I don't know about other Kroger stores, but my Kroger is inefficient at executing quevision. The numbers may look good on paper, but they have bent department employees until they have broken. They call up the same people time after time. They don't rotate very well. I was called up 7 times in a 7 hr shift. That's just cashiering. They also called me up to bag x amount of times that I can't even keep track of. Front offfice got mad at me for complaining and said it was only 7 customers and for .4 hours. Yeah, but I cut fruit and I didn't think I was suppose to be going up there and touching customers' groceries. And yeah 7 customers, but I was called up 7 separate times for those customers. And .4 hours doesn't seem bad, but the minutes I take throwing my gloves away, washing my hands, and walking up and logging into a register adds up to alot more. I tried talking to a manager twice and all I got back was, "I don't want to hear about it." And "I don't care." A lot of times also, I will have a 4hr shift and be the person most called up front. Tell me how that's suppose to work. People can't buy the groceries if there aren't any on the shelf. You have people that take pride in their work that get bend to please the managers and quevision that they break and don't care about their production. That's what I've seen alot lately. Suddenly these excellent workers have just given up and go at their own pace. It's a sad situation especially on the behalf of Kroger. Pumping in some hours isn't nearly going to break the company.
Lack of hours
It seems like all departments are starting to struggle with help. There's not near enough hours in dairy and frozen to even execute the previous day's truck. Produce is now starting to struggle and cleaning is rarely ever done. Deli/bakery seem like they've been doing alright. Natural Foods has been hit hard by the front end and quevision, but the trucks have gotten bigger with sales up 20+% every single week. Now it seems like there's barely enough time to complete the day's truck(s).
I just came from a Kroger store, and everything you describe re lack of staffing is 100% correct. Glad I only needed a few basic items. And yes, I can believe about sales being ^ 20+ % every week: That store was MOBBED with customers.
I got called up all.the.time. When you're working dairy by yourself with a milk truck coming in and cooler needing condensed...I eventually just said oh well! Got done what I could, and I just didn't run truck. It was worse when milk was on sale. I'm so glad I'm not on the floor anymore or running register for more than rx and a few other things.
I got bitched out by the Dairy Manager for not getting my order in the dairy done even though it was a small order. It was on a Sunday and I was only scheduled 5 hours. In those 5 hours I was up front 6 or 7 times, had to make a perishable order and had to fill the milk up twice, and the other guy working with me that day spent at least 4 of his 7 hours up front. Hell I was lucky to even get the order stacked. So I told the Dairy manager and store Manger to find a another Dairy Back up and shove it.
My store is constantly calling people up front to help bag and anyone cashier-trained is always on register. I'm not very familiar with the way the front end works, but it's kind of ridiculous. I'd like to see a little better management of that. And we're under constant pressure to fit all of our work into our hours. I usually get my stuff done ahead of time, but I have the support of a hardworking co-worker who I help out as well. If all of the employees were super-hard-working then the whole hours thing would be no big deal. But the fact of the matter is, we don't get paid enough to work as hard as we're being told we should. When our overnight person quit, instead of hiring another person, they just got angry when stuff wasn't getting out on time. Eventually they put me over in bakery, out of sheer necessity. And they're still fighting that, for some reason. I dunno.
So I guess Kroger is the same everywhere. Managers that don't care for their employees and fairness of the job are at Kroger. It's the first of the month and we get 1 cashier, a cleaner, and a bagger for the front end until noon or do. Is management stupid? What do they expect? Then they call everyone up. Employees need to take a stand. Are we really going to allow ourselves to be stretched so thin? I'm not worried about getting my truck done anymore. It can pile up on the backstock carts. Management, you can keep cutting hours to get your bonuses, but I'm not the worker I once was. I've been there for 2 and a half years and get paid $7.75. It's whatever.
So I guess Kroger is the same everywhere. Managers that don't care for their employees and fairness of the job are at Kroger. It's the first of the month and we get 1 cashier, a cleaner, and a bagger for the front end until noon or do. Is management stupid? What do they expect? Then they call everyone up. Employees need to take a stand. Are we really going to allow ourselves to be stretched so thin? I'm not worried about getting my truck done anymore. It can pile up on the backstock carts. Management, you can keep cutting hours to get your bonuses, but I'm not the worker I once was. I've been there for 2 and a half years and get paid $7.75. It's whatever.
One cashier until noon? How many checklanes do you have. Back when I was a checker we would have about 8 checklanes open by noon. As of now we have 21 checklanes, but 8 of those are U-scan bots.
If you have a well managed front end, like I do, then calling on outside help is (or should be) minimal. Like, less than 7 hours per week in total. Even seven hours is a bit extreme. Well managed front end means the front end is executing all of their pillars correctly and efficiently: Ring Tender at 95%, SCO Utilization at 42% (or whatever your store's goal is), one person in the office and the rest on a register, FES directing traffic to the right lanes, etc. If you yourself are constantly being called on, then your store many not have enough outside help trained. The idea is to rotate you all out too so that one person is not being called on ad naseum.
Our store has one of the best Quevision scores in the district. We maintain this because our ring tender overall is around 100 (goal is 95). Our ring tender has slipped some, but still good. Also we use our U-SCAN effectively. If you don't have a pro-active front end, it definitely hurts the whole store overall from all the call-ups. Most of the time, we call up managers and that's all we need.
Our store has one of the best Quevision scores in the district. We maintain this because our ring tender overall is around 100 (goal is 95). Our ring tender has slipped some, but still good. Also we use our U-SCAN effectively. If you don't have a pro-active front end, it definitely hurts the whole store overall from all the call-ups. Most of the time, we call up managers and that's all we need.
By managers do you mean department heads or store management? According to most contracts, the only thing management is allowed to do on a regular basis is work at the customer service counter. They can help bag on occasion if needed but if they're having to go up on a regular basis to bag they're violating the contract. Management is not suppose to do any work that can be performed by hourly workers. Management having to bag on a regular basis means they're deliberately not giving hours to their employees.
Our store has one of the best Quevision scores in the district. We maintain this because our ring tender overall is around 100 (goal is 95). Our ring tender has slipped some, but still good. Also we use our U-SCAN effectively. If you don't have a pro-active front end, it definitely hurts the whole store overall from all the call-ups. Most of the time, we call up managers and that's all we need.
By managers do you mean department heads or store management? According to most contracts, the only thing management is allowed to do on a regular basis is work at the customer service counter. They can help bag on occasion if needed but if they're having to go up on a regular basis to bag they're violating the contract. Management is not suppose to do any work that can be performed by hourly workers. Management having to bag on a regular basis means they're deliberately not giving hours to their employees.
That is really interesting!! I wonder if that's in our contract? Because there are CONSTANTLY managers helping bag and I would just LOVE to hear what they have to say about that.
I've seen managers help bag, too...many times! It does make you wonder...
By the way, it seems like some stores are managed fairly efficiently, but from the sound of things, plenty more here are not managed quite as efficiently...I hate to say it, but it'll probably get worse before it gets better...As one of my co-workers might say, "That's a BA-A-AD DEAL!!!"
I've seen managers help bag, too...many times! It does make you wonder...
By the way, it seems like some stores are managed fairly efficiently, but from the sound of things, plenty more here are not managed quite as efficiently...I hate to say it, but it'll probably get worse before it gets better...As one of my co-workers might say, "That's a BA-A-AD DEAL!!!"
Our co-managers help bag on occasion also. I was mind blown the other day when I saw a co-manager in a red vest...THEN I saw the store manager in one! It was crazy busy, but that's the first time I've seen that happen.
I'm almost sad I'm on vacation this week, because I really want to know the specifics of our contract regarding this, but I'm not stepping foot into my store while I'm being paid NOT to be there! :)
