I hate the midwest. So many people have their day ruined because someone in the service industry didn't coddle them. It's social pleasantries above all else. I say on a holiday weekend when it's insanely busy, forget the stupid pleasantries, 'cause ain't nobody got time for that.
I was at cafe covering a lunch when I saw the specialized survey results for that department. Now, there are 3 girls who work over there, but I have had 2 shifts in the last couple of weeks. All of those girls are nice, and one is so over-friendly that she spends so much time chatting with customers that she doesn't get enough done. We're all sick of that, and when I have to come in and do it for her, I get cranky. It's all I can do at that point to be cordial with customers. I'm sometimes very friendly, but more often than not I am working on a weekend when it's really busy and I am running my butt off prepping because she didn't. I'm going to take your order, put it in the oven, and move on to the next person because I have 6 irons in the fire and I'm by myself.
Therein lies the problem; the cafe got a 25/100 score for friendliness, and one of the managers wrote on it that they were "better than this." I thought, But the customers aren't. Who cares if the person chats with you as long as she's polite and gets you your food quickly? Anyway, I'm sure a lot of those scores were me, but since I'm not officially in that area, the manager didn't direct it at me. But it wasn't my coworkers, so though I'm not proud of it, I tore that paper up into tiny pieces and put it in the garbage. I was so angry because it's the company's fault we are always understaffed for Back to School and holiday weekends. We call for help and no one comes half the time, which stresses us out and then we're not friendly enough. (If you need a cashier or food worker to fix your emotions, you need therapy). The DM needs to allow the bosses to schedule more people!!
The other bad score was order correctness. OK, explain to me how an order gets wrong when we take it and make it immediately, one customer at a time?? Beside that, customers put on their own condiments, and food is pre-made and heated in an oven. We simply don't get orders wrong. I can remember what every person ordered 99.9% of the time, and if I think I forgot anything, I ask! Some of my coworkers are dreamy-headed, but can get a simple order right. It's hot dogs and pretzels and pre-made sandwhiches, not rocket science. Again, around 25/100. I don't get it.
Bonus: We have a cashier who is disabled. He has an eye issue and has a service dog. But he can read stuff if he holds it close to his eyes. As far as I know, no one has ever complained he gave them the wrong change. If he couldn't do the job with reasonable accomodation, he wouldn't be doing it. And he is friendly to everyone and will explain his disability to people if they ask or if he feels it will make them more comfortable. He absolutely does not have to; that's his personal medical information. But he will. Kids love him and our regulars like going to his line. So what shows up as a negative comment? Someone felt the need to inform us that coworker can't see. Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit! I had no idea! It wasn't a positive comment such as, "[coworker] rang me up and despite his disability he was accurate and friendly. It's nice to see him contributing." Now that would've been nice. It was either someone tattling on him or complaining; either way it scored him negatively, which counts against him. I'm sure management won't pay it heed, but they should've blacked that comment out before setting it out for us to read. I feel like telling that sucktomer, "I'm so sorry [coworker's] disability is causing you to have a bad day!" [/sarcasm]
Whenever I quit, I will spell it out that this nonsense is why.
I was at cafe covering a lunch when I saw the specialized survey results for that department. Now, there are 3 girls who work over there, but I have had 2 shifts in the last couple of weeks. All of those girls are nice, and one is so over-friendly that she spends so much time chatting with customers that she doesn't get enough done. We're all sick of that, and when I have to come in and do it for her, I get cranky. It's all I can do at that point to be cordial with customers. I'm sometimes very friendly, but more often than not I am working on a weekend when it's really busy and I am running my butt off prepping because she didn't. I'm going to take your order, put it in the oven, and move on to the next person because I have 6 irons in the fire and I'm by myself.
Therein lies the problem; the cafe got a 25/100 score for friendliness, and one of the managers wrote on it that they were "better than this." I thought, But the customers aren't. Who cares if the person chats with you as long as she's polite and gets you your food quickly? Anyway, I'm sure a lot of those scores were me, but since I'm not officially in that area, the manager didn't direct it at me. But it wasn't my coworkers, so though I'm not proud of it, I tore that paper up into tiny pieces and put it in the garbage. I was so angry because it's the company's fault we are always understaffed for Back to School and holiday weekends. We call for help and no one comes half the time, which stresses us out and then we're not friendly enough. (If you need a cashier or food worker to fix your emotions, you need therapy). The DM needs to allow the bosses to schedule more people!!
The other bad score was order correctness. OK, explain to me how an order gets wrong when we take it and make it immediately, one customer at a time?? Beside that, customers put on their own condiments, and food is pre-made and heated in an oven. We simply don't get orders wrong. I can remember what every person ordered 99.9% of the time, and if I think I forgot anything, I ask! Some of my coworkers are dreamy-headed, but can get a simple order right. It's hot dogs and pretzels and pre-made sandwhiches, not rocket science. Again, around 25/100. I don't get it.
Bonus: We have a cashier who is disabled. He has an eye issue and has a service dog. But he can read stuff if he holds it close to his eyes. As far as I know, no one has ever complained he gave them the wrong change. If he couldn't do the job with reasonable accomodation, he wouldn't be doing it. And he is friendly to everyone and will explain his disability to people if they ask or if he feels it will make them more comfortable. He absolutely does not have to; that's his personal medical information. But he will. Kids love him and our regulars like going to his line. So what shows up as a negative comment? Someone felt the need to inform us that coworker can't see. Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit! I had no idea! It wasn't a positive comment such as, "[coworker] rang me up and despite his disability he was accurate and friendly. It's nice to see him contributing." Now that would've been nice. It was either someone tattling on him or complaining; either way it scored him negatively, which counts against him. I'm sure management won't pay it heed, but they should've blacked that comment out before setting it out for us to read. I feel like telling that sucktomer, "I'm so sorry [coworker's] disability is causing you to have a bad day!" [/sarcasm]
Whenever I quit, I will spell it out that this nonsense is why.
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