How are other stores handling the lack of staffing?

How bad is it out there for the rest of the Sears stores in regards to lacking the time and staff to complete everything that needs to be done and provide adequate customer service?

My store is down to a skeleton staff, the only areas that are getting any significant hours are consultative sales (HA and HI). The backroom, cashiers and hardlines/softlines MCAs are all alloted no more than 10-15 hours a week (and that is when they are overscheduled).

When I write schedules I have to ignore LRQs (labor requirement quota, assigned based on sales performance) because they are so low. For example, the store would be allotted 50 hours per LRQ to split between all CAC cashiers when the store is open around 70 hours for the week. As it is we still fall short, a lot of apparel customers end up walking over to checking out in hardlines because of our shortage of hours for cashiers. Technically, the rule is that management cannot go over when scheduling. In reality, it has to for done just to get some semblance of coverage.

My store is so behind on different projects and tasks. This week has been worse due to all of the promos that ran for Memorial Day. Pricing and signing is a disaster, and it doesn't help that there are always "emergency signs" (and a HUGE stack of them, too) to put up every morning. 99 percent of the time nothing changes except the takedown date. Apparently, the pricing team at HQ can't get their act together to keep signs up until their posted takedown date (and the price good until then) so it creates more work for the store.

There are tons of projects related to Fathers Day and summer that need to be done. This past week, push mowers and grills needed to be built by MPU when freight needed to be unloaded on truck days, plus fusion runs, pickups and fulfilments--all with three MPU associates counting the lead. The store manager and I had six different calls that we were required to participate in, each taking no less than an hour. Basically there are all of these projects that need to be done when the staffing levels are not where they need to be.

Sears is expecting something for nothing...my staff's store mood rating has been stuck on "frustrated" for quite some time. I feel bad because most of my staff are willing to put forth an honest effort. I know that I am fed up too. I have quite a few associates quitting or wanting to quit because they are doing more than what time allows but are not getting any hours or the pay to do so.

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`I just wonder if the DM's believe the B.S. the spew or are just trying to keep their jobs a little longer. Our DM came in and told us to do a complete reset of a department, get all the freight out of the back room, keep up with the signing and pricing and make sure the back room was all in order. All of this while telling us to cut our hours by $7000 and to expect a truck three times a week with over 2000 pieces on each truck because of all the closing stores the warehouse need to unload inventory to the remaining stores.

And then threatened the store manager to get these things done by the end of the month or else the payroll would be cut more. Do these people really think that this tactic will work? Our store manager promptly gave his two weeks notice. We have been through three store managers since JUly 2015 and each has quit to work for the competition.

How does a company expect to survive or even get people to care when you threaten your employees, give unrealistic expectations of work to be done and there is no incentive to do a good job or even to care (i.e. give a raise, which they don't do and haven't given in over 8 years) This company is a joke and the only reason I still work here is that the managers don't really care and I can pretty much do what I want.

Why can't we just fire Eddie Lamer...cut his hours to 0...arsehole!

So sad!!

Easy fix....the DM in PGH just loaded up the hours coded as "training".....wink, wink

Same here. We have 2 cashiers left in our store. All the leads are always on the register, plus the 1 MCA we have. We cant keep any new hire! Their gone in 2 weeks or less. Management belittling people in the morning meeting about numbers. I dont blame people for not staying.

We just prioritize the best we can. If you know how to do a specific job then do it. Alot of us have 2 job titles now.

our motto now is 'you can only do what you can do' It's sad to watch what we worked for with pride for so many years to be slain in front of us and then we still have to care for the dead body.

Pretty sad at our store also. Just hired 10 new people two weeks ago and only three are left (they are all high school kids who only work a few hours a week). No one in our store can work over 15 hours per week. This leads to most people having 5-10 hours per week so that the new hires can have some hours. Between unloading trucks and stocking there is little time for anything else. We have older people (60-70 year olds) who work now have to unload trucks because we have no hours to give anyone. The only time we have a full crew is on truck days.

With new hires only lasting less than a month, experienced employees quitting for better paying and better working conditions we have hardly anyone with any experience to run the store.

The worst is that we have a 17 year old running the office and cash office. He has no experience in either but he is a warm body to fill the job. The end is coming soon, get out while you can.

Fear no longer, your cries for help have been heard. Eddie, along with his wife and kids, will be in stores to help, for the busy summer months. As soon as, school lets out for summer recess, Eddie, will be loading up the station wagon, with the family and heading to Sears and K-Mart stores, to help cover the hours. Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING, is more important, to Eddie then the employees. He wants to make certain employees are not being over worked and, all employees with earned vacation time, have the oppertunity to take it. NO one knows, more than Eddie, how important it is for associates to have quality time with their loved ones.

SO, Cheer-Up everyone, Eddie is going to make sure, real soon, you all have plenty of time off, to spend with your families, friends, or whom ever else, you'd like. Shortly, you will all have more time off than, you ever thought possible.

ASMSears, you sound like a smart person. Finding people who are capable of writing proper English is not as easy as one might think. You need to be looking at other job opportunities, and maybe not retail. Sears is beyond doomed.

Kmarts are the same way not getting any better things are getting worse day by day

No hours no staff but they expect more and more from you

Thread regarding Sears layoffs

How are other stores handling the lack of staffing?

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