How being a grocery clerk taught me the importance of operations
When working in a grocery store, The skills one could acquire are numerous. While the customer service or sales skills one could gain from a grocery clerk position seem obvious there is one very important skill set that is less apparent: operations.
What Is Operations?
Before I tell you why grocery is a perfect place to get operations experience, let's take a small detour to learn what operations is.
Operations can be described as all of the behind-the-scenes functions of a business. Those who have the title of Operations Associate spend their time implementing systems, solving problems, and increasing the workflow to improve any business's day-to-day functions.
Skills an operations associate needs
While operations is an extensive role that needs a varied skill set, the core skills one should have are:
Problem-solving skills
Connections with company staff
Technological aptitude
Reliability
Now that we have a bit more of a familiarity with what an operations role entails let's look at why working in a grocery store is a great place to learn how to fulfill this role.
In my time working as a clerk, I've had many different titles and tasks, from cleaning the floors to grabbing carts and stocking shelves. I've had a generous amount of experience in the grocery business. One of the things I've learned is having a solid system to follow can be the difference between a successful shift and a dud. This reliance on air-tight systems was something I was embraced very quickly when I first became a grocery clerk.
Operation: courtesy clerk
Now you might just be wondering, what is a courtesy clerk? A Courtesy clerk, for the uninitiated, is an entry-level position that spends their time cleaning the store, bagging groceries, grabbing carts, and many many more tasks.
When I first started working as a grocery clerk, I held the courtesy clerk position. And as a courtesy clerk, you're given the previously mentioned tasks and a schedule. You are given a particular order of operations that contained all of the day’s tasks in a very easy-to-understand schedule. This schedule took a seemingly chaotic and stressful position and turned it into a highly efficient role. This is where I first came to appreciate our operations department.
Our courtesy shift
Start your shift
Visual store sweep
Grab carts/bag groceries
Physical store sweep
Grab carts/bag groceries
Break
Grab carts/bag groceries
Clean bathrooms
Lunch
Visual store sweep
Grab carts/bag groceries
Physical store sweep
Break
Grab carts/bag groceries
Clean bathrooms
Visual store sweep
End shift
This is the schedule I followed when I held a courtesy position. Doing this kept me and my fellow courtesy clerks busy, moving and helped us not get overwhelmed with all of the tasks we had during the day.
Operation: production clerk
After some time passed, I was promoted from a courtesy clerk to a production clerk. To give a brief description of what a production clerk does: production is the department that stocks, audits, monitors, and receives the store inventory. This department helped me not only appreciate an operations role but also helped me gain valuable operations experience.
When I first started in this department, we had very little structure to our roles. Unlike the courtesy department, production didn't have a schedule or a timesheet to follow, so saying it was unorganized would be an understatement.
After months of the unorganized mess that we called a production department, we were given a schedule. And not only were we given some structure to our department, but we were able to help construct it.
Through a process of trial and error, we created a schedule that was able to create a steady workflow and increase productivity by socking the store in a specific order.
And that order being:
Start shift:
Store walkthrough
Stock bread
Stock diary
Break
Edit inventory
Lunch
Stock beverages
Stock beer
Break
Stock eggs and milk
Face perimeter
Store walkthrough
End shift
This system worked! Having a schedule forced me to stock, organize, and double-check our inventory by having mandatory time slots. We increased efficiency and productivity by creating a system that optimizes our workflow.
By working in a grocery store, I learned the importance of an operations role and the systems they create. Whether it’s through the schedule I was given as a courtesy clerk or by the system I helped make as a production clerk. The importance of creating an air-tight system and schedule is something I'll continue to use and appreciate moving forward in my career.