I don't know if this is just my store or not, but our front end always seems to be shortstaffed every day, and they're constantly calling for help from other departments. (i am a dairy mgr.) It aggravates me and it should not be happening. They have their own people assigned to that department, so they should have them scheduled right. My help (my ONLY help) should be here to help me with what I need done, not them with sacking groceries or getting carts off of the lot. They have their own courtesy clerks for doing that. When I complain to mgmt about it I always get stuff like "It's Customer 1st", "We appreciate all you do", "If we need help, then we can call you", "We're busy", "They don't have enough people", or my personal favorite, "It's just temporary." It's been happening nearly every day for the past 9 months. This should be brought up with the Union. Associates should only be able to do work within the department that they are scheduled.
unfortunately there is nothing the union can do. it states in your job description "any tasks assigned by your manager". not alway fair, because they always seem to call the same people or dept to help, over and over again. they need to learn to share the wealth. unless you are in a service dept, then you never get called....
If Key Retailing flops its still a win, they write all this mess off. Another sale to the US governement and Uncle Sam courtesy of the taxpayers.
If it succeeds which is unlikley,because the grocery business has been around along time , then they'd been Micro-Managing long ago. If Kroger can think of the idea, then its probably already been thought of. Thats why Walmart and other major retailers dont use it. Its Micro Managing under a different name.
They need to train other people in other departments to check so that they don't just use "your" ppl. At my store we alternate between department so that not one single department is called all the time.
They need to hire enough staff to run the registers. Afterall they DO make alot of money.
Ask them if they would take their car to a mechanic and give him a screw driver and pliers and tell him to rebuild it. And do by next day and it better be right.
The Right tools for the right job...........period. Without the right tools, the job don't get down right.
If this so called Key Retail which they constantly shoved up your ass is so great.
And in Key Retail theres a place for everything and everything in its place.
How about leaving the employees thats hired to do a job say in deli,produce ,grocery,dry goods or meat and leave them in the "place" they're supposed to be in and hire cashiers and put them where they are supposed to be.
Seems they are a bit contradictory when its more in their favor to keep from hiring. What a bunch of Jewish Tools......
At my store, we usually have enough people in the Front End because we have a good Front End Manager. So if you say your stores dont have enough people up front, then blame the Front End Manager. About Key Retailing, which I have but heard of, I think its nothing but crap and Im an assistant front end manager.
Sadly Key Retailing is here to stay, however I do not think it is all bad. If your people are called out of your dept. everyday then that's not good. what is causing this? There are a lot of things that have to be looked at. Is the front end making there ELMS score, what is there % effective, are there excessive call-outs, are they scheduling based on head count, are queing standards followed to your division standards, is the CSM there and watching the employees? All of these things will effect the front. There are always going to be rushes that you need help just like if a truck is late and night crew has left and a front end clerk is sent to help stock. I am a clerk in a store by the way not mgmt.
Well first off I'm glad to hear I'm not the only store with problems. Secondly I'd like to point out to the people that are baffled other stores are having problems. Yes it is a problem, and I don't believe it's the CSM's fault. I went to a district meeting once and they had a point where everyone wrote an anonymous question and almost half of them asked why we don't have enough help and when the district manager asked if there is a scheduling issue on the front end everyone in the room nodded.
Even people from stores with their ELMs score in the 90s are having this very problem. We have to call surge help way too often to the point nothing gets done anymore in any department. This isn't an isolated problem to certain stores. And what I hear from this board and many others sites with people I know it's not a district or even a division problem. The method they are using to predict hours isn't working, and you said something about head count. Last I heard they determine the amount of hours given to the front end is based on sales not on customer count.
Our store averages a little over $800,000 a week in net sales (with Fuel so over 700k without Fuel), yet for some reason we are only given enough hours for the FES alone for one 8 hour shift and 1 4 hour shift for the FESs. That alone is causing problems as the FES can't do a pickup or even take a break because they're the only one there running it. And it's super busy and they can't have a cashier close down and put the vest on or anything.
I'm serious we have to call surge help way too often. Now I try to rotate out but I can only use people from Drug, produce, dairy, and sanitation since the others are service departments and usually only have one person back there during the afternoon and evening shifts. Drug rarely has anyone past 3pm because well they have no hours to be their during the afternoon shift so I can't use them during peak hours anyway. So that means I usually have 1 person in Dairy, 1 in pro, and 1 in sanitation to use as surge help, and even if all them are up front and the FES is on a register with the Manager on duty up front that still isn't enough registers a lot of the time to have the 1 + 2 queuing.
So in other words we don't have the help, so we use people in other departments and even they don't have any help as it is working on bare skeleton crew already. Kroger needs to reevaluate using their micro-managing (I'm sorry "Key Retailing") and realize they're under staffing their stores and customers are getting pretty ticked about it. I know Kroger makes more than enough money the add a few people in every department, and they should as everyone (customers and employees) are getting fed up.
And I like to add one more thing. I'd like to point out. My Division's queuing standards is 1+1 at SCO, and 1+2 at all the other registers, But oud Division president, Bill wants us to call surges when the registers are at 1+1. Well at my store we stick to 1+2. why? Because I call surges enough as it is. If I called everytime I get to 1+1 on all my registers then the surges would never leave the front end. It's that bad.
I'm also confused with what someone said. From what I've been told by big whigs in District and Division offices the schedule is determined primarily by the predicted/budgeted sales for that day. They type in the budget into the computer thing and it tells us how many hours and when we need cashiers, etc. etc. I know it's a bit more complicated than that, but that's what I've been told how it works. And as far as I know we usually make really really close to budget, except lately but that's because I'm in the Southwest division and last year around this time we had Hurricane Ike so last years numbers aren't very helpful in determining anything so we're actually making way more in sales then budget but that's only been within the last couple of weeks.
My point is we're doing everything to the best of our ability and doing what we're suppose to be doing and we still don't have enough help. The system doesn't work. period.
Amen to that....We've been telling them it wouldn't work for a year now. But they don't listen. When help quits, then they should be replaced quickly. Nobody replaces them in our store, they just spread their hours over the remaining PT or make the remaining have to absorb the workload.
Perhaps they should start re-evaluating the Store Managers bonus's. A cap maybe. Because I believe the Store Mgrs are playing a big part in staffing too. If you have the hours for so many and you loose 2, then you have more budget than hours used. Who's to blame for not hiring to replace and who benefits if the store continuously has money left over for hours not used? I believe the store mgrs do. They max out bonus's. Cut those back and I believe they'd start taking better care of the stores since they'd have nothing to loose.
One of the THREE incompetant co-managers at my store will wait till everyone has else has left my department, ask me who i have to help me back there then askes me to come check when i tell him its only me. This same d!ck also tried to get me to forge all of our backstock reviews because district folk were coming when someone forgot to do it. Then after I refused he threatened to write me up for insubordination!
It's been happening nearly every day for the past 9 months. This should be brought up with the Union. Associates should only be able to do work within the department that they are scheduled. 
