What makes a supermarket job right for you

They achieve this by training employees to perform a variety of tasks. At QuikTrip, part-time employees receive 40 hours of training and full-time employees receive two weeks—not just in checking out customers but also in brewing coffee, ordering merchandise, sweeping floors and the parking lot, cleaning bathrooms, and stocking coolers, freezers, and grills. At Mercadona, every new employee receives four weeks of training, during which they learn how to manage a particular section meat or cosmetics, for example , perform inventory checks for data accuracy , order merchandise, replenish products from backrooms, and check for product defects or other problems.

When customer traffic is high, employees at QuikTrip and Mercadona focus on customer-related tasks; when traffic is low, they focus on other tasks. QuikTrip employees also can move from one store to another, because all stores have the same design.

As a result of this cross-training, employees have more-predictable schedules and are always busy that is, more productive , and customers get faster service from more-knowledgeable employees.

Retailers that invest in employees are by no means easygoing about what people do. Rather, they are obsessed with eliminating waste and improving efficiency.

At Costco stores, products are shelved on pallets, which eliminates the need to unload and shelve them. QuikTrip and Mercadona apply world-class manufacturing practices to their store operations.

Every in-store logistics process—from receiving merchandise to moving products within the store—is timed and standardized, and compliance with the standards is constantly monitored. Employee feedback is incorporated into process design and improvement. At QuikTrip, employees from every position regularly discuss problems and identify opportunities for improvement.

At Mercadona, managers at headquarters in charge of specific processes routinely visit stores and talk to employees. The company also has field employees whose main job is to relay employee and customer feedback to purchasing and marketing departments. In contrast to retailers that constantly strive to make do with fewer employees, retailers that operate in a virtuous cycle often err on the side of overstaffing. They want to make sure that employees are not too rushed to serve customers well and finish their logistics tasks.

QuikTrip goes even further, maintaining a force of hundreds of employees who do not report to a specific store but are ready to fill in for people who get sick, take a vacation, or have an emergency.

In most retail stores, merchandise planning is centralized and only managers can make decisions about product returns and customer complaints. But at companies that operate in a virtuous cycle, employees constantly make decisions. How can large chains trust thousands of people to make inventory decisions? Every decision is small, corporate IT is designed to assist, and the decisions are monitored. Because empowering employees in these ways makes companies more responsive to local needs and preferences, it increases customer as well as employee satisfaction.

Several decades ago, there was an intense debate about whether it was possible for low-cost products to be high quality. But some companies, starting with Toyota, showed that this was a false trade-off: Investing in people and processes actually drove quality up and costs down. Today many retail managers believe that there is a trade-off between investing in employees and offering the lowest prices. That, too, is false. Retailers that persist in believing in it forgo the opportunity to improve their own performance and contribute the kind of jobs the U.

When backed up with a specific set of operating practices, investing in employees can boost customer experience and decrease costs. Companies can compete successfully on the basis of low prices and simultaneously keep their customers and employees happy.

You have 1 free article s left this month. You are reading your last free article for this month. Subscribe for unlimited access. Create an account to read 2 more. Human resource management. Some companies are investing in their workers and reaping healthy profits. Reprint: RL Too many retail managers believe that they must offer bad jobs to keep prices low. Schedules In addition to poor wages and benefits, retail employees have unpredictable work schedules.

Source: Francois J. Floral designers work in floral departments, making attractive arrangements of flowers. Deli departments employ deli associates who cut and arrange meat and cheese for customers. They may also prepare and package cooked foods. Department-specific workers are also responsible for keeping their areas and equipment clean.

Salaries and job outlook vary by job title and position description. Many jobs are available in grocery stores and supermarkets that do not require a high school diploma or GED. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that cashier jobs will decline by 7 percent between now and because of increased use of self-check out lines. By contrast, jobs for janitors, including those who clean grocery stores, are expected to increase 4 percent during that same time period.

Work Career Advice Frustrations at Work. Upload your resume. Sign in. Finding a Job. What are supermarket jobs? Restocking shelves with fresh products Bagging groceries for customers Directing customers toward the location of certain products Unloading delivery trucks Answering customer questions Processing payments Counting money at the end of a shift. Pros of working at a supermarket. Consistent interpersonal communication. Busy workdays. Physical activity.

Loading or unloading delivery trucks Rearranging promotional tables Walking around the store assisting customers Carrying heavy bags to a customer's car. Potential discounts on products. Developed merchandising skills. Flexible hours. Ability to develop professionally. Cons of working at a supermarket. Stagnant work environment. Challenging customer interactions. Weekend or holiday work. Low entry-level pay. Besides it being a fun, vibrant place to work, there are a number of fantastic benefits.

In a day and age where more and more people are looking for quality of life, looking to make work fit with life, and not the other way around, working in supermarkets can offer the best of both worlds. Here are six great reasons to work in a Foodstuffs supermarket:.