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Need Advice About My Job

Discussion in 'General Support and Advice' started by Matto_Corvo, Apr 10, 2018.

  1. Matto_Corvo

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    I am going to try to make this short but no promises.

    So 8 months ago I was hired as a bagger at Fred Meyer. For a 25 year old with no job experience outside of dog sitting I took what I could get. I also parcel(get carts, clean bathrooms, clean up spills, help elder customers to the car, etc etc) when they need me to. I rarely call in sick, and almost never late, and when I am late is usually because the public transit is running late. (I leave an hour early just in case even though I am a 24 minute bus ride away). The cashier like me and I like to think I work hard. These days I usually work the opening shift, which means waking up at 5:30 am and getting to work between 6:30 to 6:50. I clock in at 7 and my job is basically to help the opening cashier in between bagging customers groceries. The opening cashier has requested to the manager that I be the one to open with her since I know what to do and don't mind doing it. Lately my opening job has included doing the work that the closing PIC and parcel didn't do the night before; such as emptying register and self-checkout trash and making sure all the register have been fully stocked with bags. By time I get done with this and fully ready to do nothing but bag am hour and half has passed.

    So here is my problem..
    When I was hired I was told I would most likely be cashier trained at some point. They always need cashiers and it is easier to train someone already employed there. All my PICs and even the assistant managers have suggested to my manger numerous times that I be trained. The first time I asked her myself she simply said they needed to hire more baggers, and then she would look for dependable people who interacted well with customers. As a shy person with anxiety I found talking to customers nerve wracking, but I still always manage to say hello and smile at everyone. At the same time I feel uncomfortable joining in on the conversation the customer and cashier are having with each other. I just feel it rude. All the same, I got that she was telling me I needed to be more outgoing, so I started trying harder as well as working harder. Meanwhile all around me I watched baggers quit or get fired. I watched her offer others cashier position, two of which accepted and another declined (he was fired for drinking on the job a couple of months later). One of those that accepted is now being trained to become a PIC. Not once in the last 8 months have I've been offered cashier training. My assistant manager talked to my manager about it two weeks ago and was told I still wasn't engaging with the customers enough. This is during a time where we are short cashiers and baggers and parcels on the front end. My assistant manager thought it would be great to have me trained as cashier to simply help when needed, but remain a bagger the majority of the time.
    So now cut to 2 days ago. She suddenly seems to notice all the hard work that I have been putting in, talking about how she is considering giving me more responsibility since I have been taking on more and more on my own with out asking. I was excited at first, thinking I might finally be considered for cashier training...But then I realized that 2 people gave their two weeks notice. She is considering me for cashier training only because she has no other choice, and I am both sadden and pissed by this.
    On top of this is the drama that goes on in the front end. Specifically, this one girl (Angel), who has been starting shit ever since the bagger turned cashier started his PIC training. In fact that drama she has started is the reason so many cashiers has left or switch departments. It also why one of our PICs is transferring to the pharmacy, while another is looking for a different store to work at. The managers and PICs actually held a meeting to talk about what they should do about her, but sadly there isn't much they can do. Angel has finally gotten the hint that she will never make PIC and that she has made her self unwelcomed on the front end, so she has tried switching departments. She got turned down at the pharmacy. She told me our manager refused to sign her internal application, saying that she hadn't worked there long enough to transfer. I learned that she didn't pass the pharmacy's background check due to past substance abuse and having been in jail. She tried at the meat department since they always have an opening, after three weeks she hadn't heard anything back from them. I happen to learn that it is because they don't want her switching to their department, mostly because she can't work weekends and that is when they need people to work the most.
    And that is where my current internal conflict comes from. The assistant manager of the meat department has asked me two times in the last week if I wanted to come work for her as a meat wrapper. She asked me in front of my current assistant manager so I just laughed it off, but I have been thinking about it more and more. I want to work somewhere where I feel appreciated. The pay is better and I can get raises, meanwhile as a bagger I am currently at the top of my pay scale. They can work around me having school on Tuesdays and Thursday, especially since I have open availability every other day. But sadly I am a loyal person. I love my PICs and Cashiers and don't want to leave them even more short staffed. When I brought this up to one of them she basically told me to look after myself first. I have no idea what to currently.
     
  2. Humbly Me

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    I'm sure your managers and co-workers will understand if you want to get a better paying job. It's not like they wouldn't take it. Oh and you can escape annoying girl.
     
  3. LostInDaydreams

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    Gosh...this brings back memories. I worked in retail for years whilst at university and can remember all the internal politics and unspoken hierarchies. I think every workplace has an element of this but, to me, it felt less subtle in retail. You say you're at school too though, so what's your priority? Do you see a long-term career here or not? If so, in which department does promotion look more likely? If not, try not to get too sucked in to all the internal workplace politics - it's just a job!

    Like you, other departments tried to poach me a few times, but the rate of pay was the same regardless of department so I stayed where I was. I liked the people I worked with. There were a lot of under-25s on my department so we all got on well. However, if the rate of pay had been higher in the other department then I'd have moved. Ultimately, it was a job to get me through university. And in truth, once a person leaves a department they're not really missed after a couple of weeks, regardless of how well liked they were.

    As to your current manager offering you a promotion only because she has to - if you really feel that's what's happened, then it's understandable that you're not feeling that great about it, but there's not a huge amount you can do about it. You either want to be a cashier or you don't. If you want to accept it, then you're going to have put the circumstances as you see them to one side, i.e. be positive, etc. If you turn it down now, due to the present circumstances, be prepared for possibility of not being asked again.

    Have a think about what's best for you in the short and long-term. :slight_smile:
     
    #3 LostInDaydreams, Apr 10, 2018
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2018
  4. Matto_Corvo

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    Truthfully not all that interested in becoming a cashier, but having that training looks good when applying for other jobs.
    I don't really wanna stay at this place, my current degree path is heading towards accounting, but that could change as I'm not 100% sure what I want to do. I know I don't want to get trapped in retail like the rest of my family.
     
  5. LostInDaydreams

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    Then that's something to consider. Customer facing roles are always good experience because they teach a lot of transferable skills.
     
  6. Chip

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    I see both sides of this. If your manager is a good manager, she may be assessing you and simply not feeling like you have the personality they are looking for in cashiers. As a hiring manager, I've been in this position where someone really wants something but simply isn't the best candidate.

    So honestly, I think I'd take the meat counter position. It would be a step up from where you are, you can continue to work on your people skills and anxiety, and as you progress more with your self-work, it should be reflected in the opportunities open to you.
     
  7. Matto_Corvo

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    I actually ended up mention all this to this girl I talk to in the break room, we sort of became friends over the last two months. I had no idea that she was the assistant manager of the nutrition center, till after telling her all that but she did say if I was looking to switch into a new department that her's was hiring and she could put in a good word with the manager. After thinking over it I put in an internal application (after learning the meat wrapping position was just filled). Part of that process is getting my current manager to sign that she understands I am applying for another position.
    So that was basically me approaching my assistant manager because the manager was super busy, she took the application to the manager to get signed. She then came back not even five minutes later saying they didn't want to lose me from the front end and were willing to get me cashier trained to get me to stay. I turned it down. Having thought it over I realized I wasn't really cashier material, and I really wanted away from the drama of the front end. Not to mention all the people that I have stayed this long for are leaving to other departments or going to different stores, including my current assistant manager.
    But yeah, had an interview with one of our ASMs and she said she really like how I've never been late to work and have rarely missed a day of work, and that she is willing to let me try out the nutrition center for a couple of weeks to see if I like the work there.
     
    LostInDaydreams likes this.
  8. Chip

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    That's fantastic! Let us know how it goes!
     
  9. Matto_Corvo

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    AN UPDATE ON HOW WORK IS GOING:

    After my interview with the assistant store manager nothing happen. And I do mean nothing. I finally asked the ASM about it and said said my manager was suppose to schedule the days I was to try out the new department, she said she would ask my manager about it and get back to me. That was around May 2nd and I still haven't heard back from either, and it will be at least another 2 weeks before I can ask my manager about it because she just decided to go on her vacation.
    I ended up complaining to a co-worker (he use to be a cashier but switched to grocery clerk) and he said I shouldn't expected anything any time soon. Not because it takes time to get this stuff all put together, but because our front end manager likes to drag her feet in the hope that we'd give up on the idea and then she won't have to lose anyone. He told me she that to him and that he eventually told the ASM that he was thinking of quitting because he doesn't want to continue as a cashier but is being c--kblocked from switching departments.
    I ended up talking to a few other people (both those trying to transfer and those that have transferred) and I got the same story. Meanwhile the PICs that I have stuck around for are started to step down or leave to other stores, and I am becoming rather miserable.
    During the interview with the ASM she told me that they could allow me to try out another department for a few days because they had just hired new people for my position. Well...they trained all of them to be baggers (my position) and then got them trained as parcels (which I'm crossed trained as well), they now have most of them parceling and not bagging.

    I been saying for weeks that I'm just going to find a new job and just work at my current job enough hours to keep my insurance through that job.
    I actually have an interview coming for a dog daycare, and I'm hoping that it will go well. It is one of my dream jobs.