Posted by Huiqiang Zhao on
Saturday, July 03, 2010
It took me a very long time to find this position, and I am enjoying every minute of it. Why? Because it is challenging, fun and rewarding. First of all, I have the chance to work with a high level management team to monitor the whole warehouse. I am going to spend at least a week in each department: including Merchandising, Optical center, photo center, Marketing, Membership, Receiving, Meat, Produce, Deli, and Hardlines. The managers walked through and explained about the important concepts of retailing. Todd Young, Seattle Costco Warehouse manager said, “Retail is detail”. I did not understand it completely when he said it, but after two weeks of training, I fully understood it. It is about customer expectations; it is about high standards; it is about consistency; it is about who we are and how we want to become. I had my hands on the receiving dock, stocking, and serving customers for these past two weeks. I started work at 4 AM, which is a little early, but it is the best time for us to decorate the warehouse before our members come in. I don’t consider myself a manager now, but I know that I have to put this mindset away because I want to interact with every single employee. I am very glad the people I have met are very nice and helpful. In addition, I started to learn a very important inventory system called “AS 400” used by Costco. Having the right information in the right time makes a huge difference. This is one of the reasons why Costco is so successful.
Learning is a lifelong process. I have committed to grow my career with Costco, and in turn, hope to help Costco grow internationally after I finish my training and complete my MBA degree next March.
Written by Derek Zhao, Email: zhaoh@seattleu.edu