Filial Days: A Visit to the Store

Denislav Georgiev, a human resources assistant for Schwarz IT Bulgaria. He recently attended the company wide practice of attending a retail outlet so he can better familiarize himself with the work processes and challenges his retail-side colleagues face in their day-to-day. The policy is in place so that our colleagues can gain a better understanding for that side of the business and provide better and more effective solutions to ease their workload. Here is what he shared with us:

 Which outlet did you attend? What was the goal of the visit?

I attended the Kaufland outlet in Hadzhi Dimitar, Sofia. As for the goal of the practice – it was to better familiarize myself with the company as a whole and face the reality of retail business.

How did your stay go?

We spent three shifts at the superstore outlet and tasks varied substantially. The visit was structured in a manner as to provide a brief induction into the work processes into all of the different sub-departments, them being – the information desk, cashier stations, fruits and vegetables, bakery, the meat and cheese cold stand, foods, non-foods, dairy and intake of goods. On average we went through three sub-departments within a day, where after a brief resume on the expected process, we had the opportunity to try and aid our colleague’s work.

Did you learn something? If so what?

I’d share but it’s a trade secret. I’m joking, of course. It was interesting to see the logistics fuelling the whole process. I managed to note quite a few solutions which definitely take load off of the dynamic work process. Seeing the electronic price tags, something which never came to my attention as a client of the superstore chain, but they completely remove the need for printing out price tags and can be updated by scanning a product’s barcode.
I actually had no clue about how intake of goods and storage is conducted. The food products on display are ordered on a daily basis and the is no process of storing large amounts of them. It was also interesting to note that most of the displays are on wheels and are able to be rearranged to maintain the overall plentiful appearance of the store, which would prove quite a lot more difficult, provided logistics and policies in place, if they were stationary.
 
What are your key takeaways from the time spent? How would they help you in your work?

The three-day practice was an eye-opening experience which gave me a different perspective on how I could ease the workload of my colleagues, even just in the position of an end user. After the visit, I now tend to take note of what my colleagues are striving for and all of the mishaps they are actively tracing. I now strive to help them out, within the rational for a client of-course, be it with information, slight rearrangement of products or just taking products off of the shelves in a way which would make it easy for my colleagues to trace without having to put in extra effort. Overall the visit made me a more conscious client of chain, making me value the importance of my colleagues’ work and strive keep positive and respectable interactions whenever visiting a branch of the chain.