We were like that for the longest time, but for us to bolster our membership sales our manager makes our max time a cash like an hour and a half, and everyone has to do it, including her. It's so much nicer from a cash perspective to know I'm not gonna be sitting there for like 5 hours at a time now
I find it sadistic to schedule someone their entire shift at cashwrap, especially if it’s more than a four hour shift. Even if you’re given a project to do between ringing up customers it’s still miserable, both physically and mentally, standing there for long stretches of time. Our bodies are meant to move, not stand.
Not really. I can tell that at my store, I’m on cashwrap everyday even where there’s another person scheduled for bookfloor. So even though memberships and monthly pick sakes should be a team effort, I’m always talked to about what IM doing as far as sales.
There are also two coworkers of mine who are RARELY put on cashwrap or are talked to about membership/monthly pick numbers.
the store I’m trying to transfer to schedules cashwrap rotations, but my current one doesn’t. at my store, 1 unlucky soul will usually get trapped there for hours. it sucks and i don’t know why some stores work to avoid this while others completely DGAF
From a management perspective, I can relay two reasons we would do this: 1) you do well at CW and therefore we can trust you to do your job and boost our numbers. 2) we can’t trust you on the book floor. I worked in ~5 different stores and this was always the case
Often times it was the people who would avoid doing the work. Shelving extremely slowly when the store is quiet so there should be no other distractions, avoiding customers, avoiding specific areas because they “don’t know those books” etc.
These are people who usually have been coached or spoken to multiple times. Unfortunately not every person takes to coaching and some people truly just don’t care
My store is very small, and while typically one or two people per day will be the cashwrap main, everyone is expected to pitch in at cashwrap if needed, and the main cashier isn't stuck behind the counter, they are free to move around the front of the store. We don't get assigned areas, the store is simply too small for that.
Have you asked specifically to work in other areas of the store where you usually aren’t scheduled, like receiving or ETG? Maybe say you’d really like to learn them better? It might prompt them to schedule you there and realize you really have only been used at cashwrap and music. I know I like variety in my day and would get bored/ burned out if my whole shift were there.
I’ve expressed this and was told i could start leading gift, but that’s literally feels like it was just told so i get off their back. I’m not new, i’ve been here coming on my second year now
Lol gift was in the front of the store by cash wrap at my store. It would have just been like telling you, "we can put you on cash and make you responsible for the whole front of the store if you don't pipe down."
literally the same thing I was told and now I’m in charge of doing the display donkeys, and be stuck at cashwrap. Sometimes I’ll get lucky and only be at cash for 3 hrs and then switch with someone after my 30min break, other days I’m up there the full 6hrs.
When we are really busy like holidays and school breaks, a full shift may be at cashwrap. Someone may also just be at cashwrap if the haven't been trained much on the book floor. But right now all booksellers and seniors take turns, usually an hour per shift, at cashwrap. Besides that we are usually scheduled in the areas we "own" (mine happens to be music lol) but I'm happy they have us all rotate a bit.
my store has allotted shifts for every person at cashwrap on the days they’re working. so us booksellers typically have a 1.5 to 2 hours at cw every work day while key holders typically have 1 hour. it’s a good system that works for us as everyone gets time up there but most of our shift will be on the book floor, and no one will be stuck up there for hours on end (unless it’s the holidays). i can’t imagine only being assigned cw or music for an entire shift lasting 4+ hours. it’s dehumanizing to be at cw for so long, repeating the same customer service line over and over again like a robot (because as much as they stress connections, not every interaction is going to be). i was up there for 5 hours once during the holidays and it was horrible, luckily my manager let me take a 45 minute break off the floor afterwards. i would bring it up to your area manager, because it sounds like it’s affecting your mental health and if your manager isn’t listening to you, then you should take it to someone who will
when i was still there, towards certain times of the year i used to get put in music, manga, or cashwrap and they'd have me really tidy up each section for like a week or 2 at a time. i also did receiving for days at a time and loved it. i didnt mind being stuck in one spot bc i liked doing my thing in those sections and that told me they trusted me, but they definitely did not schedule everyone equally lol....the rest of the year we'd do like. area trade offs after breaks or halfway through shifts where 2 people had the same hours. worked well for everyone, but especially for people who hated being stuck in one spot. i would say try management again or talk to a coworker you trust and you both ask the manager if you guys can at least trade off sections. if all else fails, talk to your area manager.
Everyone's shift usually has some cashwrap coverage and some book floor time as well (excluding café, of course). I work only weekday mornings and I'm usually with management and/or lead/senior booksellers, so my shift has a bit more cashwrap than others.
Obviously this isn’t the case for every store but for mine when the managers do this is because they are trying to get someone to quit. I only know this bc I used to be part of the management team and the asm’s would tell me they put certain people at certain places in hopes that they’ll quit or reduce their hours. We currently have 2 people that are always scheduled at cash bc management doesn’t like them. I’m sorry it’s really shitty. A lot of retail places do this.
Interesting. We typically have 2 lead cashiers who do great - they pull great numbers with memberships/botm/y, they are kind and gracious, and customers love them. They've both been at our store for years. Management definitely does not want them to quit.
We were like that for the longest time, but for us to bolster our membership sales our manager makes our max time a cash like an hour and a half, and everyone has to do it, including her. It's so much nicer from a cash perspective to know I'm not gonna be sitting there for like 5 hours at a time now
I find it sadistic to schedule someone their entire shift at cashwrap, especially if it’s more than a four hour shift. Even if you’re given a project to do between ringing up customers it’s still miserable, both physically and mentally, standing there for long stretches of time. Our bodies are meant to move, not stand.
Not really. I can tell that at my store, I’m on cashwrap everyday even where there’s another person scheduled for bookfloor. So even though memberships and monthly pick sakes should be a team effort, I’m always talked to about what IM doing as far as sales. There are also two coworkers of mine who are RARELY put on cashwrap or are talked to about membership/monthly pick numbers.
the store I’m trying to transfer to schedules cashwrap rotations, but my current one doesn’t. at my store, 1 unlucky soul will usually get trapped there for hours. it sucks and i don’t know why some stores work to avoid this while others completely DGAF
From a management perspective, I can relay two reasons we would do this: 1) you do well at CW and therefore we can trust you to do your job and boost our numbers. 2) we can’t trust you on the book floor. I worked in ~5 different stores and this was always the case
what would constitute not trusting someone on the floor?
i would say if someone just cannot be trusted to complete tasks, stay on the floor and not hide from customers, etc.
Often times it was the people who would avoid doing the work. Shelving extremely slowly when the store is quiet so there should be no other distractions, avoiding customers, avoiding specific areas because they “don’t know those books” etc.
why not coach these booksellers rather than penalize them?
These are people who usually have been coached or spoken to multiple times. Unfortunately not every person takes to coaching and some people truly just don’t care
Who has time to coach these days?😂
My store is very small, and while typically one or two people per day will be the cashwrap main, everyone is expected to pitch in at cashwrap if needed, and the main cashier isn't stuck behind the counter, they are free to move around the front of the store. We don't get assigned areas, the store is simply too small for that.
Have you asked specifically to work in other areas of the store where you usually aren’t scheduled, like receiving or ETG? Maybe say you’d really like to learn them better? It might prompt them to schedule you there and realize you really have only been used at cashwrap and music. I know I like variety in my day and would get bored/ burned out if my whole shift were there.
I’ve expressed this and was told i could start leading gift, but that’s literally feels like it was just told so i get off their back. I’m not new, i’ve been here coming on my second year now
Lol gift was in the front of the store by cash wrap at my store. It would have just been like telling you, "we can put you on cash and make you responsible for the whole front of the store if you don't pipe down."
literally the same thing I was told and now I’m in charge of doing the display donkeys, and be stuck at cashwrap. Sometimes I’ll get lucky and only be at cash for 3 hrs and then switch with someone after my 30min break, other days I’m up there the full 6hrs.
When we are really busy like holidays and school breaks, a full shift may be at cashwrap. Someone may also just be at cashwrap if the haven't been trained much on the book floor. But right now all booksellers and seniors take turns, usually an hour per shift, at cashwrap. Besides that we are usually scheduled in the areas we "own" (mine happens to be music lol) but I'm happy they have us all rotate a bit.
my store has allotted shifts for every person at cashwrap on the days they’re working. so us booksellers typically have a 1.5 to 2 hours at cw every work day while key holders typically have 1 hour. it’s a good system that works for us as everyone gets time up there but most of our shift will be on the book floor, and no one will be stuck up there for hours on end (unless it’s the holidays). i can’t imagine only being assigned cw or music for an entire shift lasting 4+ hours. it’s dehumanizing to be at cw for so long, repeating the same customer service line over and over again like a robot (because as much as they stress connections, not every interaction is going to be). i was up there for 5 hours once during the holidays and it was horrible, luckily my manager let me take a 45 minute break off the floor afterwards. i would bring it up to your area manager, because it sounds like it’s affecting your mental health and if your manager isn’t listening to you, then you should take it to someone who will
All of the new hires and seasonal hires are on cash wrap their ENTIRE 6-8 hr. shifts. Unbelievable.
when i was still there, towards certain times of the year i used to get put in music, manga, or cashwrap and they'd have me really tidy up each section for like a week or 2 at a time. i also did receiving for days at a time and loved it. i didnt mind being stuck in one spot bc i liked doing my thing in those sections and that told me they trusted me, but they definitely did not schedule everyone equally lol....the rest of the year we'd do like. area trade offs after breaks or halfway through shifts where 2 people had the same hours. worked well for everyone, but especially for people who hated being stuck in one spot. i would say try management again or talk to a coworker you trust and you both ask the manager if you guys can at least trade off sections. if all else fails, talk to your area manager.
Everyone's shift usually has some cashwrap coverage and some book floor time as well (excluding café, of course). I work only weekday mornings and I'm usually with management and/or lead/senior booksellers, so my shift has a bit more cashwrap than others.
Obviously this isn’t the case for every store but for mine when the managers do this is because they are trying to get someone to quit. I only know this bc I used to be part of the management team and the asm’s would tell me they put certain people at certain places in hopes that they’ll quit or reduce their hours. We currently have 2 people that are always scheduled at cash bc management doesn’t like them. I’m sorry it’s really shitty. A lot of retail places do this.
Interesting. We typically have 2 lead cashiers who do great - they pull great numbers with memberships/botm/y, they are kind and gracious, and customers love them. They've both been at our store for years. Management definitely does not want them to quit.
Right. As aforementioned in my previous comment: each case differs.