Advice needed: New job

Anon345

I have recently been employed by a large retail outlet in the UK and I have been put on checkouts. This is my first job and I have no experience whatsoever operating a till or checkout. At the start of the job we had one day doing induction which involved filling out loads of paperwork and 30 minutes at the end watching a cashier operating the checkout, that is about as far as the 'training' went. After that we were left alone on the checkout to work it out for ourselves. We were told if we had any questions we could ask, but honestly, when I actually did they seemed really annoyed, like I put them out.



Due to this I have had many embarrassing moments and made many mistakes whilst learning how to operate the checkout and tills. This is only my 4th shift, totaling 19 hours, is it to be expected that I make mistakes along the way? I feel like I am such a burden to my colleagues at the minute and I get the feeling that they are annoyed with me sometimes. I made a really stupid blunder the other day, whereby I accidentally mixed up my locker keys with somebody else and the person, along with another member of staff, had to come and locate me on the checkouts to swap the keys. I also feel that at times I have violated particular in-group social rules of the work place in question, as interactions that were happy and smiley one minute quickly turned to judgemental glances within the blink of an eye.



Is all this normal when starting your first job in an unfamiliar role? Or am I especially useless?



Thanks. Any advice would be appreciated.

System

Yes - very normal. Every job I've started begins with a few embarrassing moments and sitting there like a lemon sometimes watching everyone else who's been there a few years work around you. You'll get there.

SingleSue

Entirely normal, I returned to work just over a year ago after being a family carer for years and I convinced myself in the early days that I had somehow become an idiot in the intervening years.

Fast forward to now and I am no longer that idiot of my early days there although I am still inclined to do a process and procedures book for any new subsequent starters so they don't have to find out through experience like I had to (spot the ex corporate employee)

tacpot12

While it is entirely normal, it is also entirely avoidable. If the employer provided some proper training on the tills, the mistakes and embarrassment would be largely avoided. You can't eliminate it entirely as you are expected to work quickly and accurately on the tills and this only comes with practice, but you should have a good understanding of how to perform all the basic tasks before being allowed to serve customers.

Take a leaf out of SingleSue's book and produce your own cribsheet and suggest your employer uses it with new staff.

Anon345

Thank you for the reply @tacpot12. Yes I really would have benefited from some literature on operating a checkout before hand, and maybe a trial run on a practice till. It would have been very useful to refer to literature in real-time if ever I got stuck, if not just for the peace of mind of knowing I had a handbook to refer to should I need it. It would save other members of staff having to jump to my rescue all the time, which visibly began to frustrate them. I am the sort of person who needs to have as much information as I can before delving into something, otherwise it really sets of my anxiety. I need to be able to know what to expect roughly, otherwise I can't focus on the task at hand because my mind is on what could be coming up next and whether or not I could deal with it. Ironically enough, that means I make more mistakes than if I was relaxed and had an idea of what to expect.



Given all the functions, responsibilities, and tasks, that are meant to be carried out from a checkout in a large retail store I am quite surprised how non-existent training is. They seem to expect miracles from new and inexperienced employees and when the miracles fail to materialize they get frustrated. They say they are there for any questions if you are struggling, but when you actually ask them, they seem completely put out and judgemental that you would dare to ask. Let's just say, other members of staff both on my level and above, have given me looks that could kill.

Anon345

Thanks for the reply @SingleSue. Yes, just something as simple and efficient as a booklet would have been immeasurably beneficial to me. Just something there as a security blanket should I need it. I have always been more academically inclined oppose to practical and my learning style does not suit the current way new employees are taught at my current place of work. That being, not given any material to get to grips with before hand or given any warning of what to expect and just thrown in at the deep end. Some people, particularly those who are more confident and practically inclined learn best through on the job experience. I am the opposite of that, I find that entire prospect deeply stressful and daunting and it ends up being an ordeal for me, and a trial of patience for other employees.



I don't understand why employers don't produce a booklet as a standard, it would be far more efficient and put far less strain on other members of staff who have to train up newbies.

Les79

Anon345 wrote: »

They seem to expect miracles from new and inexperienced employees and when the miracles fail to materialize they get frustrated.

Meh, sorry to say but it isn't a "miracle" to learn on the job how to operate a TILL! It is a piece of cake, even the ones like the McDonalds one (though it took me about a week to learn it properly).


It does take time, granted, but it generally works. It just so happens that your learning style probably doesn't align with this. Sad reality of it, though, is that they CAN ignore your learning style and judge you on how well you cope with THEIR approach (as long as it isn't discrimination due to a protected characteristic). If you don't learn how to cope then they'll probably consider you a poor fit for the role.


That being said, you could always maybe ask for alternative roles within the store. They may allow you to stack shelves, for example. Always worth asking. Also, don't feel bad asking colleagues for help but DO reflect on whether you could be either:


1. Asking irrelevant/too many questions


2. Asking the same question multiple times (ie not learning)


Those two are the only likely causes of getting people's backs up, unless you have an offensive demeanour about you (or, less commonly, they are nasty people; but they don't sound too bad)

Anon345

Thanks for the reply @Les79. It isn't just operating a till though, as in pricing up items and taking payment. It is knowing how to deal with vouchers both internal an external; how to find out the price of a particular product; being able to identify and put through specialist products that don't carry a barcode or product description; operating scales; knowing how to void products; knowing what to do if a customer wants to pay by card and cash simultaneously; how to do cashback; knowing what to do if a customer wants to exchange a note for change etc. Is it ok to just open the till and give it to them, for example, should I note it down? And how would I note it down if that was the case? Aside from this it is knowing how to remove differing security features from products; bearing in mind age restricted products; learning the process for removing money from a till and when to do it for processing; learning how to interact with customers; knowing the policy on store loyalty programs and relaying that to the customer; knowing what sort of call to put out for differing customer queries; bearing in mind data protection and how to properly dispose of sensitive information. There is more but that is all I can think of right now. Aside from learning how to operate the checkout and all that entails I am also having to learn all the processes of the workplace in general, such as what to do at the start of a shift, who do I report to? What is the process when you finish your shift? How are breaks structured? We weren't told what to do in that situation either. We also haven't received a copy of our contract or uniforms or anything so it is like operating in the complete unknown.



I could go on like that all day, it is a hell of a lot to figure out without any prior training or briefing before hand. Thankfully I have managed to get to grips with the majority of what I need to do after 4 shifts but it has certainly been a rocky ride with many hiccups. That is sort of what I meant by working miracles, it seemed we were expected to know how to do all that and more with no briefing or mention. Although it was stated questions are fine, when actually asked it seemed looked down upon. Although, I do remember the person that was meant to be training us booked holiday time just as we were starting, so I imagine that annoyed the other staff somewhat. Maybe they were more annoyed with the situation than me in particular, I don't know.

Les79

Yea, talk about throwing the kitchen sink at yourself!

System

Hate to think what would happen to OP in a more challenging role

[Deleted User]

We used to buddy the new starter up after their induction and training, that way the new starter was doing everything and the experienced Colleague was standing behind them for guidance or to step in when needed.