I lsated 12 years at kroger, a lot longer then anyone i worked with.
I thought i'd share a few tips,. on how i did.
first, managers are not going to like you. nothing you can really do about it. some will, most won't. thats just the was management is.
don't take it personal, even if they do. just ignore their crap, do your job, and remember, they WILL get transfered out sooner or latter, and maybe the next one will be better.
second , LEAVE KROGER AT KROGER! do NOT take it home, no matter how crappy a day it was,leave it at the door, when you clock out. you benifit nothing but worring about the place.
third, never ever worry about what other peple do or don't do, what they get paid, ect. All it will do, is piss you off. Just worry about you. it's hard sometimes, i know, espicially when you have to pull some lazy bum,s weight. but dwelling on it won't help.
forth, TRUST NO ONE ! anybody employeed by kroger WILL take advantage of a sweet enough bribe from management. never ever tell anyone anything, or do anything, you don;t want management to know, or hear. it WILL get back to them. management love to plant moles around the store.
fifth, as mad as you may get at kroger, always remember, the worst thing you can do to them is keep taking their money, in your check. use every vacation day. use the hell out of any beneifits. you gotta put up with them, you might as well use them .
sixth, expect crap. kroger has no idea what it's doing any more, from the top guy, to your supervisor. don't expect thing to make sense.
seventh, don't let your emotions get to you. some management love to push people's buttons, to control them. don't give them that power. cold fish, all the way. they HATE not getting a reaction
and finally, the ol, believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see, rings true. believe what you see, don't listen to gossip.
my biggest peice of advice, is keep you mouth shut, eyes open, and a filter on what you hear. kroger will never be interested in your opinion, i promose, so save yourself greif, and give noboy any ammunition to twist, in a "joe said blah blah ' situation.
all this kept me treading water, long after other broke. i would still be there, if the hadn't taken the choice away. kroger canot break you, unless you let them
if they want you gone, make THEM do it. don't make it easy for them
oh, and don;t trust or rely on the union. they can be bought. cover your own ass.
hope this helps someone
-- Edited by barada on Thursday 25th of August 2011 10:44:43 PM
Great advice barada I'vemanaged to survive 15 years by using that very strategy. It gets harder every year though as they try to enact rules meant to get the old timers out.
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The views expressed above are my own and in no way reflect the views of the Kroger company.
Great advice barada I'vemanaged to survive 15 years by using that very strategy. It gets harder every year though as they try to enact rules meant to get the old timers out.
MUCH kudos to your post, meatclerk----I agree with 100% of it.
Barada, your advice on keeping a low profile and watching what one says to whom is probably the best over all advice for any one on any job. It is NOT paranoia that Corporate America is out to screw the common, easily replaced working man.....I hear all the time at management meetings how we are expected to meet our bonuses by trimming pay roll as much as possible.
Just last week one of our overnight produce associates got fired (it wasn't by me); the situation quickly became "well, do we have reqs to hire another?" The answer quickly dissolved from this unspoken 'NO'into what it is now: the ONE PERSON we have left on O.N.s is now expected to cover ALL fresh food areas. Apparently it is a H.O. directive. Which means my produce dept. is FKD a minimum of 10--12 hours......Meanwhile, disribution continues sending the same amount of sht that WE CANNOT SELL FAST ENOUGH before it goes bad.
