Sunday, February 4, 2018

Nice nice people

Under Amazon ownership, Whole Foods new inventory regime is making workers cry. This is why they have unions. 

jeff bezos
From Daily MailWhole Foods has implemented a strict new inventory management system that includes bi-weekly walk-throughs and random quizzing of employees, and has left many workers feeling stressed out and punished.
The new system is called order-to-shelf (OTS) and has a strict set of procedures for purchasing, displaying and storing products on store shelves and in back rooms that is supposed to make stores more efficient and cut down on waste.
And to make sure stores are following the new procedures – stores are required to use ‘scorecards’ to evaluate each employees performance, according to Business Insider.
Though the system is meant to improve efficiency and stream-line storage, employees described it as onerous, stress inducing and punitive.  ‘The stress has created such a tense working environment’ a supervisor in a West Coast store explained.  ‘Seeing someone cry at work is becoming normal.’   
Business Insider spoke with 27 current and former employees – some of whom had been with the company for up to 20 years.
Many workers are worried the new system will cause them to lose their jobs, and said they spend more time doing OTS-related paperwork than helping customers navigate the stores. 
Executives think the new system cuts cost across stores, reduce employee theft, clears out storage and gives workers more time to engage with customers. And the employees who spoke to Business Insiderwill agree that the former system was ineffective and needed to change – but say the company’s ‘fix’ went too far.
‘The OTS program is leaving to sackings up and down the chain in our region,’ an employee in Georgia said. ‘We’ve lost team leaders, store team leaders, executive coordinators and even a regional vice president. Many of them have left because they consider OTS to be absurd. As an example, store team leaders are required to complete a 108-point checklist for OTS.’
The new system requires managers to walk through store aisles and storage rooms with checklists, or scorecards, to make sure everything is where it belongs.  And if anything is in the wrong place, missing, or there is excess stock in storage, departments will lose points. One employee said that if an item is ‘even an inch outside of its designated spot,’ points will be deducted.
These walks, which happen frequently throughout the day, also include quizzes. Employees will be asked to recite things such as sales goals, top-selling items and last week’s sales on the spot. A failing score is anything below 89.9 percent, and if an employee fails they can be fired on the spot.
Company documents reviewed by Business Insider show that these quizzes, or ‘walks,’ happen twice a week. Corporate employees also visit the branches and conduct the tests monthly.
The walks have left employees stressed and fearful. ‘The fear of chastisement, punishment and retribution is very real and pervasive,’ a worker said. Another worker said the walks have caused them to have work-related nightmares.  
Workers across the country think the new OTS system is failing, and many departed employees have said they think that is because of a lack of training. ‘The problem lies in the lack of training, and the fact that every single member of management from store level to corporate is over tasked and overburdened,’ a former employee said.

9 comments:

  1. Anonymous2/04/2018

    Unions would turn company into a cook county loaf around, no skills needed, drunken connected workplace. Company would be broke in time and move to another country.

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  2. Anonymous2/04/2018

    Unions would end the abuse

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  3. Anonymous2/04/2018

    Jesus, how much money does this Bezos have to make. Think of all the brick and mortar stores that are falling by the wayside, and all the employees that are losing their jobs to the convenience of Amazon. So once this guy owns everything, then what? Does he give all his money away like Buffett or Gates, does he have his hair restored, or does he just sit back and try to decide how the rest of us should live our lives. On a somewhat related topic, does anyone else remember when cable television was first available in the City of Chicago? Group W - Westinghouse got the franchise and basic cable went for $14 a month. Now Comcast, much like Amazon, is buying up everything, NBC and Universal and their subsidiaries. Sometimes deregulation sucks.

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  4. Why it is almost like they think the employees may be stealing stuff. Next thing you know they will be keeping the watermelons behind lock and key!

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  5. Anonymous2/05/2018

    Yeah, where is Jimmy Hoffa Jr. these days? Why is Bezos allowed to run wild over American workers?

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  6. Anonymous2/05/2018

    Funny how these new left wing businessmen operate their businesses like the totalitarian beliefs they have for us politically. This is an example of abuse and bureaucratic meddling albeit in the private sector. This is not a typical business model. Unions solve some problems but in the end eat their host - the very businesses they work in. The choice is not Bezos Nazi management tactics or union communist tactics.

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  7. Anonymous2/05/2018

    Also the article is from the Daily Mail, Great Britain. This is not the US just to clarify.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous2/05/2018

      Thank you for the clarity, a..hole.

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    2. Anonymous2/05/2018

      No problem psycho

      Delete