Operations leaders may find it challenging to consistently motivate employees and teams to achieve the organization’s goals. With countless tasks and responsibilities to juggle throughout each shift, prioritizing goals and maintaining productivity may not always be a reality. Human Resources and Safety Manager at Pete’s Convenience, Dustin McCray, describes how their stores use technology to guide and motivate employees throughout their 45 family-owned locations.
Successful Team Members Equal Successful Teams
To create a successful team, McCray describes several strategies that Pete’s uses. One overarching strategy they employ is to focus on the success of individuals, as their personal success can contribute to the store's success. McCray says, “By helping our team members be successful individually, then our team can succeed.” In order to accomplish this, what success looks like for each role has to be decided first. McCray explains, “You have to identify what success is for each individual level that we have within the company.” Doing this can clearly illustrate to employees what is expected of them in their position, helping them be more successful.
Clearly laying out the responsibilities of each role will help leadership identify any overlapping responsibilities that could hinder the organization's efficiency or any gaps that could prevent the organization from operating smoothly. As the organization grows, it is essential to reevaluate its structure and roles. Responsibilities may need to change to best fit the current circumstances. McCray also says that it is important to be able to measure what is classified as ‘success’. He explains that at Pete’s they set up path stones for each role so that their progress can be clearly monitored.
Set the tone
Pete’s also uses daily manager walks to set that day’s tone for each store. During these walks, managers can record what the focus should be that day for each store. McCray says that managers will note, “Anything that isn't up to the manager standards to, to Pete’s standards, that's really creating a more concise, a focused to-do list.” Employees can then use the list as a guide throughout the day. Rather than employees going through the same motions day after day, these walks allow for prioritizing tasks and goals, leading to more efficient operations and elevating the customer experience.
Guidance from Technology
To be most effective, McCray describes how Pete’s uses technology to help guide team members. Using technology to track the priorities established during the morning manager walk, team members always know where to look for their next task. Using in-store tablets, employees can find out what the next tasks are and record that the task is completed once they are finished. This means that not only do employees always know what to do, but it prevents tasks from being repeated unnecessarily. McCray explains, “They go straight to the tablet and look at it and it's going to tell them what other tasks need to be completed for that location.”
Ultimately, leaders at Pete’s Convenience realize that to be successful as a brand, their employees need to be successful in their roles, something that requires support. McCray explains, “We wanted to give our employees the tools they needed to be successful.” By implementing technology to help their team members stay on track and provide a better customer experience, they are making success much more achievable across the organization. To learn more about how Pete’s helps their teams be successful, watch Dustin McCray’s OpsX’22 session.
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