fast schedule,what is the true info

So... we started this system (a mindless failure), and we have even less coverage then we did before it. I complained to management that I need more associates in my department, which by the way we lead D24 in our district by GMROI and are top 5% in the world as a whole store. The system doesnt take in account that someone will call out, or someone will show up late, so what i don't understand is why they persist on scheduling people back to back by the minute. That means departments will be empty, we schedule associates in different departments that have no base knowledge of that department and no training of any sort, if you call the comp training, training.... and on top of that, the system has you working in a department different than the secondary department you requested. ive already lost a good manager just a few days ago, people are mad, customers are mad because of lack of performance and knowledge and coverage, associates dont like taking lunches 2-3 hours into their shft.(i.e. open at 5 am, lunch at 8 am) Which brings up the fact that that leaves only one person in the department at all times for at least the first 4 hours of the day. And those stores, like ourselves, that put out the top 10 or even top 5% of volume, one department associate is completely unacceptable. I don't understand what is being thought through here; there was nothing wrong with how it was in the first place, why try to fix that? are you guys that bored down there? based on what the atlanta stores does on income, i guess you are... this system needs to be roled back, removed and maybe institute some new jobs for people, give the scheduling system duty to a human who can differentiate right and wrong and understand people have kids, lives, college level or higher classes, call outs, being late, etc. it's great that it's viewable online and all but not at the price of enslavement at HD.

dont want lunch at 8 am wrote:

So... we started this system (a mindless failure), and we have even less coverage then we did before it. I complained to management that I need more associates in my department, which by the way we lead D24 in our district by GMROI and are top 5% in the world as a whole store. The system doesnt take in account that someone will call out, or someone will show up late, so what i don't understand is why they persist on scheduling people back to back by the minute. That means departments will be empty, we schedule associates in different departments that have no base knowledge of that department and no training of any sort, if you call the comp training, training.... and on top of that, the system has you working in a department different than the secondary department you requested. ive already lost a good manager just a few days ago, people are mad, customers are mad because of lack of performance and knowledge and coverage, associates dont like taking lunches 2-3 hours into their shft.(i.e. open at 5 am, lunch at 8 am) Which brings up the fact that that leaves only one person in the department at all times for at least the first 4 hours of the day. And those stores, like ourselves, that put out the top 10 or even top 5% of volume, one department associate is completely unacceptable. I don't understand what is being thought through here; there was nothing wrong with how it was in the first place, why try to fix that? are you guys that bored down there? based on what the atlanta stores does on income, i guess you are... this system needs to be roled back, removed and maybe institute some new jobs for people, give the scheduling system duty to a human who can differentiate right and wrong and understand people have kids, lives, college level or higher classes, call outs, being late, etc. it's great that it's viewable online and all but not at the price of enslavement at HD.

Sounds like one more nail in the coffin for Home Depot for this customer(should I say former customer). I have watched knowledgeable long timers all over the country being fired for little or no reason at all and being replaced by young people who at best can point me to where the product I want is located. I have 4 crews that travel all over and they have to buy tools, rent tools, and buy supplies. As an owner I am displeased with the direction your company is going and we have switched our business to other suppliers. Dumbass managers, lack of knowledgeable sales people, 1 or 2 products on the shelf instead of a full shelf and pro desk people who only care if you have a credit card or not. BYE BYE HOME DEPOT!!!!

ok, everyone has written good articles but why don't we all work together and see if we can stop this "FAST" system.

ken wrote:

ok, everyone has written good articles but why don't we all work together and see if we can stop this "FAST" system.

lol, and what exactly do you suggest?

Regarding the comment about taking lunch after only 2 - 3 hrs into a shift. Check your local labor laws about when you can be forced to take lunch. In NY I believe they can't make you take it that early into your shift if you are full time. Also when there are store meetings and you have to be there till for example 10, then they can't make you come back before you have 8 hours rest time. So if you have a 5-2 shift, they can't make you report before 6. Good luck fighting corporate greed!

not orange blooded wrote:

let's not forget one basic, simple fact. HOME DEPOT doesn't give a shit about you, your husband, your schedule, your child, you life. They don't think anything through when they implement something. I swear there is a group of idiots sitting around at corporate coming up with stupid shit for the stores to do. It is THE worst place to work. The most immoral, unethical, manipulative, lying, ass kissing, sacks of management shit I ever worked with and for. I could only hope that the customers do suffer. And Frank Blake doesnt give a shit about what happens in the stores. He has his yes people to do what needs to be done to make everything look PEACHY.

You're a f--king idiot. Straight up. Tell me how a billion dollar company "doesn't think anything through". And if it's such a horrible place to work, F--KING QUIT. There are MILLIONS of people out there that would GLADLY take your job and NOT COMPLAIN about it. YOU are the very problem that Home Depot has... Some employees that don't give a F--K. I'm sure your nasty ass attitude filters to the customers also.
I'm not saying everything is peachy, b/c it's not... I agree the FAST system is a joke, but this is the only thing that they've rolled out that is, so far, a failure.

Get a life wrote:

<quoted text>
You're a f--king idiot. Straight up. Tell me how a billion dollar company "doesn't think anything through". And if it's such a horrible place to work, F--KING QUIT. There are MILLIONS of people out there that would GLADLY take your job and NOT COMPLAIN about it. YOU are the very problem that Home Depot has... Some employees that don't give a F--K. I'm sure your nasty ass attitude filters to the customers also.
I'm not saying everything is peachy, b/c it's not... I agree the FAST system is a joke, but this is the only thing that they've rolled out that is, so far, a failure.

-----You can tell a person's I.Q. by the number of swear words and capitalized words the use to attempt to make a point! Happy new year!

Get a life wrote:

<quoted text>
You're a f--king idiot. Straight up. Tell me how a billion dollar company "doesn't think anything through". And if it's such a horrible place to work, F--KING QUIT. There are MILLIONS of people out there that would GLADLY take your job and NOT COMPLAIN about it. YOU are the very problem that Home Depot has... Some employees that don't give a F--K. I'm sure your nasty ass attitude filters to the customers also.
I'm not saying everything is peachy, b/c it's not... I agree the FAST system is a joke, but this is the only thing that they've rolled out that is, so far, a failure.

crybaby ASM / store manager

The fast system, ironically, is SlOWly bringing down associate morale and ultimately the company will follow.......I would like to see the corporate f*$#)cks in Atlanta's schedules and compare!! Evidently they don't understand that happy and healthy employees are productive and great customer service employees........

basher1616 wrote:

<quoted text>Sounds like one more nail in the coffin for Home Depot for this customer(should I say former customer). I have watched knowledgeable long timers all over the country being fired for little or no reason at all and being replaced by young people who at best can point me to where the product I want is located. I have 4 crews that travel all over and they have to buy tools, rent tools, and buy supplies. As an owner I am displeased with the direction your company is going and we have switched our business to other suppliers. Dumbass managers, lack of knowledgeable sales people, 1 or 2 products on the shelf instead of a full shelf and pro desk people who only care if you have a credit card or not. BYE BYE HOME DEPOT!!!!

Well said!!!!!!!!!!

Ha-ha! I put in my preferred shifts to be the closing shifts and I WANT to work the weekends (I'm full-time). The other two guys in my department want to work the early shifts and they want weekends off because they have families. So what does the FAST schedule do? It gives me the super early shifts and weekend days off. I've worked retail so long, I don't even know what to do on a weekend day!(I know, I know, I have no life). Plus, I can't properly 'recover' from my work week if I don't have two days off in a row. It makes no sense. Also, my clients never know when to find me because my days off are random and inconsistent.

To answer your question about FAST... We've been live since Last Nov. and since then we've had little to no help in every department.
You're worst hours are 6am-10am, and 4pm-10pm. During Power hours there is an over abundance of associates twiddling their thumbs, as there are NO CUSTOMERS, but NO TASKING! It drives me insane. You are expected to cram 8 hrs worth of work into a 4 hr time span in more then one dept.
What others have said about the lunches are true. I get scheduled for a 9am lunch, however I have management with a brain as they have all said use common sense. You'll hit your 5th on the flip side if you do this. So check with the greeting schedule, explain the situation, and go at 10. Communication is key here.
On weekends you will have a sea of orange on the floor. There will be more of us, then there are of "them." Customers will get annoyed. There will be "Pumpkin Patches." Associates are BORED.(can't wait for busy season to kick back in) Again, no tasking.
During the week it's a skeleton crew. And god forbid someone call in as you'll be learning a new dept real quick.
The online schedule is great. The requesting time off 3 weeks out is also great. Those favored few can't write out a years worth of requests anymore and get every holiday off. It is time stamped, and whoever put in for it first, gets it.
As far as the part timers vs the full timers. The full timers get their hours first. What is left is allocated towards the part timers availability and what FAST deems necessary for that day and time slot. I've seen a lot of great people leave due to no hours.
No one in my store has been fired due to this system as yet.
However when they ask you to choose a secondary dept that you want to learn or cover, make sure you take the initiative to learn it as you WILL BE SCHEDULED THERE. I have days where I am literally scheduled in 4 departments.
The stock proves that their customer service roll outs have worked. Now they want to see what they can do on less to make more money. I get it. It doesn't mean I have to like it.
Hope this helped.

I agree with Whattheheck.... My schedule makes me feel like a yo-yo. I am a night person. For 3 yrs I've worked nothing but the 1-10 or 11-8 shift. Since FAST came along I'm scheduled 6-3 for two days, 9:30-6:30, 1-10, 8:15-5:15, and 11-8.

I'm brain dead by the time I get a day off.

This new fast system is in effect now, and it divides your days off so you near get them together. From its start about a month ago no one in my store (full timers) has gotten two days off in a row without a time of request. It is also making you close day off open for your days off. Its a grueling game that i am sure is just here to get as many full timers quit as they can. In the last 2 years my store has no hired a single full time person. They don't even hire part-timers anymore its temps now. In my store its around 30 full timers (including DHs)and the rest are all temps. I am turning in apps to any place that is hiring because its only a matter of time before they drop it too all temps and the only full timers are DHs.

Get a life wrote:

<quoted text>
You're a f--king idiot. Straight up. Tell me how a billion dollar company "doesn't think anything through". And if it's such a horrible place to work, F--KING QUIT. There are MILLIONS of people out there that would GLADLY take your job and NOT COMPLAIN about it. YOU are the very problem that Home Depot has... Some employees that don't give a F--K. I'm sure your nasty ass attitude filters to the customers also.
I'm not saying everything is peachy, b/c it's not... I agree the FAST system is a joke, but this is the only thing that they've rolled out that is, so far, a failure.

Millions of mindless idiots would and are being hired. The type of people I've seen hired in the last 12 months is a joke!

As far as "FAST," it's hurting customer service and working the employees twice as hard.

dont want lunch at 8 am wrote:

So... we started this system (a mindless failure), and we have even less coverage then we did before it. I complained to management that I need more associates in my department, which by the way we lead D24 in our district by GMROI and are top 5% in the world as a whole store. The system doesnt take in account that someone will call out, or someone will show up late, so what i don't understand is why they persist on scheduling people back to back by the minute. That means departments will be empty, we schedule associates in different departments that have no base knowledge of that department and no training of any sort, if you call the comp training, training.... and on top of that, the system has you working in a department different than the secondary department you requested. ive already lost a good manager just a few days ago, people are mad, customers are mad because of lack of performance and knowledge and coverage, associates dont like taking lunches 2-3 hours into their shft.(i.e. open at 5 am, lunch at 8 am) Which brings up the fact that that leaves only one person in the department at all times for at least the first 4 hours of the day. And those stores, like ourselves, that put out the top 10 or even top 5% of volume, one department associate is completely unacceptable. I don't understand what is being thought through here; there was nothing wrong with how it was in the first place, why try to fix that? are you guys that bored down there? based on what the atlanta stores does on income, i guess you are... this system needs to be roled back, removed and maybe institute some new jobs for people, give the scheduling system duty to a human who can differentiate right and wrong and understand people have kids, lives, college level or higher classes, call outs, being late, etc. it's great that it's viewable online and all but not at the price of enslavement at HD.

Iam in FULL agreement. In talking with MANY associates from many stores, it seems the same exact problems. Lunch 2-3 hours into your shift, appearance of part-timers having schedule priorities. Personally I have been the opener for the past 2.5 years, now its part timers, and part timers from other depts. Its any wonder on the rare occasion I do have an opening shift(now its all horrible mids and weekend closings) I spend the bulk of my time cleaning up a 180 item packdown and 100 items on the NF list...It is very frustrating. I also know of at least 6 full timers at my store that have quite because of the FAST system. I cannot believe Atlanta has not heard the low rumble of hatred coming from a section of the Core Values....I guess they dont get it, If you really want me to bleed orange, give me really good reasons to.

zHome Depot used to be a good place to work. Not any more. It sucks from "A" to "Z".

That is a fact.

Former employee of 12 years who was making too much money for HD to keep me.

What a joke!!!!!!!!!!

not orange blooded wrote:

let's not forget one basic, simple fact. HOME DEPOT doesn't give a shit about you, your husband, your schedule, your child, you life. They don't think anything through when they implement something. I swear there is a group of idiots sitting around at corporate coming up with stupid shit for the stores to do. It is THE worst place to work. The most immoral, unethical, manipulative, lying, ass kissing, sacks of management shit I ever worked with and for. I could only hope that the customers do suffer. And Frank Blake doesnt give a shit about what happens in the stores. He has his yes people to do what needs to be done to make everything look PEACHY.

Why would you expect anyone to care about your daycare situation? Do you work for HD or does HD work for you?

Get a life wrote:

<quoted text>
You're a f--king idiot. Straight up. Tell me how a billion dollar company "doesn't think anything through". And if it's such a horrible place to work, F--KING QUIT. There are MILLIONS of people out there that would GLADLY take your job and NOT COMPLAIN about it. YOU are the very problem that Home Depot has... Some employees that don't give a F--K. I'm sure your nasty ass attitude filters to the customers also.
I'm not saying everything is peachy, b/c it's not... I agree the FAST system is a joke, but this is the only thing that they've rolled out that is, so far, a failure.

I'm quite sure that HD thinks everything through, up to and including how to screw people over! Not to mention the fact that all of the "upper class" is always looking out for themselves. In general, I'd say that my former store wasn't all that bad to work at, but then again it somewhat depends on how management treats their people as a whole. I wouldn't even venture a guess as to how many other "projects" have come out and failed - as I never cared to keep up with any. Regardless, most associates where I came from felt "looked down" on and disrespected or not appreciated. I've been hearing from current associates about how this "FAST" system is totally screwing everything up.

It's true that not every store sucks to work at, but for the most part it appears to be a growing theme. Everyone has a right to voice their concerns or anger towards any establishment. I myself wasn't all that happy to work for HD, but I did and was greatful to have had a job at that time. I fail to see how someone complainging about being unhappy, working conditions or voicing their opinionsetc makes that person a f***ing idiot! Maybe most do care, maybe some don't. Your attitude however, isn't much help either.

I worked for home Depot for 7 years and I have seen it going do hill while the coffee drinker are make millions. They have no clue and if once they were in our shoes, how quickly they forgot. The best way for us to fight back against the beast is to go public across the USA. They would not want this bad publicity, when they are trying so hard to be #1. They would have no choice to make things right not to mention the mgt. promoted to the level of incompantance. Look on the bright side we could be working for Wahlmart..lol