Perimeter Register Policy Change

Joined: 10 Jul 2008 Posts: 56

Beginning this past Wednesday, our Kmart district loss prevention manager instituted a new policy regarding all perimeter registers. To that day, the registers in jewelry, electronics, sporting goods, and garden shop all used separate generic operator codes (ex. “9020”) to initially open the register for the day. Then, throughout the day, if a customer (heaven forbid) wanted to check-out in the department, ANY employee on the sales floor could check him/her out at a perimeter register using his/her own personal register codes.
Now, however, each perimeter register must be opened by one specific person (i.e. the employee “assigned” to that department for the day) by using his/her own personal register codes. If that person is in the department when a customer wants to check-out, (s)he can ring up the purchases by using his/her codes. If, though, that department employee is away from the department – which is a given based on Kmart store operations where one employee represents 8+ departments – or if (s)he is on break AND another employee is in the area or “covering” the perimeter employee’s break, (s)he cannot ring up any customers at that department register and must instead take the customer to the front service desk or to the customer line at a cashier’s station in order to pay for his/her purchases, which is exactly what the customer wanted to avoid by purchasing the garden hose or football in the perimeter department.
As a fun bonus, each register operator (cashiers AND perimeter registers BUT excluding the service desk and home appliance departments) now experience a mandatory audit of their drawers once per shift. The employee can choose when the audit takes place – before a break or before his/her lunch. When decided, the employee must page the manager to his/her location. The manager will then retrieve the employee’s money drawer and take it to the office. In the office, the manager will print out a register activity report to determine how much money is supposed to be in the employee’s drawer and physically count how much is in fact in the drawer. Once the manager has counted the drawer and concluded (favorably) the audit, the drawer is returned to the register and the employee can go on break OR, if it was a lunch, the drawer is kept in the office until the employee’s lunch is over – at such a time, the employee will retrieve his/her drawer and replace it into his/her register. No word on what happens if an employee “fails” a mandatory audit – oddly enough, no register operators have been determined to have stolen any money from their drawers since this new policy was implemented three days ago so far... Rock on!

I should also mention that the service desk registers continue to use generic open codes (ex. “9020”) and any employee can easily gain access to them by simply punching in their own personal register codes. The same is true for the Sears appliance department at my store – only one drawer goes in and out of the department’s register each day.
In all, this new mandate only adds extra work for store personnel, increases operating costs, and lowers customer service. As such, in a time where the business is struggling just to break even, I cannot possibly fathom a worse time to aggravate any and every individual associated with making a sale in a Kmart store. Doh!

Joined: 23 May 2008 Posts: 151

I think the policy needs to be even stricter IMO. One person only per register - counted by manager at beginning and ending of shift - use of different cash drawers for each employee - and I do not think the employee should get to decide the count downs. In addition - everyone working and even customers can easily see and use someone elses codes anyway. As an MCA softlines - I have never liked the system of 50 different people on the same register - especially since most of the people in the store are related and of course I am not - so if something is wrong - there is no one to stick up for me - in addition you have management and supervisors with their hands in the drawers and money bags- they could steal and make it look like someone else. No other retailer runs a business that way.

One more reason to find a different job IMO.

Joined: 22 Jul 2008 Posts: 204 Location: HELL

McDonalds will not hire you if you are 24 to 68????? Rolling Eyes

Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Posts: 136

Way back when we'd pop a hidden camera up in the ceiling tile with a small lens and watch anyone suspected of a till tap.
Register shortage patterns tipped us off. A relative easy snipe.

Why pussyfoot around? If they are pulling the cash drawer that often, that's what they are tryng to stop.

Did they decimate internal auditing and security to the point that they can't coordinate that effort? Thats pretty damn lame.

Just a lot of fluff and paperwork (Somebody's "wet dream" program)

This is only going to keep a dishonest employee straight in one phase of his actions. He'll find another way to rip you off,trust me. If they are worried about losing 20.00 out of the drawer, they are chasing it with 50.00 in effort.

Let him tap the till once on tape and throw his ass out for good.

Joined: 07 Feb 2008 Posts: 181

Joined: 08 Jul 2003 Posts: 4996

On one hand that is the best way to go for security reasons but isn't the best to go for customer service and cost.

There are too many different agendas going everytime a customer is checked out or an employee uses THE SAME register.You have the commissioned associates using that register for PAY more or less,A CAC is just trying to get the customer out of there,misc associates and coaches do price checks,CUSTOMER RETURNS are handled on those same registers.

And all of those reasons or different uses for the same register are the exact reason Sears will be reluctant to get rid of the current set up.And you really can't in a department store format with big ticket commissionable merchandise.

Supermarket style checkout with your own drawer won't work when you are expected to badger the customers for credit,PAs and now e-mails.

Joined: 10 Jul 2008 Posts: 56

I worked my first shift at the store since this policy was put into place. I elected to have the mandatory audit conducted during my lunch. The MOD took my drawer into the cash cage and counted only the cash to ensure that it matched what was indicated on the cashier's log. (I passed!!!) The drawer was left in cash cage until my lunch was over.
After an eight-hour shift in electronics, I performed no more than eight transactions (collecting about $150 in sales). I just had enough cash to turn in my $100 till before closing my register when my shift was over.
Also, apparently only the MOD may allow employees into the store before it opens. Previously, anyone (typically the opening checkout supervisor) let us in.
Sadly, it feels more like we are operating a prison than a retail store. I don't like it. Neutral

Joined: 10 Jul 2008 Posts: 56

On Monday, perimeter registers reverted back to the "community bag" practice, allowing for any employee in the store to use the sports, electronics, jewelry, and garden shop registers by simply entering his/her own register code to perform a transaction. It was determined that the more stringent policy outlined above was "a waste of time" and "an unnecessary inconvenience to the customer" by our store manager; to which I (and every other floor employee agree full-heartedly).
Mandatory audits will still be performed for checkout operators and, occasionally, for perimeter registers. For the later, it remains up to the department's representative when (and if) an audit will take place.

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