on organizational communication? How has that affected the grocery store? NO ONE UNDER A CO-MANAGER RANK HAS A VOICE ANYMORE. If you are not one of three managers (the store or the two co-managers) you have no voice for disagreement, none. It just gets worse as it travels down the ranks. An associate now has five managers who are capable of issuing them orders. Attempts to offer suggestions about certain orders are treated with the sickening response, “I’ll ask *insert a person of greater rank than this person* about it, but in the meantime do what you’re told.” All responsibility is lifted off that person’s shoulders they’ve given you your orders, thereby completing their job, and you are still in the same position you were before. To make matters worse, somewhere along the way, there is no longer any way of expressing your contempt for the way things are being run, because the grass roots meetings are now extinct. Cut down by the lawn mower of bureaucracy. For those who are brave enough to express their complaints to the high ranking managers have had their jobs passive-aggressively threatened:
“If you don’t like it, why don’t you just quit?”
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
2.23 - "Enjoy Working at WalMart?" - Part I
I'd to point out the irony of the title comes from one of the ads on the right hand side of the page of Facebook which was displayed as I went to post this very long entry. Life is amusing to say the least.
Before I even begin this very long rant, I’d like to take this time to say that I do appreciate everything my current place of employment has done for me. It is thanks to them for these last three years that I have been able to afford to put food on the table, have a place of my own to live, I can pay off all my bills, and have enough money left over to satisfy all my needs and most of my wants. As far as college students go, financially I’m ahead of most of them and that is without any supplemental income from my parents or legal guardian. I am now making a little over ten dollars an hour thanks to a mixture of being in the right place at the right time (like starting at the company when they were still doing 90 day raises), previous work experience (being hired immediately after being a frozen department manager), and a lot of sheer luck (a substantial cost of living raise when I transferred from a very poor district in Kentucky to Murfreesboro). Even during this recession, I have not gone a single day without having a job, something many people regretfully cannot say. My employer has provided for me and has in fact taken care of me very well.
And it is for that exact reason that I am compelled to write about the problems and inexcusable actions I am seeing them commit.
And those of you who are my coworkers who read this, even though I will inevitably refer indirectly to people that I dislike in this entry, I have enough respect for them as a person not to name them and I will be the first to admit that it is usually not one person who is at fault. Anyone who I mention by name in this entry will be named because of the admiration I have for them both as a person and as a genuine worker. So if you do read your name in this, feel honored, because for what it’s worth I think highly of you.
When I started at Wally World, I was constantly seeing posters of Sam Walton pasted all over the break room filled with some of his most famous quotes. The one that most stuck out in my mind, paraphrased to the best of my ability, was “Listen to your workers; they are the true idea generators.” This was merely three years ago. This was when I first started with the company and from what I had noticed immediately was the best run departments were those who allowed motivated employees manage the department. The less manager involvement the better the departments were ran, even the managers at this relatively small store in Kentucky which due to location was constantly busy thanks to its location on the state line which drew people from Tennessee across it so they could take advantage of Kentucky’s drastically lower sales tax (when I was working there it was 6%, compared to the 9.25% sales tax on food items and the 9.75% on nonfood items we have to pay in Tennessee).
I was working in the best department in the store, dairy. I am not saying that as a matter of opinion, but rather fact. Every single manager: assistant, co-manager, and even the store manager told us in dairy that we were the best run department. We were the department that they knew they wouldn’t have to worry about, in large part thanks to the efforts of myself, Andy, and our department manager Steven who all worked tirelessly to ensure that whatever needed to be done, was done, and on time. We were a self managed unit, almost completely separate from the rest of the store. The only times we were even called to do something out of our normal routines was to help unload our trucks or to answer calls for returns (and since it was a dry county we didn’t have to worry about keg orders like we do in Murfreesboro).
When I transferred to the Murfreesboro store I’m currently stationed at in the late summer of 2007 when I transferred colleges to continue my education at MTSU, I transferred into a store in complete disarray. Once again, that is a statement of fact, not an opinion. This was a store that at the time of my transfer had no set store manager (the assigned one at the time seemed to be on a permanent hiatus); just to keep the store running a manager from one of the nearby stores was having to do double duty by floating to and fro their store and our store. The frozen department for months within my being there had no department manager even. No one in charge knew what to do. I fell back on my days with Food Swine back when I was a department manager and tried to offer my guidance. But being a part time associate who at that time didn’t have the chance to prove myself to everyone else, there was only so much I could do for my own department. It was chaos at its purest form, disorder. Eventually, the dust began to settle. We eventually had a store manager take over the vacant slot and John Hill ended up getting the frozen department manager position. When the dust began to settle, the employees for the most part seemed to become complacent with their jobs once again, the confusion was over.
It was during this time that I transferred back to the dairy department, which was my wish ever since I was forced to go into frozen due to there being no open positions in dairy at the time of my store to store transfer. The dairy department at that time was horribly understaffed. This period marked the first time since my days at Food Lion that I would voluntarily start working ten hour days just to make sure the job was completed. Please note that these ten hour days were not at a manager’s request, but my own personal drive to ensure that the job was done so the next person would not have as much work to do on their own.
At this time, though my department at the time was not so much as affected as other areas of the store, there was a significant problem that takes place in many large corporations where there are simply too many managers. This is not a statement of their skills as a manager, but when you enter into the “too many chiefs, not enough Indians” scenario there comes a point that orders of each leader begin to contradict one another. Miscommunication runs rampant. Jobs are left unfinished or worst finished only to have another manager tell the associates to redo it a certain way. Discontent was running high store wide.
To be continued tomorrow...
Cheers,
Eric Summers
Before I even begin this very long rant, I’d like to take this time to say that I do appreciate everything my current place of employment has done for me. It is thanks to them for these last three years that I have been able to afford to put food on the table, have a place of my own to live, I can pay off all my bills, and have enough money left over to satisfy all my needs and most of my wants. As far as college students go, financially I’m ahead of most of them and that is without any supplemental income from my parents or legal guardian. I am now making a little over ten dollars an hour thanks to a mixture of being in the right place at the right time (like starting at the company when they were still doing 90 day raises), previous work experience (being hired immediately after being a frozen department manager), and a lot of sheer luck (a substantial cost of living raise when I transferred from a very poor district in Kentucky to Murfreesboro). Even during this recession, I have not gone a single day without having a job, something many people regretfully cannot say. My employer has provided for me and has in fact taken care of me very well.
And it is for that exact reason that I am compelled to write about the problems and inexcusable actions I am seeing them commit.
And those of you who are my coworkers who read this, even though I will inevitably refer indirectly to people that I dislike in this entry, I have enough respect for them as a person not to name them and I will be the first to admit that it is usually not one person who is at fault. Anyone who I mention by name in this entry will be named because of the admiration I have for them both as a person and as a genuine worker. So if you do read your name in this, feel honored, because for what it’s worth I think highly of you.
When I started at Wally World, I was constantly seeing posters of Sam Walton pasted all over the break room filled with some of his most famous quotes. The one that most stuck out in my mind, paraphrased to the best of my ability, was “Listen to your workers; they are the true idea generators.” This was merely three years ago. This was when I first started with the company and from what I had noticed immediately was the best run departments were those who allowed motivated employees manage the department. The less manager involvement the better the departments were ran, even the managers at this relatively small store in Kentucky which due to location was constantly busy thanks to its location on the state line which drew people from Tennessee across it so they could take advantage of Kentucky’s drastically lower sales tax (when I was working there it was 6%, compared to the 9.25% sales tax on food items and the 9.75% on nonfood items we have to pay in Tennessee).
I was working in the best department in the store, dairy. I am not saying that as a matter of opinion, but rather fact. Every single manager: assistant, co-manager, and even the store manager told us in dairy that we were the best run department. We were the department that they knew they wouldn’t have to worry about, in large part thanks to the efforts of myself, Andy, and our department manager Steven who all worked tirelessly to ensure that whatever needed to be done, was done, and on time. We were a self managed unit, almost completely separate from the rest of the store. The only times we were even called to do something out of our normal routines was to help unload our trucks or to answer calls for returns (and since it was a dry county we didn’t have to worry about keg orders like we do in Murfreesboro).
When I transferred to the Murfreesboro store I’m currently stationed at in the late summer of 2007 when I transferred colleges to continue my education at MTSU, I transferred into a store in complete disarray. Once again, that is a statement of fact, not an opinion. This was a store that at the time of my transfer had no set store manager (the assigned one at the time seemed to be on a permanent hiatus); just to keep the store running a manager from one of the nearby stores was having to do double duty by floating to and fro their store and our store. The frozen department for months within my being there had no department manager even. No one in charge knew what to do. I fell back on my days with Food Swine back when I was a department manager and tried to offer my guidance. But being a part time associate who at that time didn’t have the chance to prove myself to everyone else, there was only so much I could do for my own department. It was chaos at its purest form, disorder. Eventually, the dust began to settle. We eventually had a store manager take over the vacant slot and John Hill ended up getting the frozen department manager position. When the dust began to settle, the employees for the most part seemed to become complacent with their jobs once again, the confusion was over.
It was during this time that I transferred back to the dairy department, which was my wish ever since I was forced to go into frozen due to there being no open positions in dairy at the time of my store to store transfer. The dairy department at that time was horribly understaffed. This period marked the first time since my days at Food Lion that I would voluntarily start working ten hour days just to make sure the job was completed. Please note that these ten hour days were not at a manager’s request, but my own personal drive to ensure that the job was done so the next person would not have as much work to do on their own.
At this time, though my department at the time was not so much as affected as other areas of the store, there was a significant problem that takes place in many large corporations where there are simply too many managers. This is not a statement of their skills as a manager, but when you enter into the “too many chiefs, not enough Indians” scenario there comes a point that orders of each leader begin to contradict one another. Miscommunication runs rampant. Jobs are left unfinished or worst finished only to have another manager tell the associates to redo it a certain way. Discontent was running high store wide.
To be continued tomorrow...
Cheers,
Eric Summers
Monday, February 22, 2010
2.22 - And Now for Something Completely Different...
This entire semester I have done nothing but work. It has always been for a purpose, be it for my own personal career development or as the general consensus seems to suggest the menial almost indentured servitude that is quickly the replacing the ways Wally World is being ran these days. I am sick of it. I have had no option for personal reflection, no respite from the rigors of my routine.
We all need an escape, something to simply gratify our overwhelming desires to be free from the routines we MUST do. We need something to do for our own enjoyment.
At this time last year I was in excellent shape thanks to a daily workout regimen. I was eating properly. I was writing notes like this either daily or semi-daily with what my work/school/social schedules would allow. Though I’d get the occasional sinus infection from Tennessee’s weather being schizophrenic, they were not very severe and were very brief. I may have been in a roommate situation that I couldn’t stand, but other than that I was emotionally satisfied.
Look at me now or rather about a week or two ago. I have not had a day off both class and work since before January 14 when classes started back. Aside from the few nights, friends and I have gone out for a drink or two -I’ve cut back- I have had no social life to break the constant struggle. I have lost much of my figure thanks to never having the time to work out. I have almost lost all desire to cook and struggle to find the time to do so or even have the chance to go out to buy the ingredients that a meal would require. I have had two sinus infections so far this year, each of which are the worst ones I have had my entire life whose severity on several days have led me to believe I had the flu. Even the completely innocent and spontaneous act of blogging has become a school related activity for my knowledge management class, in which I’m limited to writing about topics that have to deal with either school or knowledge management in general.
And of all the times for a potential downhill breakdown, why'd it have to be my last semester of college?
Well, guess what?
I’m not going to let that happen.
I hit the breaking point over the course of last week. A sinus infection as powerful as the one I had earlier this year developed, causing me to have to skip one of my most important classes for a second time. I was wracked with cold and hot chills all hours of the day and night. I could barely move my back or neck, and I had no appetite. One good look in a mirror and it was obvious I was hemorrhaging weight thanks to my still overactive metabolism.
I realized, I had to change this or I simply wouldn’t survive mentally or physically.
I have been overworked this entire semester between my classes and especially work where I am still as Chris so eloquently put it “an overachiever” who is constantly at arms with the most ineffective and callous group of morons who have dubbed themselves leaders in an environment where those in power are avidly trying to silence the voices of the individuals amongst all the ranks. In college I am still striving my hardest because my end is in sight, and I simply cannot allow it to delay any longer.
On Friday after suffering through the turmoil of the second sinus infection on Thursday, I woke up and did something I rarely do, I called out of work. That’s right, the overachiever called out. This was partly due to medical reasons of trying to beat this infection before this weekend where I would need to be in top shape since we have been constantly understaffed in that great time of need. But the medical reasons was simply a veneer hiding my true intentions, I needed a break in the routine. Friday was a day of almost meditative reflection and healing. In order to try to vitalize my body, I doubled up on my daily dosages of vitamins in an attempt to gain back the vitamins and minerals my poor eating habits were not providing. It helped, it helped a lot.
As the second sinus infection settled in, began to restart my workout routine, and although I am still blowing blood ridden mucus and sinus slime out of my nose and have a nasty cough, I’m sticking to it. My muscles are remembering their potential and are coming back. My appetite is returning, and with it, so is my desire to cook.
With those two most important subjects out of the way, I am going to start writing again. This is not going to be just for a class. This is going to be for myself. I need a creative outlet. I have to have something like this to define who I am, even if the only person who reads it is myself.
I return to where I was a year ago, only this time more travel worn (with a beard to prove it) and experienced. Strong-willed and as determined as ever. I am the one who finds solace in the chaos in the chaos around me. I am the one who challenges the complacent. I am the one who attacks those who consider themselves my superior. And I do it all, with a smirk on my face and determined glare in my eyes.
I am me.
Cheers,
Eric Summers
And there’s no stopping me.
We all need an escape, something to simply gratify our overwhelming desires to be free from the routines we MUST do. We need something to do for our own enjoyment.
At this time last year I was in excellent shape thanks to a daily workout regimen. I was eating properly. I was writing notes like this either daily or semi-daily with what my work/school/social schedules would allow. Though I’d get the occasional sinus infection from Tennessee’s weather being schizophrenic, they were not very severe and were very brief. I may have been in a roommate situation that I couldn’t stand, but other than that I was emotionally satisfied.
Look at me now or rather about a week or two ago. I have not had a day off both class and work since before January 14 when classes started back. Aside from the few nights, friends and I have gone out for a drink or two -I’ve cut back- I have had no social life to break the constant struggle. I have lost much of my figure thanks to never having the time to work out. I have almost lost all desire to cook and struggle to find the time to do so or even have the chance to go out to buy the ingredients that a meal would require. I have had two sinus infections so far this year, each of which are the worst ones I have had my entire life whose severity on several days have led me to believe I had the flu. Even the completely innocent and spontaneous act of blogging has become a school related activity for my knowledge management class, in which I’m limited to writing about topics that have to deal with either school or knowledge management in general.
And of all the times for a potential downhill breakdown, why'd it have to be my last semester of college?
Well, guess what?
I’m not going to let that happen.
I hit the breaking point over the course of last week. A sinus infection as powerful as the one I had earlier this year developed, causing me to have to skip one of my most important classes for a second time. I was wracked with cold and hot chills all hours of the day and night. I could barely move my back or neck, and I had no appetite. One good look in a mirror and it was obvious I was hemorrhaging weight thanks to my still overactive metabolism.
I realized, I had to change this or I simply wouldn’t survive mentally or physically.
I have been overworked this entire semester between my classes and especially work where I am still as Chris so eloquently put it “an overachiever” who is constantly at arms with the most ineffective and callous group of morons who have dubbed themselves leaders in an environment where those in power are avidly trying to silence the voices of the individuals amongst all the ranks. In college I am still striving my hardest because my end is in sight, and I simply cannot allow it to delay any longer.
On Friday after suffering through the turmoil of the second sinus infection on Thursday, I woke up and did something I rarely do, I called out of work. That’s right, the overachiever called out. This was partly due to medical reasons of trying to beat this infection before this weekend where I would need to be in top shape since we have been constantly understaffed in that great time of need. But the medical reasons was simply a veneer hiding my true intentions, I needed a break in the routine. Friday was a day of almost meditative reflection and healing. In order to try to vitalize my body, I doubled up on my daily dosages of vitamins in an attempt to gain back the vitamins and minerals my poor eating habits were not providing. It helped, it helped a lot.
As the second sinus infection settled in, began to restart my workout routine, and although I am still blowing blood ridden mucus and sinus slime out of my nose and have a nasty cough, I’m sticking to it. My muscles are remembering their potential and are coming back. My appetite is returning, and with it, so is my desire to cook.
With those two most important subjects out of the way, I am going to start writing again. This is not going to be just for a class. This is going to be for myself. I need a creative outlet. I have to have something like this to define who I am, even if the only person who reads it is myself.
I return to where I was a year ago, only this time more travel worn (with a beard to prove it) and experienced. Strong-willed and as determined as ever. I am the one who finds solace in the chaos in the chaos around me. I am the one who challenges the complacent. I am the one who attacks those who consider themselves my superior. And I do it all, with a smirk on my face and determined glare in my eyes.
I am me.
Cheers,
Eric Summers
And there’s no stopping me.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
2.16 - How to Blog: Part III
Only two suggestions left now; find your zone and muse. Writers will often have an “Ah-ha!” moment when they write when all of a sudden their mind generates an interpretable version of their thoughts. This is what I refer to as “the zone.” When you enter that state of mind, the words will seem to flow from your head and onto the paper/screen. Achieving this state isn’t always easy and must sometimes be induced. This is where the “muse” comes into play. Muses by definition are what motivates and inspires us. For my purposes they are what allow the writer to help enter their zone. Of everything discussed in this blog, it is the muse that will vary the most from person to person. Using myself as an example, I find that my main muse is usually music which I frequently play as I write, but can range from anything from certain TV shows, video games, or even exercise.
Most importantly, Practice, practice, practice. Blogging will become easier the more you do it. If at all possible try to set an allotted time aside each day just so you can write. Practice will guide your hand. It will help you create a routine and the more you do it, the faster you can do it and the better it will be.
Cheers,
Eric Summers
Most importantly, Practice, practice, practice. Blogging will become easier the more you do it. If at all possible try to set an allotted time aside each day just so you can write. Practice will guide your hand. It will help you create a routine and the more you do it, the faster you can do it and the better it will be.
Cheers,
Eric Summers
Monday, February 15, 2010
2.15 - How to Blog: Part II
The key component to blogging (or anything in life for that matter) is motivation. Motivation varies from person to person. It is what drives us; when we succeed our motivation increases and when we perceive ourselves as failing with no end in sight we tend to lose our motivation. When it comes to writing, the degree of motivation is instantly apparent the moment you begin, and it shows clearly in your work.
When it comes to writing or even a form of the visual arts, the sight of a blank page can seem to be an impossible barrier having a similar effect as stage fright. One method for overcoming this if you do suffer from this problem is to simply write/type whatever immediately comes to your mind. It can be complete nonsense. It could be “blah” posted over and over and over again. The act of simply covering a page in random letters and numbers while you are trying to think can help you overcome this barrier.
The second most important component of blogging is finding the time to do so. Time, as full time college students and as many of us also have full times jobs to juggle in addition to our school work. There are several methods that can be used to optimize the time spent writing a blog. One approach is to develop an outline for the blog and build upon it from there. Another strategy and one that I most frequently use has more in common with psychology than writing at first glance. Often referred to as the back burner theory, it involves you choosing the topic of your blog you wish to write in advance and let it develop in your head while you go about your day. From time to time come back to that thought, you’ll find that over time you’ll start to accumulate more and more material for it. This method essentially allows the subconscious part of your mind to work on the topic while you do other things. The final method to using your time wisely requires you to set aside an allotted time each day to blog. If you can do this on a daily basis, you will eventually develop a routine.
This one might seem obvious, but write about what interests you. Granted for this class we are forced to keep our blogs either school related or have something to do with this class, but try to take something of your own personal interest or something you have a passion for and see if you cannot tie that interests into school or something knowledge management related.
Part III, the final part will come out tomorrow.
Cheers,
Eric Summers
When it comes to writing or even a form of the visual arts, the sight of a blank page can seem to be an impossible barrier having a similar effect as stage fright. One method for overcoming this if you do suffer from this problem is to simply write/type whatever immediately comes to your mind. It can be complete nonsense. It could be “blah” posted over and over and over again. The act of simply covering a page in random letters and numbers while you are trying to think can help you overcome this barrier.
The second most important component of blogging is finding the time to do so. Time, as full time college students and as many of us also have full times jobs to juggle in addition to our school work. There are several methods that can be used to optimize the time spent writing a blog. One approach is to develop an outline for the blog and build upon it from there. Another strategy and one that I most frequently use has more in common with psychology than writing at first glance. Often referred to as the back burner theory, it involves you choosing the topic of your blog you wish to write in advance and let it develop in your head while you go about your day. From time to time come back to that thought, you’ll find that over time you’ll start to accumulate more and more material for it. This method essentially allows the subconscious part of your mind to work on the topic while you do other things. The final method to using your time wisely requires you to set aside an allotted time each day to blog. If you can do this on a daily basis, you will eventually develop a routine.
This one might seem obvious, but write about what interests you. Granted for this class we are forced to keep our blogs either school related or have something to do with this class, but try to take something of your own personal interest or something you have a passion for and see if you cannot tie that interests into school or something knowledge management related.
Part III, the final part will come out tomorrow.
Cheers,
Eric Summers
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