A Whole Semester of Organizational Communication at H-E-B Grocery Stores

I’ve worked at HEB for four years this February. Most of the organizational communication I encounter on a daily basis occurs at HEB, thus providing the material for this blog. I will admit that many of these stories are not very positive. I’ve lost my cheery disposition about HEB and working for them after four years of needless problems and frustrating instances. With that being said, the incidents I’ve witnessed this semester relate well to many of the themes of organizational communication and I’ve chosen a handful to discuss in detail here.

1. A Discussion about my Raise (sometime in August, 2011).
Every year in February and August, HEB gives their partners (as we are called to make it seem more personable) a raise. When August came around, I sat down with one of my favorite managers and we went over my raise. Our raise is based on several factors including attendance, check-out speed, till variances, and customer service skills (which the managers decide). My manager carefully detailed each section for me and how I performed. He then told me how this related to my raise and how much I received.
This process was extremely personal in nature. The manager took the time to sit down and discuss my raise with me one-on-one. Our store employs many “partners” and I think it is extremely telling of HEB overall that they would take the time to sit down with their partners and discuss something as important as a raise. In this instance, I was more than another cog in the wheel. It was important that I knew were I stood. I would argue that this conversation was largely governed by General Communication Competency rules and was a Maintenance Message.

2. Workforce Management Program.
At the beginning of the semester, HEB had all of their partners take an online program that detailed a new system that HEB would be utilizing. The program is called Workforce Manager and is essentially a new way for partners to find out when they are working, change their availability, pick up shifts, etc. The program we took acquainted us with how to use Workforce Manager and were all of the important functions were located. This program was a Task Message as it was focused mainly on letting the partners know what to do, what tools to use, what processes to follow, etc.

3. Scan Void Discussion.
Our store recently initiated a new way to expedite taking items off an order called “Scan Void.” It is a button that has always been on our keyboards, but has never been in use. HEB recently made the button useable and insisted upon their stores switching from the old method of line voiding to the new method of scan voiding. Scan Voids essentially allows our store to keep better track of what items are actually leaving the store. Having worked there for four years, I will admit that it was hard to adjust to the new method. Our store was keeping track of scan void vs. line void and had appointed an employee to motivate partners to get better at using the method. The problems begin here.
The employee that approached me has been working at HEB for less than a year. They are 17 and a senior in high school. This employee began to lecture me on continually using the new method and I can say honestly that I was a little peeved. In my mind, this employee has no legitimate power over me nor did they hold any referent or reward power. This person may be a leader in that they are in charge of this specific project, but they lacked the influence necessary to sway me due to their lack of legitimate power in my eyes.

4. HEB and the Item’s Per Minute Communication.
Item’s Per Minute is pretty self-explanatory in that is keeps track of the items cashiers scan per minute. HEB’s ideal goal is for every cashier to check between 24 and 33 items per minute so that our store reaches an average IPM that is in the “sweet spot.” Our store, unfortunately, is not very good at meeting this goal. We have about 65 cashiers at HEB. Give or take, on a good week, we only have about 20 people in the aforementioned “sweet spot.” The numbers are pretty abysmal and my HEB does anything it can to motivate people to try harder.
Our managers have decided to keep our weekly IPM’s continually posted near our clock-out area so that cashiers can check on their progress. They designed an apple tree with all the “good” apples in the tree (those with sweet spot IPM’s) and all the “bad” apples on the ground (those outside the sweet spot). Much of this ties into Peter Senge’s Fifth Discipline. It is system thinking, in that it sees each separate cashier attaining good IPM’s adding to the store’s overall goal. It builds a shared vision, which fosters a long-term commitment among the cashiers to maintain their IPM goal, not just for themselves but for HEB. It also build team learning, that is, developing the skills of a group of people (or at least, it attempts to!).

5. The Dreaded Sweater Policy (sometime in September, 2011).
HEB is a big fan of the deep hierarchy. The communication is extremely downward in nature and it’s no easy feat to communicate with the guy on top. In order to talk to my big boss, I first have to talk to a front-end manager. With their approval I can then talk to an even higher front-end manager. Then I can talk to another manager at the store level. Then, and only then, can I talk to the big boss about any problem I may have. This was why the sweater policy caused the uproar it did.
In September, I was given a sheet of paper to read and sign that essentially said that I was no longer allowed to wear my own sweater to work. I either had to go without or purchase an HEB sweater. I can say honestly, I was mad. Really, really mad. Immediately, a rumor mill started at HEB around the “water-cooler.” Things like: “It’s only happening at our store!” “Only front-end partners have to buy stupid sweaters!” “They cost $40!” “BLAGH!” Nothing good was coming from all the rumors. The days passed and every front-employee was mad. HEB had a huge conflict on their hands and they didn’t even know it yet.
To cut a long story short, a petition was passed around that inadvertently fell into the hands of the big boss before it was finished. He called each signee (including me) into his office for a one-on-one discussion about the new rule. He explained that the new rule wasn’t as bad as it seemed. We could wear our own sweaters walking into the store and could continue wearing them if they were red. We didn’t have to buy an HEB sweater either. He admitted that the original sheet explaining the rule was rather vague, leading me to believe that Osmo Wiio was right: “If a message can be understood in different ways, it will be understood in just that way which does the most harm.”

6. More Elaboration on the Dreaded Sweater Rule.
As mentioned above, the sweater rule led to a lot of conflict. The decision was made without partner consent, and was essentially a dictator-like decision. I will admit that the store manager obviously weilds a lot of legitimate power, but a decision such as the one he made was bound to cause problems. The decision was a result of poor communication, a perceived threat (to my paycheck!), and a lack of verifiable information. The big boss handled the situation as best he could, and explored the solutions to conflict in a one-on-one with those most concerned.

7. Brian’s Demotion (late November).
Unfortunately, HEB is prone to the occasional scam artist attempting to steal money in extremely inventive ways. Brian, my boyfriend’s little brother, was the target of a scam that ultimately led to his demotion from a cashier to a bagger. The scam artist managed to trick Brian out of a $400 gift card and one of our newest managers on the front end (that is also the most powerful) decided that Brian was to blame. In the past, if a partner was scammed it was never their fault. They were stolen from, the money that was lost wasn’t technically lost by any fault of their own. Brian got different treatment, in that the new manager decided it was Brian’s fault and that the money was a variance from his till. This decision led to a lot of conflict, not only from Brian, but from other less powerful managers on the front end.
Brian took his demotion conflict all the way to the big boss (going through the aforementioned painstaking process), only to have him side with the new manager. I should really stress the unfairness of this demotion. Our HEB had never handled a situation in this manner, and it was extremely unfair to Brian (who ironically is one of the best and fastest cashiers on the front end). Ultimately it all came down to who wielded the power. Both the big boss and the new manager hold extreme amounts of legitimate power; power that no number of complaints from Brian or other managers on the front end can compete with. Brian was locked in a communication battle between the powerful and powerless. Unfortunately, this was one he lost.

8. My Boyfriend and I’s Nefarious Stealing Plot (two weeks ago).
I’ve work with my boyfriend, James, and have done so for the last four years. We attempt to keep our relationship out of our work life and most people at work don’t know we are dating unless we explicitly tell them. He is a book-keeper, that is, he handles all the money and keeps track of each cashier’s till, etc. What this really means for he and I is that he keeps track of my till. Until recently this wasn’t a problem.
Two weekends ago, I jumped onto a register on a busy Sunday and began checking. James had just gotten to work and one of his first duties is to print an audit that allows him to see which tills needed cash. My till only had $200 in bills, so he came out to verify and see specifically what bills I was short on. I was busy bagging an order, so I opened my till and allowed him to count my bills. He went back to book-keeping to get my money and it is here that the drama begins.
One of the admins at our store happened to see James touching my money. She thought she saw James take some of my money. For whatever reason conceivable, she believed that James was stealing money from my till in some nefarious scheme we had concocted. She immediately went to the highest manager in the store at the time and told them of our plot. The highest manager then spoke to another manager (Mike, for the sake of confusion) and, without consulting James or I on what had happened, decided to trust neither of us and audit my till to see what we had apparently stolen.
I should add that at this point that someone James and I are close to was in ear-shot of the entire conversation. They immediately came to me and asked me (like a reasonable person) what had happened. They informed me what we were being accused of and I immediately called James in book-keeping to let him know.
Within minutes of me hanging up the phone, Mike, walked into book-keeping and fed James a story about performing random audits, starting with me. James attempted to argue to no avail. The audit was performed and it was revealed that we hadn’t misplaced a penny!
And yet, even with that there is still doubt. The new manager on the front end (that demoted Brian) believes that James had time to cover up what we stole because he knew what was coming (when I called him). The complete breakdown of communication in this situation is overwhelming. I know all of this solely because someone below the new manager informed me. In this situation, James and I do not feel valued or trusted. The powerful are looking down on the powerless and making judgments on a crime we didn’t commit. Work recently hasn’t been fun. I feel scrutinized and watched at every moment. At this point, I don’t feel like a person at HEB. I feel like a loose cog that at any moment the managers expect to fly free and go on a stealing rampage. They have power I cannot challenge and I feel utterly trapped in this situation. Communication is non-existent. I have ceased to be a person at HEB at the moment. I’m just another part of the machine that isn’t working as well as the rest.

And this brings us rocketing up to where I am now at HEB. Organizational Communication at HEB is no walk in the park. At times the company values me and treats me like a person. At others, I’m just another piece of the front-end machine. The constant back and forth tug of views can be confusing, which is probably a large part of why I am so discontent at my job. With that being said, Organizational Communication has taught me that no organization is perfect. It’s hard to maintain the right path with so much to consider. I guess HEB is just another company struggling to find a middle ground.

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