Comments on: I’m Running Sainsbury’s blogger: Joseph Showler

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:04:12 +0000

I think Joseph is a really hard worker. I agree that he should have stepped back a bit and “managed” his staff more than doing the work, but I agree that if you get stuck in and lead by example then you gain respect.
I do not like management jargon, therefore I took an instant dislike to Jason’s helicopter talk. If Jason had explained to Joseph to perhaps use a piece of paper to write things down on then maybe each person would have got a clearer message.
I think Sainsbury’s should have tried his initial idea first, then showed him how to run a big department before throwing him in and criticising his “management” style. He has no management experience, how is he supposed to learn in a matter of hours?
When I train people how to do things at work, I expect them to make mistakes, it is all part of the learning process.
Joseph should find a better job, he deserves more. He is a hard worker and those a hard to find these days.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:32:01 +0000

Stuart, what are you spamming with your tree hugging nonsense that has nothing to do with the conversation?

By: stu

stu — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:26:31 +0000

as a company Sainsbury (& the other supermarkets) should make it easier for customers to make more informed choices on meat quality. Labeling should include information on (in decreasing importance of taste quality) breed or crossbreed, age at slaughter, main foodstuff, the animal’s farming intensity, main country of growth, country of slaughter, country of processing, use of any growth hormones, use of any genetically modified feed contents.
Traceability codes should enable any packaged meat product to be traced back to the original breeder and grower of that animal. The traceability is not for the “sue anybody who might be to blame for any thing” approach, but to trace back to the source any potentially harmful disease or contamination (to humans or the animals) as quickly as possible and elimate that problem as quickly as possible too. In large processing batches [a] traceability codes will have to be batched for meat from different animals [b] mixing of batches from different abbatoirs should be kept to a minimum.

By: davina williams

davina williams — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:11:31 +0000

I think Joseph was throw in the deep end but at the same time what Jason said to him was fine. As a store manager you can not sugar coat things what he was trying to show him is that you have learn to balance the task and the customer .

By: Lucy

Lucy — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:07:18 +0000

I think that everyone who has commented above is wrong, I believe that the manger is a superstar and the programme just shows that he is doing his job the way he is supposed to. Jason’s job was to train Joseph to become a store manager in the space of two weeks and this is what he did. Joseph did not show any decent respect for Jason as he couldn’t be bothered to turn up to the meeting or follow the advice he had given him. This just shows who the better manager truly was..

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:34:50 +0000

The flowers argument has been done before, and many retail experts question why when you walk into Sainsbury’s you see flowers first and foremost. It sends out the wrong message.

By: lilian [nottingham]

lilian [nottingham] — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:58:18 +0000

i have worked for sainsburys for the past 11 years and most of that time i have had some great managers but in my opinion jason needs further training on how to treat his staff i always say treat your staff with respect and the way you like to be treated yourself and you will get blood out of a stone joseph jason wants putting on a course to teach that the customer comes before his meetings. justin i think you did get it wrong trying to fast track a store manager and in such a large store as the one you put joseph in,all the collegues were i work felt very sorry for joseph we felt you used him as an experiment and that wasnt fair. keep up the good work joseph i think you will make a good manager one day but never forget to treat your staff with respect

By: Anthony Shelton

Anthony Shelton — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:32:39 +0000

well done Joseph you have obviously survived the experience intact-dont forget “retail is detail”. If I were you I would ignore the David Brent chap and copy his number 2 “that display is crap,get it sorted!”-now that is my type of management speak

By: moogie

moogie — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:17:16 +0000

shame on you sainsburys you could of ended the show on a high by really showing what happened and the success story he really was but instead you chose to show him mainly on his first day and edited to look like a whole weeks work. As he got given the job managing the veg section in the morning and checkouts in the afternoon on his first day of arriving at the store, where was the clips of the other 13 days?
Is it company policy to show your staff in a bad light when all was needed was a bit of guidance and support which didn’t come across, surely the truth would have made better TV than what was portrayed.

By: Drew

Drew — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:43:41 +0000

I do feel that fast tracking certain colleagues to store management positions could be a very good idea. However there should be a specific criteria upon which those colleagues are selected. Maybe Joseph didn’t seem to prosper in this role however i did get the impression that he was very quickly mentally broken down and lost a lot of his confidence very quickly. Jason the manager he was working with at the big store was obviously very skilled and tactile however his approach came accross as quite adverse and the general impression i got overall was that Jason was looking to make himself look good knowing the cameras were watching. He is a store manager who had worked his way up from a trolley assistant with years of training. Maybe he should have looked to build Josephs confidence as this was clearly fragile.