Well, after being asked and asked to become one by management/other front end supervisors and the CSM for a little over a year and a half now, I've agreed to become one and everyone is excited that I'm going to be one (one supervisor told me I'm already better than some of the current supervisors and I'm not even one yet). Part of me wonders why I'd want to take on more work, more stress and whatnot for the same amount of pay, but I figure I'm already pretty much an acting front end supervisor now anyway (stepping in when others call in/leave early) so I might as well just be one officially. Already understand Que-Vision, 1+1 compliance and what's considered acceptable performance on the front. Any advice... other than to have my head examined?
don't let your manager's badgering get to you. they tend to do a lot of it if you fall a little behind.
I guess I better not fall a little behind, then. Really though, I'm not too worried because I have a pretty good working relationship with all three co-managers and the store manager, so it helps that there's a degree of respect and confidence already in place. I (and others) feel that I'm more mature, disciplined and goal-oriented than at least four of the other front end supervisors, so as long as I can boost the front end's overall performance, I expect the working relationship that I have with management to remain smooth and hopefully even grow in strength.
look at your shift schedules for gaps in coverage, make sure they know if someone is late, called out, is a no show or everything's as scheduled and still falling apart. it will.
find out who you have as relief help if needed. don't bug management but also don't drown either. the predictor often lies, use your instincts. even if you're in queue according to the predictor, if any customer waits 2 minutes, you've dipped.
if you have flexibility, put your fastest cashiers on express and the first big lane(s). keep an eye on self-checkout, encourage that person to pull people over and keep the clutter down. your front end has self-checkout usage goals, they may yell at you if that's not being met. don't feel confined by the schedule breakdown that might move people to various positions. it's your shift to run.
make sure to keep an eye on carts too; try to get your clerks to fill the lobby before prime time starts.
a lot of how a shift goes depends on who is scheduled with you. make sure your cashiers know how long their breaks are and know when their shifts are over. i've had issues with people just turning off their lights and walking away early while i'm busy at the far end. thank your team. makes sure you get breaks done. remain calm.
Thanks. A lot of what you said reinforces what I believe to be the key points to running a smooth front end. Execution isn't always easy though when you have self check-out attendants that are more interested in leaning against their station instead of bringing customers over to self-scan and relief help that will wait five or more minutes to show up (if at all) in the hopes that when they do come up, they won't be needed (I've literally been told by the produce guys that they won't come up to check when called because they are trying to get it into the supervisors' heads that they don't want to check). If people try and pull this stuff when I have the red vest on, they better be prepared to explain themselves to management because I will go to management. I understand the other departments have work that needs to be done, but our store manager has said the front end comes first, so they really have no choice but to drop what they are doing and rush to the front when called. I will not tolerate people that are slacking (certain courtesy clerks) or ignoring calls to help on the front when I'm on the floor. If it means I end up being less liked, oh well, I'll live. Management is entrusting me with a red vest because they believe I can get the job done and make the front end a more efficient place so that the customers will be better served. Living up to their expectations is what I intend to do.
I'll re-stress being familiar with your relief help roster daily, especially if your store has any problems at all with queuing. The screens with the predictor will help with planning for rushes, but whether or not you are in queue at any particular moment depends only on your actual lines, not what is displayed on the screen. You may have 5 lanes open when it says "action now: 4" but if you are at more than 1+1 in any of your lines, you are out of queue.
I have opened two, sometimes three, more lanes over what the Action Now number is simply because more than two customers are in a line, so I know what you mean. I'll sometimes open a line even if there's just one person in line, but that one person has a huge order that will exceed two minutes to process.
My main concern with relief help is some of them will not come unless a co-manager/the store manager calls them. I see the surge checkers do this to other supervisors frequently. One department head has actually told his people to ignore the front end when called. Personally, I won't stand for that. If I call someone, that someone had better come (unless he/she is with a customer or on break), and if he/she doesn't, the next free moment I have, I'll be talking to a co-manager/the store manager about that person. I'm well aware we all have work to do and that departments are often times understaffed, but if you're a surge checker and you're not with a customer at the moment or on break and you're called to the front, you had better be up there in a couple minutes or be prepared to answer to management.
GenesisOne wrote:One department head has actually told his people to ignore the front end when called. Personally, I won't stand for that. If I call someone, that someone had better come (unless he/she is with a customer or on break), and if he/she doesn't, the next free moment I have, I'll be talking to a co-manager/the store manager about that person. I'm well aware we all have work to do and that departments are often times understaffed, but if you're a surge checker and you're not with a customer at the moment or on break and you're called to the front, you had better be up there in a couple minutes or be prepared to answer to management.
Damn straight. This kind of behavior is unacceptable and you need to document which departments/employees/managers you call and who does and doesn't come up. I would suggest you rotate departments for each rush. When people from problem departments don't show up, take note and be sure to explain the next day to your supervisor and/or managers EXACTLY whom is to blame for those dips.
I have opened two, sometimes three, more lanes over what the Action Now number is simply because more than two customers are in a line, so I know what you mean. I'll sometimes open a line even if there's just one person in line, but that one person has a huge order that will exceed two minutes to process.
My main concern with relief help is some of them will not come unless a co-manager/the store manager calls them. I see the surge checkers do this to other supervisors frequently. One department head has actually told his people to ignore the front end when called. Personally, I won't stand for that. If I call someone, that someone had better come (unless he/she is with a customer or on break), and if he/she doesn't, the next free moment I have, I'll be talking to a co-manager/the store manager about that person. I'm well aware we all have work to do and that departments are often times understaffed, but if you're a surge checker and you're not with a customer at the moment or on break and you're called to the front, you had better be up there in a couple minutes or be prepared to answer to management.
I get why you'd be upset since that's your job to get them there but.... I mean, who's going to be there to help them when produce/dairy/whoever doesn't get their job done? I don't think front end is going to run over to help them either. lol, i know we've all discussed this so many times....
I get why you'd be upset since that's your job to get them there but.... I mean, who's going to be there to help them when produce/dairy/whoever doesn't get their job done? I don't think front end is going to run over to help them either. lol, i know we've all discussed this so many times....
Oh I understand where you're coming from. I hear it from the other departments now and I'm not even an actual front end supervisor. They don't have enough help as it is and when pulled away from their departments, even less work gets done as a result. Unfortunately, Kroger, like a lot of companies out there, doesn't want to spend the money to properly staff the departments so that the product is there when the customer is looking for it. I wish the front end was given enough hours so that we wouldn't have to call other departments multiple times a day, sometimes multiple times an hour, to check/get carts, but corporate insists that management try and squeeze by with just barely enough help and often times, the number of people we allowed just doesn't cut it. I don't believe this is putting the customer first, but all I can do is go by what the store manager says, and he says the front end comes first. Checking out the customer at a reasonable pace takes priority over all else, according to him. That means if I see a line with more than two customers in it and I'm on a register, I have no choice but to call someone from another department. The store manager is the highest authority in a store and regardless of the department, we all have to listen to what he says.
I appreciate all the advice offered in this thread. Now, I would like to ask for a different kind of advice. My store manager and CSM are both enthusiastic that I have agreed to be a front end supervisor. My store manager told me today that he thinks "I'll be very good at it" upon asking me some questions about the position (I guess to ensure that I'm truly ready). All three co-managers believe I should be on the floor. All of the supervisors support the idea and already think I'm good at it. The checkers that know also feel this way. Everyone seems to think I'll do a terrific job... except for me. The more I think about it, the more I believe I'm just not knowledgeable enough to be entrusted with the responsibility that comes with the territory. There are still times when I'm not sure whether I should override a coupon or not. A front end supervisor is basically a lead cashier, so shouldn't that front end supervisor be more knowledgeable than a majority of the checkers? I don't see myself as being more capable/more knowledgeable than the majority of the checkers. As a result, I don't see myself deserving of the position and the more this goes through my head, for the life of me, I can't fathom why everyone else thinks I'll be so good at this. I have resisted this for over a year now because I don't see myself as being capable of handling this. Do I need to start listening more to the people around me or should I trust how I personally feel on this matter? This is honestly something that I've wrestled with now for more than just a little while. I believe it's true that some people are cut out to lead while others are more suited to follow. I'm just not sure where I belong among the two.
Well there are a lot of things you pretty much have to learn as you go. For the coupon issue specifically, your division should have a significant coupon policy document on kweb. If you don't have access to kweb, have your CSM get it for you. Start making a list of subjects you need training on. Between CBTs and docs on kweb, most should be covered and any left over you can bring up with your CSM or an experienced floor supervisor.
Also, if you would rather, direct those questions to us on here. I have seen several people who run the floor regularly and I am an ACSM at a million-$-per-week marketplace store. Some points may be division-specific, but we represent a significant pool of knowledge on the subject.
Well there are a lot of things you pretty much have to learn as you go. For the coupon issue specifically, your division should have a significant coupon policy document on kweb. If you don't have access to kweb, have your CSM get it for you. Start making a list of subjects you need training on. Between CBTs and docs on kweb, most should be covered and any left over you can bring up with your CSM or an experienced floor supervisor.
Also, if you would rather, direct those questions to us on here. I have seen several people who run the floor regularly and I am an ACSM at a million-$-per-week marketplace store. Some points may be division-specific, but we represent a significant pool of knowledge on the subject.
It seems I will have a lot to learn as I go, which I hate because that makes me feel incompetent. Not only do I have to worry about my own feelings of inadequacy, but also on top of that, overly impatient and needlessly rude customers have to pile on an additional layer of negative feelings. I wanted to be trained right and what did I get? No computer training for SCO or floor supervisor (don't know if training modules exist for the latter, but I know they exist for the former) and one day of training for each - neither day of which permitted me a full eight hours of training because the person training me had to keep jumping on a register so I was left by myself. Now next week, I have to run the floor three times (two of which are on the busiest days of the week - a Sunday and Saturday) and I have two midshift self-scan shifts that I'm dreading as my "training" is officially over. I wanted two days of training for each plus computer training. So much for that. Feeling really unprepared here even though everyone thinks I know enough already. Such a stupid move to do all of this for the same garbage pay. I'm seriously either looking to quit or switch to another department.
