Pattison Food Group’s Post

The worst thing store managers do to themselves is they underestimate their potential.😔 This evening, I met a store leader from a reputed brand. I casually asked him how his store performed this big National Day weekend. ‘We did horrible!’ he said. I asked why. Other stores from his region performed far better than his, and his Area Manager said, ‘You should learn from others’! I said it’s ok; time will change, and you’ll be at the front one day. But he insisted that he thinks he is not capable enough. Whether the Area Manager is at fault is a debate for another day. But no store leader should beat themselves up for their store performance. Store management is like a rough sea and store leaders are the sailors. There is no fun in this job if we don’t see the ups and downs. P.S.: What would you say to this store manager to cheer him up?🤔 He will be following this post closely. #retail #storemanager #retailmanagement

Retail Today / Retail Renaissance: Publix’s annouces their new executive team for 2023. This massive grocery chain with 240,000 associates, over 1,300 stores and producing $41 Billion in sales. Now has their team in place for the future. Similar to our discussion last week about Walmart, all three Publix executives started as hourly associates, this is “the MAGIC” of the Retail Industry. My gut tells me they worked very hard, outstanding work ethic, took pride in their jobs at all levels, listened, were respectful and supported their coach/mentor. It didn’t happen overnight, but they put the time in, learned how to develop relationships, improved their skill set with each opportunity. They created new leaders along the way, strengthening the Publix’s team. They probably never “quiet quit” or demanded to “work remotely”, they just found the harder they worked, the more successful they became. So this Thanksgiving Eve, you can get a fantastic turkey at Publix or better yet an “opportunity” that may change your life. #retail #publix #opportunity #groceryindustry #workethic #hardworkpaysoff #organisationaldevelopment #retailindustry #relationshipbuilding #coachingandmentoring

Faith, it has been a privilege to work alongside you for the past three years. Your commitment to quality and excellence has set a benchmark for all of us. Your data analytical skills are truly unparalleled, consistently delivering insights that have driven our strategic decisions and propelled our success over the last three years. Your exceptional supplier relationship management has strengthened our trade partners partnerships, while your negotiation skills have secured advantageous terms that have significantly benefited our commercial operations. Your strategic approach to business and product sales growth has been transformative, driving revenue and expanding our market presence. Your ability to provide cross-functional business support has been indispensable, seamlessly bridging gaps between departments and fostering collaboration. I have no doubt that you will continue to excel in your future endeavors. I highly recommend you to any organization seeking talented professional in supply chain and business growth and development. May your next chapter be extraordinary great, more fulfilling and make positive impact to all that you will work and interact with. Wishing you all the best that the future can offer

Over the course of my career in retail store operations, field leadership, and learning and development, I’ve been able to travel to many different places for work, leaving just three states in the U.S. that I had yet to visit: Alaska, Iowa, and New Mexico. My trip in July not only checked off one of those states, Alaska, but it also added another area of North America I’ve yet to explore: British Columbia. As a self-confessed foodie, I always seek out great restaurants when traveling and, if possible, the opportunity to meet the chef while I enjoy their food. While in Vancouver, we enjoyed a spectacular experience at celebrated restaurant Viji’s Bib Gourmand. During our time at the restaurant, we met and talked with Chef Vikram’s entire staff. He explained that it was important to him that we met all of them because everyone contributes to the success of the customer experience. They were all highly engaged and authentic; nothing was for show. Having spent a large part of my life and career developing leadership training to create this type of culture in retail organizations, it made a huge impression on me. I was struck by how humble and appreciative he was for his restaurant team and where he is today. One sign of just how powerful his restaurant’s culture is: Most of his team have worked with him for over 20 years! The parallels to retail are evident: Treat your team well, empower them with skills and confidence, and instill in them a sense of ownership and pride, and they will ensure your customers are well taken care of. It’s the employee-customer profit service chain that I have followed my entire career. When you engage and empower people, they will deliver their best work for your customers. And they (and your customers) will stay with you for the long haul. How are you creating a culture of trust and respect? #LearnMOHR #Retail #LeadershipTips

"📢 Petco names new chief stores officer as COO exits 🚪 👥 The pet retailer also fired its chief merchandising and supply chain officer and named five people to its executive leadership team. 🔄💼 #Petco #BusinessNews #LeadershipChange 🐾" by Retail Dive about Petco

Visions, Missions & Values… How do you communicate these to your team? Continually reinforce them to create the products, services and culture that you need? Incentivize for successfully applying? Tying your decisions, hiring and financial commitments to alignment of these is a big challenge… How do you achieve this at your organization 🤔 #catering #officecatering

In 2005, while working for Woolworths Café, I faced a daunting yet exciting challenge: opening a new restaurant, http://FOOD.BAR in Design Quarters. This opportunity presented me with the task of recruiting and training 80 new staff members—a pivotal moment that ignited my passion for training. As I stood in front of the new staff on their first day of training, every nerve tingled with nervousness and anticipation. Little did I know, this experience would shape my career path for years to come. Over my 14-year career at Woolworths Café, I immersed myself in leadership training, customer service, financial management, and recruitment, developing my skills and expertise. After nearly three decades in hospitality, I chose a new career journey in the real estate world as a Team Leader. This transition allowed me to meet incredible individuals, and apply my training skills to a different industry. Despite facing challenges like the unexpected retrenchment of our entire leadership team in the Western Cape, 2 days before we went into lockdown, I took the opportunity to start my own company. Today, as I celebrate my 4-year anniversary, I am living my passion and serving my purpose with gratitude for every person who supported my journey. So, here's to embracing challenges, accepting opportunities, and transforming into the best version of ourselves. Thank you for being part of my journey—I couldn't have done it without you! #Leadership #Leadershiptraining #Managers #Delegation #Influencers #Motivators #Skills #TheWinningAttitudeSkillsTraining #Thewinningattitude #Goals #Goaltraining #Motivation #Goals #Goalstraining #Goalsetting #Goals #Goalscoach #Success #Focus #Driven #Achievement #Goalsmastery #thewinningattitudeskillstraining #thewinningattitude #skills #training #goaldriven #perserverance #Commitment #SpeakingWithPurpose #ConfidenceInSpeaking #WiseWords #Publicspeaking #Confidence #Storytelling #Fear #Speakinginpublic #Skills

Leaders who have made a lasting impact on my life and career, Day 5. Shannon O'Brien. When you were Macy's Rosedale's Operations/Asset Protection manager, you were my manager as I went into a new area for myself. Having always been on the customer facing side of retail, going into my new position as Fulfillment OMNI Lead I was little out of my comfort zone. Something I learned about you right away is how strong of a leader you are. You tell someone to do something and they do it. You gain the respect of everyone working with you through strong command, but by also getting in there and doing the work yourself. You are not afraid to get your hands dirty and work right there with us. You would be out picking customer orders to ship, packing with us, and then running out to catch a shoplifter. After COVID you and I were some of the first people back into the store while the store stayed closed and we were only fulfilling orders to ship out. You made everyday great to be back at work. You have a great understanding of people. You keep a tight ship, but a friendly open door environment where everyone feels comfortable and confident in going to you for anything. There is no one I have worked with who has such a perfect balance of having a stern hard hitting conversation and displaying empathy, respect, and a safe place for colleagues as you. I'll always remember when mine and the receiving managers titles were changing from "Lead" to "Captain" and you ordered us each a captain hat to wear with our new titles 😂 You helped lead the store through so much change and you did it without it ever missing a beat. I admire you as a leader and as a human. Thank you, Shannon, for displaying strong integrity in everything you do. Thank you for leading through change. Thank you for being an amazing leader! #leadership #growth #career #motivation #inspiration

General Managers are the lifeblood of retail, full stop. Their ability to be shoulder to shoulder, create fun, lead by example, and inspire others is unmatched in other roles. It’s why any company that wants to succeed long term will fight for them and the support they need and deserve, authentically (GMs can spot fake a mile away). I’m committed to that in part because that’s the role I’ve spent the most years in during my career; I’m committed to ensuring Pentex Restaurant Group stands for that and coaching GMs to unlock their potential by leading and inspiring. What is this picture, you ask? If you look closely you will see a person, apron ties visible, amidst all that trash. It makes me smile because I used to tell my Del Mar, CA team not to worry about the trash during peak shifts and to toss it at the back door so they could stay focused on peak-but then it piled high and blocked the door! Their focus broke sales records. But then, the door was blocked. Solution? A running dive Superman style into the trash to reach for the doorknob, of course! “I’ll show you!” 😋 Fun, role modeling, team commitment-that I know every GM can achieve! #culture #peoplefirst #resultsmatter

I have never thought to make a post for an occasion like this before. I’ve had many more than one ASM leave one of my stores for a new assignment. However, after today I felt it necessary. Today was Tyan Childs last day at Seattle 457. It cannot be overstated how important great people are to any organization, and Ty is a top tier example of that. Leadership and hard work can navigate you in and out of any situation. Nearly two years ago to the day Ty and I walked into 457 together for the first time, thrust into an impossible situation. Our location was missing over 20% of its weekly labor budget. Annualized turnover was well over 100%. EBITDA loss. Bottom 20 shrink results, double digit negative comps, a leadership crisis, a morale crisis, and so much more. Seattle was known company wide as “that” store. Fast forward two years later—the team increased weekly sales volume by more than $100k. We got staffed up and trained to retain great leadership. We cut the “100%” out of our annualized turnover. We became the place people wanted to shop. Not only did we graduate from the shrink bottom 20, but in 2023 we beat our shrink budget (one of a few stores to do so) and we are again beating it year to date 2024. Bottom 20 to an example of what good shrink execution looks like. 2023 had double digit sales comps and we are holding onto that volume YTD. We had positive EBITDA in 2023 for the first time and helped lead Washington stores into the black as a business unit. We are repeating that success this year as well. We showed everyone that Sprouts Farmers Market belongs in Washington and I couldn’t be more proud of my team. None of this would be possible without Ty. Truly an indispensable leader and team member with a very bright future in our company. The team and I wish you luck on your next assignment Ty. Until next time. Always, Tom . . . . . Sprouts Farmers Market #leadership #retail #greatpeople #grocery #training #futureleaders #successionplanning #results #ebitda #shrink #turnover #retention #sales