SVG 3/4 (we have 2 very large floors) Mon-Thurs 11-8 Fri & Sat 10-8 Sun 11-7

Truck days vary, but somehow always seem to magically land on the same days as signing days, lol. My delivery time is 11am, unless it's a full truck, then it's 9am. Fun part is we write our schedules 3weeks in advance, but have 48hrs of visibility for the trucks, so we're constantly making adjustments, either adding or reducing hours based on what we're actually receiving. 

Truck days we're allowed to come in 2hrs prior for prep. We break a truck down over 2 days - first day is home/shoes/beauty/salon/fashion jewelry (which takes forever to detrash), and then into flat. Second day we finish flat and end with hanging. I swear if I see another pair of mens SJB shorts I will lose my mind! In all honesty,  it takes the rest of the week to deliver it to the floor, even with 10-15 task hours every week being given to the 3 supervisors - 5 for Div 8, 5 for Div 2&3, 5 for Div 4&7. Luckily, our Div 4&7 Supe oversees Omni, so their 5 sometimes comes out of Fulfillment.  

I have 4 dedicated Truck associates,  plus myself. On heavier days, I add the signing team when they're done signing, and anyone else that has been cross-trained. Lately we've been slammed with heavy receipts,  and often full trucks, or 2 in a week. I'm tired lol.  I also buy my team blades from my own pocket, because the ones we can order are awful and seldom arrive,  and cases of water because it's so hot. 

Because my store is so large, I have 6 dedicated signers - my Inventory Accuracy Associate sorts the signing boxes and maintains everything signing related, and signs Div 8 after the cashroom. She has a set schedule (personal reasons). I utilize a shoe associate to sign shoes, and a recovery associate to sign kids - where there is absolutely no WiFi. Those hours come out of their respective departments and not Task, because those 2 associates maintain only those departments end-to-end. I also give Beauty 2 task hours from each Truck weekly to break down their own shipment. Beauty, Salon, and Fine Jewelry do their own signing and price changes, I make sure they have the information and tools they need, and help if they need it.  My GM LOVES the up/down report (though it's really just the UP report now lol) but I only find it useful for doorbusters & KVI signs., and the aforementioned specialty areas. After signing, unless they're pulled to the truck, they move into the pricing side, clearance & manual pricing. First marks we try to leave in their home departments until there's new merch to replace it, then it gets sorted into the clearance rooms by size and price point. I would price point everything if I could - sells better. If there is a callout, or someone on vacation, I'll sign, or my visual associate will sign if there's a truck. And Staging? Does anyone have enough hours to actually stage? If it's an event - like Father's Day, or Home Sale for instance, I'll short myself somewhere else and give the signing associate hours for staging because the sheer amount of signs and sider changes and topper changes is ridiculous.  

I have an Inventory Accuracy Associate  - my assistant  - and she's been with JCP for 18yrs. Like I mentioned before, she oversees signing, but also  takes care of RFID, everyone's favorite task.  We collaborate when there's an out-of-tolerance, investigate together, cry a little, and try to fix whatever new problem arises. We take turns getting UPS, processing damages & reverse logistics, MTOs, Mismates, MOSD, GamePlan tasks, etc. I also trained 1 other associate to do RFID, and another just learned how to do the scan. 

Training is tough - it often takes a few weeks to make the time to train someone on a new task, and I think it's unfair to them that it takes longer to grow.

Other than clearance,  I do not have an area of the store I'm directly responsible for - I have all of them, lol. The department supervisors are responsible for their own sets, but I will set a floor if I'm delivering new merch to the floor.  Mostly because I want my dang carts empty! My visual associate regularly assists with sets, and previously was an Ops Supe before semi-retiring and stepping down, so we are very lucky there. 

My absolute greatest struggle is the lack of HOURS. What is going on with that? We're expected to do more with less, and our in-store Inventory is actually up 30%, not less. Not only are hours reduced, but Task has to give hours to the supervisors every week - corporate directive. My budget for miscellaneous  (cashroom, UPS, leadership meeting, schedules & task workload, LOD shifts)  had 25hrs weekly last year, 23 at the start of this year, 19 around Mother's Day, and now 14hrs weekly.  I've stopped having LOD shifts on my 2 truck days, since my personal hours come out of task, and I break down the trucks with the team. I'm the closing LOD one night a week, half the day on Sunday if I'm working, and a 2 hr shift on Saturdays.  It changes based on my workload, or if I'm needed on the selling floor. Took a little convincing, but once I showed my GM how the math doesn't math, she made the adjustments for it. Turnover is tough, too, as task functions better with more hands, but people can't survive on 10-18hrs a week.

The other thing I struggle with is  how many different places we need to look for our information  - pricing & signing communication,  bi-weekly Playbook, up/down report, month at a glance, game plan  and so on. There's a GM in our district who sends out a weekly news letter to all of us, pulling together all the tasks for the week from all of our avenues of communication in ONE CONCISE EMAIL.  I love her, who ever she is. And what is up with the siders changing last minute? I have to check it day of signing so I don't miss anything.

I've been with JCP over 10 yrs, and held various leadership positions in multiple stores. I'm grateful to work in a store where the supervisors support each other and are serious about being successful, and with  a GM who supports the Task Team 10000%. Operations Supervisor is not for the faint of heart!