3rd week at Safeway now, and I'm doing closing :-) Most people hate closing, because it means a lot of extra work and stress, and you're responsible for the completion of a lot more tasks. If someone else screws up, it just means more work for the people who do closing-- if the people closing screw up-- they get in trouble with management, who will see all your mistakes and things you neglected to do, when they do morning inspections. So basically, if you don't do closing perfectly, your boss(es) will definitely know, and you'll get called into the office if you slack off too much.
But for me, who is a perfectionist to begin with, I see this as an opportunity to demonstrate my strong work-ethic, and to get more much-needed experience doing go-backs. Perhaps after a couple of weeks doing closing, I will have nearly the entire store down-- that would be good.
The biggest problem I had with doing closing today (other than the go-backs-- which sadly I am still having way too much trouble with, although I'm fast improving!) was with sweeps, which I had to do twice as fast (the whole store in 15 minutes) in order to have time for all the other closing duties stacked onto the regular stuff. I had to work really fast, and tried my best (but somewhat failing) not to cut corners to get everything done. All the other courtesy clerks cut corners, but not me. I need to stay ahead of the pack if I want to be successful here.
Closing duties consist of turning off the power to the secondary entrance (to optimize traffic) at 9pm, taking out all the trash and recycle, both in and out of the store, replace all the garbage bags, refill all the plastic bags for the checkstands, pick up all the trash around the checkstands, wipe down the barcode scanners and food belts with windex, put away all the carts, and....of course go-backs. There are also other closing duties that need to be done from time to time, but these are the ones you do every day (if you're closing).
First day of closing, I did everything right, except I didn't know I was supposed to refill the checker's bags, and I still had a lot of go-backs leftover when I had to check out. I'll do better with closing tomorrow, hopefully.
Showing posts with label courtesy clerk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label courtesy clerk. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Almost Payday!
Today's the last day of work until Saturday, but more importantly, it's the last of work until I get my first paycheck in 3 years! I get paid tomorrow (Thursday), and I'm very much looking forward to it!!!
Honestly, although my duties and the incessant traffic at Safeway keep me occupied, I spend every spare moment anticipating tomorrow morning, when I can finally collect that check. It's been a surprisingly fast couple of weeks, and it feels like I could have done so much more, but nevertheless I am overall very satisfied with the job I've done thus far.
I've gotten the whole work schedule down now, memorized just about everyone's names, and can bag, push carts, and clean the whole store (well, the parts of the store I'm permitted to) with ease. Particularly with cleaning-- a little while ago I had some difficulty sweeping the whole store in an hour-- now I can do so in 15 minutes if necessary, or in 30 minutes with ease.
I can also now handle transitions between different tasks with grace and composure, with even the most sporadic of transitions being done smoothly.
The past week has been thoroughly productive ;-)
Honestly, although my duties and the incessant traffic at Safeway keep me occupied, I spend every spare moment anticipating tomorrow morning, when I can finally collect that check. It's been a surprisingly fast couple of weeks, and it feels like I could have done so much more, but nevertheless I am overall very satisfied with the job I've done thus far.
I've gotten the whole work schedule down now, memorized just about everyone's names, and can bag, push carts, and clean the whole store (well, the parts of the store I'm permitted to) with ease. Particularly with cleaning-- a little while ago I had some difficulty sweeping the whole store in an hour-- now I can do so in 15 minutes if necessary, or in 30 minutes with ease.
I can also now handle transitions between different tasks with grace and composure, with even the most sporadic of transitions being done smoothly.
The past week has been thoroughly productive ;-)
Friday, May 27, 2011
First Day of (Actual!) Work
Today was my first day of actual work (as supposed to the computer training, which was pretty boring and consisted mostly of watching long politically-correct presentations about World Class customer service, safety, yadayadayada. Finally, I can actually do my job; I'm both excited and anxious, as I am basically being thrown to the sharks, and expected to learn to swim, survive, and help other people do the same.
As I'm working a store where I know almost nothing about where everything is, I have either two options when a customer asks where to find "X" item: wander aimlessly and hope against hope I will find the item they're looking for in less than a minute, or pray that there is another courtesy clerk / department manager in the area that can help them find it.
Often, unfortunately, I have been unlucky enough to not be able to do either, and I am left to regretfully tell the customer I wish I could help them, but that I'm new at this store, and have no idea where anything is. It's quite embarrassing, and gives me all the more incentive to learn where everything is in this store ASAP, and by any means store policy will allow.
As such, I have formulated a plan to develop a map of where everything (and I mean everything!) in the store is, and goes-- a blueprint of sorts.
My plans for the blueprint go like this:
1. Number code by isle (1A[#1], 1B[#1])
2. Produce locations coded by PLU# (also known as PAUL: "Produce Accuracy Using Label")
3. Include Legend that accounts for every food, product, and item, at the bottom.
4.Add all vital information regarding the back areas, parking lot, offices, etc.
5. Study, Study, Study!
6. Submit map idea to management.
Other than my difficulties with go-backs (putting items back where they belong) and customer assistance looking for items, today was pretty perfect overall. I did make some mistakes-- mostly in regards to properly logging sweep hours:
I had logged sweeps only once for my sweep hour, but apparently you're supposed to log it twice-- once for each half-hour. As it turns out, this is mostly for auditing purposes-- by making sure that everyone logs their sweeps twice per hour, it can help guarantee no hours are missed-- which is what the auditing team checks for.
Update: The information I was given regarding sweep audits is not only wrong, but it's a breach of Safeway contract and sweep policy. This information was given to me by the 2nd Assistant Manager and fellow courtesy clerks, who believe that doing it that way is more efficient, but the store manager, district manager, and health and safety specialists disagree, and for good reason! I'll explain these reasons in a later post, so stay tuned!
I was actually pretty nervous my first day, and although I smiled a great deal, it was a very nervous, strained smile. While bagging the groceries I messed up a little bit, but nevertheless, the day has passed by very smoothly, and amazingly quickly.
My fellow courtesy clerks are fairly supportive of me, but it's the food clerks (colloquially, they're called "Checkers") that are helping me out the most, particularly with finding things, and backing groceries.
They are also incessantly reminding me of important things like "BOB" (Bottom Of Basket), which refers to items that customers (either accidentally or intentionally) put on the bottom of the cart; there is a high possibility that these items might pass through unpurchased ("free"), if both the Checker and I don't work together to make sure that the items on the bottom of the cart of properly accounted for.
As was first introduced in the Tuesday computer training videos, SHRINK, the codename for inventory which leaves the store unpurchased, refers to items that were purchased in bulk by Safeway for sale, but were never sold due to spoilage, breakage, theft, etc. SHRINK takes away considerably from company profits, and is considered one of Safeway's biggest damage control/liability concerns.
Working at Safeway is pretty easy to get used to if you pay attention-- for the most part, everything's pretty automated, and time flows extraordinarily fast. The whole day of work today felt like 15 minutes (no hyperbole!), in fact. The two most difficult things to do (other than go-backs, of course!) were to remember to go on break and lunch. Remember go-backs is going to be a real b*tch though-- that's going to be an ongoing process for sure ;-(
I'm starting to get into the rhythm of things now-- a few more days and I'll have nearly my entire job mastered. Towards the end of the day, I'm no longer feeling nervous, and I can now socialize with customers with ease while still performing my job with a professional grace. Safeway is looking to be a very fulfilling and relatively relaxing job. I think I will love my job more and more as my days here go on ;-)
As I'm working a store where I know almost nothing about where everything is, I have either two options when a customer asks where to find "X" item: wander aimlessly and hope against hope I will find the item they're looking for in less than a minute, or pray that there is another courtesy clerk / department manager in the area that can help them find it.
Often, unfortunately, I have been unlucky enough to not be able to do either, and I am left to regretfully tell the customer I wish I could help them, but that I'm new at this store, and have no idea where anything is. It's quite embarrassing, and gives me all the more incentive to learn where everything is in this store ASAP, and by any means store policy will allow.
As such, I have formulated a plan to develop a map of where everything (and I mean everything!) in the store is, and goes-- a blueprint of sorts.
My plans for the blueprint go like this:
1. Number code by isle (1A[#1], 1B[#1])
2. Produce locations coded by PLU# (also known as PAUL: "Produce Accuracy Using Label")
3. Include Legend that accounts for every food, product, and item, at the bottom.
4.Add all vital information regarding the back areas, parking lot, offices, etc.
5. Study, Study, Study!
6. Submit map idea to management.
Other than my difficulties with go-backs (putting items back where they belong) and customer assistance looking for items, today was pretty perfect overall. I did make some mistakes-- mostly in regards to properly logging sweep hours:
I had logged sweeps only once for my sweep hour, but apparently you're supposed to log it twice-- once for each half-hour. As it turns out, this is mostly for auditing purposes-- by making sure that everyone logs their sweeps twice per hour, it can help guarantee no hours are missed-- which is what the auditing team checks for.
Update: The information I was given regarding sweep audits is not only wrong, but it's a breach of Safeway contract and sweep policy. This information was given to me by the 2nd Assistant Manager and fellow courtesy clerks, who believe that doing it that way is more efficient, but the store manager, district manager, and health and safety specialists disagree, and for good reason! I'll explain these reasons in a later post, so stay tuned!
I was actually pretty nervous my first day, and although I smiled a great deal, it was a very nervous, strained smile. While bagging the groceries I messed up a little bit, but nevertheless, the day has passed by very smoothly, and amazingly quickly.
My fellow courtesy clerks are fairly supportive of me, but it's the food clerks (colloquially, they're called "Checkers") that are helping me out the most, particularly with finding things, and backing groceries.
They are also incessantly reminding me of important things like "BOB" (Bottom Of Basket), which refers to items that customers (either accidentally or intentionally) put on the bottom of the cart; there is a high possibility that these items might pass through unpurchased ("free"), if both the Checker and I don't work together to make sure that the items on the bottom of the cart of properly accounted for.
As was first introduced in the Tuesday computer training videos, SHRINK, the codename for inventory which leaves the store unpurchased, refers to items that were purchased in bulk by Safeway for sale, but were never sold due to spoilage, breakage, theft, etc. SHRINK takes away considerably from company profits, and is considered one of Safeway's biggest damage control/liability concerns.
Working at Safeway is pretty easy to get used to if you pay attention-- for the most part, everything's pretty automated, and time flows extraordinarily fast. The whole day of work today felt like 15 minutes (no hyperbole!), in fact. The two most difficult things to do (other than go-backs, of course!) were to remember to go on break and lunch. Remember go-backs is going to be a real b*tch though-- that's going to be an ongoing process for sure ;-(
I'm starting to get into the rhythm of things now-- a few more days and I'll have nearly my entire job mastered. Towards the end of the day, I'm no longer feeling nervous, and I can now socialize with customers with ease while still performing my job with a professional grace. Safeway is looking to be a very fulfilling and relatively relaxing job. I think I will love my job more and more as my days here go on ;-)
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The Situation: (schedule-wise!)
I went to find out my schedule for next week today; here's what I found out:
* Schedules are not finalized until after 4pm (I found this out from the 2nd Assistant Manager on duty).
* When I came back after 4, I found out the schedules were finalized but wouldn't be posted for another hour (at 5).
* I talked to the Assistant Manager (1st), to get my schedule, and was called into the admin office to discuss the details. He gave me my schedule on a post-it note, and told me about how the courtesy clerk schedule worked:
* The schedule for Safeway courtesy clerks is divided into sweeping (cleaning), carts, and "default" (regular duties such as bagging groceries, helping customers, assisting with getting groceries into the car, and "go-backs" (putting a stray item back where it belongs), represented on the schedule as "S", "C", and "D", respectively. My hours are broken down as these letters dictate.
* There is also an "L" for lunch, but at the Safeway I work at, I'm supposed to ignore that and find out my lunch based on the time given at the beginning of the schedule posted.
Now that I've got that out of the way, I have a few days of until Tuesday, where I do Computer training, and begin my official first day of work (the first day I get paid for).
* Schedules are not finalized until after 4pm (I found this out from the 2nd Assistant Manager on duty).
* When I came back after 4, I found out the schedules were finalized but wouldn't be posted for another hour (at 5).
* I talked to the Assistant Manager (1st), to get my schedule, and was called into the admin office to discuss the details. He gave me my schedule on a post-it note, and told me about how the courtesy clerk schedule worked:
* The schedule for Safeway courtesy clerks is divided into sweeping (cleaning), carts, and "default" (regular duties such as bagging groceries, helping customers, assisting with getting groceries into the car, and "go-backs" (putting a stray item back where it belongs), represented on the schedule as "S", "C", and "D", respectively. My hours are broken down as these letters dictate.
* There is also an "L" for lunch, but at the Safeway I work at, I'm supposed to ignore that and find out my lunch based on the time given at the beginning of the schedule posted.
Now that I've got that out of the way, I have a few days of until Tuesday, where I do Computer training, and begin my official first day of work (the first day I get paid for).
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
You're Hired!
Yesterday I received a phone call from a Safeway HR Coordinator, asking me to call to schedule an interview if I'm still interested in getting a job at Safeway. As I received the voice mail after 5pm (which was after the hours she asked to call back between), I called her back the next morning, and scheduled an interview in the afternoon. I'm nervous, but tell myself that I will definitely get the job, and prepare to show great enthusiasm and dedication to working at Safeway. I would love to work at Safeway, but even if I didn't, I needed to get a job somewhere no matter what, or I would never be able to move on with my life. This job at Safeway was an absolute necessity!
Details regarding the interview:
* I dressed in slacks, a white shirt, tie, and dress coat.
* The interview consisted mostly of me answering questions about customer service and conflict resolution; I answered the questions with thorough and comprehensive but carefully-worded responses.
* The most important question they asked was "If your previous employers used three words to describe you, what would they be?"
My response: "dedicated, punctual, and a quick learner"
* To ensure I got the job, I emphasized my flexibility of hours, enthusiasm for working at Safeway, and how I would do anything to get the job, and to demonstrate that I deserved it.
* I listed my Job Corps work experience as a vocational internship.
Details regarding the interview:
* I dressed in slacks, a white shirt, tie, and dress coat.
* The interview consisted mostly of me answering questions about customer service and conflict resolution; I answered the questions with thorough and comprehensive but carefully-worded responses.
* The most important question they asked was "If your previous employers used three words to describe you, what would they be?"
My response: "dedicated, punctual, and a quick learner"
* To ensure I got the job, I emphasized my flexibility of hours, enthusiasm for working at Safeway, and how I would do anything to get the job, and to demonstrate that I deserved it.
* I listed my Job Corps work experience as a vocational internship.
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