Archived How bad is Backroom?

[callmetaylor]

That sounds terrible, @BackroomAlpha !

My main responsibility is market so after autofills/price change I hop in to market backstock and do grc 1,2,3, cndy, Bev 1&2, and snck.

Honestly, our market aisles are SO packed that I get antsy and end up breaking away to do super small vehicles of other stuff (repack backstock, maybe a small cooler vehicle, etc- anything to give me a break from market while still being productive!)

It's getting a little better, but market alone used to take me 4hrs or so. It wasn't unusual to have 5-6 vehicles overflowing with stuff and I had to navigate overflowing waco's. Thankfully they've started holding flow accountable for pushing correctly and it's cut our backstock in half!

So I hop in to either softlines or toys/sports/seasonal after market. Some of us do waaaaay more fill groups than others, but some get stuck with terrible fill groups- we've got one TM who backstocks all of C &D by himself. Nothing but respect to him...c&d suck!

 

[mrknownothing]

Of the handful of workcenters in which I'm trained, backroom is by far my favorite. Yes, it can be challenging at times (especially when dealing with certain ETLs who don't know jack about how the backroom works), but I'm not on a register, I'm constantly moving, I get to spend time in the coolers during the summer, and getting the push, backstock, etc. done feels more fulfilling than completing a zone that will soon be destroyed again. Plus, the logistics process is far more interesting than the front end or sales floor.

Take warning that backroom can be super boring. Pulling CAFs is fun (I especially find it fun trying to beat the pull goal timer) alone but backstocking will make you want to fall asleep pretty quickly. I don't know how you 4am'ers do it! If you ever get stuck with a closing shift, you'll be backstocking the majority of it and staring at that clock.

It's not boring at my store. We have to push all the CAFs. And if all the backstock and price changes are done super early, we're expected to pull manuals or help zone.

I've become known as the guy who LIKES to pull coolers. I overheat very easily so a good 5-10 minutes in the coolers feels amazing to me, It's when they need someone to backstock for hours that I don't raise my hand B-)

Me too, especially this time of year when it's 90 outside and the store is disgustingly humid. Even the ambient room feels wonderful. The freezer still sucks, but it is what it is.

 

[Kartman]

Damn. Now, I want to learn Backroom!

 

[asidius]

Damn. Now, I want to learn Backroom!

Ask to be cross trained in it. If you don't like it, you can just tell the ETL to not give you BR shifts anymore. I don't know how it goes for other stores, but they don't let just anyone train for backroom. Our store is selective about who they let in there.

 

[Kompa]

@callmetaylor nice! Perfect execution of explanation. Slow TMs cause problems, we've got 3 very slow and unknowledgeable TMs in the back who like to take their time with everything. What takes me and our TL or veteran 30 min to do takes them almost 2 hours. Yesterday one of our newer guys had 22 research batches, started pulling them at 10:30am and still had 8 in the gun around 3 when I left. Instocks needs all of their batches pulled and set on the line by noon as they leave at 12:30. I imagine BTS is gonna be tough for me and a couple others because we pull all the weight. Yesterday I backstocked, Chem, pet, paper, toy1,2,3,HIPA, seasonal,sprt,grc1, grc2, grc3, Dom, bath, plug, plastic, home, furn, candy, bev, lockup all while one TM left early and didnt backstock anything and another backstocked softlines and HBO. I generally always do 80% of the truck backstock on my own and if I didn't step up it wouldn't get done.

This is when I actually slow down. I understand there is a job to do but in no way will I go out of my way to try to blitz work because the other brtms are shitty. It burns you out and you don't get paid more.

 

[BackroomAlpha]

This is when I actually slow down. I understand there is a job to do but in no way will I go out of my way to try to blitz work because the other brtms are shitty. It burns you out and you don't get paid more.

Very true. Some of the worst days if my life are the days other TMs decide to slack really hard and I get left with 80% of the trucks backstock. That's no exaggeration and I'm expected to get it done. BUT I enjoy challenges, both personal and work related. It's fascinating to me how the more and more I take on everyday, the less a normal typical day seems challenging. It's very fulfilling

 

[Joejoe12]

Out of all the positions I've had a spot nothing compares to backroom. I can honestly say working backroom day was the best. Like a lot of people said here they key is having a strong team of the team isn't strong your in for a hard time. ASANTS but in my store backroom is the last work center to get cut in payroll most of your backroom guys have 32 hours plus there's 2 that are under that but one is because he only works weekends since it a second job the second well he just sucks and never wants to work. I will say it is fast paced and pretty physical but nothing that you can't get used to. For the most part leadership will leave you alone but they will check in now and then

 

[Joejoe12]

Oh and might I add try to learn new things in the back besides pulling. Maybe see if you can learn receiving invade a vendor comes in and the receiver is on break. Also ask to do location accuracy these are things that could help you get extra hours

 

[SFSFun]

Ask to be cross trained in it. If you don't like it, you can just tell the ETL to not give you BR shifts anymore. I don't know how it goes for other stores, but they don't let just anyone train for backroom. Our store is selective about who they let in there.

Cart Attendants in theory would make great BRTMs since they are already used to physical labor and working independently on a variety of different tasks. The main thing that would hold them back is trying to find a replacement...

 

[mrknownothing]

The main thing that would hold them back is trying to find a replacement...

This. Cart attendants are a dime a dozen, but good cart attendants are few and far between. Our best cart attendant has been trying to get into other workcenters for months, but it's hard to do that when you're the only one who can be trusted with training new TMs.

 

[dmx2k1]

It's funny I was having a conversation with the backroom guy today on how easy they have it now. I did backroom for a VERY long time and loved it. I went from Salesfloor to electronics to backroom to pfresh to cafe and I have to say backroom was my favorite. All the freedom, staying busy all day just enough guest encounters. Doing the rfid training today had me all nostalgic lol

 

[BigEyedPhish]

It's funny I was having a conversation with the backroom guy today on how easy they have it now. I did backroom for a VERY long time and loved it. I went from Salesfloor to electronics to backroom to pfresh to cafe and I have to say backroom was my favorite. All the freedom, staying busy all day just enough guest encounters. Doing the rfid training today had me all nostalgic lol

I say this to our Market Team, I was a PA and now Signing Spec, right before the CAF change. They always look at me with a respectful (how the fuck did you do what you did look). And I always respond, trying doing it with 7 pulls an hour, just to give them a jab, they are doing their best though.

 

[Backroomgirl]

Sometimes I want to tell these newbies they don't know how good they have it!! Life before the CAF pull changes was nuts!!

 

[pfreshdude]

I say this to our Market Team, I was a PA and now Signing Spec, right before the CAF change. They always look at me with a respectful (how the fuck did you do what you did look). And I always respond, trying doing it with 7 pulls an hour, just to give them a jab, they are doing their best though.

I just waited til 5pm and pushed it all out at once unless we were out of something. Im not wasting my time going back and forth every hour when our Pfresh is on the opposite side of the store as our backroom It was def larger though, that is for sure

 

[BigEyedPhish]

I just waited til 5pm and pushed it all out at once unless we were out of something. Im not wasting my time going back and forth every hour when our Pfresh is on the opposite side of the store as our backroom It was def larger though, that is for sure

We also had Dry pulls on our plate, so anything that was food. If we waited all day you would be looking at pushing 30% of the stores Volume, which means zoning the entirety of Food/Paper would be out of the question (if you closed, you were expected to do this alone (LOL).

 

[pfreshdude]

We also had Dry pulls on our plate, so anything that was food. If we waited all day you would be looking at pushing 30% of the stores Volume, which means zoning the entirety of Food/Paper would be out of the question (if you closed, you were expected to do this alone (LOL).

If I was expected to also do all the dry pulls every day along with pulls every hour im pretty sure not much of the zone would ever get done. Our coverage is only 1 person 6-230 and 1 person 230-7

We are basically Salesfloor TM/ PA. On my shift today I had to go outside TWICE and grab carts because apparently I have nothing better to do? Also helped with pulling something from the back, a Carryout, filling baskets, and backup cashiering twice. OH and doing reshop twice for market and doing 2 carts of reshop for A and B for our midday "zone/project" with whoever else was there.

 

[BigEyedPhish]

If I was expected to also do all the dry pulls every day along with pulls every hour im pretty sure not much of the zone would ever get done. Our coverage is only 1 person 6-230 and 1 person 230-7

We are basically Salesfloor TM/ PA. On my shift today I had to go outside TWICE and grab carts because apparently I have nothing better to do? Also helped with pulling something from the back, a Carryout, filling baskets, and backup cashiering twice. OH and doing reshop twice for market and doing 2 carts of reshop for A and B for our midday "zone/project" with whoever else was there.

I had to deny my ETL-SF today, about zoning Seasonal and sprucing it up with fixtures, because I was purposely scheduled to spend the entire day in the fixture room by my ETL-LOG, who was on vacation and not there to back me up.

(They recently combined our Seasonal Brand and Electronics Brand into one position and they were not in the store, and it was about an hour or two before a surprise visit, supposedly, i didn't actually see said visit, but there was no fuckin way I was letting them see my fixture the way it was at the time, to go and pick up the lack of seasonal brand slack, especially since they said "we need your help to do this"...

I don't see any of them helping me in the fixture room after i pick up all of THEIR crap before a visit.