Usually it’s better to let employees do the jobs they already know how to do.

That’s what this bread delivery driver thought after stocking one store the same way he had for months.

Like most drivers, he used a little common sense to keep the shelves filled with products customers actually wanted.

That is until one manager stepped in and insisted he follow the planogram exactly as it was written. So that’s just what he did.

Before long, the store started missing some of its most popular products. Then the same manager wanted those items back, along with new seasonal products, but the driver simply reminded her that they weren’t on the planogram.

Keep reading to see what happened next.

Manager said only by the planogram

This started several months ago. I work as a DSD (direct store delivery) driver, servicing bread and cake products for a certain yellow store chain.

The style provides us a rack to display our cakes on, and it has a specific planogram. Despite this, it’s generally agreed that each driver can use their own discretion to stock this shelf, including items not planned for the shelf.

All except for one.

Everything was good until a GM pulled him aside.

The GM of my smallest store pulls me aside a few months back and complained about my cake rack. They said, “I’ve had several people complaining about the prices on that shelf being mismatched, and we’re forced to honor the price on the shelf.”

This was a bit of an unusual complaint, but I was willing to fix it, saying, “Well we can fix the pricing on that shelf, no problem. I’ll just need you to scan the products and make me a tag, and I’ll take care of putting them up.”

She immediately snapped back, “You know that shelf has a planogram, right? How about we just stock it correctly?”

He did exactly what she wanted.

Very well. As they say, cue malicious compliance.

I begin stripping everything off the shelf that didn’t match the tags on the rack (which meant I took everything away). The GM immediately started questioning why her most popular sales were being taken out. I just said “Well none of this is on the planogram, so I’ll take it out and replace it with what’s on there, like you said.”

Dejected, she leaves me to it.

Then, the whole thing came back to bite her.

This compliance has paid off twice. The first time, the same GM confronted me as soon as I arrived, advising me of “holding out on her,” commenting on all the nice cakes at a different locations store she’s never seen in her store.

I reiterated that they’re not on her planogram, so I can’t put them in. She snaps back, “Well can’t we just put some in anyway?”

And I say with a smirk, “Not if there’s not a spot for it.” And she just tells me to carry on.

And it happened again.

The second time is when our imitation butter cookies rolled out. She begged me to give some to her store, and I asked if she had a spot for them. She says there can be room made, but I asked if there was a planogram for it.

She gets mad and says, “I’m tired of you using my words against me like this. I just want the seasonal stuff.”

And I tell her, admittedly a little pointedly, “Well it’s what you said, I can’t do anything about it.” And she just limps off.

She very well could have all the fun snacks if she would just stop being a helicopter manager.

Wow! It sounds like she wanted her cake and to eat it too.

Let’s check out what the readers over at Reddit think about this whole thing.

These are great questions.

This person’s old manager loved planograms.

Maybe that store doesn’t have a scan person.

That’s too funny.

The manager really did this to herself. She wanted every shelf stocked exactly by the planogram, and that’s exactly what she got.

Then she realized those rules kept her from getting the products customers actually wanted.

At that point, she couldn’t really complain because the driver was only following her instructions.

Hopefully she learned that there are times when it’s better to trust the people who do the job every single day instead of trying to control every little detail.