Imagine for a moment that you\'re the general manager of a local, upscale grocer
ID: 2671121 • Letter: I
Question
Imagine for a moment that you're the general manager of a local, upscale grocery store that is part of a national chain. You've just gotten word from corporate headquarters that all stores must install at least two self-checkout machines. Research shows that the machines will pay for themselves within about a year, by reducing labor costs. But you believe that cutting jobs would put your store at a competitive disadvantage. Your competitive edge, especially versus low price giants such as Wal-Mart, is better service. Instead of reducing your workforce, you'd like to transform those superfluous cashier jobs to service jobs in places such as the deli and the bakery. In fact, you'd even like to add a childcare service for busy parents. You are convinced that the changes you envision could boost profits by a minimum of 5% in the first year. How would you persuade your manager at corporate headquarters to let you test your approach for the first year after the self-checkout machines are installed in your store? Keep in mind that if the plan succeeds, your boss may roll it out nationwide, but if the plan fails, your personal and professional credibility may be at stake.Explanation / Answer
This is the dilemma of middle management. Middle managers are closer to the action so they see things that corporate doesn't necessarily see. Corporations are usually numbers oriented. Sometimes they can't see the benefits of intangibles like goodwill generated by customer service. I would do some market research with the existing customers. Get real world feed back about how a customer would view the proposed changes. If you have good relationships with other GMs at other stores, have them do the same. Quantify these and submit the data along with your proposal to your manager. The proposal needs to be given face to face.