I'm sure it's been talked about and covered numerous times on here, but how in the hell does this company expect us to to reach 80% (or better) on a daily basis and 95% green 1/2 hours with less and less hours each week? They (my division) consistently throws "The Pillars" of 1+1 success at us and even when you achieve 95% ring tender and have relief help and SCO attendent pulling people into SCO and you still fail for the day or week, they find another excuse or "Pillar" to blame it on. When we fail, mainly during EBT (food stamp) weeks (Saturdays and Sundays are the worst), the only solution for achieving is to throw more hours at the front-end. The more hours we add, the better the score. I can tell that there are a lot of other divisions represented here...what are some of the things that you all are doing to achieve these ridiculous goals?
I don't work the front end (thank god) but how does EBT put you behind? Here, EBT is a debit card, so it's easy and fast. It's WIC that always put things to a grrrrrrrinding halt.
In TN the foodstamp issue should be letting up next month, as benefits will start being distributed over the first 20 days of the month, not just the first 10.
Agreed on the WIC. Also, as soon as you see a customer with WIC, open another lane if possible. Even if that lane is at 1+1, when the system sees a WIC order, that lane is automatically out of queue unless the WIC customer is the only person in line.
We regularly, though not always, meet 90% for the week, AND we're always short on hours for either baggers or cashiers. We also only make 95% ring tender about twice a year.
We have a "finest" store in our district that regularly pulls 98-99% for the week and regularly has 100% days. My CSM looked and over the course of a month they had used almost 400 hours OVER budget. That's almost 2 full shifts per day. They also do nearly zero lottery, western union, returns, and ticketmaster, so their front desk person spends most of their day on the register.
My suggestions: -Follow the checklane opening sequence. Nobody likes to run express, but in terms of hours, it's more efficient for small orders than a large lane with a bagger. -Follow the relief help order: extra cashiers > cross-trained baggers > accounting associate > FES > management > perimeter associates. -Have every bagger over 18 trained to check (and heck, why not the minors too). -When your customer service person is not busy, have them bag. -If you have extra baggers who can't check, have them unloading carts. It dramatically speeds up an order. That can be the difference between a 20 ipm order and a 50 ipm order. -I don't know where you stand on this, but DO NOT hesitate to get on a register yourself, as long as it won't put you any more than 1 register over your number of available baggers. -Call management. Whether they want to or not, it's THEIR responsibility to fill in on a register if needed. If you call them and they don't ever come, it's on their heads, not yours. -Make sure you aren't having red half-hours consistently at the same times during the day. If so, have your CSM move shifts around earlier or later. Same thing with days of the week. -If you call associates from other departments, make sure they stay on the lane a minimum of 15 min. We don't get additional hours in elms if they stay any less than 15 min. -Response points! Having cashiers looking for customers instead of socializing can be key! I have seen 4 people in 1 line because the other 2 cashiers were chatting away from their lanes. -Directing traffic. You can help instantly with the previous problem by putting those extra customers in an open lane and calling the cashier over. This also opens the door for the customer to bitch at the cashier (not you) if they take forever to show up. -Also, don't hesitate to pull that 2nd customer over to another lane even though you weren't getting out of queue. Staying ahead of the rush can be an invaluable move. -Sounds like you have a good average ring tender, but there are still probably several cashiers who can improve alot. Looking at the weekly ring tender sheet (the long one that says do not post), for any given score, a high ipm means their tendering could improve. A low ipm means they need tips on scanning more efficiently. The ring tender system is not perfect but it IS a good tool to judge overall performance, especially if read correctly.
I can elaborate on any of the above if you need clarification. Our store may do fairly well, but we have to fight for that every day.
Union stewards should not be allowing baggers or managers to run register. Both are blatant contract violations and are grievable by senior cashiers that are not being given enough hours.
I wish we could use that line to get more hours, but a- all our "senior" cashiers are full time already, and these baggers arent getting extra hours to do this, they're using their already-scheduled hours b- the baggers I'm talking about are not courtesy clerks, they're technically store clerks, which means they specifically SUPPOSED to be trained to check
Here's the problem with EBT...yes it's foodstamp money deposited on a card, but my store is considered a "Value" (or HIGH EBT) store. I've been newly assigned to this store for about 3 months and I would venture to say that 80% or better of our customers are EBT customers. My state has also moved to an even distribution that spands the 20 day period as well, but all that has done is make writing the budget that much more difficult. We have been over exceeding the budget (this month) until we figure out the new shopping patterns. The sad part is, with as high a customer count as this store has, 95% ring tender means nothing. Money Services has to constantly have 2 people manning the counter. And to make matters worse, e-schedule has just gone into effect and FE managers are no longer allowed to "smooth". We pretty much get our butts handed to us on Sundays (heavy shopping) which gives us a score in the mid to low 70's and we have to add hours and fight our way back for the rest of the week. We make it, but not without adding hours.
And true...union stewards should not be allowing managers and baggers to run registers and apparently there has been a lot of talk between the union and my district manager about it. But seriously, after you've exhausted all possibilities, what else is there?
Ring tender right now is an 87%. Not the best, but not the worst. I've been in several stores where 1+1 was easy to manage, but these Value stores where the bulk of your customers are EBT are the worst.
Techelite.....great suggestions. As you know....those are the "Pillars". We do follow them, but the problem is sticking to what e-sched gives and still being able to make 80%.
Sounds like your store is one that's just become a victim of the disadvantages of implementing any new system. They design it well for the majority of stores, but stores like yours at the extreme of sales patters get left out in the cold. I don't care if your CSM is "allowed" to adjust the schedule or not, they need to do what's best for their store and the results should back them up.
I've worked in a high EBT ("value" store). It is actually one of the best stores in my district in terms of QueVision and Green Half Hours.
The store I am in now is not without challenges. When I first arrived in this store 16 months ago, 1+1 alone was a disaster. It was nothing to hit in the 70s on a regular basis. Ring tender was in the lower 90s and SCO utilization was a joke. You have to take a look at behaviors. What are people doing? Are we focused on getting customers through the checklane or are we still wasting time performing tasks that don't need to be done? One of the hardest things I had to do was take over for a retired CSC who was more concerned about the line at the office and doing all of these different time wasting tasks than getting customers through the checkout. It was no wonder this was the second worse QueVision store in my district. I spent months refocusing everyone onto 1+1 queing at the checklane. I was pulling office clerks out of the office every chance I could to put them on a register. I weeded out FESs that were not committed and who I could not commit and invested time in new FESs. I retrained my SCO attendants to pull small orders down to the SCO. I have identified sooooo many accounting procedures that were still being done that should have died with the Lean Accoutning roll out. Everything in the accounting room is now as streamlined as it possibly can be.
I have basically become the biggest cheeleader in the front end for every metric we have. I am constantly patting my FESs on the back when we hit QueVision and Green Half Hours. I am constantly patting my SCOAs on the back when we make our utilization goal. I am constantly patting my cashiers on the back when they hit their ring tender goals. I HAVE to be that invested in hitting our metrics in order to make THEM that invested in hitting our metrics.
The result? 90% QueVision on a regular basis. 90% or better Green Half Hours on a regular basis. SCO Utilization now at or above our 42% goal. Ring Tender last week was 104%. Having everyone invested and moving in the same direction makes my job much, much easier. It was a difficult road to get there. Grocery and Produce clerks hated me for a while (for constantly calling them up front to run register). Some of them might still hate me, and I can't do anything about it. Using those clerks when I needed them and getting our ring tender up to the goal helped us generate a few more hours out of ELMS. I don't need them as much now as I used to (just occasionally).
Bottom line is that hitting the metrics in the front end is a TEAM effort. You need a strong enough leader to be willing to commit and invest themselves in every metric in order to get everyone on board to help out.
