OKAY WOOLWORTHS EMPLOYEES it's time to pay me back for all the advice i've been passing on to you.
next week i'm working 3 supervision shifts at a BIG woolworths store (macquarie ryde) now i know how to supervise like on the registers, but our store doesnt have a service desk or anything, so i usually just hang around the front, and serve when it gets busy, do all the price checks myself and so on, but how does it work in a big store?
-Will i have another supervisor/CSM with me?
-How do i get a price checked?
-Will i be expected to serve?
-Should breaks be given exactly as they appear on the Gride Report (in our store we give breaks when it suits)?
-In general, what exactly will i do?
HALP
Haha sweet!! I'm a supervisor at one of the biggest stores in Vic, so I should be able to help out
1. It really depends on how the store works and what hours you're working. Generally down in safers, the CSM will do 7-5, 2ic will do 9-6, the night supervisor will do 3-12 and possibly there is a backup 5-10 and 3ic 11-8. So you probably won't be doing it all by yourself. At my store, on sundays we have a grand total of 6 supervisors over the course of the day, and that's just officially supervising!!
2. Generally just a service 40 to the register. But if it's something close and you're not busy, you can just check it yourself. It's your discretion.
3. Again, this depends on who is there as backup. If it gets busy, then yes you will be expected to serve, unless it's just you supervising. Pretty much the hierachy is all cashiers on, then if it's still busy one supervisor jumps on, then if it gets insane, you get a manager to do smokeshop while you're on a register. It depends on the layout of the department though. But one of my key little suggestions. If it gets really busy and there's no one there to do smokeshop, what I do is jump on with one of the Cashiers, so get them to scan and I pack. This means if there is a service 10 or I need to do something, it's really easy to just jump off and fix it all up, without having to close off a register first. The advantage is they have a much higher scan rate, so get through more people. Just make sure you choose the Cashiers that you do it with. It also provides you with a good opportunity for training & development.
4. Breaks are a serving suggestion only. Obviously if it's busy, don't send them. But you need to stay fairly on top of it. In my experience, people get shitty if they go on break after 3 hours of a 5 hour shift. I normally give a cashier a list of breaks, so they go along and do all the breaks, ie take over for the cashier for their break, so I don't have to worry about them.
5. This depends on the time of day. I'm just going to presume you're doing day shifts and don't need to know night routine.
Day supervision is mainly just focused on the running of the department. ie allocating registers, keeping the express-big register-stock-etc balance working. A lot of the time it'll just be service 10s.
I'm sure you know how to deal with them, but here's some common problems:
- My Printer is broken, easy to fix. If not, just move registers
- I accidently pressed cash instead of credit, just do a tender swap under supervisor menu
- The receipt didn't print - reprint receipt or use Electronic Journal if you can't do that
- Processing cheques - make sure you get the store's authorisation number, usually the store number
Yeah that's pretty much it, but also change orders and pickups as required by the cash office. Also try and count off draws that aren't going to be used the rest of the day and count them off when people have finished with them. Pretty much what BouncyCats above me has said
Good luck, I'm sure you'll do just fine
Just don't get too stressed. If it's busy, just breathe, there's nothing you can do and it'll die down eventually. I spent 7 hours on register on Anzac Day... the store manager was doing smokeshop LOL
