On the 20th March it’ll be 4 years since I began work at Tesco Dedworth. Covid changed the world for many of us and I found myself trying to help customers feel less nervous. Massive tensions in the air caused by Covid sweeping the nation and many customers needed the support. It’s been an interesting journey…
Year 1 – Helping customers with the mental strain of Covid
Year 2 – Enjoying being part of the Tesco Dedworth team
Year 3 – Stepping up to be the store’s Community Champion
Year 4 – Improving systems, maximising results
I started my career at Nestle and moved on to Johnson & Johnson to launch Acuvue Contact Lenses in the north of England. Approaching 30 I knew I needed to start my own journey which has had its fair share of ups & downs.
As a sixth former I worked at Safeways in Headingley, Leeds as a Grocery Boy and in my mid 50s I found myself back in the world of grocery retail. Last time it was for beer tokens, this time it’s very much about needing to pay some bills as the economy nose dived.
Rotarians have a mantra of “Service Above Self” and I get a great deal of satisfaction from supporting others. Especially the elderly during Covid. Helping them gain strength and recharge their batteries at the checkout by being calm & encouraging while adding humour, as appropriate, to alleviate their mental stress. Watching them walk out 6/10 rather than the 1/10 they arrived after navigating other people in the shop and fearing they may catch covid at any moment!
Things eased in the outside world. I found I was enjoying being part of a team as opposed to carving my own furrow, or selling on behalf of others and chose to stick around a while 😉
The role of Community Champion became available and it felt like a logical move, to spend half my Tesco time working on community projects. Some projects fly while others don’t garner much momentum but having the freedom to evolve the role my way has been most rewarding. Thousands of pounds raised for local community groups & charities. Joining dots, putting people together who can then join forces and do even more for the community together. I’m loving it!
One of the key store targets is customer feedback and after helping fix a massive shortfall, when I took on the role, I did some analysis of the data available to me and suggested a better way of ensuring HQ got what they needed with minimal stress for my colleagues. It was working well but at the start of Tesco’s new year, March, HQ has changed the way things are measured! Ah well, I’m always up for a new challenge…
All is good and being the Community Champion at Tesco’s has really helped me bring together the Windsor Directory of Community Groups & Charities for which 20th March 2024 will be Day 1 😉
Thank you.
Jon Davey
Community Champion
Tesco Dedworth
