i was recently asked by a office manager if i would like to train to be a front end supervisor or fez. i said yes. but i have a few questions about it. first how much extra pay is included? i heard at one point it was a dollar but now its like 50 cents. 2. is there any tips for being a good fez? lastly is it stressful or easier than being a cashier because it kind of looks easier. they sometimes let me do it while they were at break or lunch and it kind of nice.
-- Edited by firedreams on Friday 22nd of May 2015 01:30:56 AM
it's 100x more stressful and i'm not even a FES. sometimes they don't get their breaks, or lunches. in my contract (ATL) they dont get a payraise but i think the payrate is better? honestly if youre looking to stay at kroger for awhile i would do it because it allows you to move up. if you don't want to stay that long i wouldn't do it.
some of the things you have to do is:
watch QueVision, get on register when needed boss people around since most of them are lazy and need to be told what to do make sure breaks and lunches for the cashiers and baggers are sort of on time. (at my store everyone takes a 25 min break which causes everyone to have late breaks/lunches... i think im the only one who actually takes 15 mins)make sure the baggers are doing lot at their times (some will just stay inside the whole time or sit outside and not do anything)
if youre closing FES you have to count tills and such..
there is a lot to it that i dont know since i'm not a FES but all of my supervisors find it a very stressful job and are very happy when they have a cashier shift lol
FES here (well, sometimes, I hate it and try to get office shifts when I can).
At least in our area (Mid-Atlantic) there's no pay difference. Cashiers, self-checkout attendants, FESes, and front office peeps all get paid the same rate with the same raises. Ask your HR/assistant person to see what it's like in your store.
It is very stressful, main reason I don't like it. There's a lot of multitasking involved, I routinely have to run self-checkout and bag while keeping an eye on breaks/lunches, or run a register and monitor QueVision. Basically, doing multiple people's jobs for one person's pay. Blech. Then again, some of my coworkers like the job, there's little in the way of manual labor, you get to walk around instead of standing in one spot for hours, and when it's nice and slow, you do get more of a breather than some other positions. And it looks nice on a resume, or if you want to advance even further in Kroger.
If you're good at multitasking, and can learn to understand the mechanics of QueVision (1+1 rule, when to open a register vs. adding baggers, when to give breaks, etc), it might be a good option for you.
FES is, in my opinion, one of the worst positions in the store. No pay raise (in my part of SW division; don't know if entire SW is the same) and you're pretty much hated by all. The other departments will hate you for calling them to surge check or help bag/get carts and you will have to call other departments for help because between the front end (like the rest of the store) being understaffed, but unless all your cashiers are meeting ring tender goals, your lines are going to get backed up. Especially too if you don't have good SCO people that are actively pulling customers with small orders and coordinating with you (when they don't have their hands full, that is). Also too, slow baggers, paired with cashiers not meeting ring tender goals, will kill your 1+1 compliance and result in dips. Then, prepare to get chewed out by management, the CSM and ASCM. Not your fault? It becomes your fault.
You better be good at jumping in and out of Customer Care/Self Scan as needed, while wearing the red vest, because you're going to have to do that as well.
It's nothing but stress, aggravation and frustration. I work at a million dollar store and we have one cashier at 7:00AM, and then get another between 9:00AM-10:00AM, and then, on most weekdays, don't get another until sometime after 12:00PM (that's NOT enough, yet e-Sked says we don't even need that many. Excuse me!?). Both of those cashiers need breaks, too, on top of self scan needing a break and cash office as well, so it's a constant struggle to time it right in getting those breaks out, and more often than not, the timing ends up being wrong.
It's mentally exhausting and only worth it if you're aiming to become CSM/ACSM. If not, then you're just opening yourself up to management's griping, customers whining, cashiers/baggers complaining about breaks and stuff and the rest of the store hating you for pulling them from their departments to help the front end.
As I said, one of the absolute worst positions at Kroger, if not the worst, in this former FES' opinion.
-- Edited by GenesisOne on Friday 22nd of May 2015 03:42:13 PM
Depending on your union contract, you may or may not get a pay raise. Our contract is $1 extra per hour that we FES. If you do not get a pay raise, DO NOT FES. It is one of the worst jobs at Kroger, tying with the Fuel Station clerk or morning bookkeeping position. Be a cashier and every higher-up person will leave you alone. Be a FES and you will constantly get harassed by store management and higher corporate about QueVision. Oh, and every department will completely hate you once you put on a red vest. They hate being called down all day to a checkout lane.
How to be a good FES (if you really want to be one): Just don't be an ***hole. That is all.
Don't get a big head. Just because you have a set of keys does not make you better than anyone else.
Don't demand things of people. Asking gets things done quicker.
Don't force your **** down your helps throat. They are just as stressed as you are.
Let management handle big problems and the people who cause them. Employee and Customers alike.
You'll be yelled at by:
Management - Scores are NEVER good enough! 100% compliance is TOO LOW!
Customers - "I need... [insert everything and anything here]."
Your help - "Can I get my break? / Do you want me to (insert thing here)?"
Grow a thick skin, you'll need it, and try not to stress yourself out over everything.
How to be a good FES (if you really want to be one): Just don't be an ***hole. That is all.
Sometimes the FES needs to know when to be an ***hole because of the hires they bring us but generally this is a good rule. If you stress out easily, it's not for you. In Atlanta division there used to be a 50c premium but that ended after the 2010 contract. If you have the help you need then it's not so bad. However you'll be very unhappy at times with the schedule writer for doing stupid things and for coworkers who can't get themselves to work on time or just don't show up.
For the love of God do not become a full time FES. They will work you to death.
In this division unless you are ACSM or CSM you get no extra pay, not doing the office, not morning bookkeeper, not AA/HR. ACSM gets 50c/hr. CSM gets a pay rate based on the average sales volume of the store.
How to be a good FES (if you really want to be one): Just don't be an ***hole. That is all.
Sometimes the FES needs to know when to be an ***hole because of the hires they bring us but generally this is a good rule. If you stress out easily, it's not for you. In Atlanta division there used to be a 50c premium but that ended after the 2010 contract. If you have the help you need then it's not so bad. However you'll be very unhappy at times with the schedule writer for doing stupid things and for coworkers who can't get themselves to work on time or just don't show up.
For the love of God do not become a full time FES. They will work you to death.
In this division unless you are ACSM or CSM you get no extra pay, not doing the office, not morning bookkeeper, not AA/HR. ACSM gets 50c/hr. CSM gets a pay rate based on the average sales volume of the store.
Can attest to being unhappy about the schedule writer. I supervised yesterday; one of our scheduled baggers was on approved vacation(!), and one of our cashiers was graduating from high school and had marked herself unavailable weeks ago. Thankfully said schedule writer has a heart and listened to my pleas, I'm back in the office and self-checkout next week.
Can attest to being unhappy about the schedule writer. I supervised yesterday; one of our scheduled baggers was on approved vacation(!), and one of our cashiers was graduating from high school and had marked herself unavailable weeks ago. Thankfully said schedule writer has a heart and listened to my pleas, I'm back in the office and self-checkout next week.
scheduling people on vacation, out medical leave or people who haven't been working for weeks but aren't out of the system yet is always fun to walk into.
that said, some people are so high maintenance and undependable you wonder why they're even pretending to want to keep their job in the first place when you could at least try to get someone better in the form of a new hire.
Can attest to being unhappy about the schedule writer. I supervised yesterday; one of our scheduled baggers was on approved vacation(!), and one of our cashiers was graduating from high school and had marked herself unavailable weeks ago. Thankfully said schedule writer has a heart and listened to my pleas, I'm back in the office and self-checkout next week.
scheduling people on vacation, out medical leave or people who haven't been working for weeks but aren't out of the system yet is always fun to walk into.
that said, some people are so high maintenance and undependable you wonder why they're even pretending to want to keep their job in the first place when you could at least try to get someone better in the form of a new hire.
Finding people who will work for what Kroger pays is hard work. Kroger hates hard work...unless someone else is doing it.
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