What is my
ROI?
By
Dave Thompson, CFI, District Asset Protection Manager, Rite
Aid
In any industry, specifically within ours, we are surrounded
by the constant challenge from the operators and our
friendly CFO’s with one question – “What is the return on
investment?” Whether it’s a camera system, alarm vendor
contract or additional headcount we have to justify that
within a set timeframe these resources will ultimately be
cost neutral and further deliver to the bottom line.
However, the challenge I present to myself, and to my
colleagues is to ask ourselves what are we bringing back to
our companies and our shareholders; What is your personal
ROI? As we can all relate, whether you are a VP, multi-store
leader or an agent in a store, our schedules and daily tasks
are never routine. Sure, on Monday you do a great job
forecasting your week and developing a game plan to spend
quality time with your teams. Unfortunately, tasks get in
the way; a camera system broke, a customer complaint you
have to handle, your boss just called to put you on a
special project that needs to be complete yesterday. We set
aside our plans and start checking off of our to-do lists
instead of impacting our teams. We have all had the days (or
weeks) that have flown by without the feeling of any
accomplishment. Sometimes these days becomes weeks, which
become months, that ultimately result in an inventory cycle
that reflects our lack of deliverance to the operators .
The challenge I present to all of us is to demand out of
ourselves what we demand out of any resource – return on
investment. At the end of each day, before we go home to our
lives hoping our phones don’t ring, we should each ask
ourselves “What did I do to impact shrink today”? Take the
five minutes at the end of your day to backtrack and make
one more phone call, one more email or one touch base with
an employee to make sure you impact somebody every day. If
you were your boss, would hire yourself back tomorrow? Are
you consuming the company revenue or are you maximizing it?
Just remember you are a resource that has been invested
in...don’t forget to return it. |