These changes came from the Front End Coordinator who is over an area of Kroger stores due to many complaints about 1) long lines, 2) customers waiting too long to be rung up, 3) cashiers not being friendly nor greeting the customer and so on.
One of the Front End supervisors was in charge of training every cashier and every courtesy clerk one on one.
The training for the cashiers consisted of the following...
1) greet the customer and immediately ask for their Kroger card when possible 2) ask them how they will be paying. If by debit/credit, let them know that they can insert or swipe their card in the card reader 3) wait to start scanning until the belt is at least halfway full 4) thank the customer
The cashiers are doing what they can do, but the customers also play a big role in this.
Here is what I and other cashiers have experienced regarding the customers...
the customer has to fish for their Kroger card or they tell us that they will entire their alt id *the phone number for that their Kroger card is attached to* in the card reader when they are ready.
the customers slowly unload their groceries from their cart
the customer forgets something and leaves to get it either before you start to scan or while you are scanning
the customer forgets to label the bag of bulk nut, candy and other items in the organic section. There is a machine in that section where you print out a label for what you put in the bag. Or you can just write down the code for what you put in the bag. So that means someone from the Front End has to go back to that section and put a label on that bag. I let a Front End supervisor or manager know about this when it happens to me.
the person who has the Kroger card or alt id is not with them at the moment, but will be coming to the line soon to either have me scan it or input their alt id into the card reader
the customers is not responsive to our prompts and wants to do things their way
Kroger Senior management also wants the q vision score to be 95% or above.
Kroger Senior management also wants our ring tender score to increase to 95%.
How would you deal with this situation as a cashier, as a Front End Manager, and as a Front End Supervisor?
Seems like Kroger management is putting unnecessary pressure on the front end employees by not being realistic. Every customer is a different experience. At our store, we get alot of customers that like to void of half their orders. Which slows down your ring tender. Or they run back to get some items they forgot after placing half of their order on the belt, meanwhile you have a long line of other customers waiting to check out. Sometimes the customers will run to their car for their Kroger card or wallet... Then you have the meticulous customer who wants to review all of their items onscreen to make sure they go their Mix & Match deals. Lol and also the multiple price checks and no courtesy clerk available to do them. Produce items not found, bar codes not scanning, mismatched coupons...the list goes on.
How would you deal with this situation as a cashier, as a Front End Manager, and as a Front End Supervisor?
Leave the front end. That's what I did months ago and I'm so, so much happier.
Seriously, front end is such BS. Kroger wants you to have control over what you can't control. I can tell you right now regardless of what management wants concerning ring tender and Que-Vision, it ain't gonna happen and no matter how much they moan and complain about it, they can't do squat to you or anyone else over it... except cut your hours, but hey, it's Kroger... they're gonna do that to you anyway regardless.
Maybe if Kroger actually staffed its front ends properly with sufficient checkers and baggers then things would go a heck of a lot more smoothly.
The company is becoming too Data Driven. While data is key to making decisions, one also needs to look past the numbers to determine the best options. Ask your FES to pull with FE ELMS Task Profile, Ask them to see how many hours Cashier are getting to "Engage", "Educate" or explain Fuel Points, etc to customers! In ELMS Cashiers are foretasted to basically have no down time and always be scanning, cashiers do not earn bagging hours on "Big Lanes" or anything except scanning and payments. Also, ask how many hours are for Breaks in the forecast......(Answer 0). ELMS is all based on tasks, Cashiers don't earn any hours unless their are on register (except the min cashier requirement of 1 during non-peek times).
Remember each ASSOCIATE isn't just a number, they are the companies future! "Making the Numbers" isn't productive if you cant sustain it or if your long term associates quit being hounded to make it.
The sky isn't always Blue...........its Red, Purple, Black, Green and every other color in the rainbow!
Not sure if this is applicable at your store but at my store something which has been very successful a mine is training all the Courtesy Clerks on registers. When the cue vision spikes up, Courtesy Clerks hop on a register to meet the demand. When it goes back down, courtesy clerks head back to bagging. Sure, there is less baggers for a while, but overall customers are moved through quicker and there are shorter lines. Maybe suggest this to management
Not sure if this is applicable at your store but at my store something which has been very successful a mine is training all the Courtesy Clerks on registers. When the cue vision spikes up, Courtesy Clerks hop on a register to meet the demand. When it goes back down, courtesy clerks head back to bagging. Sure, there is less baggers for a while, but overall customers are moved through quicker and there are shorter lines. Maybe suggest this to management
That's against union rules... unless you're paying those courtesy clerks cashier wages.
Not sure if this is applicable at your store but at my store something which has been very successful a mine is training all the Courtesy Clerks on registers. When the cue vision spikes up, Courtesy Clerks hop on a register to meet the demand. When it goes back down, courtesy clerks head back to bagging. Sure, there is less baggers for a while, but overall customers are moved through quicker and there are shorter lines. Maybe suggest this to management
That's against union rules... unless you're paying those courtesy clerks cashier wages.
Yes, Courtesy Clerks are paid cashier wages whenever they are on a register. The computer times them and adjusts their wages accordingly
