I have to start off by saying that I was fortunate enough to find other employment after 10 years at a MW WFM 2.5 months ago. I did get a few months of experience into what the OTS culture brought forth. Like most people I thought it was over saturated with needless busy tasks and other useless information that we didn’t have time or labor for. From the implementation of the OTS system at our store up until the time I quit (a little over 3 months) we did not pass 1 OTS audit in our department. During my last week (in which I didn’t care anymore) i told one of my ASTL’s that I found it amusing that we hadn’t passed a walk yet. They informed me that we weren’t the only department in which that was the case. So my question is; does it all really matter? If a company is so gung-ho about a new system wouldn’t they be a little concerned that multiple teams were failing these walks 3 times a week for over 3 months or longer? That’s a horrible percentage. I’m sure my store wasn’t the only one in which this sorta thing happened either but I don’t know for certain. Why have such high standards for this program yet such a lackadaisical attitude towards the complete failure of it. It’s like they don’t want to admit to making a huge mistake to save face but someday it’s going to backfire on them. Fire all the TL’s that can’t pass the walks? Where does the real implementation of this begin? I think after a while they’ll completely abandon it because they realize it’s not going anywhere. Anybody remember the ANDI score thing? I think they have some good ideas with OTS but it’s primarily a bloated mess that needs rethinking.
12 replies (most recent on top)
Forget OTS and ever changing planagrams. Stop getting garbage that that they sell as fresh produce and go back to quality.
I had a customer complaining about ots yesterday..he read about and was pissed because of empty shelves and outta stocks..lol..its such failure at our store..our warehouse is soo small and we cant even store the products for our business/sales level..
Hmmm...pathetic is calling people names.
Here’s an idea.. STOP WORKING RETAIL. Jesus your pathetic.
WFM was a great company. At one time it deserved to be on the 100 best companies to work for list. Great pay, great benefits great working conditions and great team members. Now it is just about as bad as Walmart. Still pay pretty good but if you make any kind of decent money, you become a target. Either to be gotten rid of so they can hire part time help at half your pay (and they work like a Walmart employee) or to work you like a dog so in their eyes you are earning your pay. The benefits used to be really good but now at 75/25 with deductibles so outrageous you can't afford to get sick. I remember when WFM was proud of what they paid per hour and our benefits. In fact, TL's would get in trouble for not putting job dialogs through on time and it was part of the All Star grading. I enjoy the grocery business but it seems WFM has gone out of their way to discourage long term, hard working, happy employees in exchange for mediocracy. I have actually heard TL's , STL's and ASTL's make excuses as to why lazy part timers can't get their work done but why fulltime workers need to work harder to get the work of 3 people done by 1. It is time to move on from this company, they are no longer the elite place to work. Target, Aldi and Costco are looking better everyday. OTS and SOP have a lot of good things going for them but with the cut in labor and all those stupid clip boards and walks, the whole thing is just over the top. Wish me luck cause I am looking for a new place to call home.
To “Too much time on my hands”. I say “thank you”. You expressed my feelings exactly. I cared about WFM so much. Worked hard everyday. Cared about team members and will still watch this site until no resemblance of WFM exists. It was a great company.
in response to the person that said I have too much time on my hands- you’re absolutely right! I quit to become a stay at home dad. I really don’t have as much time as I thought I would though :)
And the reason I posted is because after spending so much time with wfm I foolishly started to care about the company even though it was mostly clear they didn’t really care about me. They provided for me in a lot of ways and it’s hard to just abandon those feelings even though I don’t work there anymore. I still have partial investment as my partner works for the company but doesnt work in the same department or store as myself. So I still have a lot riding on WFM and I want them to be successful. There’s also a slight amount of bitterness and confusion that comes from being told you matter for 10 years but then make policy and procedure changes that baffle, anger and hurt the ones you supposedly cared about for so long. I follow this Layoff page as a way of venting and relieving frustrations in the company that I still hear about on an almost daily basis.
My store struggles and hasn't been able to pass a walk....and we are certified so there's that. I think the program gives Regional a sense of relevance. Drop OTS and you could slim down regional even more.
Congrats on the new gig. But why are you posting if you are in new job? Why do you care? Time to move on or get a girlfriend as you have too much time on your hands.
It's such a waste of time. It was created by ppl who haven't worked in a store in God knows how long. Really hope Amazon elminates the bull sh-- aspects of it. No labor to even train TMs let alone shuffle papers for 10 hours a week in the office
On paper OTS makes for a streamlined, well-informed team (easy access to out-of-stocks, top movers, department sales, etc), but its such a 180 culture-wise from what we were used to at WFM that people are having trouble adapting. Combine that with the large investment in time it requires of team leadership and specialists, who are often not fully staffed, and constantly changing requirements from the program itself, and you have a recipe for a sh--show. The fact that one little scrap of paper on the floor of a cooler can fail your landlord walk, and three fails has the whole region breathing down your STLs neck, only creates a culture of fear and distrust.
The first couple of weeks of implementation are alright, since we slimmed down drastically on backstock in the back of house, and got rid of a lot of excess fixtures and things we didn't need, but being written up because your order writer's cart isn't exactly within the painted lines are the actions of a company shooting itself in the foot just to prove it has a gun.
Congratulations on your new job! Look in my store they just pretend that the walk has happened is just a waste of time.