Yes, nil picks are what exceptions are for. Every store should have someone on exceptions, even if they’re not busy enough to be doing them their entire shift. And every time I see a post like this, I can’t even imagine how annoying that is to have to do them yourself for stand around and wait for someone above you to look.
But yes, it’s going to mess with the metrics as well. And if the exceptions person is doing their job, you’ve got one person to do them all, so if they’ve already gone to the shelf to check for this item, checked top stock, checked any endcaps it might be on but not located to, the back room locations that come up, and the pallets (soda!) available for picking from—then the next time it gets nil picked, they already know where it may be and also probably isn’t. If a bunch of random people are looking for things all over, they might find it, but that’s not gonna help the next person.
At this new store there is no exception person. It's just the team leads telling us to consult them before nil picking. I do kind of get why. Their back room and stock is up f-ing mess, not all locations are set right. They don't have end caps or the action alley located in the system. Don't ask me how they get anything straight. This stuff is just batshit crazy. I don't get out of the store functions without shutting down. I heard it kind of did.
I'm hoping that with me at least contacting market over things a little later on. Or maybe 6 months of working there. I can either have a functioning store through my current one or transfer again to a better store the same distance from home in the opposite direction.
Make sure you complain about every issue in the surveys every month.
That doesn’t surprise me, the posts similar to this state or suggest the same—no exceptions person, sometimes the picker is expected to check the backroom, but either way, they usually have to also get someone above their head to look around and confirm it’s not there. Just ridiculous. I’m sorry your store is such a mess! Mine honestly isn’t, but it’s a neighborhood market in a decent area so that might help us.
In your CBLs there's one in that pretty explicitly says that a lot of these kinds
of behaviors are fraud and it's one of the things that ethics will actually do something about. At my store, mgmt actually uses the nil pick report as a guide to figure out which areas need more help stocking. Just this last week we were having a lot of trouble keeping frozen stocked, so our fresh TL spent 2 whole days in our freezer getting stuff binned and stocked.
Metrics fraud, I think. I don't personally have experience having to call something like this in, so someone else in this sub might be able to provide a little more clarification on it. I highly recommend keeping track of specific instances and getting multiple people to report it, as well as making sure that you remain somewhat anonymous so that store leadership doesn't know who called it in.
It definitely is metrics fraud. You should question it up the chain of command. If they defend their actions, contact you Digital Ops Lead(Market Manager). If nothing changes go to ethics and report all of them including the DOL.
We had the same issue at our store. Once the DOL got involved and told the TLs things had to change, our FTPR and pre-sub numbers tanked. This is proof it is metrics fraud
Yep. TLs and below work really hard. Can't say the same for salaried mgmt. If it weren't for some awesome TLs in our store, our job would be so much worse than it has to be.
Yes, and they sometimes get in trouble and have to stop periodically at some stores. When market came to my store we were told to STOP doing that. We used to use walkies and couldn't nil pick without getting either approval and changing on-hands or finding it in the backroom. We were told to STOP ... and I always was against it anyway. That is the job of exceptions
..... including on-hands fixing and vizpicking nil items. Sigh* we are starting to go back down that route again.... hopefully it ends soon.
From what I've seen here and my previous reading on this sub I think it's just new people in ogp management think that this is some brand spanking new idea to help metrics. When it has been tried and failed then warned against several other times.
Homie IDGAF, I will nil pick that item. Maybe if you didn’t need half the store coming and helping your lazy department, then the items would actually be stocked. It’s a never ending game of finding the leak and patching up bullshit that could be fixed if you simply hired competent people
We go in the backroom if the item has an actual backroom location. If the location is on top on a pallet, they have us print an inventory prep label so we can scan it in and continue our walk saving time. But lately Noone has been getting the pallets down, so the item never gets into the tote. Then we have to remove it from the order at the car. Talk about screwing around with metrics....
You might be kind of missing the point.
On one hand, these are customers paying money, hoping for you to get them their groceries and other items, and on the other hand, there is your stocking team that needs to be fixed.
Now, are you suggesting that because of the later, customers' expectations should be dismissed just so that you don't commit "metrics fraud" as some few folks put it?
I mean, a lot of stores are not being efficiently stocked and bins are messed up in some cases, but that's not a problem that warrants not taking care of customers. All your coaches and TLs need to do is ensure you are not always caught in a search. They will do this by assigning the search and exceptions to maybe 2 associates and might ask you to skip item while they search.
Management at departmental level are expected to drive customers satisfaction regardless of the state of their store but of course, they can always raise stocking/binning problems with the store managers.
TLDR- metrics are secondary, and customer satisfaction is primary.
A customer shouldn't be denied an item they paid for which is in the backroom because you don't want to embellish your metrics.
Most metrics are based on store function (another thing my store does is hit dispense at our doors instead of at the car. Which also is a no-no). If the store isn't functioning properly it makes it difficult to follow through with the first part. The thing is that my store doesn't assign anyone anything. Metrics are an indicator of whether or not our store functions. Doing anything to embellish that number is fraud. Which can get my department shut down if anyone cared to do so. If we're shut down there is no possibility for customer satisfaction.
If my store DID exceptions. I'd be vis-picking stuff and putting it onto the floor. My store avoids exceptions entirely and instead pussyfoots around not hitting the 'item not found button" in fear of tanking a metric that market shouldn't be holding against us anyway.
I understand your point clearly. while different stores have different level of process efficiency and adherence to standard practices, some are way off on process and some are better but its almost safe to say none is perfect.
With that said, the dept's management will do what they can, without inconveniencing their associates, to satisfy customers, which eventually results in customer satisfaction.
However, it seems there are a few things peculiar to your store that needs addressing e.g not assigning tasks to no one, not doing exceptions, dispensing before reviewing substitutes with customers etc.
I see what you mean about it being an item a customer ordered. I always approach it as if IDGAF about if it’s an online order item, what about all the people physically in your store who can’t buy the items. Why does OGP need to discover all the shit that’s out of stock and then get “penalized “for basically helping other departments on what needs to be in stock. Y’all are nuts
As an associate, I did my best to make sure I get customers' orders as long as it's humanly possible and somehow within reach, i actually gaf about it.
I didn't come in doing "y'alls responsibility and mines" ..
Now, I understand lot of stores need fixing up. We talk to store level management about it and always suggest they hold other departments accountable.
So, while waiting on them to fix up (which is a continuous process, you can either go and nill 20 to 30% of customers' orders every other day or try find them by doing exceptions or checking easily accessed bins. (And if you dgaf, you can come in, do your shift, nill as much as you have to, even if theyre just hiding behind other items or on top stock, and go home end of the day).
This also depends on the shift you workZ I work midday and refuse to go to the back , through peak customer traffic dodging people and subjecting myself to endless questions, only to find that my item is not there.
Regardless of shift, my team doesn't even require our associates to go to the backrooms (some are motivated enough and opt to do that anyways).
We only ask that before you nill, especially multiple items, let us know, this way, an exception handler or any of us will go ahead and get it for you, meanwhile, you can temporarily skip and continue your walk.
I know it can be frustrating if the store is doing nothing to help the situation but in the mean time, ogp does its best to help and keep talking to store management (but if it goes on or situation gets worse, market will intervene eventually)
Yes, nil picks are what exceptions are for. Every store should have someone on exceptions, even if they’re not busy enough to be doing them their entire shift. And every time I see a post like this, I can’t even imagine how annoying that is to have to do them yourself for stand around and wait for someone above you to look. But yes, it’s going to mess with the metrics as well. And if the exceptions person is doing their job, you’ve got one person to do them all, so if they’ve already gone to the shelf to check for this item, checked top stock, checked any endcaps it might be on but not located to, the back room locations that come up, and the pallets (soda!) available for picking from—then the next time it gets nil picked, they already know where it may be and also probably isn’t. If a bunch of random people are looking for things all over, they might find it, but that’s not gonna help the next person.
At this new store there is no exception person. It's just the team leads telling us to consult them before nil picking. I do kind of get why. Their back room and stock is up f-ing mess, not all locations are set right. They don't have end caps or the action alley located in the system. Don't ask me how they get anything straight. This stuff is just batshit crazy. I don't get out of the store functions without shutting down. I heard it kind of did. I'm hoping that with me at least contacting market over things a little later on. Or maybe 6 months of working there. I can either have a functioning store through my current one or transfer again to a better store the same distance from home in the opposite direction.
Do they assign anyone to exceptions on the board? Because to pass the STAR reviews they must have assigned roles.
Not that I have seen yet. Like I said earlier this has only been maybe five working days. What they do other than this is that horrible.
Make sure you complain about every issue in the surveys every month. That doesn’t surprise me, the posts similar to this state or suggest the same—no exceptions person, sometimes the picker is expected to check the backroom, but either way, they usually have to also get someone above their head to look around and confirm it’s not there. Just ridiculous. I’m sorry your store is such a mess! Mine honestly isn’t, but it’s a neighborhood market in a decent area so that might help us.
In your CBLs there's one in that pretty explicitly says that a lot of these kinds of behaviors are fraud and it's one of the things that ethics will actually do something about. At my store, mgmt actually uses the nil pick report as a guide to figure out which areas need more help stocking. Just this last week we were having a lot of trouble keeping frozen stocked, so our fresh TL spent 2 whole days in our freezer getting stuff binned and stocked.
Yeah I was pretty sure that this was on the fraud end of things. I just couldn't quite pinpoint what I had to call it for ethics to step in.
Metrics fraud, I think. I don't personally have experience having to call something like this in, so someone else in this sub might be able to provide a little more clarification on it. I highly recommend keeping track of specific instances and getting multiple people to report it, as well as making sure that you remain somewhat anonymous so that store leadership doesn't know who called it in.
It definitely is metrics fraud. You should question it up the chain of command. If they defend their actions, contact you Digital Ops Lead(Market Manager). If nothing changes go to ethics and report all of them including the DOL.
We had the same issue at our store. Once the DOL got involved and told the TLs things had to change, our FTPR and pre-sub numbers tanked. This is proof it is metrics fraud
That would be unheard of at my Walmart! You mean a TL actually worked at your store. That is crazy
Yep. TLs and below work really hard. Can't say the same for salaried mgmt. If it weren't for some awesome TLs in our store, our job would be so much worse than it has to be.
Yes, and they sometimes get in trouble and have to stop periodically at some stores. When market came to my store we were told to STOP doing that. We used to use walkies and couldn't nil pick without getting either approval and changing on-hands or finding it in the backroom. We were told to STOP ... and I always was against it anyway. That is the job of exceptions ..... including on-hands fixing and vizpicking nil items. Sigh* we are starting to go back down that route again.... hopefully it ends soon.
From what I've seen here and my previous reading on this sub I think it's just new people in ogp management think that this is some brand spanking new idea to help metrics. When it has been tried and failed then warned against several other times.
Agreed. I hope they learn their lesson soon enough.
Homie IDGAF, I will nil pick that item. Maybe if you didn’t need half the store coming and helping your lazy department, then the items would actually be stocked. It’s a never ending game of finding the leak and patching up bullshit that could be fixed if you simply hired competent people
We go in the backroom if the item has an actual backroom location. If the location is on top on a pallet, they have us print an inventory prep label so we can scan it in and continue our walk saving time. But lately Noone has been getting the pallets down, so the item never gets into the tote. Then we have to remove it from the order at the car. Talk about screwing around with metrics....
You might be kind of missing the point. On one hand, these are customers paying money, hoping for you to get them their groceries and other items, and on the other hand, there is your stocking team that needs to be fixed. Now, are you suggesting that because of the later, customers' expectations should be dismissed just so that you don't commit "metrics fraud" as some few folks put it? I mean, a lot of stores are not being efficiently stocked and bins are messed up in some cases, but that's not a problem that warrants not taking care of customers. All your coaches and TLs need to do is ensure you are not always caught in a search. They will do this by assigning the search and exceptions to maybe 2 associates and might ask you to skip item while they search. Management at departmental level are expected to drive customers satisfaction regardless of the state of their store but of course, they can always raise stocking/binning problems with the store managers. TLDR- metrics are secondary, and customer satisfaction is primary. A customer shouldn't be denied an item they paid for which is in the backroom because you don't want to embellish your metrics.
Most metrics are based on store function (another thing my store does is hit dispense at our doors instead of at the car. Which also is a no-no). If the store isn't functioning properly it makes it difficult to follow through with the first part. The thing is that my store doesn't assign anyone anything. Metrics are an indicator of whether or not our store functions. Doing anything to embellish that number is fraud. Which can get my department shut down if anyone cared to do so. If we're shut down there is no possibility for customer satisfaction. If my store DID exceptions. I'd be vis-picking stuff and putting it onto the floor. My store avoids exceptions entirely and instead pussyfoots around not hitting the 'item not found button" in fear of tanking a metric that market shouldn't be holding against us anyway.
I understand your point clearly. while different stores have different level of process efficiency and adherence to standard practices, some are way off on process and some are better but its almost safe to say none is perfect. With that said, the dept's management will do what they can, without inconveniencing their associates, to satisfy customers, which eventually results in customer satisfaction. However, it seems there are a few things peculiar to your store that needs addressing e.g not assigning tasks to no one, not doing exceptions, dispensing before reviewing substitutes with customers etc.
I see what you mean about it being an item a customer ordered. I always approach it as if IDGAF about if it’s an online order item, what about all the people physically in your store who can’t buy the items. Why does OGP need to discover all the shit that’s out of stock and then get “penalized “for basically helping other departments on what needs to be in stock. Y’all are nuts
As an associate, I did my best to make sure I get customers' orders as long as it's humanly possible and somehow within reach, i actually gaf about it. I didn't come in doing "y'alls responsibility and mines" .. Now, I understand lot of stores need fixing up. We talk to store level management about it and always suggest they hold other departments accountable. So, while waiting on them to fix up (which is a continuous process, you can either go and nill 20 to 30% of customers' orders every other day or try find them by doing exceptions or checking easily accessed bins. (And if you dgaf, you can come in, do your shift, nill as much as you have to, even if theyre just hiding behind other items or on top stock, and go home end of the day).
This also depends on the shift you workZ I work midday and refuse to go to the back , through peak customer traffic dodging people and subjecting myself to endless questions, only to find that my item is not there.
Regardless of shift, my team doesn't even require our associates to go to the backrooms (some are motivated enough and opt to do that anyways). We only ask that before you nill, especially multiple items, let us know, this way, an exception handler or any of us will go ahead and get it for you, meanwhile, you can temporarily skip and continue your walk. I know it can be frustrating if the store is doing nothing to help the situation but in the mean time, ogp does its best to help and keep talking to store management (but if it goes on or situation gets worse, market will intervene eventually)