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Your issue is not with "retail associates," no matter their ages. If you have complaints you should take them to management.
Retail associates often have very conflicting job requirements. Most retail stores no longer hire stock people, they assign stock work to the same people who ring up your sales. Some don't even have a janitor on site, just someone who comes in at night; sales clerks run vacuum cleaners and wipe down counters and glass cases. Store clerks are required to clean stock rooms in the "spare time." In most stores the clerks open and close the registers and are responsible for properly justifying the amounts. In many places they are expected to sell customers credit cards and do all the paperwork to sign up anyone who agrees. Certain days of the year they are required to do inventory. In department stores clerks on early shift are required to come in hours before opening and clean up customer-messes left behind, which can be considerable on weekend mornings and sale days. Higher-end stores require sales associates to attend training sessions put on by product reps.
Now companies have added filling computer and phone orders to the requirements of the position. If a clerk is supposed to be gathering your order and a line of actual human customers in the store gets long, what do you think the clerk is going to be told to do?
Your beef isn't with the sales associates.
I pretty well understand "Do more with less" as payroll is not a fixed number. Lower sales at store level equates to lower staff and nothing is going to change that. Management can only go so far and attempting to micro manage everything will burn them out. Associates are given a list of duties and a prioritized order to do them in. Depending on the volume of the store some of your list of duties can be done during store hours and some has to be done outside of store hours. This has always been the way for decades. Before there was internet ordering there was phone ordering and fax ordering. Thus the only thing that has changed is the manner it is now received in. If it was able to be done in the old way, then there should be no reason it can't be done in the new way. If you haven't noticed numerous retailers are closing down. They are using BOPIS in addition to foot traffic in an attempt to stay open, if it doesn't work the store closes. No matter how you look at it online ordering is the future and when stores fail to be profitable then everything will go in the Amazon direction. You can give retail associates all the excuses you want for not fulfilling their duties, but one day soon there will be no job available for them to fulfill.
So back to my OP. The first one could've taken more time to fulfill and that would not have been a issue. They could have partially filled it and that would not have been a issue, but instead they cancelled it and made it worse when I entered the store and found everything I ordered to be in stock. That is the fault of a associate and not a manager who per you should be micro managing every aspect of the operations of the store. The second one actually simplifies the entire process. By giving the associate my pickup number it populates all the spots on the screen. Outside of having to go and pull the scripts, everything is done at the screen. They no longer need to ask questions for personal information, they no longer need to get a signature for the scripts and for those paying by CC they no longer need to scan the card. 1-2 minutes and the transaction is done. The customer lines are run through much quicker and they can go back to filling scripts for which a majority of them come in via.............................the internet.
It's 2016. You need to come up to speed on how the world operates. You want to go backwards, then throw out the computer you're typing on and return to snail mail.
Your issue is not with "retail associates," no matter their ages. If you have complaints you should take them to management.
Retail associates often have very conflicting job requirements. Most retail stores no longer hire stock people, they assign stock work to the same people who ring up your sales. Some don't even have a janitor on site, just someone who comes in at night; sales clerks run vacuum cleaners and wipe down counters and glass cases. Store clerks are required to clean stock rooms in the "spare time." In most stores the clerks open and close the registers and are responsible for properly justifying the amounts. In many places they are expected to sell customers credit cards and do all the paperwork to sign up anyone who agrees. Certain days of the year they are required to do inventory. In department stores clerks on early shift are required to come in hours before opening and clean up customer-messes left behind, which can be considerable on weekend mornings and sale days. Higher-end stores require sales associates to attend training sessions put on by product reps.
Now companies have added filling computer and phone orders to the requirements of the position. If a clerk is supposed to be gathering your order and a line of actual human customers in the store gets long, what do you think the clerk is going to be told to do?
Your beef isn't with the sales associates.
I can see and understand exactly what you are saying - and I agree 100% that complaints should be made to management ... and I know that retail associates often feel they are overused and underpaid (and in many cases they probably are) but the list of things you say that they may be required to do because there are no longer specialized employees to do them sounds like heaven to ME. I have done many jobs in my life .. from the menial, the repetitive, the boring to the much more interesting and comprehensive ones ... and no matter what kind of job I am doing I try to do it well and I always look to expand my own horizons while being paid to do it by someone else, even if the pay is meager!
If you have to do 'janitorial duties', stock room duty, conduct financial business beyond just manning the till, open and close the register/store, inventory, attend training sessions, actually KNOW the merchandise and the store layout, etc. .... your resume entries just got MUCH larger than .. retail sales clerk! And maybe your day just got less boring and goes much faster too. And maybe if you care a lot and do every task to the best of your ability, you may be noticed among the crowd of people who don't and you may get a promotion. The fact that the store can't employ specialized people to do as many tasks as they may have in the past means that YOU get out of your little box too.
That said, I know most employees in lower wage jobs won't see the above added duties as 'opportunities' as I might but when complaining to management, do think first about whether your complaint is really about an employee or a process, try to calm down before talking about it and organize your thoughts. Unless an actual employee was rude to your face or hit you over the head intentionally, it may be that the problem IS more a management/process issue than the fault of the employee his/herself. Bad managers though will love to scapegoat an individual employee rather than see where the real issue lies unless you word your 'complaint' in the right way (and preferably avoid mentioning any particular employee at all).
The problem illustrated in the above scenario and the OP's post about BOPIS are indeed process problems, not employee ones. Unfortunately bad and even stupid management abounds - they indeed jump on the next bandwagon with abandon hoping to get the edge on the market - and they mess up badly. We really need to get back to the 'simple' and do it well before we add on the more complex or just too much of a good thing. High tech has led people to think that every 'gimmick' is a good thing but it isn't. It has gotten to the point that with each added 'service' too much else suffers - and that is not good for business either. I do hope we see a resurgence of 'back to basics' excellence (and quality) soon. If we don't use the new services, perhaps management will see fit to eliminate them.
(p.s. I 'am' really tired of often knowing store layouts and merchandise much better than the employees do! From a management point of view .. employee retention is critical so they get to know where things are and are able to explain the merchandise's features to the customer - rather than just when asked a question, pick up the box and start reading from the side .. something I always do myself before I ask a question. One store that still generally does this well seems to be Home Depot. Many of their employees seem to have been there 20 plus years in many stores. It makes a big difference to customer satisfaction. When I ask if they can tell me where something is - they actually CAN and DO .. and when I ask how something works, they KNOW. When I ask if a particular product will work for MY purposes, they can tell me their very educated guess from personal experience or suggest something better. Unfortunately they have cut down a lot on variety in their in-store stock in past years which I find sad at times (though I realize why they do that) but their employees often can suggest either other products that are similar that they do stock or tell me where to go to get what I really want if that won't work for me. Yes, they will often refer me to other stores (if necessary to keep me happy) - and as it was for Macy's when Santa did that .. it is good business sometimes. I am sure Home Depot employees are not paid outrageously high wages either .. and I know they have to deal with shift work too and I also am pretty sure they do a myriad of jobs around the store quite often but somehow turnover seems to be much lower there than at many such stores. Wages are not the only thing, even at the low end of the scale, that keep employees happy.)
I can just about guarantee that none of the people you encountered today make anywhere near that much, and it DOES make a difference. Employees who feel they have actual value to the company will be better workers.
If you want to be mad at someone be just as mad, perhaps even more so, at the people at the top of the food chain. The ones who create the culture of apathy. The ones who give lip service to the concept of customer care but only pay a fraction above minimum wage, hire the least amount of full time employees as they can get away with, don't budget adequate hours for the amount of work to be done (let alone budget hours for training) and haven't updated computers or other equipment since the 1990's.
Recently got the memo that we will be open extended hours for this holiday season."Due to budget constraints there will be no additional hours given to cover this time, please schedule to cover accordingly."~It's not going to be pretty.
Each time I get a person like you without the sense of how a business is really run, I'll tell you the same thing. Go find someone who can show you their monthly P/L and maybe you can figure out where one can make cuts in monthly expenses in order to free up funds for more payroll. In the end no matter how you figure it, it will all come down to payroll cuts.
(p.s. I 'am' really tired of often knowing store layouts and merchandise much better than the employees do! From a management point of view .. employee retention is critical so they get to know where things are and are able to explain the merchandise's features to the customer - rather than just when asked a question, pick up the box and start reading from the side .. something I always do myself before I ask a question.
This comment resonated with me.
Countless times I have been told "No; we don't carry that in-store" but insisted on "just looking around" anyway.
Then when I find it I'm stuck with the awkward task of saying "Oh, BTW; I found this in Housewares in aisle 10 ..." just in case someone else comes in behind me looking for the same item, they don't get told the same thing.
It's hard to do this when you just want to be helpfull vs looking "snarky".
Each time I get a person like you without the sense of how a business is really run, I'll tell you the same thing. Go find someone who can show you their monthly P/L and maybe you can figure out where one can make cuts in monthly expenses in order to free up funds for more payroll. In the end no matter how you figure it, it will all come down to payroll cuts.
Try again, I do know how to read P/L. I also know it's a game of smoke and mirrors and juggling numbers to look good on paper, for the stockholders. Currently it's also more about the short term and not about reinvesting in the business for the long term.
How is it that companies can publicly post about record profits per quarter, the salaries of their top VIPS are public knowledge, as are the golden parachute deals, the VIPS that are let go for mismanagement and brought back as consultants, etc., and yet claim there is not enough in the budget for scheduling to meet needs or to give decent raises for the front line employees. Your front line employees are the face of your company to your customers, it's what they judge you on. Why are so many companies so willing to sacrifice the goodwill of their customers by cutting in the areas that directly affect the quality of customer service. They are cutting off their noses to spite their face.
It's no accident that companies with the best reputations for customer service also have the best reputations for treating employees like they matter.
What I can't stand is that customers think I work for them. That I should bow to every single word they say. That they are always right. They act like I own the store and I can do whatever they want me to do even if it gets me fired. Hell, I should just give them the items for free. Nothing worst then a fracking know it all customer. Acting like their sh*t don't stink.
Without customers you have no business, without business you have no jobs, without jobs you have homeless, food stamps, people with snarky attitudes, leeches, etc etc.
Every company or job I've worked for, or was associated with, the Customer was always #1 and you tried to accommodate them the best you can. Personalities are always different, adjust to it. Find another person to help them. They are there for a purpose.
If you don't have the personality to deal with customers, find a job that fits yours.
Without customers you have no business, without business you have no jobs, without jobs you have homeless, food stamps, people with snarky attitudes, leeches, etc etc.
Every company or job I've worked for, or was associated with, the Customer was always #1 and you tried to accommodate them the best you can. Personalities are always different, adjust to it. Find another person to help them. They are there for a purpose.
If you don't have the personality to deal with customers, find a job that fits yours.
I know how to deal with customers. Been dealing with customers since I was 14 years old and a paperboy who use to have to go out there and collect his pay (remember those days?). Every single job I ever had has been management and sales. Just can't stand dumbfracks who thinks their sh*t don't stink. I deal with people 100% of the time every single day. Even now as a self employed, I deal with them every single day. I know a thing or two about dealing with people.
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