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September 07, 2005
Sainsbury's needs simple systems and empowered staff
Several times this summer, we have returned milk to Sainsbury's which was within its sell by date, but which had turned to yoghurt within a day or two of purchase and periodically we return various cheeses. This doesn't happen to the milk or cheese we buy from Marks & Spencer or from Tesco. I hadn't thought much about this until I read this article last month: Sainsbury's fined over rancid milk
The rancid milk, still on the shelf 23 days after it should have been drunk was deemed "unfit for human consumption".A spokeswoman for Sainsbury's said: "It's extremely rare for something like this to occur.
"The store sells 120,000 fresh products a week and we have elaborate systems in place for checking that all our products are well within the label dates and that out-dated stock is cleared from our stores every day.
This may well be an isolated incident, but I think I can guess at two ways this kind of problem develops.
First, why does JS have an "elaborate system" where surely a simple system would suffice?
Second, for a simple system to work, Sainsbury's has to employ staff who care about food and customer service, and give those staff the authority to take action the second a problem is brought to their attention. I told a member of staff last week that the chicken I wanted to buy was past its sell by date, he replied "you need to speak to Customer Services about that" before going about his business. The chicken, it seems, was in someone else's section.
I have no idea how Tesco or Asda compare, but if Sainsbury's wants to have any credibility as a food focused store, I believe simple systems and empowered staff are high on the list of requirements.
Have you had problems with freshness at your local Sainsbury's?
Posted by Adrian Trenholm on September 7, 2005 at 12:31 PM in Food, People | Permalink
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Comments
I would love to know which Sainsbury's you shop in.
It is extremely common knowledge that for any food retailer a situation that you have just described would bring prosecution and a visit from the Environmental health.
Did you take it any further with the store did you take the colleagues name??
I take up vigorously the issue that Sainsbury's do not employ people who care about customer service and the food industry and back this up with the comment I made in an earlier thread that there is a two day induction where customer service, food quality ( which by the way includes sell by dates and temperature), price control, health and safety followed by the activity and coaching cards that each colleague in the store now has to do through their Manager over the following 12 weeks.
Training is not an issue here, Sainsbury's training overshadows any other food retailer.
I think the problem lies with the job itself.
It is apparent that the image of 'shelf filler' will only attract a certain sort of transient labour who despite all the grandiose training the Company has will take it with a pinch of salt then go on line and slag the training they have had off in their 'blog'.
I have also had similar experiences in Tesco's and Asda and I could tell you a few horror stories about Somerfield as well. But these are individual cases and in each case the Store Manager has the right to know what you have experienced so he can do something about it.
Please don't besmirch the name of the company through this experience there are a hell of a lot of people who work for Sainsbury's and are extrememly proud that they do, and funnily enough, believe still that Sainsbury's food is a better quality and that our customer service is better as well
Posted by: Materfamilias | Sep 7, 2005 5:35:32 PM
evidently so - i wrote a blog based on this one, and just got a roasting in my comments for being one-sided. from a passionate JS employee.
Posted by: james governor | Sep 7, 2005 6:12:07 PM
Thank you very much for your comment here and elsewhere - very thoughtful and clearly well informed. It is not our intention to besmirch anyone; we point out what Sainsbury's does well and, where we see room for improvement, we say so. Our mission, informal though it is, is to point out some positive futures for Sainsbury's. We are all customers - we hope Sainsbury's values our feedback.
In this post, I have taken care to point out Sainsbury's response and that these are isolated incidents. I did go to customer service about the chicken. We have returned milk on a number of occasions. This post about Tesco salad demonstrates that all stores have similar problems: A tale of rotting salad.
I totally agree that most Sainsbury's employees - part or full time, school leaver or retiree - do care about their customers and many too are interested in the food they sell and I am sorry if that was not clear in my post. An older relative of mine is a proud member of staff on the produce section in a Sainsbury's store in the South West.
What I would like to see is these people given the opportunity to really thrive. I would like Sainsbury's managers to empower these people - ie give them the ability and authority to serve customers - and give them simple systems, which help rather than hinder them in their jobs. Most of our posts referring to staff follow a similar theme, for example:
Employees first?
A Wal-Mart story from Rosa Say
The fabulous baker boy
People: the key ingredient in the Whole Foods recipe
I take your point about training, but here is where we differ. I think you hit the nail on the head in your previous comment: you pointed out that it must be hard to motivate a part timer to go through the various training materials over a twelve week period.
So I believe that does throw the effectiveness of the training into question, regardless of how it stacks up against that of other food retailers. Is it another case of having a system that is too elaborate?
I recognise that there are legal ramifications, that forms must be completed and boxes ticked, but there must be more to it than that. Just because all the material is presented does not mean that it will be absorbed, especially when the trainee's motivation is low.
All trainers know that training is often resisted and that many trainees do not internalise the material and do not use their new knowledge on the job. So the challenge for Sainsbury's is the same as for any training organisation - to make it so that the trainee is motivated to apply the knowledge day in and day out.
Once again, yours is a great comment, and very much hope we see more from you on 173 Drury Lane.
Posted by: Adrian Trenholm | Sep 7, 2005 8:08:18 PM
Thank you for the reply.
I have recognised that I was a bit passionate in my reaction to your original post and I think I mis- interpreted your motives.
I personally think that you are right in what you say about the complexities of the training system they have, and can not help think that it is too complicated in its implimentation as well in the absorption of it by new colleagues.
But Sainsbury's has now been hoisted by its own petard so to speak. They recognise the need for better training but to stores it has been difficult to implement. In order to emphasise that knowledge of product etc leads to efficient staff and better customer service, and happier customers it has focussed training through audits, and perfomance. This is now a paper trail of proof and is becoming unwieldy and complicated.
And that is not effective.
Posted by: Materfamilias | Sep 7, 2005 9:23:32 PM
Passion is good!
A key question for Sainsbury's is how can it unlock the passion - for food, for service - in its employees? I reckon it is there in even the most jaded shelf stacker - the trick is bringing it out.
I would be interested in your thoughts on Whole Foods training and management, as discussed in this Fast Company article. Sainsbury's is already pushing in the organic direction with the SO range (and if you are listening Mr King, well done with SO, keep going!).
Whole Foods provides a model for staff who are empowered to delight their customers with organic food. Is it a model Sainsbury's could adopt?
The other thing I pick up in your comment is how the training is delivered at store level. I saw some new colleagues being walked round my local store a couple of months ago, with various important things being pointed out to them. The woman leading the training looked extremely uncomfortable. This may have been a one off, but if it was not, then I suspect Sainsbury's needs to "train the trainer." If trainers can't deliver the material with confidence and enthusiasm, then how can new team members be expected to take it all in?
Posted by: Adrian Trenholm | Sep 7, 2005 10:19:22 PM
Can you imagine such a radical change in culture?
Sainsburys with teams that vote on each new member who joins the individual team on a 2/3rds majority.
Sainsburys has a work ethic that despite the promises of a brave new world and bonuses and rewards still finds managers too wound up in their little world of targets and own perceived performance casually ignoring their 'team members' and inadvertently forgetting to praise and appreciate what those people have done for them.
There are 'values' but locally they can get lost in the achievement of targets that require a lot with a smaller 'efficient' workforce.
Training is a difficult job. 'The collator of paper,the job is hard and the abilities of the trainer need refining and educating. It also has a high turnover as your survival does hinge on your relationship with Management. Qualified trainers do find Sainsbury's environment difficult to adjust to, as it is reactive not proactive. It does take getting used to as expectations are high and planning time little.
Confidence and enthusiasm does only come if you have prepared and delivered training for a period of time and can recite the script in your sleep. Knowledge is definately power and that can add confidence.
Time and knowledge, experience and a ttst is required. Whether this means that colleagues absorb it any better will still be open to debate.
Posted by: Materfamilias | Sep 8, 2005 11:56:18 PM
Interesting to see that in the Grocer magazine, the magazines Spotlight page checks stores of all the supermarkets up and down the country. The shopper at Tesco's in Chorley was deeply dissatisfied with the experience primarily due to customer service but encountered friendly helpful staff at the Sainsburys in Plymouth!!
Posted by: Materfamilias | Sep 18, 2005 4:36:04 PM
That's great news. It was also noticeable that when JS won Wine Supermarket of the Year, the staff were praised, as was their training. So clearly there is a lot of good stuff going on. I think the morale at the Sainsbury's stores I frequent is better than 12 or 18 months ago; service seems pretty much the same (ie varies from person to person, store to store), but it's with a smile now :-)
Funny story - I returned some non-JS branded milk a few days ago. The Customer Service lady was great, but she had to ask for approval before giving me a refund (refunds are only automatic for JS brand goods). She said that previously she had "got it in the neck" from managers for refunding without approval, so she wasn't going to do it again.
So she smiled and apologised for the time it took and, in fact, the checkout captain scooted over and said yes in about 30 seconds, so I wan't unduly delayed.
I really got a sense that both knew a refund was the right thing to do, but both felt frustrated about having to jump through management's hoops in order to provide that service.
Posted by: Adrian Trenholm | Sep 19, 2005 11:12:16 AM
You see, these Managers don't seem to realise what the rest of us know and that is if you give the customer what they want then they will think all the better of the store and come back...the biggest criticism of Managers ( duty and Store of course) is that they do not spend time on the shop floor.
Posted by: Materfamilias | Sep 19, 2005 11:01:43 PM
