It's actually not a new program. It's been renamed to winning in MY store. It has really helped our focus dept get a lot better and the customer comments show it. It has stayed the focus dept for quite some time now pretty much because there's really not much wrong with the other depts.
My store has been doing this for months, basically no matter how good the store is, management is forced to pick a department that sucks, then everyone has to help the department picked, in my store its dairy, no matter how far behind i am in my work everyday when we do our huddle, we all have to spread out, face and check dates in dairy.
Seems to me the money invested in the program would of been better off hiring 1 more person for dairy, making a total of 2.
It my store it's meat, and we're supposed to do suggestive selling in the bakery.
Be all like, oh hey, you're buying a cake? Want some steak with that?
Needless to say, no one ever bothers to do it.
-- Edited by 4hourrush on Wednesday 13th of March 2013 11:01:05 AM
They tried to do that in the deli. If someone was buying ham you were suppose to ask if they wanted any cheese with it etc. My response to that is if I wanted any cheese, I would have asked for cheese.
It my store it's meat, and we're supposed to do suggestive selling in the bakery.
Be all like, oh hey, you're buying a cake? Want some steak with that?
Needless to say, no one ever bothers to do it.
-- Edited by 4hourrush on Wednesday 13th of March 2013 11:01:05 AM
They tried to do that in the deli. If someone was buying ham you were suppose to ask if they wanted any cheese with it etc. My response to that is if I wanted any cheese, I would have asked for cheese.
That makes sense for deli because it's the same department... And you're not forcing anyone to buy anything, it's like asking if you want to upsize your meal at a fast food restaurant.... just giving them the option.
I'd even understand a little more if it was deli they were asking to suggestive sell something in the bakery (good bread + great meat = awesome sandwiches), but with meat it's a little harder to make a connection...
The only time it would even make any sense is when people are buying hamburger buns or something but you usually aren't looking when people are picking those up....
It my store it's meat, and we're supposed to do suggestive selling in the bakery.
Be all like, oh hey, you're buying a cake? Want some steak with that?
Needless to say, no one ever bothers to do it.
-- Edited by 4hourrush on Wednesday 13th of March 2013 11:01:05 AM
Meat is our focus dept too. Deli/bakery is supposed to do announcements, dairy is supposed to let anyone know if the packed lunch meat/bacon, etc has holes, floral is in charge of "flair" i.e. decor, and I forget what frozen, grocery and produce do.
Had a big meeting about it not too long ago. More BS programs to get more work out of less hours.
So true. We had a meeting on it today where we watched a seven minute or so video with a bunch of different customers basically asking "us" to be friendly to "them" and "they" will come back again and again. One old guy talked about how his wife passed away and going out to the grocery store was one of his few opportunities to have a conversation with someone and then there was a lady waving a bunch of coupons while saying how she spent a lot of time clipping coupons and that she checked the expiration date and made sure they all matched what she bought and it just seemed to go on and on. The point was to be patient and friendly to every customer. We all snickered at points, rolled our eyes and agreed it was nothing but a bunch of BS - even one of our supervisors agreed the program makes little sense since Kroger only cares about the bottom line and we'll never have enough help to serve the customers and get to the point corporate wants us to be. Not only that, but I thought speed was crucial at the register. They need to make up their minds. They want a blazing fast ring tender but they also want everyone to talk and chat with the customers while they're checking out. They don't want dips and they want Que-Vision compliance but they don't want the customers to be rushed. Which is it? Then again this is Kroger - things aren't supposed to make sense and everything is done backwards anyway.
Perfect example: one of our cashiers said over the weekend a customer got really, really mad because she had a big order and there was nobody there to bag her groceries, so she left angry. When our CSM was told this during the meeting, he basically said that during the real busy times, we should just call people from other departments to bag. Yeah... let's not put more courtesy clerks on the clock even though we need them... let's just yank people from produce/grocery/drug gm when we need them. I'm so sure they'll come when called to bag... because you know, they always come when called to check/get carts - always! Not. Don't properly staff the departments to take care of customer needs. No, no no. It's far easier to pretend that company cares than to actually act on what it claims to believe.
Plus now a department is going to get singled out that needs help and we all have to chip in? More work for the same rotten pay? Yeah, I'm sure we'll all come together as a team and make it happen. People that I work with are so bitter and irritated with their job that if anything, this new program is going to make people less productive and cause the customer tracker to go down. I know I don't feel energized in the slightest after being introduced to the program.
I wonder how often they pick a new focus department?
Because I'm sure management is itching to make bakery the focus department next, they're always on us for not having things out on time, etc. It's not our fault we're a much smaller dept. than deli.
I wonder how often they pick a new focus department?
Because I'm sure management is itching to make bakery the focus department next, they're always on us for not having things out on time, etc. It's not our fault we're a much smaller dept. than deli.
With bakery you almost have to have things ready a day ahead of time. If you notice something is getting ready to be marked down that day, go ahead and make more. Otherwise, the shelf is going to be empty the next day until you're able to make more.
I wonder how often they pick a new focus department?
Because I'm sure management is itching to make bakery the focus department next, they're always on us for not having things out on time, etc. It's not our fault we're a much smaller dept. than deli.
Here's what I don't understand. If, say, the bakery department is selected to be the focus department, what's management going to do? Are they going to send people from the other departments to help out in that department to boost that department's score? How though does that make the slightest bit of sense? What does the front end, produce and grocery departments, dairy and drug/gm know about bakery? Instead of having the other departments be stretched even thinner when being assigned to help out in the focus department, just give the people trained in that department more hours and make sure the hours are being put to good use every day. Don't send people from other departments to one that they know nothing or little about... that's just a waste of time and money and the chances of improvement are low. How incredibly stupid. Just properly staff the department with the people that know what they are doing and ensure the hours are being utilized well and you'll get the results you desire. It's really amazing how these empty suits that make the big bucks don't have an utter clue what's going on craft these incredibly stupid, convoluted solutions to problems that can be solved relatively easily.
^ I think it's just going to be yet another failed program that creates more problems rather than resolve existing ones. It's shocking that people are paid so well to come up with ideas that are so bad and demonstrate a clear lack of understanding as to how things work in the real world. These people that sit in their comfy offices really don't have a clue.
-- Edited by GenesisOne on Friday 12th of April 2013 11:01:09 AM
I like your post Genesis one. You brought up some good points. I see an issue with this program too. Say you get some old timer who likes to file grievances all the time. If he/she sees 2-3 extra people working in his/her department which needs "help", they could easily claim one of their hours worked in the department. While we are generally good in the department I work in, we do get shorted hours and get called for bail out the front end on a regular basis, If this situation were to arise, I might just try to claim hours.
