Archived Need help/advise on increasing team member availability in grocery.

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Pfreshbackroomguy

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You're doing the right thing. Also see if you can encourage other TMs/TLs/ETLs to ask CIHYFS when they're in the pfresh/grocery area.
If your store isn't already doing it, have cashiers point out the guest survey and if possible have guests take the survey at the gift registry kiosks in store.
 
I recently was speaking with our food business partner about this very issue. She was saying that its a whole company issue. Especially since market is a department that that has a lot of daily tasks. She suggested that every hour take 5 minutes walk around through pfresh and dry market and just ask CIHYFS, and that it should be everyone doing it not just one person in market. Maybe this would be something that you can do. Were going to try it out.
 
Two things: 1 - Ditto to the above post by droid123. This problem is totally universal. Just try to get your whole team on board. It will not be easy.

2 - Your ETL should not be threatening you like that. Of course, how you perceive his comment is up to you. You were there, I wasn't. My ETL did the same thing, trying to hint heavily about the stress coming down to him from the STL about pfresh. He made it sound like we were both about to lose our jobs, and it was all my fault. I later talked to HR about it, and she said I was not supposed to hear that from him. I think he got put in his place. Vague threats are no substitute for an action plan and some positive encouragement.
 
In our district at one point out of 65 stores, I think only 1 had a green score for availability. We have been green a couple times but its just hard. Every other score is above 3.6 other than help which has been around 3.3-3.4 pretty much the whole year. We were red for the longest time and still top 10 on rank with like a 3.4. A month or two ago we were at 3.19 but we brought that up to 3.4 again.

My TL has been trying to drive this score up but for whatever reason we just cant. We bring up in huddle everyone needs to ask when they go through market, just like we do for electronics. I suppose when we do service on the main having everyone weave through grocery and electronics would help. Also driving surveys. The more surveys the better all the scores will be. We help pretty much every guest we see. I dont know how many times I walk here and there to show a guest where something is. Half the time it is the very next aisle. I also get everyone from seasonal, domestics and Pets/Cleaning supplies always asking me where things are too.

I bet if you broke the metrics down the stores with the highest guest service scores are more than likely the ones that actually have more than 1 person working at a time in pfresh and have more payroll for market, but thats just a guess. Maybe target should take a hint if they want to be serious about driving guest service to actually schedule more hours in market.
 
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For call buttons we have one on G3 and the other is G26 or so in the middle of dry grocery. Our pfresh starts at G6 and G1-G5 is paper. Even with having those though they dont really ever go off. I think they changed them around when we did our pfresh remodel
 
Speak to your ETL-GE/GSTL about call boxes. They are the ones responsible for them, as they fall under the "Guest Experience" category.
 
At my store, we have two red phones in the vicinity of market (one is right next to P-Fresh) and they rarely go off. We were in the red for the longest time until one of our most guest-friendly sales floor TMs started getting scheduled in market (in addition to the usual PAs and dry zoner). I'm not sure where they got the hours for this, but it sure helped our score.
 
Our store also does "service walks" to cihyfs guest. I hate it because it is relentlessly stupid, but we play along. When grocery scores are down every team member who calls out, "I'm doing a service walk" (before and after breaks) must start in grocery and then also walk another department. We have done service walks, 5 minutes gs at the top of every hour, racetrack laps ect. For a long time. We just change it up a little now and then.

Also try suggesting having huddle in grocery or the p fresh area. That way guest see a lot of tm there plus it might help familiarize the department with tm's who work in other parts of the store.

Another thing we do now is have a tm (lol when we have them) "cover" grocery while the food team unloads trucks or takes care of produce pallets. The walk the dept, zone and answer calls or do the reshop
 
Our store also does "service walks" to cihyfs guest. I hate it because it is relentlessly stupid, but we play along. When grocery scores are down every team member who calls out, "I'm doing a service walk" (before and after breaks) must start in grocery and then also walk another department. We have done service walks, 5 minutes gs at the top of every hour, racetrack laps ect. For a long time. We just change it up a little now and then.

Also try suggesting having huddle in grocery or the p fresh area. That way guest see a lot of tm there plus it might help familiarize the department with tm's who work in other parts of the store.

Another thing we do now is have a tm (lol when we have them) "cover" grocery while the food team unloads trucks or takes care of produce pallets. The walk the dept, zone and answer calls or do the reshop

That would be nice to have our 1 opening salesfloor to do that :) since half the time whoever is in pfresh needs to help out with the truck
 
I am going to suggest that to the team, not just the pfresh team.



I have tried to get call buttons in pfresh. I told my ETL about this but he just blows me off. We have one call button at C35 when p fresh is a C2. I would like two more call buttons. One at like C17 and other by the produce section.

I really think this will help. Less people on the lookout for team members.

I guess I have to go to my STL then about this.

Also, who is in charge of ordering and installing call buttons?

Talk to your ETL-GE and I bet he'll be glad to help you get them ;) ETL-GE is not only the Front End manager, but they're also in charge of Guest Service across the ENTIRE store.

They are really simple to setup, and I think they can be ordered off TIPP or something...
 
Talk to your ETL-GE and I bet he'll be glad to help you get them ;) ETL-GE is not only the Front End manager, but they're also in charge of Guest Service across the ENTIRE store.

They are really simple to setup, and I think they can be ordered off TIPP or something...

Ya you would need to partner with ETL-GE, SFT, and STL probably. Those are the 3 people I would contact about it, just to make sure everyone would be on the same page and what not.
 
Since its a global issue maybe leadership will stop pretending grocery doesn't exist.
 
Then they will gripe that the guest couldn't find you and had to hit the button. Our store is on a zero call buttons kick, ESPECIALLY in electronics where we are having low surveys. If the call button goes off there, they hit the roof. If it goes off anywhere else in the store, they just grumble. But we are required to call out on the walkie every time we help a guest on the floor.

So if you get one installed in grocery and your scores are low, just look for them to get pissy anytime it goes off because that somehow proves you aren't asking/helping every guest.
 
Yeah they prefer the buttons not being hit. Knocks the tms are available metric I think.
 
I am going to suggest that to the team, not just the pfresh team.



I have tried to get call buttons in pfresh. I told my ETL about this but he just blows me off. We have one call button at C35 when p fresh is a C2. I would like two more call buttons. One at like C17 and other by the produce section.


I'm trying to picture a Pfresh in C and I'm coming up empty. Do you guys have SL in the middle of the store with hardlines around it? If not, what else is around Pfresh?
 
How is the availability score in Electronics and Pharmacy? if they're low then this is more of a store issue than just market. When our PFresh scores were tanking the teamed pretty much whined about how (more) important market was and did little to give incentive for the rest of the team to assist. Eventually a more reasonable solution came, which was that every team member (and yes, the market team as well) circled the the entire store asking guests CIHYFS when they were going to or coming from break. Lets just say that when we actually kept on that our scores were very green.

And those surveys matter.

edit - And for high risk stores this helps a lot in reducing shortage for areas such as Cosmetics and Jewelry where no one seems to be looking at anymore.
 
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Pharmacy is separate sorta from the store depending how busy they are. Elctroincs is part of sales floor, no changes.
 
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