If I were Randy I'd be asking what is happening in Topeka. Why are there so many long time employees leaving for other jobs outside Hy-Vee. I can understand that new employees or lazy employees might leave but employees that have been at Topeka since the opening something is not right. For an employee owned company information and communication is very poor and lacking. Red flags and alarm bells should be going off in Hy-Vee land because if other Hy-Vee's are like Topeka the whole company is in TROUBLE and the reason employees are abandoning ship.
If they want Cheap labor they will get it and a drop in productivity as well as a drop in shoppers satisfaction.
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I worked at Hy-Vee Topeka for quite a few years and the issue had nothing to do with the employees not being hard workers. There were some that werent hard workers but it was Hy-vee's own stupid way they structure they pay. Whatever it takes to man the store pay them whatever. That might work fine at a well established +1Millon$$ store each week but not a store that does about 775K a week on average and 1Millon on Thanksgiving Christmas and 4th of July. The people that have left some on there own accord like myself and some others that were forced into other positions at other Hy-vees in the area saved the store over 500K a year. Did they replace them some yes some no but sitll a net savings. There a Kitchen person that works there right now that makes 75K a year and more than Food service manger that put in 60 plus hours a week. That's Hy-vee's own damn fault. The store cost 20Millon to build and for years LOST 3 millon a year plus they hired 450 employees to start since they thought that store was going to run 1.2 Millon a week every week. Took them forever to whittle down to under 200 employees. They also had at one point over 130 full time employees. Not the employees fault Hy-Vee hired too many people for a low volume store. Hy-vee messed up and they wanted to blame the employees for there mistake that's just sh---y. I have no sympathy for Hy-vee and I foresee wage caps in the near future for all of Hy-Vee land. Also they way every store does inventory a different way and not really any checks and balances really makes me wonder about how profitable Hy-vee really is. The buddy system just allows for lairs and cheats and when a bonus is involved alot of creative cheating goes on. Corporate accounting should know exactly what has been received into the store and what they should have on hand even taking into account shrink. So if you only bought 10,000 lbs of ground beef and you had ending inventory from the previous inventory of 500lbs and sold 8000lbs and you shrunk out 700lbs for the month then you should have 1800lbs or less not 2000lbs plus. So many times at so many Hy-vee's the actual numbers dont match up. Grocery inventories are a joke. He-l when they did an audit of some KC store they found out they had 500K of phantom inventory. Tell me that doesnt happen at alot of Hy-vee's BS it does. Hy-vee is just a company that encourages bending and breaking rules as long as there not caught. Wal-Mart and Kroger both figured that out long ago so they put steps inplace to prevent that. Ever wonder why Walmart ranks the lowest in almost every area of service but people still shop the cr-p out of them it's cost. Alot of people will for give long lines dirty stores unfriendly associates all because of price and while Hy-vee might not want to beleive that it the truth and why Walmart is a 550Plus Billon dollar a year company. I feel sorry for the employees that where told either transfer to another Hy-Vee or you dont have a job at Topeka anymore and that did happen I Personally know of several people that happened to in the past 5 mos.
I want going to be there slave any longer and found a better paying less working hour job at a competitor and Love it. Wasted almost 14 years at Hy-vee but what I miss is the employees i got to know NOT THE COMPANY.
Strange correlation between the loss of so many “great employees” and how the store is now in the black and doing better than it ever was previously all within the last 6 months…I’m guessing Topeka is one of those stores that has been plagued with those workers who have leeched off the system without producing results and left as the day of reckoning was on the horizon. Now this had become an epidemic of sorts with Hy-Vee and I believe is what is causing the greatest issue within the company. Company wide Hy-Vee lacks the systems and standardizations to identify and distinguish the difference between long time leeches and long time hard working employees. As a result you end up with leeches that believe they deserve everything just because they’ve been there a long time yet do very little to adapt to changing times however are not dealt with in a way to correct their issues…and on the other hand you end up with those hard working long time workers that are almost penalized as the boss seems to lump all long time workers as leeches so they don’t get raises at a certain point, they get hammered on their hours as the leeches seem to waste them, and they don’t get treated as well because the leeches are always stealing the spotlight in negative ways. Cutting the leeches before they become long time employees would really help distinguish long time employees as true assets and they should be rewarded as such. Leeches need to go.
Kroger (Dillions) is strong in the Topeka market area. Not sure if they do everything, or anything right, but obviously they are doing more things right than Hy-Vee
The problem with Hy-Vee is its structure of Top Heavy upper management team store level and above and there attitude of Figure it Out thats what we pay you For as well as they want to believe that all there employees and mangers are Honest people. I worked at only one Hy-Vee but have been in the grocery retail business for over 30yrs and i can say that the inefficientcies at that one store with Top heavy management was Terrible. Lean is where you need to be now a days not have a bunch a managers running around doing NOTHING. There pay structure is ki----g them with no real topouts for employees and mangers. Hy-Vee's motto pay them whatever and if they step down dont touch there pay since it will cause undue hardship. With recent step downs though they have started to adjust pay down which used to be unheard of and making employees mad. Store directors that make 1 Millon a year just crazy. Should only make 300K at most even if the store does 100M a year. They really do need to inplement pay caps and not go to Salaried positions where there going to work the mangers 60 70 80 hours a week based off a 50hr work week. LAWSUIT AGAIN!!!!!!
The people that are comming in now to work are pretty much green and no background in retail soits a mess and its a mess everywhere . When bonuses are in the mix dishonesty runs ramped and there is no checks and balances to inventories like other retailers. With that said Im not so sure Hy-Vee is doing as great as it states. Fantom inventory is crazy high at the stores and they need to do audits on every store every department at least twice a year. The company I work for has 2 levels at the store before it gets submitted to coroprate then corporate does a final audit for each store. Things get caught very quick good or bad and if the audits show a pattern of padding the inventory the Department heads get Terminated no if ands or Butts and this goes for Store managers too that may adjust the numbers.
I could go on but it poinless.
Quad Cities market is never going to come back is it? Sorry about Topeka. Here they just announced Moline #2 is done as of Jan. 1
1509 is a mess too.
Its a mess at #1658
Moral is in the toilet since Jordan wants to run the store on such tight hours. Full timers leaving left and right. Not a fun store to work at Just do MORE MORE MORE on LESS LESS LESS. Didnt even have a Halloween dress up contest for the employees but only a few dressed up anyway. Hy-vee used to pride itself on positive work environment and having different events for the employees. At Topeka No employee of the month, No contests for checkers or departments so that they can go above and beyond since moral is so low. Hate to say it but Pretty much a Cr-p place to work at this point in time. Always heard Hy-Vee a great place to work then they don't deliver even for Department Heads they just cr-p on them at least in Topeka.
Did the store director recently leave? What happened there?
There are alot of variables contributing to long term Employee's at Hy-Vee as well as everywhere else leaving for what they consider better jobs. Pay is 1 variable where just 3 yrs ago a new hire was basically hired in at $7.45hr and maybe $8-$9hr in meat, night stocker or bakery. An employee used to get a yearly raise based on there Eval and it seemed from my experience if you were a great or excellent worker you were compensated very well from min .50hr to .75hr yearly or more if you were an excellent employee. Now new hires are starting off $10-$11hr and $13-$15hr for specialty departments. At Min that's a $3hr pay increase for new hires from 3yrs ago and a employee that was making $15 didn't get raised to $18. The long term employees feel short changed by Hy-Vee since Hy-Vee is basically telling the long term employee they are not worth of the same pay increase as the new hire. In my area new hires are just making a $2 less than great employees not in management that have been working for Hy-Vee for 10yrs +. Those great to excellent employees really need to be making $20 period and there not so an employee has to do what's best for them and not what's best for the company. The company cares to a point and so should you but in the end the employee has to have there best interest 1st there family's second and the company's 3rd. That's the way it is now and now it's up to Hy-Vee to do what's right and increase the long term great employee or except the new less efficient worker as the norm and lose great employee's . The Ball is now in Hy-vee's court lets see what they do........ drop the Ball? Probably. That's what they have seemed to be doing for the last 2yrs.
They really need to figure out what they want to do with Topeka. Almost 14yrs in operation and have only made a profit 3 mos out of the whole time being open. Have lost over 30 Million on the books in the 14yrs and the store cost about 20 million to build that's 50 Million cost to Hy-Vee. Either there just plan stupid or think that Topeka can make money but how long will they keep losing money. 50 million is alot of money and look what they did in Lawrence the smart thing and closed Lawrence #2 after years of losing money. They think that remodels are the answer but what they dont know is this is Topeka which is a lower class income Town with the people that do have money being very tight with there money. Like the old saying goes a Millionaire doesnt get rich by giving away or losing money but being tight with there money.