Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Posts: 4998
| Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 11:55 pm Post subject: Romper room | |
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Romper room tactics-nailed it Lk.
Yeap,my favorite is the bite size candy bars they throw at you in PA meetings for answering a question correctly.The best prize or reward I saw for daily apps and PAs was instant lottery tickets-at least you stand a chance of gettting cash and not having to spend something like a gift card in Sears. Back to romper room though,the conversion and after created a romper room aptmosphere with all the turn-over and young ones applying and getting hired.You were so busy trying to correct the mistakes of conversion management that you really didn't even have time to say things like 'that's unprofessional.you chased the customers away" etc. Hate to say it and if Im wrong I apologize but I got a chance to see some youtube videos with Sears employees-I hope they were on breaks or at least got their job done or made a living.But many of those videos show the attitude and aptmosphere that was prevelant after the conversion.And the post conversion employees weren't even playing for the cameras like they are now a days. |
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Joined: 25 Mar 2008
Posts: 146
| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 7:50 am Post subject: | |
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I think my loyalty officially died for the company when I was at my old store and was being expected to work like 70 hours a week due to being horribly short-staffed.
That in itself isn't what pissed me off, it's the fact that they refused to make me "full time", so I got not benefits or anything. I had to work 70 hours a week for 15 weeks at a time (apparently 16 weeks is the period of time where they would have HAD to make me full time) and still get the crap (ie non-existent) benefits that the 12-hour-a-week cashiers get. Their excuse for not making me full time? Because I didn't have 24/7/365 availability. |
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Joined: 18 Oct 2003
Posts: 469
Location: without Sears, much happier
| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 11:17 am Post subject: | |
| It is difficult to give an exact date, because the downward spiral has been going on for many years. I'd say the death of Sears truly happened when Alan "what's in it for me" Lacy was elected CEO. This event set up all the ensuing trauma that Sears has been going through and it's inevitable death at the hands of Eddie Lamprey. | |
Joined: 15 Mar 2008
Posts: 320
Location: stuffed in the back room of a kmart
| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 2:52 pm Post subject: | |||
hmmmm ive got 24/7/365 not to mention ive saved the day (their words) several times and they still wont make me full time |
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Joined: 20 Apr 2005
Posts: 1069
| Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 3:25 am Post subject: | |||
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Joined: 25 Mar 2008
Posts: 146
| Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 3:30 am Post subject: | |||
I was attending university, but all my classes started after 8 PM. I worked 9am-7pm for the most part every day of the week. |
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Joined: 20 Apr 2005
Posts: 1069
| Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 3:39 am Post subject: | |||||
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Joined: 04 Jul 2003
Posts: 420
Location: Somewhere between here and there...
| Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 5:07 am Post subject: | |
| I don't think Sears has died yet. I guess you could think of the downward spiral like cancer. Sears has been on chemo and other treatments for years now, but since it's cancer has a high fatality rate it doesn't stand a chance of survivng too much longer. | |
Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Posts: 4998
| Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 5:41 pm Post subject: overtime | |
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They've done that 16 week deal for years.Hope you got alot of overtime out of it.
This 24/7 amazes though.And it's not just with Sears:when you apply for job on a computerized application if you put you're not available for so much as 1 shift in 24 hour operation you're knocked out of the running.Even worse most FT jobs done even give overtime out and yet they want the 24/7 availability.They don't get it:especially with the pay and benefit levels-at Sears in particular. This 24/7 make LIARS out of alot of people as well,especially the new hire-'oh we hired someone you won't have to work as many nights' and before you know it the new hire fills out new availability with the coach and they're getting full-time hours and traditional FT shifts.And of course there are those longtime employees with 'special needs'-don't work weekends or nights.Iv'e seen employees follow particular leads/coaches just so they can get/keep THEIR schedule. |
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Joined: 12 Dec 2003
Posts: 186
| Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 5:59 pm Post subject: | |
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Here's something amusing: I'm the only member of my team that has total availability...no restrictions whatsoever...yet my hours are often worse than any of the limited availability people.
I realized a long time ago I was never going to be officially full-time. But I have suggested that the coach potato could base the team schedule around me. Not specifically giving me all the hours, but dividing them up as equally as possible with me as the anchor person since I can come in anytime. Will they do it? Nope. They'll mess up the schedules, even scheduling people during hours they are unavailable, then have to scramble to rework the damn thing. Then they use the LRQ as their excuse. |
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Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Posts: 4998
| Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 8:35 pm Post subject: And that's what makes it a joke | |
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And that's what makes it a joke.The hypocrisy of it all.
What bugs me even more if you so much as utter the words "I can't wait to get the F out of here" your looked at as traitor by management of whom plenty has wound up leaving themselves.Then your 'fellow' associates look at you like a traitor,not a traitor to the company but a traitor to them because they will blame you for the work and scheduled shifts they MIGHT have to work or make up because of the 'special' treatment they have gotten over the years.Those same indifferent employees wind up leaving or being fired themselves.It's every man,women and child for themselves at Sears. But it all goes back to realistic expectations and that is LRQs and SSG are useless and yet your supposed to have 24/7 loyalty just so the computer can schedule anyway they want?They actually hold on to the 1st SSG schedule to show corporate they're letting the computer schedule and not 'wasting' time making a workable and practical schedule.And why leave people no longer with the company on the schedule-to SHOW/pretend you have enough on staff or hired enough?? |
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Joined: 15 Mar 2008
Posts: 320
Location: stuffed in the back room of a kmart
| Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 1:51 am Post subject: getting back to the main topic | |
| it died for me today around 2 o'clock when i saw what they were doing to the warehouse for no good reason | |
Joined: 04 Mar 2008
Posts: 136
| Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 5:54 am Post subject: | |||
As a youngster, I put myself through College working the 15/1 plan. They used me- I used them. I won. |
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Joined: 04 Jul 2003
Posts: 489
| Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 1:59 pm Post subject: | |||
I still have two woods in my golf bag from jc higgins. got to be 50 years old. I only play unce a year so I don't care. GFG 
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Joined: 25 Mar 2008
Posts: 146
| Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 4:55 pm Post subject: | |||||
At my new store, there is nothing left to use. The only other option would be to start selling company assets on the black market 
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Joined: 24 Apr 2008
Posts: 37
Location: Heaven
| Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:47 pm Post subject: repost | |
The day Sears truly died for me is the day Lampert got his dirty nasty hands on kfart to get a death grip on sears...... I HOPE THE MERGER OF THE TWO FU**k'S HIM OVER the way he did so many loyal employees..... 
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Joined: 10 Aug 2008
Posts: 269
| Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 11:15 pm Post subject: | |||
I'm too old to have a job with no future but here I am. Hey! If they want to give me a candy bar for answering a question or getting a credit app, I'll take it. I used to go to expensive conferences where they'd give you a crappy pen and a crappy t-shirt and you'd see college educated professionals clutching them like they were gold. The manager of the menswear store I used to frequent had and interesting incentive which might be more palatable to all of you. If they made their numbers for the day, he'd pop out and get a six pack of beer for the staff to quaff while they did their closing and cleaning. |
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Joined: 26 Aug 2008
Posts: 55
| Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 11:39 pm Post subject: | |
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When Arthur Martinez tried the softer side of sears is when the sales started to slide bad.
From the end of the Brennan era is when things started going downhill for me. It's been a downhill slide ever since. I got out 2 years ago after 18 years. For those still there that think they are too old or have been there too long to do something else, you aren't. I haven't worked a night or weekend in 2 years now. I've rediscovered my family/wife. There is work/life balance out there! |
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Joined: 22 Jul 2008
Posts: 204
Location: HELL
| Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2008 2:01 am Post subject: | |
 http://www.myfoxwghp.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7622584&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1
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Joined: 13 Jun 2008
Posts: 43
| Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 5:47 am Post subject: | |
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Sears died for me today, when the HI coach potato (read, "idiot", "asswipe", "selfish prick") decided to hire from outside for a HL pricing lead in my store despite four applicants from within the store, three of whom were fully qualified to do the job and do it right.
Everything has a price, as I was one of those applicants, and the best qualified of the four. Monday morning he finds out the price for his folly. 
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Joined: 10 Aug 2008
Posts: 269
| Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 8:19 am Post subject: | |
| What are you going to do? Go postal? | |
Joined: 16 Jul 2008
Posts: 14
Location: Pa.
| Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 6:27 pm Post subject: | |
| For me the slow death started when they eliminated division mgrs. The dept mgr had pretty much full control what his or her dept. carried They ordered all the goods, set the floor to something that actually made sense and scheduled hours to cover it, not LRQ it to death. LizardKing made laugh at his comment about the free pop or snack that he turned down.. In our store they do the same except our staff gets these goodies from our vendors , when they remove from the vending machines all the outdated chips and use by dated soft drinks..The vendor guy or gal used to just leave them in the break room for us to use or throw out, not anymore , staff now gets them directly and then passes them out as a reward for PA sales or credit incentives.. oh well, i shouldn't bitch, at least they aren't adding their value of these freebies to our pays and making us pay tax on them, (yet).. | |
Joined: 06 Jul 2003
Posts: 7085
Location: Central CA
| Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:27 pm Post subject: | |||
I'm not taking a position in this discussion since things have changed so much since I was on the floor but sometimes the in store threads contain something that can't help but catch your eye:
That's... I don't know what it is. Outdated snacks that you used to get free anyway as rewards and incentives just somehow doesn't cut it for me. I always did my best on PAs and credit because, as Snurrble emphasizes (rightly), it was what I got paid to do. I don't think a bag of stale Cheetos would have made a hell of a lot of difference. |
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Joined: 17 Jun 2008
Posts: 62
Location: nowhereland
| Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 10:12 pm Post subject: | |
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Sears never died for me. Pretty much from the day I started
10 years ago I thought it was the worst run company I'd ever seen. Boy was I naive.. we had only just begun. I'd say it was the Lacy era when things really started downhill.We went into a free fall since Eddie's arrival. |
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Joined: 28 Apr 2005
Posts: 1717
| Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 10:44 pm Post subject: | |||
Everytime you think they can't get any more pathetic...  Considering the marginal profit from the sale of a PA, you'd think the company could spare a couple of bucks for the salesperson.
Maybe if the store managers ask nicely, some nearby grocery stores would give them the day old cakes and donuts...
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