Due to the upcoming holiday seasons, it is getting busier and busier. Management going crazy because their is not enough help scheduled. We all made suggestions to schedule more help but management says 'we can't (won't) do it.' Then they piss and moan about not enough coverage. I say, who gives a tin sh*t about the management bonuses. It does NOT benefit us in ANY way so who cares?!? All they are worried about is less hours putting more and more in our plates. If they want more stuff done, schedule more help so they can leave us ALONE so we can get OUR jobs done like we are supposed to.
My management prefers to give everyone as few hours as possible then call people in every day. Doesn't make sense to me.
Sounds more reactive and defensive to me! And for all their talk about less and less hours for people, their "calling in" people at the last minute doesn't necessarily accomplish that, does it? The short-sightedness of people never ceases to amaze and befuddle me! If anyone can explain the reasoning behind this, then I'm all ears...
My management prefers to give everyone as few hours as possible then call people in every day. Doesn't make sense to me.
That only works if you can get people but what's happened is they've created a perfect storm... people can get their eschedule and trust it (silly fools) so they make plans... it's next to impossible to cover a shift. even trying to steal from another dept, it's next to impossible.
the other problem is it's nearly thanksgiving. wtf are we doing trying to mass hire now. we need semi-trained, competent people. it should've been done a month or two back. now we're in a hiring panic. service depts can't get people up to speed in that time. even the front end doesn't need green cashiers who you don't know you can trust with money in time for the giant rush. it's CRAZY.
the other problem is it's nearly thanksgiving. wtf are we doing trying to mass hire now. we need semi-trained, competent people. it should've been done a month or two back. now we're in a hiring panic. service depts can't get people up to speed in that time. even the front end doesn't need green cashiers who you don't know you can trust with money in time for the giant rush. it's CRAZY.
the other problem is it's nearly thanksgiving. wtf are we doing trying to mass hire now. we need semi-trained, competent people. it should've been done a month or two back. now we're in a hiring panic. service depts can't get people up to speed in that time. even the front end doesn't need green cashiers who you don't know you can trust with money in time for the giant rush. it's CRAZY.
it's the Kroger way . . .
Sad but true. I've seen it happen every year.
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Would you like fries with th... I mean, your milk in a bag?
you all sound like a broken record! (for all of you kids under 30, a record is this plastic disk that we used to put music on until CDs and IPods came along)
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I am no longer part of the oppressed, evil workforce of Kroger! Can you say "Hallelujah"
you all sound like a broken record! (for all of you kids under 30, a record is this plastic disk that we used to put music on until CDs and IPods came along)
Shut up old man! *gets on his motorcycle and drives away*
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Would you like fries with th... I mean, your milk in a bag?
Except that's NOT what happened at my store even a year ago. We mass hired 1-2 months early so we had a strong team going into the holiday season. We're adding people who will START the week of Thanksgiving. WTF is that?
the other problem is it's nearly thanksgiving. wtf are we doing trying to mass hire now. we need semi-trained, competent people. it should've been done a month or two back. now we're in a hiring panic. service depts can't get people up to speed in that time. even the front end doesn't need green cashiers who you don't know you can trust with money in time for the giant rush. it's CRAZY.
it's the Kroger way . . .
Yeah, well it's the BACKWARDS way!...It's called "one step forward and two steps behind"...I think that's the technical term for it...
Except that's NOT what happened at my store even a year ago. We mass hired 1-2 months early so we had a strong team going into the holiday season. We're adding people who will START the week of Thanksgiving. WTF is that?
Baptism by fire. I bet those people who start the week of Thanksgiving don't make it to Christmas.
Except that's NOT what happened at my store even a year ago. We mass hired 1-2 months early so we had a strong team going into the holiday season. We're adding people who will START the week of Thanksgiving. WTF is that?
Baptism by fire. I bet those people who start the week of Thanksgiving don't make it to Christmas.
And if they do it's all "Why am i not getting hours anymore! I can't live on this!" when February/March comes around and the cuts begin.
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Would you like fries with th... I mean, your milk in a bag?
Just today, they called me in to work a few days on my vacation (NO replacement days; for "needs if the business) I told them
They should schedule more people, and that I cannot (will not) come in. Those *******s then hung up on me. Well, we'll see how they fare being as they don't want to schedule more help for the holidays.
Kitten- not saying you aren't too bright or a true blonde but they have this option on your phone nowadays- it's called Caller ID. Why would you even bother to answer a call from your store while your on a paid, scheduled vacation? Unlike Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy, a call from KR is never going to be good news nor Hey we've got a present for you since you're such a good, conscientious employee. You are catering to their "We Own U" mentality when you fall prey to their begging, threats, and seat of the pants scheduling/mgmt.
It was my cousin who answered the phone and passed it to me and said "it's for you." He didn't say who it was. I was just coming out of the shower at the time. Next time, I take the phone with me. Normally I don't answer kroger calls on my days off or vacTion
Just learn to roll with it. There's no point in getting upset over what doesn't get done. That's the attitude we've all adopted where I'm at. If grocery and produce end up spending two, three or more hours out of their days up front on a register and out getting carts like they have been doing more and more at the store I'm at, so be it because it no longer bothers them. Nobody gets yelled at by management because management realizes everyone's hands are tied. Corporate wants hours cut back even while sales increase. Store-level management agrees with all of us hourly employees that it's crazy, it's a disaster, but this is the "reality we must work with" now. Don't stress out. Then again though, that might be easy for me to say since judging by how a lot of people talk about their co-managers/store managers, I must be at the only Kroger store in the country where management isn't kicking back comfortably in the office with a detached view of how things are and work.
My management prefers to give everyone as few hours as possible then call people in every day. Doesn't make sense to me.
It does if you know how the upper echelon of Kroger works.
Basically they do not want to see you SCHEDULING more hours but if you are USING more hours based on business needs than that's okay. Welcome to grocery-retail, this isn't just Kroger...
Sorry that wasn't explained well, for example don't know what department you're in OP but say your manager is the front end and makes the schedule. Most FES I know are your ally and think like you do..it's going to be the holidays, they want as much cashiers and courtesy clerks as possible. In their perfect world they'd have 9/9 on the que-vision with maybe only 1 outer department on a register and 7 baggers (minus express).
And here is where upper management comes in, more specifically the Store Manager. They want to show District that they're using as little labor as possible and gaining as much sales as possible. More bonus in their pocket NOT your direct manager..they don't get any perks for cutting hours. So when the hour squeeze hammer comes down, they are as stressed out about it as you are. To adjust, they call cashiers/baggers in when upper management actually sees there is going to be a problem today because business has picked up because 9 times out of 10 what labor they've been given is insufficient for business needs. But it's always that 1 time that counts to them, that ONE time you have too much help and have to send people home. Guess what? You don't have to go home until you've been there 4 hours, from the moment you clock in you're guaranteed time that wasn't needed on their labor clock.
So because of that 1 time out of 10 the FES gets boned on labor hours out of a hypothetical scenario that rarely actually happens. Welcome to grocery-retail :)
