All for bonuses we will NEVER see. EVER. Why is it are we FORCED to suffer with low hours, while management gets their bonuses? And if we complain too much, we get a "vacation" of an "unspecified length of time.
Yeah, we cut hours too. So I've decided that I only do what I can within the allotted hours. No more, no less
They go as far as not scheduling nobody in my place on my day off. And I'm the only one in my department. So far it was crazy with them cutting hours, now it's becoming scary coz that's insane.
From what I've heard, store managers receive multiple bonuses a year. One such bonus is dependent on meeting wage and overtime goals. If a store manager is successful in keeping wages proportional to sales, then that store manager is "rewarded" for successfully managing that aspect of the business. If during a given week, a store uses more hours than what has been budgeted for by forecasting, then the store manager is risking a percentage of his/her bonus. A store manager receives all sorts of numbers in the form of forecasting and reports from higher-ups in the division and beyond, and he/she is expected to "go by the numbers" regardless of the practicality of the numbers. It's ultimately not about running the best possible store to satisfy as many customers as possible as that would slice into the company's bottom line in the short term (even though it would start paying off roughly five years down the line and leave the company in better financial shape). It's more so about maximizing profit in the here and now while investing "just enough" to keep stores in a moderately functional state so that corporate can make a pretty penny and reinvest some of the profits into building new stores to further supplement the bottom line. This is why one call-in can screw an entire department over for a day and the consequences of that call-in can sometimes still be felt for a day or two afterward - it's the direct result of of a corporate policy to only utilize the barest number of resources in order to simply "get by".
From what I've heard, store managers receive multiple bonuses a year. One such bonus is dependent on meeting wage and overtime goals. If a store manager is successful in keeping wages proportional to sales, then that store manager is "rewarded" for successfully managing that aspect of the business. If during a given week, a store uses more hours than what has been budgeted for by forecasting, then the store manager is risking a percentage of his/her bonus. A store manager receives all sorts of numbers in the form of forecasting and reports from higher-ups in the division and beyond, and he/she is expected to "go by the numbers" regardless of the practicality of the numbers. It's ultimately not about running the best possible store to satisfy as many customers as possible as that would slice into the company's bottom line in the short term (even though it would start paying off roughly five years down the line and leave the company in better financial shape). It's more so about maximizing profit in the here and now while investing "just enough" to keep stores in a moderately functional state so that corporate can make a pretty penny and reinvest some of the profits into building new stores to further supplement the bottom line. This is why one call-in can screw an entire department over for a day and the consequences of that call-in can sometimes still be felt for a day or two afterward - it's the direct result of of a corporate policy to only utilize the barest number of resources in order to simply "get by".
You have NAILED the basic problem with Kroger!!!!!! Thank you so much for posting this.
Now, wouldn't it be wonderful if this post would be read by EVERY "bigwig" at Kroger, all the way up the corporate ladder and at the very top, and re-read and re-read for 2 or 3 times until they GET IT!!??!! At my Kroger, it seems like we are "hanging on for dear life" trying to keep the store looking like it is run smoothly, but just barely being able to, what with a skeleton crew.
And Kroger claims to be hiring gobs of new workers around the country (a huge job fair was held in many if not most Kroger stores back in early August, find the news articles with a Google news keyword search) but where are they????
Our store manager constantly gets in trouble for percent effective & overtime. I know it's hurting his bottom line. But he went through the whole ladder, he's the one who has to face the angry customers that don't have their product on the shelf, not corporate. He knows it takes more, and things happen.