Wecome aboard, Sir!

January 2007. The Division Head has finally assigned a new Regional Manager to fill in the vacated position. DM remains in-charge of the Tukwila and Lynwood offices respectively. But this new RM will be in-charged of all the local districts in Bellingham, Lynwood, Tukwila, Tacoma, and Vancouver.

The news about this new RM spread quickly among the D411 employees. Although there was hardly a solid information about the new Regional Manager, many of the District's employees expressed disbelief of the duration of his transfer. I know exactly what they meant since D411 experiences replacement of managers almost every year

It was a snowy and stormy winter day, I was scheduled to work the first QFC store of January 2007. When I arrived, it was already 6:15AM since the road going to Issaquah QFC was almost zero visibility. I knew that I would not be the only person to be late due to the harsh winter condition.

Eva, the Manager was there and still wondering and complaining where the half of the inventory crew has gone! (In case you didn't know, whether she lost half of the crew or has the full crew, she ALWAYS complain.) Later, she cautioned me that the Regional Manager IS at the store. Well, I was not surprised but rather interested in meeting him. Later, some more auditors started to show up. At break time, I finally met the RM. And I said, "Welcome Aboard, Sir! Nice to meet you" with a firm handshake.

I was not impressed, neither did I expressed optimism when I met him for the first time. It's been this way almost every year. RM's and DM's introduced themselves and several month later, they would be gone. My attitude was more of a wait-and-see. I have received a copy his new letter stuffed with my paycheck the day before the store. And in his letter to everybody, He introduced himself and his plans. One thing that strikes me was his so called "open-door" policy.

And in this open-door policy, he means that anybody has a direct access to him in his office. That means no red tape, no white tape, or anything like that. That means that all information is accessible thru him. That means there will be transparency in his management. That means an equal treatment will be given to anybody who might want to talk to him.

Some old timers were skeptical about this development but in my opinion, it sounded promising. The only thing that matters now is, "How does he translate these words into reality." Will he pass the litmus test? That is yet to be seen.