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Looking Grim
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So...I work nights as a backup. I have a new Grocery Manager whos only been there for about 4 or 5 months. My night leader just got transferred and the one replacing them has only been there for a year. Within that year they have been in 5 different departments so theyre coming in with very little experience to the position. Im not too sure how management came to this decision but Im not feeling too hopeful about this situation. Is there any light at the end of this tunnel?



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Theres a real shortage for good, or anyone at all, department leads, so they take whatever they can get



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Its basically the same situation that is occurring with MGMT. When you only seek to hire people part time and pay on the lower scale, you will never be able to get Department Heads or eventually Store MGMT from once clerks.

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They're in a situation right now where there are simply not enough people willing to be department heads. They are promoting anyone and everyone who will agree to it, and the results are not good. One store in my district promoted a new bakery department head who quit within a month or two of getting the job. No explanation or no warning given either, just up and quit and screwed them over. When I got promoted, I had to go to Cincinnati for training, now they aren't doing that anymore, they're just sending people to stores without any preparation whatsoever.

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Agree with 4hourrush, no training or being trained by people that don't know the job. I remember when you basically did the job for years under a department head and were lucky to get relief pay on weeks they were on Vac. But once you did get promoted you knew what to do, my "official" training was only symbolic because I had to go to "training" per HR. How

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4hourrush wrote:

They're in a situation right now where there are simply not enough people willing to be department heads. They are promoting anyone and everyone who will agree to it, and the results are not good. One store in my district promoted a new bakery department head who quit within a month or two of getting the job. No explanation or no warning given either, just up and quit and screwed them over. When I got promoted, I had to go to Cincinnati for training, now they aren't doing that anymore, they're just sending people to stores without any preparation whatsoever.


 And that is right at the heart of how they're screwing themselves; cutting corners, forece-fitting things, basically gambling that their new help will somehow magically just 'get it' and prevail. It's a band-aid solution for a problem requiring a suture.



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Actually, if you think about it, with the STR MGMT roles and responsibilities, they might be systematically trying to eliminate the Department Head/Leader positions? Before STR MGMT did not have a clue about all these different department programs/reports/inter-workings. While there will also's need someone in the department to take charge, Why isn't there a Corporate Training Program for Department Leadership? I remember a District Manager point blank telling Department Heads, Co-Managers/Store Managers come and go, Department Managers are the ones that literally run the stores.  I guess they decided to switch that around, now STR MGMT is running out the door and not coming back.  



-- Edited by EUID_Unknown on Sunday 1st of July 2018 10:31:11 AM

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Ok, I see. So its starting to become sort of a normalcy in many places. Its pretty disheartening to see these people come in and are made the superstars for work others have put in to get where we are now. Which even then has been a struggle to maintain when these new Leads and Dept. Heads make many mistakes here and there.

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EUID_Unknown wrote:

Actually, if you think about it, with the STR MGMT roles and responsibilities, they might be systematically trying to eliminate the Department Head/Leader positions? Before STR MGMT did not have a clue about all these different department programs/reports/inter-workings. While there will also's need someone in the department to take charge, Why isn't there a Corporate Training Program for Department Leadership? I remember a District Manager point blank telling Department Heads, Co-Managers/Store Managers come and go, Department Managers are the ones that literally run the stores.  I guess they decided to switch that around, now STR MGMT is running out the door and not coming back.  



-- Edited by EUID_Unknown on Sunday 1st of July 2018 10:31:11 AM


 i dont see that happening but who knows its kroger, if they get rid of dept heads all hell will break lose and u will see co managers quitting left and right. 



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Well they are not really eliminate the position, but in reality they are taking away control from Department Heads.  Back when Department Heads knew what was going on, they ran their department, knew everything going on, and basically ran the stores.  Now, MGMT is "incharge" and they basically want clerks to do everything.  



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They basically are controlling the dept heads schedule hours ot shrink and employee retention

 



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There is "no light" at the end of the tunnel. Rather the sucking sound of kroger going down the drain is going to get louder.

As stated here with Kroger giving low pay and crazy hours. Sooner or later people will quit or move on!

Those that have worked at kroger for some time understand there isnt any "sense" to what they do!



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EUID_Unknown wrote:

Well they are not really eliminate the position, but in reality they are taking away control from Department Heads.  Back when Department Heads knew what was going on, they ran their department, knew everything going on, and basically ran the stores.  Now, MGMT is "incharge" and they basically want clerks to do everything.  


 I'm a Grocery Manager and I run my department. Entirely. And I've only been with the company three years too (started as a stocker). I do know everything and I do everything, too. They trust me to do the job because out of every department in the store, mine is the only one that is consistently improving and beating forecasts and scoring well on inventories and other assessments. It also helps to have GOOD management, as all of my guys (unit and co-managers) advanced through the company starting as clerks. Two have been with the company 25+ years. Now I had a previous manager who went straight into management training from his old job and he wanted to micromanage everything and sales went down as a result. It takes a good team from the top down to achieve good results, but you can still run everything yourself if you have a good support system.

I do all the scheduling, do virtually all of the orders for ALL departments except dairy (I have one of the best dairy leads in my district IMO), unload most of the trucks, stock, manage at night, just about everything. My backup pretty much only exists to cover the store the two days I'm off, and those two days are your days with no major orders going off and one night is just Peyton and the other is backstock. I usually write out those orders before I leave on my day off. Lows and Holes, same way. Find a management team that believes in you and they'll let you do things how you want; it's easier on them if they aren't having to manage a department on top of their regular duties, and with grocery being the largest department they just don't have time for it.

But what I see the company doing eventually is combining Drug/GM and Grocery at a store level and just having a Center Store Manager. Then instead of two department managers, you would have a "Grocery Lead" (your night manager) and a new position for "GM Lead" which would handle the responsibilities of Drug/GM. Both overnight positions working mostly to stock the truck and manage the "sub-department", and then having the manager come during the day to do administrative work.



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Anonymous wrote:
EUID_Unknown wrote:

Well they are not really eliminate the position, but in reality they are taking away control from Department Heads.  Back when Department Heads knew what was going on, they ran their department, knew everything going on, and basically ran the stores.  Now, MGMT is "incharge" and they basically want clerks to do everything.  


 I'm a Grocery Manager and I run my department. Entirely. And I've only been with the company three years too (started as a stocker). I do know everything and I do everything, too. They trust me to do the job because out of every department in the store, mine is the only one that is consistently improving and beating forecasts and scoring well on inventories and other assessments. It also helps to have GOOD management, as all of my guys (unit and co-managers) advanced through the company starting as clerks. Two have been with the company 25+ years. Now I had a previous manager who went straight into management training from his old job and he wanted to micromanage everything and sales went down as a result. It takes a good team from the top down to achieve good results, but you can still run everything yourself if you have a good support system.

I do all the scheduling, do virtually all of the orders for ALL departments except dairy (I have one of the best dairy leads in my district IMO), unload most of the trucks, stock, manage at night, just about everything. My backup pretty much only exists to cover the store the two days I'm off, and those two days are your days with no major orders going off and one night is just Peyton and the other is backstock. I usually write out those orders before I leave on my day off. Lows and Holes, same way. Find a management team that believes in you and they'll let you do things how you want; it's easier on them if they aren't having to manage a department on top of their regular duties, and with grocery being the largest department they just don't have time for it.

But what I see the company doing eventually is combining Drug/GM and Grocery at a store level and just having a Center Store Manager. Then instead of two department managers, you would have a "Grocery Lead" (your night manager) and a new position for "GM Lead" which would handle the responsibilities of Drug/GM. Both overnight positions working mostly to stock the truck and manage the "sub-department", and then having the manager come during the day to do administrative work.


 I agree.  My store managers trust me too.  I run the night crew for a Market Place.  My department Excels too.  They frown about OT but they don't constantly hassle me about it.  They have hired me enough people.  It makes up for the call ins and slow people.  My store managers constantly compliment me on how well the store looks every morning compared to some of the stores he has visited. 

The most important thing is for the Day grocery manager and Night grocery manager to get along and communicate.  Some of them constantly bicker at each other. 

Before the store opened, all the Department heads and back ups went to the HR office for training classes for 3 days.  Then, we went on a trip to a Market Place in Ohio with the District Coordinators.



-- Edited by Anonymouse1 on Monday 2nd of July 2018 03:24:35 PM

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Someone said, working for Kroger must be like dying inside.
I said, I died inside a long time ago.

Thats the light at the end of the tunnel. Die inside and stop caring, or get the **** out.



-- Edited by GreyKnitHat on Tuesday 3rd of July 2018 09:12:47 AM

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QuietlyLaughing wrote:

So...I work nights as a backup. I have a new Grocery Manager whos only been there for about 4 or 5 months. My night leader just got transferred and the one replacing them has only been there for a year. Within that year they have been in 5 different departments so theyre coming in with very little experience to the position. Im not too sure how management came to this decision but Im not feeling too hopeful about this situation. Is there any light at the end of this tunnel?


 Grocery managers are just shills for store management.  



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Anonymous wrote:
QuietlyLaughing wrote:

So...I work nights as a backup. I have a new Grocery Manager whos only been there for about 4 or 5 months. My night leader just got transferred and the one replacing them has only been there for a year. Within that year they have been in 5 different departments so theyre coming in with very little experience to the position. Im not too sure how management came to this decision but Im not feeling too hopeful about this situation. Is there any light at the end of this tunnel?


 Grocery managers are just shills for store management.  


 Irony is as a Grocery Manager last year, I made more money than one of my co-managers that just graduated from the Management Program about two years ago. OT pay is great. And reality is as long as I keep it reasonable, nobody says anything because I deliver results. I never get asked to "cut hours later" or talked to about my OT. It's just assumed I'll have it and they tell others to cut theirs. In some ways I have more sway in daily operations than salaried management. Grocery Managers might be "shills" at other stores, but in my experience the Grocery Manager generally waves the biggest dick outside the Unit Manager. It's the biggest sales achiever inside the store, and Management will live and die on the success of their grocery department. But weak management at any business will promote yes men to important decisions, so success starts at the top. And making sure you have good sales in your department will make the District Staff happy, and it's easier to replace a salaried manager than it is a competent grocery manager, and they know it. Which is why my former boss is now an Assistant at the worst store in the most crime ridden area over an hour away from where he lives even though he tried having me replaced and/or fired multiple times. Bigger dick prevailed. FWIW however, the position has changed and you really don't need prior Grocery Experience to be successful. Firm understanding of CAO, 5S, and leadership abilities will allow you to do the job just fine. You have stockers to stock, after all. I came from a manufacturing plant that shut down and we were 5S and Kaizen all the way, so implementing Kroger's piss poor version of 5S has been extremely easy for me. CAO comes easy as I had IBM AS/400 experience with inventory management at the same plant. We even used the same handhelds. I knew jack about groceries, Kroger was my first grocery store job, and I hadn't worked retail since high school. Always manufacturing but I needed a job for health insurance and they were hiring, and I was able to quickly work myself up the chain using my expertise. And I don't physically kill myself as much as I did in my previous career.

I say all of that because you shouldn't judge someone's merit based on how long they've been with the company or what they did prior in the store. It's an easy way to overlook talent, just because person 'x' didn't obtain that talent with the Company or in your department. My backup had about six months of recent experience at Kroger when I picked him; his prior experience? 10 years in a cotton mill, ~20 years as a trucker, kids had grandkids and he wanted to spend more time with his family. Actually worked for Kroger previously ... in the 1980's when he was young. Bagged groceries, nothing more. Had a guy that was mad because he has been working with the company for five years and wanted the job, but he can't take charge of a situation or think on the fly, and a lot can happen at night and you need someone that isn't stuck in a funnel. Stocking is great, but managing a team and managing the entire store at night is a different animal. As the company moves more towards automation, you're going to see more of it. I can train anyone to stock groceries, but I can't train them on mathematics, analysis, leadership, critical thinking, etc.



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Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
QuietlyLaughing wrote:

So...I work nights as a backup. I have a new Grocery Manager whos only been there for about 4 or 5 months. My night leader just got transferred and the one replacing them has only been there for a year. Within that year they have been in 5 different departments so theyre coming in with very little experience to the position. Im not too sure how management came to this decision but Im not feeling too hopeful about this situation. Is there any light at the end of this tunnel?


 Grocery managers are just shills for store management.  


 Irony is as a Grocery Manager last year, I made more money than one of my co-managers that just graduated from the Management Program about two years ago. OT pay is great. And reality is as long as I keep it reasonable, nobody says anything because I deliver results. I never get asked to "cut hours later" or talked to about my OT. It's just assumed I'll have it and they tell others to cut theirs. In some ways I have more sway in daily operations than salaried management. Grocery Managers might be "shills" at other stores, but in my experience the Grocery Manager generally waves the biggest dick outside the Unit Manager. It's the biggest sales achiever inside the store, and Management will live and die on the success of their grocery department. But weak management at any business will promote yes men to important decisions, so success starts at the top. And making sure you have good sales in your department will make the District Staff happy, and it's easier to replace a salaried manager than it is a competent grocery manager, and they know it. Which is why my former boss is now an Assistant at the worst store in the most crime ridden area over an hour away from where he lives even though he tried having me replaced and/or fired multiple times. Bigger dick prevailed. FWIW however, the position has changed and you really don't need prior Grocery Experience to be successful. Firm understanding of CAO, 5S, and leadership abilities will allow you to do the job just fine. You have stockers to stock, after all. I came from a manufacturing plant that shut down and we were 5S and Kaizen all the way, so implementing Kroger's piss poor version of 5S has been extremely easy for me. CAO comes easy as I had IBM AS/400 experience with inventory management at the same plant. We even used the same handhelds. I knew jack about groceries, Kroger was my first grocery store job, and I hadn't worked retail since high school. Always manufacturing but I needed a job for health insurance and they were hiring, and I was able to quickly work myself up the chain using my expertise. And I don't physically kill myself as much as I did in my previous career.

I say all of that because you shouldn't judge someone's merit based on how long they've been with the company or what they did prior in the store. It's an easy way to overlook talent, just because person 'x' didn't obtain that talent with the Company or in your department. My backup had about six months of recent experience at Kroger when I picked him; his prior experience? 10 years in a cotton mill, ~20 years as a trucker, kids had grandkids and he wanted to spend more time with his family. Actually worked for Kroger previously ... in the 1980's when he was young. Bagged groceries, nothing more. Had a guy that was mad because he has been working with the company for five years and wanted the job, but he can't take charge of a situation or think on the fly, and a lot can happen at night and you need someone that isn't stuck in a funnel. Stocking is great, but managing a team and managing the entire store at night is a different animal. As the company moves more towards automation, you're going to see more of it. I can train anyone to stock groceries, but I can't train them on mathematics, analysis, leadership, critical thinking, etc.


 This is hilariously ironic.



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