It's no wonder Kroger is so worried about Aldi and Costco (according to a meeting we attended last week) when we have nights like last night. From 6:00PM on, it seemed like the few check-out lanes our store had opened had five or more customers waiting in line at time. The lines got so long at some points that they started "curving" because there was no room to stand and wait. Self check-out looked as if it had a small mob with around fifteen to twenty people at any given time. Come 7:00PM, the front end had just four registers open - one express, one big register, one with a supervisor on it and one with a co-manager on it and they were all way, way outside of the 1 + 1 compliance rule. I expect the check-out compliance report to bottom out at 0% compliance for an extended period of time as these very long lines went on for hours. No available surge help as produce had nobody that could check, there was one person in grocery for the day but he had way too much work and refused to come to the front and that was it. Customer Service had six or seven people waiting every time I came through the front and customers kept asking, "can't somebody be called to help?" and "I've been waiting forever here," and "how much longer do I need to spend waiting in line!?" People kept bringing carts full of groceries to Customer Service wanting to pay there rather than get behind six or seven other people in the check-out lanes and the guy at the desk had to keep telling them no, because he was already past the point the Customer Service desk needed to be shut down as it was after 8:00PM and there was still a long line of people waiting. Customers were yelling at the employees/co-manager and it just seemed like a nightmare that wouldn't end for us, the employees.
I agree with the one guy that was working in grocery last night who has been with the company for over ten years. He said Kroger has been cutting back on help for a couple of years now and now, they are reaping what they sowed. Kroger can continue to try and lie to its customers by promising faster check-out and putting the customer first, but a lot of customers aren't stupid and they don't like being lied to. Kroger can continue to cut, cut and cut some more the hours of employees in an effort to pocket a little more money (rather than pocket a lot more by doing it the right way and truly winning customers over), but Kroger is only digging itself a deeper hole and giving a bigger opening to competitors like HEB, Aldi and Costco to grab pieces of the pie that Kroger could have easily had for itself.
such things have happened at my store but it's been due to call outs/quits and/or stupid scheduling. my store is on the razor's edge right now in terms of being able to cover key things like service desk, floor and self-checkout. right now even one call out in any of those spots is a disaster.
From poor budgeting to poor scheduling, that's just poor management all the way around. Does the front end simply not have enough employees or do they just not schedule enough people or give them enough hours to work with? How many checklanes does your store have?
From poor budgeting to poor scheduling, that's just poor management all the way around. Does the front end simply not have enough employees or do they just not schedule enough people or give them enough hours to work with? How many checklanes does your store have?
I work at a Signature store that has a total of thirteen lanes (four of which are self check-out, three express). The problem isn't that we don't have enough lanes (although some Sundays/some holidays, more lanes would help) and the problem isn't that we don't have enough people. The problem is, I believe, a combination of the store manager not wanting to give out the needed hours, inadequate computer scheduling software and a CSM that won't stand up and say, "what we're doing isn't working." We used to have a CSM that wouldn't stand down to anyone and if she felt we needed the hours to properly run the front end, she would add the hours regardless of what was budgeted/recommended by the scheduling software. The store manager let her do her thing because he knew she wouldn't waste the store's money on unneeded hours. He basically trusted her judgment, but he doesn't have the same degree of confidence/respect for the current CSM, so even though our sales are up every week vs. last year's, the hours allotted have actually gone down, so we're trying to serve more customers with fewer employees.
I think there will be consequences after last night. It's been bad before but this was a scheduling disaster that I have not witnessed before. I couldn't believe how long customers were kept waiting and so many of them were angry. The customer tracker score is going to plummet when many (and I do suspect many) of these customers write in about their wait time. One co-manager I talked with already told me she's going to catch the CSM the next time she sees him and discuss with him his scheduling practices. I wouldn't be surprised if the (newly promoted) floor supervisor in charge that night isn't trusted to run the floor again for awhile. It's plain as day what we need, but I know it won't happen. We need more hours and we need better front end supervisors. I've gone over this with the CSM and store manager and both have raved about my ideas and suggestions, but nothing is ever implemented, so I don't bother anymore trying to make things better for everyone because nothing ever changes.
This seems to be a growing problem in retail: We have 28 lanes in my store, and during peak hours we're lucky to have MAYBE ten of them open. This a problem of such outrageous proportions I can't even see straight!!
And the worst part? This trend doesn't appear to be stopping any time soon. It truly is all about the Benjamins, and every year my Market Manager gives us less and less hours to budget throughout the store.
I've said it before; I'm saying it now. If corporate America could some how re legalize SLAVERY, they'd do it in a New York heart beat. Oh, and a final thought: As long as customers keep supporting this crap, it's definitely gonna keep happening.
if you see a manager on a register you need to file a grievance with the union. that manager is taking away a job that should be filled with an employee. why bother scheduling cashiers when they can just use salary management??
Filing a grievance would be futile as it has no grounds in the contract. All the contract says is that mgmt cannot be scheduled to do work normally performed by hourly employees, and they weren't. It specifically states: "It is recognized that from time to time circumstances may arise that such work is necessary. Supervisory employees (mgmt) may perform work in cases of emergencies beyond the control of the employer, including (but not limited to) work when an employee fails to report as scheduled."
While it sucks, that's the way the contract is worded.
-- Edited by techelite on Tuesday 18th of June 2013 12:38:41 AM
if you see a manager on a register you need to file a grievance with the union. that manager is taking away a job that should be filled with an employee. why bother scheduling cashiers when they can just use salary management??
Our co-managers get on registers when it gets busy up front and we're out of lane compliance. That's just how it's been. Our co-managers also condition shelves, stock when needed and occasionally unload trucks and pull pallets of product. They do the work because we often times don't have sufficient help. Filing a grievance with the union will only anger store management and the union likely wouldn't accomplish anything because, quite frankly, the union is pretty much useless 95% of the time based on my observations/what others have said. The main thing the union appears to be good at is collecting union dues. Again, just based on what I see/hear.
Also, I was right about Friday night. I saw the report and the chart dipped all the way down to 0% compliance with a grand total of twenty-three dips. Quite an amazing accomplishment for a non-holiday, non-weekend day. It requires an amazing degree of incompetence on the part of store management, the CSM and the floor supervisor to achieve something so jaw-dropping.
GenesisOne wrote:It requires an amazing degree of incompetence on the part of store management, the CSM and the floor supervisor to achieve something so jaw-dropping.
I'd say you're getting waaaaaay ahead of yourself blaming this on mgmt or floor supervisors. If that day was scheduled poorly, the only person really to blame would be the CSM, and that may not have even been the case.
If the scheduling was to blame, mgmt only has a minor responsibility in that they should have been ensuring the CSM had scheduled enough help for peak times. However, the bulk of that does still go back to the CSM. The floor supervisor pretty much did everything they could once they entered a lane and called mgmt.
If someone called out, left sick, or quit, and the shift wasn't able to be covered, if there aren't other available cashiers in the store, the situation is pretty much guaranteed to fall apart terribly like it did. Again, the FES did everything they could once they entered a lane and called mgmt.
Our co-managers get on registers when it gets busy up front and we're out of lane compliance. That's just how it's been.
Also, I was right about Friday night. I saw the report and the chart dipped all the way down to 0% compliance with a grand total of twenty-three dips. Quite an amazing accomplishment for a non-holiday, non-weekend day. It requires an amazing degree of incompetence on the part of store management, the CSM and the floor supervisor to achieve something so jaw-dropping.
When I watch a co-manager at my store on a register for hours, it pisses me off.
I didn't know you could dip that low. Maybe it happened for us last night! Even with calling people in and relief it was like we were always a register short. The mega deals also brought out our extreme couponers.
I work in the Nutrition department, Surge cashier, stock, and condition. There are times when I can't get ANYTHING done because though I'm a Surge Cashier they take advantage of it. They CSM actually told me that I'm the fastest cashier they have and they don't trust any of the other Surge Cashiers. I've also been told by a manager that they won't hire anymore cashiers or courtesy clerks. The company is one of the largest in grocery and give away more food than Walmart, Tom Thumb, and Albertsons combined yet they won't start the pay off at more than $7.35/hour. How cheap can they be???
GenesisOne wrote:It requires an amazing degree of incompetence on the part of store management, the CSM and the floor supervisor to achieve something so jaw-dropping.
I'd say you're getting waaaaaay ahead of yourself blaming this on mgmt or floor supervisors. If that day was scheduled poorly, the only person really to blame would be the CSM, and that may not have even been the case.
If the scheduling was to blame, mgmt only has a minor responsibility in that they should have been ensuring the CSM had scheduled enough help for peak times. However, the bulk of that does still go back to the CSM. The floor supervisor pretty much did everything they could once they entered a lane and called mgmt.
If someone called out, left sick, or quit, and the shift wasn't able to be covered, if there aren't other available cashiers in the store, the situation is pretty much guaranteed to fall apart terribly like it did. Again, the FES did everything they could once they entered a lane and called mgmt.
The scheduling has ranged from average to poor since our last CSM left. With our previous CSM, she would add hours in even if the computer/store manager said, "this is what you have to work with" because she knew how to properly run a front end. The store manager gave her this "freedom" because he trusted her judgment and knew that if she wanted to add hours, it was for a good reason and wouldn't be wasted. The store manager doesn't have the same respect/confidence in our current CSM, and what he's given to work with clearly isn't enough because we can see it on a regular basis how we don't have enough checkers. It's not an occasional problem, it's a regular problem, although last Friday was far worse than usual. It's pretty obvious there is a problem when you are getting more than the maximum three dips per day, the floor supervisors are on registers almost constantly, management is called multiple times an hour to watch the floor and surge checkers are spending a couple of hours on the front end everyday rather than working in their own departments. Everyone is at fault here. Corporate wants the hours cut back, so the store manager is under pressure to keep the hours down, while the CSM's hands are tied to an extent because of concern of going over the "acceptable number of hours". The front end supervisor that night should have did whatever he could to extend shifts (there were people without eight hours) and call in some extra help (which has been done before, when needed, and when it can be justified) but instead he, like some of the other floor supervisors, is too young, too inexperienced and lacks the mental maturity and discipline to handle the highly stressful and demanding position of floor supervisor.
I know a lot of businesses out there are cutting the hours and help down, but Kroger really seems to be taking it to the extreme. As bad as people like to say Walmart is, at least my local Walmart is doing something about the wait times by adding additional self check-out lanes (which we badly need - four isn't enough) and I've noticed a bigger push at Target and Albertsons to have more registers open/more alert supervisors that stay on the floor and call help as needed. Things probably won't change though, so I'm sure I and others can look forward to many more stressful, nightmarish days ahead until something better is obtainable.
Our co-managers get on registers when it gets busy up front and we're out of lane compliance. That's just how it's been.
Also, I was right about Friday night. I saw the report and the chart dipped all the way down to 0% compliance with a grand total of twenty-three dips. Quite an amazing accomplishment for a non-holiday, non-weekend day. It requires an amazing degree of incompetence on the part of store management, the CSM and the floor supervisor to achieve something so jaw-dropping.
When I watch a co-manager at my store on a register for hours, it pisses me off.
I didn't know you could dip that low. Maybe it happened for us last night! Even with calling people in and relief it was like we were always a register short. The mega deals also brought out our extreme couponers.
We don't double coupons. That helps with the extreme couponers.
Put up a sign that says "Now...Faster check out at Kroger!" and in the fine print at the bottom, write "Conditions from time to time may vary at each store due to understaffing, poor morale and incompetence".
