Reflections / Week 3 20th-24th January
Friday, January 24, 20149:46 PM
Week 3 was a busy week for the entire office.After an entire week of dealing with our retail outlets , I was looking forward to spend sometime in the office and get to know the operations a little better.
We had a sale in conjunction with Chinese New Year on our online store and our customers were responding really well to it. Online sales picked up , sometimes up to ten folds more than the usual. Everyone in the office chipped in help wherever we could.
I lent a hand to Ruzette, another intern, who was in charge of the online orders. I helped her to pick products from the online inventory and package them to be ready for pick up by Pos Laju.
In addition to that, Pestle & Mortar Clothing had their first town hall meeting of the year. I was especially excited to take part in this because I was told by my colleagues that everyone openly talked about their ideas during such meetings.
The meeting first started with the bosses addressing how the company performed in 2013. They then spoke about the plans they had for the company in 2014. I picked up a few pointers here and there. Hugh, one of the partners, spoke about how at least 40% of our overall sales should come from our online store. He encouraged the marketing team to boost up online sales. Mark, another partner, reminded the team to be in constantly aware of changes among the buying behavior of our target market. He suggested for the Pestle & Mortar team to constantly be educated of current trends by reading and building closer relationships with our current customers. The bosses than asked for everyone to give their opinions or whatever ideas they had in mind for the company. When it came to my turn, I first thanked everyone for being so helpful and generous with their knowledge. I pointed out that it would be wise for the company to start doing market research on their sales. If they knew what products were selling and for what reasons, it would easier to produce products that would relate better to the target market. They would also make products that their target market would actually want. I told them they could do this by looking through their previous numbers and sales reports. By seeing what color, sizes and designs of shirts have been selling well, Pestle & Mortar can produce more similar shirts that would guarantee to sell.
The Pestle & Mortar Team
Another interesting event that happened on week 3 is a theft case in our retail outlet in Tangs One Utama. Our shopkeeper and a friend was caught by the security to be wearing our products underneath his uniform. They were detained by security and later sent to the police station. Pestle & Mortar was only informed a couple of days after the ordeal. I followed Danny, the retail executive and Eddie, the head of operations, for a meeting with the manager and the head of security of Tangs One Utama. This was the first time that Pestle & Mortar had to deal with such a case. Eddie and Danny had a lot of questions such as why they were only informed so late, what the SOP (standard operating procedure) for theft cases are, and raised their concerns with Tangs security. In return, the Tangs representatives gave us advice on how to pick reliable shopkeepers and showed us what we could do to avoid such cases from happening again. One of their advise was to label everyone of our products with the magnetic security labels. Also, we were advised to schedule in two sales people to work at a time in our store. That way, if someone with the intention to steal were to distract on salesperson, we still had another person looking out. Eddie also came up with the idea of implementing a system that would put more responsibility on our shopkeepers. If anything was to be stolen or unaccounted for at the end of the month, the cost of the products would be straight away deducted from his or her salary. The head of security for Tangs also shared with us stories of previous theft cases. You would be surprise to what extend people would go just to get a free shirt.
The pictures of the staff that stole from Pestle & Mortar was posted at the Tangs employee locker room as a reminder to the rest of the staff that offenders do get caught.
Danny New, the retail executive enuring that all our products held in Tangs One Utama has been labeled with the magnetic security label to avoid another theft case from happening.
Week 3 Overview
Relating what you leant with your experiences
This week I got to witness the 'rush hour' during festive season. I was shocked to see how fast our products were moving in a blink of an eye. I learned to be focused and to lend a helping hand to others. The theft case in Tangs , One Utama also opened my eyes to the other side of the retail business that I hadn't given much though of before; security. I realized that many students, like me , look pass the security of a business.
Observations
As the office culture is a very independent one, I realized that I needed to ask for jobs or volunteer to to things. The bosses saw that I was making efforts as I was given praise. Whenever I completed a task given to me, I'd always ask around the office if anyone else needed help. I realized that doing this also built friendship among my co-workers and had the ripple effect. I was pleased to see that when Ruzette , the other intern, completed her daily task, she would ask me if I needed help.
Taking part in the town hall meeting, I observed the drive that the bosses had to excel in the fashion business. I could see evidently that each boss had different motivations but similar goals. It was interesting to see how each of them had their own way of managing their team. Hugh ,the creative director, for example was very laid back. He did not mind his team lazing around, just as long as they got their work done well on schedule. Eddie, the operations manager, preferred for his team to be always on the go. He liked to see that you were maximizing the capacity of your time. And Mark, the finance director, was a mix of Eddie nd Hugh .
Key Learning
This week I learnt about business security. It was something that I have never really given any thought but I saw first hand how hurting it can be to a business when the security is weak. I took pointers from the head of security in Tangs. I was really grateful to be brought a long for meetings like these. Eddie and Danny did not have to as I do not have a role to play at the meetings but they brought me a long anyway to learn. I'm really thankful that Pestle & Mortar Clothing for giving me so much opportunities to learn.
Development & Growth
My growth for this week is very business related. The CNY sale rush showed be how to deal with sudden increases in orders. The town hall meeting gave me an opportunity to "explore" the brains of the Pestle & Mortar bosses and see things in their eyes. The theft case showed me that there was still so much more I had to learn before I could ever have a successful business of my own. I would say that my business skills definitely grew this week. I was motivated to do better by my bosses' drive, I saw the business at it's peak and lent a helping hand in it and I learned about new parts of a business to ensure its sustainability.
Key Achievements
I don't think I had many personal achievements this week but I know much was achieved as a group. The CNY sales definitely pushed everyone to their limits as orders kept coming in and the phones were ringing off the hook. I guess I can say that our main achievement for the week was actually getting through the week together and still standing strong at the end of the week.
Challenges Faced
Week 3 was actually pretty smooth for me. I learnt a whole lot but my learning experience was not forceful and I found it really easy to learn and be curious at the working environment that I was put in. I realized that I performed well under environments where there is not much pressure and you are given your free will to work as you please. I understand that this type of culture might not work for everyone, but I saw that I became more self driven in such a culture.
❤"Reflections / Week 3 20th-24th January" was Posted On: Friday, January 24, 2014 @9:46 PM |
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