I used to work for Publix, a grocery chain in the south east US. They talk a big game to the new hires that no matter how high up you make it in the company, you're not too high to do the tasks of the entry level employees. You'll even see the CEO in some of the stores in Lakeland, Florida. I've always felt it was for show because all you'll ever see anyone in a management position do is bag groceries. There could be a dozen other tasks that need doing that would take priority, but don't worry, you have time to do those things because the guys making 6 figures are on bagger duty.
this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2024
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The CEO of Publix is a piece of shit. Fuck that guy.
Be real, how many jobs do you trust a suit to be able to figure out? Do you really want one of them behind an electric pallet jack?
No, but cleaning up the disgusting public bathroom is doable
I didn't mention in my original post but the company only hires within, meaning that every single person within the company started at an entry level position, many of them did operate pallet jacks. Every suit that did come and pretend to look like they were working hard did do that job at one point. I think that's what made it even more infuriating to me
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A couple of night stock shifts would be good for them.
A lot of those jobs require some form of training. What's the point of training everyone for every job?
I should've mentioned in my original post that Publix is a hires within company. Everybody including the current CEO started at an entry level position. Obviously no one person knows how to do everything, but all the top level employees ran their own department before running their own store, district, region, etc. Obviously I'm biased, my feelings toward the company are less than favorable after working there. It was just irritating to see someone who has made millions but somehow has the time to run to various stores and kick people off of bagging duty so they can pretend to look like down to earth upper management. It was my first hand experience to seeing just how unnecessary certain corporate positions really are
Oh cool, it’s the corporate version of those people who cosplay as homeless by “living on the streets” for a week
Or its to emphasise where you actually make your money. A lot of people in offices far away from where the money is earned end up making up convoluted versions of reality to fit their processes, applications and such. Making everyone do a day on the floor of the business emphasizes that this part of the business is key.
It can be done the right way too. My wife's company does something similar and it helps a lot with how the back office thinks of processes. They also are encouraged to use these informal contacts to check new things they imagine would be helpful. They have scrapped entire projects after collecting feedback and running fields tests this way. At the same time their front line feels they can actually provide feedback that is heard.
I like it, but it won't work. All it will do is put people on edge for the day. Putting execs into a store silently for 2 weeks would be the way. Most of them would probably actually enjoy the breaks from their keyboard day to day. Many executives aren't the elite we see on the news, they're office middle management with high titles so negotiators think they're dealing with higher ups.
Putting execs into a store silently for 2 weeks would be the way.
So, basically that old undercover boss TV show?
Pretty much, except give them zero authority over the store.
This is obviously a good idea. I don’t want to complain or discourage it, but those 8 hours should include at least some customer-facing work. No fair hiding in the manager’s office or stockroom all day - which is not to suggest that working in the stockroom is easier. In many ways, it’s harder, but it does lack one crucial element of retail.
If they really want to “bridge the gap”, they need a firsthand understanding of the hell that is customer service.
IMO, they should go through the entire training and then a day or two of doing at least one of the top 3 employed jobs at the company.
Whether that's stocker, cashier, or whatever.
No one should know they are corporate, but I've trained new manager for my stores before when I worked retail. Truthfully, they are just people trying to get through the day. It didn't matter they were my bosses they got trained and treated literally the exact same as any of my other trainees.
It's not larping, it's not PR, it's literally just understanding core areas of the business so that any decisions they make they have context on what it will actually impact. As management, I've specifically gone out of my way to sit and shadow people so that I can understand their job and try and identify challenges they face. And if it was within my power or knowledge to explore a solution I would.
I’m not opposed to the idea, but it’s just PR. Taking a day off of a cushy six-figure exec job to play retail worker for a day is nothing at all like actually working retail because you have no other choice
Maybe if it was a week of swing shifts?
If they want to bridge the gap they need to go out there more than once a year and the rest of the staff including managers shouldn't know they're corporate. Otherwise they're just larping to feel better about being in corpo and to say they've done it all.
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So ... There's finally going to be some employees in there?
Good. As an engineer in a factory I’m sometimes called to help meet a shipment (we’re not well run) and I stand by that if it wasn’t necessary it would be good. Leadership needs to understand the base level value add of a company
In addition, I would like to see design engineers spend some time in the repair shop working on the things they are designing.
Maybe after they've burned their forearm a few times, things like putting the oil filter directly above the catalytic converter wouldn't happen.
In my utopia, all engineers would need to prove that the factory service manual repair time estimate can be done by them.
This would make my life harder, but it’s necessary.
I used to work for a restaurant company that asked corporate staff to work in the restaurants one day per year plus clean the office kitchen once every six months. I've never seen so much non Union worker solidarity in opposition to these tiny tiny ass requests.
I've done shadowing of other roles at a couple jobs. Honestly it's kinda fun, you learn a lot about other peoples problems so you can do your job better but also it's pretty fun, like getting a whole new job for a day
i bet they dont drug test those execs like they do those that work those jobs for real
I worked there for a year, and they only tested the forklift and electric ladder operators. Suffice it to say, I never got certification for operating those machines. ;)
Not to defent the corporate dystopia, but usually to qualify for whatever kind of insurance these companies have, they are required by the insurance company to drug test. At least, that's how it is at the company I work for. If they don't drug test, the company is held liable for anything the employee does, and insurance won't cover it.
That shit should be illegal. Insurance companies should not have that kind of power.
Drug testing should be illegal, with very rare, carefully regulated exceptions.
Your body chemistry is none of your employer's business.
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no, not at least in my industry/comp. i have not had to take a drug test in oh.. 20 years?
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man, get the executives to man the garden center during peak Christmas Tree season and i'll go there with a bucket of popcorn just to watch.
Legit tho, this sounds like a pretty interesting way to hopefully reduce the disconnect between corporate and whatever goes on in the public facing parts of their company.
I hope they give them retail pay for that 8 hour shift as well. Of course they wouldn't let a retail worker take an 8 hour shift in the offices, but that would be a little interesting. Either way, more companies should do this type of thing.
That would just be a rounding error to them that they probably wouldn't notice. People at that level generally don't pay attention to individual paychecks.
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This is actually a very good culture and mindset to foster. First hand experience will always be king in helping people making informed decisions.
More companies should be doing this. Far too often is there a disconnect between leadership and the frontline workers.
I might drop this link in my team's Slack and tag leadership lol
It's something, but it's also temporary. They know it will end in 8hrs, and can just put on a show for that time.
Let's see them pull a week, one day in each role. Lets see them pull 2 weeks. No special privileges, extra breaks, etc. The same break room and conditions everyone gets.
One day is just a pulp song. 2 weeks? Then things may change.
And even more, it hits different when you know "this is my life" and not "i just have to do this for a while". The absence of any hope contributes so much to the pain.
100% this is someone's life that the boss gets to cosplay for a day
When I worked for Walmart 25 or so years ago, they supposedly had something like this, but it manifested as us worrying about getting in trouble. Not sure if that was legit but I was pretty young and didn't interact with them.
The waffle house I ate at, they did have higher ups come in, and they had to serve and what not. The folks working there seemed to like it but idk I just was a regular, never officially worked.
I’m not mad at this. I wonder how it’ll work out in the long run.
"Don't give the VP any difficult jobs that involve any sort of hard work. Just let him stand over there and tell people thanks for coming to Home Depot."
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Honestly this is a good policy that most companies should do. It’s easy to ignore problems that don’t affect oneself, so make it affect them.
Like a bug that seems minor to a software manager may be a huge pain in the ass to a clerk that uses the software all day.
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