I have been a bagger for close to a year now and I have been trying to get in a different department and out of the Front End for ages. I am tired of seeing other baggers with a lot less senoirity than me and who don't work nearly as hard as I do get promoted over me. I brought this to the attention of the hiring person several times and yet they continue to promote baggers under me and hire brand new people. I work so hard and I fell that I am very underappreciated and not even noticed. Is there anything I can do about this situation?
I see two options here, work your butt off and get nothing for it (which is sort of happening to me right now), or develop a list of references (preferrably supervisors) that think highly of you and apply for a better job outside of Kroger.
I have been a bagger for close to a year now and I have been trying to get in a different department and out of the Front End for ages. I am tired of seeing other baggers with a lot less senoirity than me and who don't work nearly as hard as I do get promoted over me. I brought this to the attention of the hiring person several times and yet they continue to promote baggers under me and hire brand new people. I work so hard and I fell that I am very underappreciated and not even noticed. Is there anything I can do about this situation?
This is what I would try: Find a salaried manager to get on friendly terms with, sit down with that person and completely detail your goals. I recommend writing it all down first. Keep it professional, assertive and without emotion.
I would say something like "I am completely dedicated to this company and I want to move up. This will require me to go above bagging and use my skills in other departments. I trust your judgement, and I think you'll agree that my skills are being wasted in my current position. Please help me to attain my goals." Use your own words of course, but along those lines.
While if you are dead set on moving up at Kroger, definitely definitely follow nocturnia on this.
That said, if you have already made it known that you desire a greater position and this pattern continues I would recommend the path of gaining references for a new job. I have noticed that the most productive baggers in my location are always the last to get offered any kind of bonus or incentive. I suspect this is due to my store having such a terrible time finding properly motivated clerks to be baggers.
Promotion, and thereby pay raises above bagger pay cap, is the carrot. Some people do not need the carrot ahead of them to run. Some do. It is a waste of a carrot if you will run anyway. That other guy who is just walking might run if we put a carrot in front of him. Just a potential line of thinking.
Compounding the problem I have noticed is the tendency of the less productive baggers to get extra friend points with a lot of people in the store, often because they left the front end to talk or otherwise find time to sit and chat instead of bag or push carts. This can also help lead to other baggers getting promoted. You know that one person who takes twice as long on item returns?
Good luck man. That said, if they intend to keep you as a part time bagger, I would definitely try to bail. In my area, just about any job save some food service will pay better. I myself have applications out presently, however in unskilled labor I do have to compete with about five counties worth of high-schoolers. You may not get a response immediately but doing applications, either in big batches infrequently or a few at a time, is hardly challenging as a side activity.
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It's not just you. I've worked in 5 different Kroger stores and the common thread of all of them is that if an employee is competent at what they do, is self-motivated, and requires little to no babysitting, that employee will remain in their position sometimes indefinitely.
I only got departmental transfers approved by letting management know that I was dead serious about a two week notice, and "unfortunately" because "I really want to stay here, but have no choice" I was looking for other work.
Sometimes this is the only way to get leverage. Good luck.
