Getting Ready for Visits by Upper Management – Blog #46

G e t t i n g R e a d y f o r V i s i t s b y U p p e r M a n a g e m e n t – B l o g # 4 6

February 9, 2020

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Blog, Nordstrom

In Blog #45 I talked about the Importance of a Well Organized Department In this blog I want to talk about getting ready for visits by upper management.

Martha was uncharacteristically stressed out. I was told our Merchandise Manager was coming over for a visit. We were instructed to have our sections perfect. Martha usually expected us to have perfect sections but this time it was said with a little stress behind it. We felt bad for her as we all thought she did such a good job with everyone.

The Visit

Bob was our Merchandise Manager and he came in very rigid and with no personality. I thought it was so different than what I experienced when the the Nordstrom family walked the floor. It was stressful then too but at least they were friendly.

“Hi I’m Bob”, he said as he shook my hand. “Welcome aboard, I heard you just joined us” we had a nice talk and then he left with Martha.

Michael

Michael was watching the floor during most of the visit. It was my turn to be up so he called me out and as I came out he gave me that famous Michael look, like we both understood each other without saying a word. “Man…Bob’s no joke”. Then he’d laugh, lower his head and chuckle. “Man…hold on I’m going to take this hand wrap, watch the floor a minute”. Michael could crack me up sometimes, he was an amazing person to watch in action.

Visit details

Bob would walk the floor with great detail. He would then go to the back room and walk the walls questioning certain stock levels. Then he’d go through Martha’s PO book, going through every page and picking her brain on her thought process. Seemed pretty intense.

Some recognition

The next day Martha said she wanted to talk to me off the floor. Hmmm pretty sure my sections were perfect.

“Michael and I think you are doing great and we want to thank you for such a great job”. “We are moving you up in the top ten of the schedule so you can request the schedule you like from now on”.

Wow! I felt so amazing after that, it was quite the feeling. She was so stressed out yesterday and today everything was back to normal. I think I’ve found my career finally. I love Nordstrom!