Curious to know how many order writers are working their own backstock and breaking down their own loads? Dairy and frozen here are left for the buyer to work. I thought part of OTS was having better orders by having this done before the buyer came in? Never mind product not selling...
Also, any order writers having scheduling issues?
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Since we are going there...Our store has multiple special needs team members. I think it's great to have a place for all people to work, but the store should be credited additional labor to allow teams to get some extra labor hours that this requires. A person with mental challenges is not going to work autonomously, therefore will need additional support from another tm, taking away from time they would be working on their own. It would be great if we can employ people with special needs, but also get compensated labor-wise to make up for the additional hours this requires.
I agree about the Tms who can stretch 1 pallet into an entire shift. However, it isn't always just leadership not properly managing in our case. Sometimes yes, a little coaching is all it takes but we've had several new hires all at once that turned out to have severe disabilities both mental and physical, sometimes both. (Actually now that I think about it we get this type of new hire regularly throughout my career at multiple stores.) They barely function as people let alone productive team members. They can't even be trusted to put out samples properly and it will take them an hour. How they made it through screening and interviews to actually get hired makes me think there must be some sort of quota to hire the differently abled, which I'm all for, I like these people, but they should spread them out to other teams and we should also be able to also hire quality workers. It is impossible to get rid of anyone at whole foods unless they point out especially if they have mental or physical issues which could lead to a discrimination suit. I also totally agree about the thin labor making call outs a huge issue. We have several TMs with "allowances". They are nearly always gone. Like 50 missed shifts in 6 months. We aren't allowed to hire to replace them. We have seasonal TMs that work more often. Then we lost 5 or 6 tms all at once and we were still over labor and we weren't getting things done before we lost them. 2 of them were really awesome too. Turns out all grocery teams in the region are operating well over labor and now the directive is to make sure things get done regardless of the labor cost so at least it's a known issue that's being looked at by regional. I'm sure they are considering every option but raising labor budgets right now. Who can we lay off? How can we raise prices again without maintaining our "Whole Paycheck" image?
Couple of scenarios happen: TL isn't managing (there is always that one tm who can find a way to only work half a pallet during the course of an 8hr shift) or labor budget stretched so thin that a single call-out makes it impossible to recover by the ow shift. Either way, the ow works their load. If you get any help in these times, count yourself lucky, I'm sorry to say.
Our WB buyer doesn't touch anything. God only knows what she does with the rest of her day when she is done placing orders. It doesn't make sense.
Unfortunately, having data driven global corporation take over means working even more with less while demands increase.
K–ls me how raising wages to $15 /hr was made such a big deal when in most of America it still isn’t a living wage. So they cut hours & or team members to make up for the ‘raise’ while increasing demands. Why isn’t THAT part in the news?
We get loads overnight but it doesn't ever get finished. We usually end up working load throughout the next day. On really big loads it's left over 2 days. Even on really good days there will be at least some load left to work in the afternoon. Even though we have a tm in Dairy and a TM on Grocery overnight and all the buyers plus several tms in early a.m. some of each plus frozen & bulk is usually left. All Tms help work it. Maybe once in the last 6 months has all load been finished by the time closers come in. Then they say we need to work all backstock and face everyday. lols. It's a vicious cycle. Backstock are not being touched for weeks at a time and that causes over ordering. Leadership put a freeze on hiring so no more help on the way.
I work my back stock and load everyday. I do all my own work including resets, tags etc. It would be nice to get help but our labor is so short we just don't have enough help.
Our buyers are working their own loads and backstocks as much as possible as they should, and as they want to. However, if the load gets there early enough it will be worked before the buyers arrive. Other tms are also working their backstocks. Nothing is just left for the buyers cause it's "theirs." I have to manually adjust kronos's schedule every week. It will give buyers overnights and 1 shift a week if you let it.
I help throw the load, work backstock, make tags and signs daily. Prime day changes are my responsibility.