Anyone who doesn't see a problem with using ASMs or dept. managers for coverage and tasks a CSA can handle(like downstocking) need to reevaluate their opinion. Consider some specalist positions; I could be working on a $30,000 project but I have to help a customer find $10 light bulbs. Why? Beceause we don't have enough CSAs. Why? Because we can't afford them. Anyone who says lowes has gutted every department and thrown out their talent to hire a few more part time associates is misrepresenting what this cut actually consists of. I know there are a lot of good people who have given substantial time to lowes for the sake of advancement but let's be real; this is a good thing(and if you disagree i would love to hear how you perfect store functioned).
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I've been on vacation since before this news broke, but I get it. The majority of the managers I've had at Lowe's haven't known about their own departments. About 50% of the ASMs passed the buck and were never available (or willing) to resolve issues when needed. The Sales Specialists generally have acted as if they are too good to do anything but paperwork. And the CSAs work their a***s off for below living wage pay. Now my only question about this reorganization is if any CSAs are going to finally get fair compensation. If the Sales Specialists are going to be required to do more than paperwork. And if expertise and skills are going to be fairly rewarded rather than taking advantage of employees' knowledge and not paying them more for it. If you have certification or a degree in a relevant field, you should be paid better than someone walking into a position without any knowledge of the area of specialization.
It's amazing that all of you are complaining saying that the DM's do nothing. As a DM at one time I really would call myself the DM/CSA because that's what we really are (at least at my store) . I have never asked someone to do something I couldn't do myself. And yes we know the Specialist work hard at what they do in the dept.'s they need Specialist in. But the truth is you work for Lowes not yourselves. So enjoy the fact that you will have 50-60 new part time helper's. Who will be sent out on delivery or down to lumber or outside to lawn and garden. Because those are the money maker's coming up. Sure they will turn off a button if they can get their head's out of the phones they keep in their pocket's but it's doubtful. Then you might be lucky to have that one or two that really want to prove they can do a job and excel . But why stay at Lowes when there is no real future for them as associate's. So you will continue to complain because you had to put up something in your dept. or you had to down stock an item for someone. It's part of the job description.
To the person talking of being held responsible for your work. I can remember when one placed a special order and it got screwed up, the money was deducted from your next paycheck. Why shouldn't the installers be held to the same standards? I was also a DM for a few months, would not wish that position on anyone. The reason I became a DM, is an associate was going thru the ASM class, I being a Team leader was asked to fill out a performance review on the person. I was asked later to speak tp theis person and was I had some good ideas and Why I wasn't in management. So I went through the class. Became DM. Worst or best mistake depending on how you look at it, I was able to see how the store ran from the inside per say. If it had been my store I would of fired the whole upper management staff including HR. I worked as a specialist and I can state that most of the time there is not enough time to do other jobs in the department and give the attention to the customer that is there spending thousands on a remodel. A business can have all the chiefs they want, but I have never seen one yet to succeed when there were no Indians to back them up. I have been cussed out by customers because they purchased over a thousand dollars of in stock blinds, yet the person who placed the order never called to DC to get them in, and yes it was a manager that placed the order. I as well as all of you could go on and on about the incompetence of most of the managers at Lowes, or at least the ones we have been in.
I started working at Lowe's one year ago (OSLG), and what I noticed nearly right away was how little the DMs did that the CSAs didn't. There isn't one task my DM does that I can't do. And, quite frankly, the FT & PT in OSLG run that damn place, not the DM - we don't need him around. In fact, it runs better when the DM isn't around.
Not trying to be mean, but that's just the way it is. That doesn't mean some DMs don't work hard, they do. But Lowe's recognized that what they do relative to their pay doesn't justify their current salaries & title. That's it, in a nutshell.
Our stores could probably have saved enough money to prevent this layoff ...by not taking back everything those tweakers roll out in carts under our noses (combo kits, copper fittings, faucets, diamond saw blades, etc.), refusing to refund/allow returns on Glacier Bay or Ace Hardware merch, or not allowing returns of old items that have either been swapped with the new one and replaced in the package, or have been used for a few years and then returned on a bogus receipt from another store.
Give me a break! Shrink is killing us, and they are laying off people? Time to get tough with these scumbags, not with our own loyal employees!
I agree with the original post. I'm a cabinet design specialist and I worked last night. I had a couple walk in and wanted their kitchen designed. In the middle of that my prescheduled appointment arrived to take a last look at her design. She approved it and from there, I folded the 2020 invoice into genesis, ran the labor through ISST, printed the contracts, etc. For those who work this know it's time consuming. I had given the walk in couple a heads up that second customer was coming before she got there and they were cool with that. In the midst of that, another couple walked because they wanted a stock cabinet ordered that we were out of. I tried to ask them to go to customer service and they could place it easy peasy, since the customer had item#. Customer Service told this couple they don't do that at the desk...chick was new and didn't know she could order for them. So quick, I placed that order and of course sent them back to customer service to pay for it.
Is this unique, nope. But there is a need to have CSA's cover some of these tasks. I was by myself and no one else can run 2020, because as you know, my partner works an opposite schedule than I do.
I never got lunch, and I left work at 9:45pm and I was scheduled to close at 9pm. I love my job and I love working for Lowes, but there has been a huge need to restructure. Frankly there have been way too many chiefs and not enough indians and more to the point, you know a lot of those chiefs thought they were too good to get there hands dirty. I don't see bankruptcy on the horizon as someone alluded to, I think this is a company that recognized for the sake of customer service and the company's bottom line, the company needed to restructure. It was a logical move.
I have worked as a sales specialist for over ten years. I totally agree with you and have found few people with this view. We as a company need less chiefs and more indians. This I know will help this company grow and prevent those who are left to keep there jobs.
You all seemed to have missed my point; not having enough CSA positions has hurt every one, not just specialists. Why are Specialists, dept. Managers and ASMs wasting their time doing things a CSA can handle?! Paying someone dept. manager wages for restocking/picking up/downstocking a department makes no sense. Someone at corporate noticed this b.s. and took action. If you can't see why this was done then you probably shouldn't be let anywhere near a management position.
Careful with names, bro, as naming names is not allowed at this site. Check the site rules at the bottom. Made that mistake last month, admins nuked all my posts and blocked my IP. On proxy now, super slow.
Why have psi then?
So what you're saying is they're fixing what they started.they cut the hours they cut the people and at the time it was a great corporate idea....sorta like this one right???the amount of money given away from installs done wrong,damages on worksite is more than enough to keep all these jobs.when you make a mistake on an order do you pay the price? No lowes does!!!i believe you should be allowed 3 mistakes a year.minor or major.heres a little inside info those days are coming.you will be held accountable for your mistakes.this little layoff is just the beginning of some rules that have always been in place but never really enforced.tougher times are coming.when you google corporate restructuring you see the word bankruptcy frequently.good luck.
I totally agree, when you're a specialist trying to order a 10k bath project I'm the only one on the sales floor while the department manager is no where and you pissed both costumers off and then some one comes over wanting blinds cut and then the pipe thread goes off we should be threading pipe any way because it's not a service and it's plumbers taking advantage of us then you pissed 5 customers off getting rid of department managers is the best thing that ever happened hiring more people and cross training them is the key
I'm gonna say a $30,000 project comes along every 60-90 days over that same period they will sell $50,000 in light bulbs maybe more and at a higher margin too.youre right they need more part time CSA's.and the guy or gal who is willing to help a customer upon making contact with them is what lowes is all about customer service.but if you can't seem to take maybe 2-3 minutes out of your precious day to do your job(customer service) and still not be able to finish your project for your customer is just sad.lowes stays in business because of low price high margin items not $30,000 projects that come along here and there.so maybe you're right maybe they need nothing but part time CSA's getting low price high margin items for customers and do away with "projects" all together.money is given away from project mistakes on a monthly basis but no money is lost helping that customer get the light bulb they seek so let's all hope for a project free future.millions of dollars lost company wide every year over this wasn't done right or the wrong order was shipped.and if I were to drop $30,000 it better go perfect.and if you wanna blame taking three minutes to help a customer get a light bulb for distracting you and making one of those mistakes you shouldn't be in that position in the first place.