She was good. Really good, for someone who had just gotten out of the probation period. She knew how to do just about every job in the department. She had potential, she could have gone a long way in the company if she wanted. For her to quit...something had to have happened. Our store manager expects too much out of a department that hasn't been fully staffed once in the year i've been in this store.
I'm finishing out my vacation, but now i have to figure out how to rework next week's schedule again.
How much longer am i supposed to try running a bakery department on 4 people? It's ridiculous. It's impossible. When we had 5, ELMS tried to tell me i was fully staffed...that was a lie. Running the bakery on 175 hours a week when someone that i'm friends with used to be bakery manager here and she got over 200. The people that are left, why do they even stay? They shouldn't even HAVE to worry about these types of things. My baker and cake decorator have stayed this long but who could blame them if they did quit? The 4th person is a new hire too and so if the store management puts anymore pressure on her, what's really keeping her here either?
I'm not even mad at her for quitting. Just frustrated with the company. Uplift and feeding the human spirit, my @$$.
And then they dare to question why i've been down in sales versus last year. You think i like this either?? I would love to be one of the better bakery departments in the district. I'd love to get the recognition that some of these people have. But i won't. I feel like i'll never be able to be as good as some of them. I don't hate my store either... the people who are there are great. I worry that i'll be moved, and to a store i don't want to go to, because it all comes down on me. But I don't know what to do anymore. :(
My store's deli manager wants out too..... no wonder why. Maybe when she finally goes, she can take me with her.
AMEN! Unfortunately, Store Managers/Store Management have been told time and time again, Staffing isn't a valid excuse for why the stores isn't up to standards. Maybe, there is a reason why Div Pres. are getting moved around? If you actually look at stores obtaining their result that have a few common characteristics. These characteristic include: small store, low volume, numerous associates that have been around awhile, high pre-pack plan-0-gram. How can someone have fun at work and have "uplift" if "uplift" isn't a task build into ELMS? There is a reason why Bakery sales over the long-long run are down, there isn't anything special about the bakery items! If a customer wants a special pastry item? They go to the local bakery, if a customer has a kids B-Day they go to the grocery store. When items come in pre-cooked and the bakery area doesn't smell like a bakery....your kinda just selling frozen product as "Fresh" ("Fresh from the Freezer"). Oh, I'm kinda sick of cupcakes being a staple for every holiday and season....just change the color and put a different pick on them, how innovative. Cookies, WOW, what an impulse item for back to school! They might as well just bake the items offsite and ship them in like the Deli/Produce items. Oh, how many single serve donuts are sold a day? why do we still produce them? How much work is the department doing for $.69 with 15-20% being a "Managers Special" at the end of the night.
She was good. Really good, for someone who had just gotten out of the probation period. She knew how to do just about every job in the department. She had potential, she could have gone a long way in the company if she wanted. For her to quit...something had to have happened. Our store manager expects too much out of a department that hasn't been fully staffed once in the year i've been in this store.
I'm finishing out my vacation, but now i have to figure out how to rework next week's schedule again.
How much longer am i supposed to try running a bakery department on 4 people? It's ridiculous. It's impossible. When we had 5, ELMS tried to tell me i was fully staffed...that was a lie. Running the bakery on 175 hours a week when someone that i'm friends with used to be bakery manager here and she got over 200. The people that are left, why do they even stay? They shouldn't even HAVE to worry about these types of things. My baker and cake decorator have stayed this long but who could blame them if they did quit? The 4th person is a new hire too and so if the store management puts anymore pressure on her, what's really keeping her here either?
I'm not even mad at her for quitting. Just frustrated with the company. Uplift and feeding the human spirit, my @$$.
And then they dare to question why i've been down in sales versus last year. You think i like this either?? I would love to be one of the better bakery departments in the district. I'd love to get the recognition that some of these people have. But i won't. I feel like i'll never be able to be as good as some of them. I don't hate my store either... the people who are there are great. I worry that i'll be moved, and to a store i don't want to go to, because it all comes down on me. But I don't know what to do anymore. :(
My store's deli manager wants out too..... no wonder why. Maybe when she finally goes, she can take me with her.
Only question to ask now is of yourself---why are YOU staying? You can trot out the litanous 'well I need the money and the benefits I've been here forever I ain't gonna find anything this good at this age blah blah blah'.....but you know it A) isn't going to get better, because B) it's only going to get worse.
So, again: Why stay? I hope you seriously contemplate this.
EUID, actually regarding donuts, my store is kind of an odd exception... we sell a TON of donuts every day since our bakery is right by starbucks in the front of the store. We sell more than the marketplace 20 minutes away. Just a funny observation.
To the Anon poster... I have been thinking the same thing. Part of me wants to leave, part of me is afraid to make the jump. I'm still young, i can go somewhere else. I've worked here for 7 years so i'm not a "lifer" quite yet.
AMEN! Unfortunately, Store Managers/Store Management have been told time and time again, Staffing isn't a valid excuse for why the stores isn't up to standards. Maybe, there is a reason why Div Pres. are getting moved around? If you actually look at stores obtaining their result that have a few common characteristics. These characteristic include: small store, low volume, numerous associates that have been around awhile, high pre-pack plan-0-gram. How can someone have fun at work and have "uplift" if "uplift" isn't a task build into ELMS? There is a reason why Bakery sales over the long-long run are down, there isn't anything special about the bakery items! If a customer wants a special pastry item? They go to the local bakery, if a customer has a kids B-Day they go to the grocery store. When items come in pre-cooked and the bakery area doesn't smell like a bakery....your kinda just selling frozen product as "Fresh" ("Fresh from the Freezer"). Oh, I'm kinda sick of cupcakes being a staple for every holiday and season....just change the color and put a different pick on them, how innovative. Cookies, WOW, what an impulse item for back to school! They might as well just bake the items offsite and ship them in like the Deli/Produce items. Oh, how many single serve donuts are sold a day? why do we still produce them? How much work is the department doing for $.69 with 15-20% being a "Managers Special" at the end of the night.
EUID_Unknown writes: "Unfortunately, Store Managers/Store Management have been told time and time again, Staffing isn't a valid excuse for why the stores isn't up to standards.'"
That just makes my blood boil.
Corporate / Upper management is deaf, blind, stupid and corrupt.
That statement (Kroger's "official outlook" or "talking points" ) is just as stupidas these (Hypothetical) statements:
"A hot sun beating down on us from a cloudless sky, along with a warm southerly wind in early August IS NOT A VALID EXCUSE for why I was getting so hot and sweaty today when I was outside mowing my yard".
"The fact that our local city council voted to lay off part of our street cleaning crew this summer is NOT A VALID EXCUSE for why there's a noticeable up-tick in trash on the streets. "
"A mega-drought in Bangladesh that destroyed much of their cotton crop IS NOT A VALID EXCUSE as to why their 100% cotton blue jeans exports are way down and prices are up".
"A terrible hurricane that destroyed much of the orange crop in Florida recently is NOT A VALID EXCUSE as to why Florida oranges are harder to get at the present time".
"Just because you only got 3 hours of sleep is NOT A VALID EXCUSE as to why you are feeling really sleepy right now!"
EUID, actually regarding donuts, my store is kind of an odd exception... we sell a TON of donuts every day since our bakery is right by starbucks in the front of the store. We sell more than the marketplace 20 minutes away. Just a funny observation.
To the Anon poster... I have been thinking the same thing. Part of me wants to leave, part of me is afraid to make the jump. I'm still young, i can go somewhere else. I've worked here for 7 years so i'm not a "lifer" quite yet.
A guy that transfered to our store said he was amazed at the amount of donuts we did. He said his store hardly did any. We do about 20 dozen on weekkdays and about 30 dozen on both Saturday and Sunday.
Count me in the "I cant take it anymore crowd" . Ever since this new store manager got here, our store has gone to ****. All he cares about it the bottom line, and the merch side of things, he doesnt care about his employees. Now I am not a person who needs to have their feelings coddled, I worked in some horrible places with some downright abusive bosses ... but ... at least I got paid well for all the BS I had to deal with. Here? Nope, and I have to say, I've had enough.
Oh ... and on top of all that, they are basically kicking me out of my dept to put someone else who has no more seniority than I do (we have been working at the store the exact same amount of time and are both part time) from another dept who doesnt even know SQUAT about the nutrition dept (not their fault, Kroger has a habit of just throwing people to the wolves and they either survive or not), i filed a complaint about it, and brought it up to the mgmt, but of course you all know that's basically like talking to a brick wall -_-
-- Edited by TheDragoness on Friday 3rd of August 2018 10:00:43 AM
EUID, actually regarding donuts, my store is kind of an odd exception... we sell a TON of donuts every day since our bakery is right by starbucks in the front of the store. We sell more than the marketplace 20 minutes away. Just a funny observation.
To the Anon poster... I have been thinking the same thing. Part of me wants to leave, part of me is afraid to make the jump. I'm still young, i can go somewhere else. I've worked here for 7 years so i'm not a "lifer" quite yet.
WOW! After 7 years it would be hard. In 3 more years you'll qualify for the pension. I don't know your age, but after putting that much time in it would probably be stupid to leave.
Which is why i really don't want to... that, and i have made some good friends here. There's a lot of people i'd have never gotten to meet if i had never went for the department head position.
EUID, actually regarding donuts, my store is kind of an odd exception... we sell a TON of donuts every day since our bakery is right by starbucks in the front of the store. We sell more than the marketplace 20 minutes away. Just a funny observation.
To the Anon poster... I have been thinking the same thing. Part of me wants to leave, part of me is afraid to make the jump. I'm still young, i can go somewhere else. I've worked here for 7 years so i'm not a "lifer" quite yet.
WOW! After 7 years it would be hard. In 3 more years you'll qualify for the pension. I don't know your age, but after putting that much time in it would probably be stupid to leave.
Speaking as someone else that has been with Kroger for seven years (actually seven and a half at this point), I can relate to 4hourrush's feelings regarding making the jump and going elsewhere. Yeah, I have issues with management, with some of the employees at my store, a portion of the customer base and a lot of the BS corporate tosses our way which only hinders productivity rather than enhancing it. Then I stack that up against what I consider to be the positives, like topping out at $15.05 next year (admittedly not fantastic considering the cost of living nowadays, but it's also not terrible), a pension that continues to grow (mine started after five years, and yeah, no guarantee it's going to be there when I hit retirement, but it's better to have it just in case than not to), health insurance that costs $4.00 a week (isn't the greatest coverage, but it's not easy to find jobs that offer health insurance and getting it on my own would be costly), the stability of forty hours every week due to being full time and a fairly consistent set schedule.
I might feel differently if I was responsible for a department as the frustration, stress and pressure might be enough to drive me out the door (in the past, at a previous store, I came close to walking out more than once), but yeah, it seems the more time you put in with Kroger, the more difficult it becomes to walk away.
You say something had to have happened for her to quit, but that's not exactly true.
I'm about to break the news to my dept manager that I'll soon be leaving to go back to school, and I feel bad, because I've been given a lot of responsibility and handled it well, but this job simply doesn't pay enough.
I've averaged:
35.91 hours/week
$301.01/week (net of tax)
If I forecast that out over 52 weeks, it comes out to a measly
$15,652.27
I'd have to be insane or desperate to potentially sacrifice my GPA to make that amount. Especially when you consider I often act as the back-up for my department and others.
There's just not much incentive for people to stay.
EUID, actually regarding donuts, my store is kind of an odd exception... we sell a TON of donuts every day since our bakery is right by starbucks in the front of the store. We sell more than the marketplace 20 minutes away. Just a funny observation.
To the Anon poster... I have been thinking the same thing. Part of me wants to leave, part of me is afraid to make the jump. I'm still young, i can go somewhere else. I've worked here for 7 years so i'm not a "lifer" quite yet.
A guy that transfered to our store said he was amazed at the amount of donuts we did. He said his store hardly did any. We do about 20 dozen on weekkdays and about 30 dozen on both Saturday and Sunday.
Well the point is return on investment, how much time does it take to process donuts for the .05-.10 cents in profit. When the same labor can be used for something else?
EUID, actually regarding donuts, my store is kind of an odd exception... we sell a TON of donuts every day since our bakery is right by starbucks in the front of the store. We sell more than the marketplace 20 minutes away. Just a funny observation.
To the Anon poster... I have been thinking the same thing. Part of me wants to leave, part of me is afraid to make the jump. I'm still young, i can go somewhere else. I've worked here for 7 years so i'm not a "lifer" quite yet.
A guy that transfered to our store said he was amazed at the amount of donuts we did. He said his store hardly did any. We do about 20 dozen on weekkdays and about 30 dozen on both Saturday and Sunday.
Well the point is return on investment, how much time does it take to process donuts for the .05-.10 cents in profit. When the same labor can be used for something else?
Actually, doughnuts make the biggest profit in the bakery. A typical doughnut costs between 10 and 15 cents in ingredients. I can make 25 dozen in an hour or less
I just did the math, and we do about 30 dozen donuts on a weekday, with more on the weekend, i'd guess around 31-32 dozen.
They are 6.99 a dozen, and we don't always sell all of them, we usually mark down a few dozen a night. The most I usually mark down would be around 10 dozen.
So assuming we sell 20 dozen of them at full price, that's $140 of bakery sales a day. Not bad for a bakery that does about $1200 a day through the week and about $2000 on weekends.
There's just not much incentive for people to stay.
No doubt. Especially when the Abuser-in-Chief heads up the "Uplift" Committee.
Oh yeah, totally, in fact there wouldnt be any NEED for an "uplift" or "promise group" (as our store is calling it) if magmt and HR would do their ****ing job. I almost cant wait until I find other employment, because then I can go in as a REAL customer, and talk with all my old friends and there is nothing Mr ******* store manager can do about it (I will be careful not to get any of my friends in trouble, though).
(I will be careful not to get any of my friends in trouble, though).
