Ridiculous goals for rewards! Our store now needs 70 new signups a week. We are a small town store most of customers are regulars who already have rewards. Store runs about 80% rewards penetration, if thats not good enough I dont know what is. And liquid armor another useless service that no one wants apparently the stores who sell it jam it down peoples throats. More accounts and digital receipts, just another desperate attempt by a desperate company to get sales. Staples is all about being a snake oil salesman and doing anything possible to get a sale. Customers arent human to Staples, theyre just $ signs. Ridiculous company.....
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Yeah man. Its all bullshit. #Tier4life.
"The absolute first rule of business is protect your own interests because thats all anyone else is doing."
Whoever said this has no business running a business and it's why your are pretending to be a manager at Staples.
Sad to see that some people believe that this is what success looks like and are defending Staples' path right now. How can anyone believe that this is how it's done and that management making "the tough decisions" is helping. It hasn't helped. The company is doomed. If you believe that Staples is doing the right thing then you fit right in to the new Staples mentality of destroying a business. Unfortunately you will be in the unemployment line in a few short years while your business idols are in the beach. Best of luck.
In response to last post.
Do you really think your inspirational speech will actually affect any GM, DM, RVP, etc... that reads it? Seriously??? What microcosmic utopia do YOU live in?
First of all, define what it means to "have a back bone" and what it means to "do the right thing" because they are quite subjective.
And I promise you, and GM, DM, RVP, etc that CANNOT comply with your inspirational standards will NOT....i repeat.....will NOT give up their position as you suggest.
What you need to do is to learn how to anticipate and interact with these people so as to get ahead yourself. The righteous hero NEVER works his way up the ladder.
And please...take this not as insulting, but as solid advise.
The absolute first rule of business is protect your own interests because thats all anyone else is doing. Good luck.
In response to last post:
As a GM, DM, RVP, etc. you are a leader! Be a great leader no matter what! Have a back bone and do what's right for who you are leading. If you can't and you believe it's impossible, then don't hold your position! Step down and make your life meaningful. Don't continue to contribute to the anguish Staples inflicts on its employees.
Of course the goals are outrageous. Trust me, your DM and RVP also know that. They are stuck in the same rut you are. The people they report to want "results....not excuses" and no matter how much you complain that its not fair....and no matter how many logical arguments you present as to why the goal was not reasonably set, they don't give a shhhit. They want results.
I've been a GM for many years and have personally had to let good people go for stupid reasons like not meeting the ESP # (remember when it used to be 5.0???) or not contributing to Rewards. And I promise you, if you do not meet these "impossible goals" then you will be replaced by someone who will. Thats not meant to be mean. Its just a wake up call for people to have a clearer understanding about the nature of business and hierarchies. Do you honestly thing that anyone at the GM level or higher loses any sleep about the loss of employees? (only if it makes their own job more difficult)
This company has pissed many people off, and is gaining an increasingly bad reputation. I am talking about both the customer base and the employee base.
It is said that negative comments about a retailer spread 10 times faster and further than positive ones,
The same rule applies to how the company treats it's employees. It is easy to see Staples is contracting, not expanding and the buyout is all but killed. People see the layoffs (perhaps another reason Staples refuses to comment) and do not consider Staples a viable employer. Which is the opposite of what Staples wants. They want to fire/layoff the older, tenured, higher paid employees and hire new inexperienced, lower paid applicants.
Where has the common business sense gone?
There are some companies that have adapted to the changing market, why can't Staples figure it out. How many more times do they have to course correct at the expense of all.
Stop spinning a positive from mistakes. Get rid of all the advisors. Admit that mistakes were made--OWN IT. Find normal people with conmon business sense to guide Staples. You can use the smarties to make it happen.
Get rid of the political speak. It's insulting. Do you want us to get behind the changes? Have an honest dialogue with us.
They are, in fact, very desperate.
If your DM can not see that your Rewards penetration is saturated then they should not have their jobs.
Unfortunately that logic fails on Staples and the company is saturated with people that should not be in their jobs, starting with Ron.
I do not give a rat's ass if the man has a Harvard MBA. His track record speaks for itself and he needs to go.
They are very desperate indeed.