{"id":67,"date":"2017-11-05T23:18:20","date_gmt":"2017-11-05T23:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/out-boxer.com\/?page_id=67"},"modified":"2018-04-16T23:58:38","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T23:58:38","slug":"blog","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/out-boxer.com\/?page_id=67","title":{"rendered":"From the Outbox"},"content":{"rendered":"

Payback in Kind: Returning the Love Your People Are Killing Themselves With – By Letting Them Stop
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our best people have in common a value-added. They\u2019re our go-tos. If we\u2019re lucky, we\u2019re blessed with more of them than not. If they\u2019re<\/em> lucky, we\u2019re paying attention.<\/p>\n

A current retail client has a full staff of such people. They\u2019re a small team, so there\u2019s not a lot of efficiency that we can let get caught up in individual job descriptions \u2013 everything revolves around maximizing cross-training of tasks, and in turn fine-tuning the tasks themselves.<\/p>\n

Recently, we were peeling back the steps involved in stocking the shelves. We discussed minimum stocking levels by item, and as we walked the route, the question was asked as to whether they recorded a count of the product to be broken out of inventory.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d was the reply. \u201cWe take an approximate number, allowing for extra, in case someone purchases any while we\u2019re restocking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is done with the extra?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe return it to the warehouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it stands, product as organized on the retail floor is in no way reflected in where overstock is kept in the warehouse (something we\u2019re working on), so a single restocking run on its own is already headed to four or five separate aisles \u00a0\u2013 a return run is doubly lethal. At the same time, how can you possibly come down on that? The concern is valid, the cause isn\u2019t theirs, but operational. All it\u2019s lacking is a little back-handed perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow often do you restock?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, usually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having just gone through the minimum level discussion, the next Q & A was easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone does<\/em> buy product while you\u2019re restocking, will there still be product on the shelf tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, if it\u2019s me, I would consider not taking the extra, or just taking enough that would just fit if no one had bought any while I was gone. That way you can save half the time a second trip takes; and you can use the time saved to start consolidating the warehouse so that next time you\u2019re only having to go to three aisles; then two, then eventually one.\u201d<\/p>\n

I wish I could say there was a blinding light of revelation at this. There was, instead, discomfort. A little defensiveness, maybe, some awkwardness at feeling a little stupid, at being chastised for doing the right thing \u2013 though care was taken to craft this engagement in tone and substance to acknowledge the hard-work and the intent.<\/p>\n

More than that, however, was simply a need for a little time to understand that they had the blessing to not beat themselves up over a perfect detail, while running themselves ragged trying to keep up in the bigger picture; and never quite catching up.<\/p>\n

Good staff worry about failing us, because ultimately they\u2019re failing themselves. And, ironically, it can be our own processes, their blind chasing of them, and our lack of observance that is setting them up to fail. So long as that is the case, eventually we\u2019re going to lose them; and in the meantime, our efficiencies are going to continue to suffer.<\/p>\n

From the Outbox, April 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Payback in Kind: Returning the Love Your People Are Killing Themselves With – By Letting Them Stop Our best people have in common a value-added. They\u2019re our go-tos. If we\u2019re… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-67","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/out-boxer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/67","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/out-boxer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/out-boxer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/out-boxer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/out-boxer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/out-boxer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/67\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110,"href":"https:\/\/out-boxer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/67\/revisions\/110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/out-boxer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}