I have been with Kroger for 30 years, and I work on the night crew stocking. I went in at midnight this morning, and they told me that the grocery manager walked out yesterday, and the grocery backup called in sick!!!
So, I was in charge for the night, and co-manager gave me the keys to the kingdom. I have filled in on the grocery manager and the backups nights off, but never on a big truck night.
I/we did the best we could but the truck was not finished. Usually when we get there the grocery manager already has the grocery truck unloaded and we start sorting product for the aisles But since he quit that didn't happen and I had to unload 2 trucks first and load them into coolers and freezers before I could get to the grocery truck.
Should I try and go for the grocery manager position? That **** is stressful and if the young ones can't handle it, I may not be able to either. If I do I'll need a little training and certification. But, the grocery managers don't last they either quit or get fired. It probably isn't worth the headache to get into it.
Sheesh! Can you elaborate on, "But, the grocery managers don't last they either quit or get fired".
I took over for the night manager that was about to retire. It is stressful at times. It would be great if everyone did what they were supposed to be doing. Fast and well. Instead, I am stuck with workers that need their hands held or can't produce fast results. That is the labor they are sending my way and expect me to work miracles.
I always figured I would be asked to step down if management doesn't like the results I am producing with the mediocre crew I have. I would step down if asked. But, I won't stay in the store to make up for all the slackers.
They're having a hard time getting people to be department managers or whatever you want to call them because each time they think the new person is going to be able to fix everything and it's just not going to happen until you get to the root of the problem: not enough good people and not enough hours. We have so many openings for department heads, back ups, and specialists in my division that a single thumbtack isn't enough to attach them to the bulletin board. I also think they need to stop dumbing everything down and stop relying so much on a computer algorithm to make all the decisions. Let people run their departments the way they think they should be run. If they're receiving department head pay, they should have the knowledge and common sense to know how to run things.
For the guy that quit you will now earn a new guy that sucks..and the sick guy sounds like a loser. Sounds like a no win situation going into the holidays.
You've been with Kroger 30 years, and this is the first time you've faced a situation like this and are thinking about stepping up to the grocery manager position? This should have been something you've answered for yourself at least twenty years ago. yeah, I'm going to say no.
Yeah, I'm too old that $hit, I should have done it twenty years ago!!! But, this morning an employee was suggesting to me that I should step up. I told her I didn't think I would want it, and she said to think about it.
