boucher

assistant de gestion

commis d'épicerie

chef de rayon

assistant de département

Iga-Canada

I very much enjoyed the work I was doing at IGA, but the management made it an impossible environment to work in. Any complaints would result in shunning from management and/or other employees, eventually forcing you to quit due to the terrible environment that created. 

Management will lie to you to get what they want for the time being, then lie about you behind your back to get what they need at another time. Very conniving and manipulative.

In the interview, they are VERY insistent on EVERY employee being bilingual, telling you they are unable to hire you unless you are bilingually fluent, even if your store area is heavily English. 
Then upon hiring you (because they are desperate for people with your specific skill set) you realize half the department managers and employees don't speak English, making the necessity of FLUENT BILINGUALISM a flat out lie.

There is also nepotism, favoritism, and personal/romantic relationships between management and employees within the same departments.

I worked for this location on 2 separate occasions within roughly 2.5-3 years. I was hired (and rehired after being begged to return) out of desperation both times, because the department in which I worked was severely understaffed, and horribly managed.

The workplace culture is very similar to high school. Clique-y and childish, like many low paying retail jobs. Unfortunately, this also extends to the general management and store owners.

Smokers get more breaks than non smokers, though unofficially. Smokers will remain on the clock and slip out secretly to take extra breaks and never see penalization.

The most enjoyable part of this job were the customers I interacted with for personalized/special orders in my department.

The least enjoyable part was the overtime (and subsequent "talking to" for slipping into overtime), over work, and low pay for a skilled labor position in an understaffed department, ESPECIALLY during the holidays. There was also a negative atmosphere surrounding the store owners expecting each and every employee to smile and greet them upon making eye contact. It was very weird and resulted in some awkward confrontation between owners and employees.

When I was hired, employees did not receive any kind of staff discount, even on food bought to eat for lunch during your shift. After a year or so, they enacted an "Employee Rebate Program" where you had to tell the cashier your staff number during your transaction, and a percentage was "saved" in a type of staff account, which could be redeemed after a certain amount was reached, though I don't recall the amount needed to redeem. If you quit or are fired, this rebate money is never given back to you, and disappears into the pockets of the store owners. This is a sham rebate system.

After finally quitting after many unresolved issues were overlooked by management, I was not paid my remaining congee pay which I had reserved because I could not take it yet, due to understaffing. They attempted to not pay me $40 for an out-of-store purchase I had made for the department, and after many, MANY phone calls, I was paid the $40 in rolled nickels and other assorted change.

I do not suggest working for this store if you have a choice. I can't imagine other locations to be much better, but this location is run by petty, greedy, capitalistic owners who are just looking to overwork you to fit their agenda.

I remember starting working here, truthfully, the job itself is fine. It’s exactly what it sounds like, scan some groceries and count the cash at the end of the day. Co workers were really a 50/50, some of them just wanted you to drown but others were actually willing to help you out when it got busy. There was always this overlooming sense of shame. If you messed up, you were the worst. The flexibility was also non existent. I asked for 3 days off in the summer that I wasn’t normally scheduled to work and was judged heavily. I was asked to come in to cover another’s shift and was not available (due to a family emergency), and was then in turn met with animosity. I could never get a shift covered. I had to miss a family gathering that involved family I had not seen in years. Not to mention I was given lottery tickets as Christmas gifts (I was 15 or 16 at the time, asked them if they wanted it back, they said no). Management is the worst. They treated me like I didn’t matter. Eventually I had to quit because of a knee injury. I wasn’t given a stool, so I had to leave instead… I had a threadbare mat to stand on and was expected to perform tasks that led to me seeing a chiropractor- he asked me if I did a job that involved HEAVY PHYSICAL LABOUR. I scanned groceries!! The customers were fine, the occasional rude one, but that’s just customer service and I don’t remember most of them. If management conducted themselves in even half a respectable way then I would be far more willing to return. If you want to be a cashier, apply someplace else. I go back into that store from time to time and people give me the dirtiest looks, I can’t imagine why as I was 15 or 16 when I worked there, was always 15 minutes early, did my job and left… can’t imagine what awful things you’d have to say about a teenager. Pay was the bare minimum, but they expected you to do any and everything for the store, while the owners just lazed around and yelled at workers for using the washroom. We were allowed using the washroom maybe once every 4-5 hours. Workers always put themselves above others, and I was expected to come in to physically check the schedule to see if any changes were made (I lived 30 mins out of town and didn’t have a car, when I asked if a picture could be sent to me or if I could be notified if any changes were made to my schedule I was met with a REDUCTION OF SHIFTS). One time I was scheduled on a day that I didn’t have work, maybe a few days prior and wasn’t notified. When I didn’t show up, my co workers called me and I panicked because I hadn’t been scheduled. Thank goodness I had a picture of the old schedule to defend myself but over time my shifts started getting taken from me because I “wasn’t committed enough” and “wasn’t there everyday”. Again, I was 15 or 16, and was already working 2 other jobs. Don’t even bother with this place. Only good part was the older ladies that I worked with. They were always kind to me and let me sit down when my knees started to hurt. 


TL;DR- if you just need money, it’s fine to put your head down and work in. However, if you’re looking for something long term or something that will fulfill you, don’t bother. 

A typical day at work has me greeting, serving and thanking hundreds of Customers. The majority of Customers are easy to deal with and very respectable, My department (Service) by far has the most employees, about 50. Most of them are students and therefore quite young. They require attention and supervision constantly. With the combination of a young staff, running constantly for price verification and the occasional irate Customer, a 9-10 hour day is quite demanding. Most days I do not have lunch. Because of my vast experience and responsibilities, everyone turns to me when something needs to be done. I am the only manager on the floor that is in a suit so EVERYONE comes to me.  
    I have learned to admire and respect people in retail. Customers can be quite demanding and some also quite rude with little or no reward to the employee.
    There are 2 Owners and they are complete opposites. Listening to 2 different opinions on how something needs to be done can sometimes be tough.
    The store employs over 100 people and I probably only know about 75% but of the ones I know I can probably split in 2 equal halves. The group that comes in and does the minimum and the group that is very Customer Service oriented. I have some amazing kids and some very spoiled kids as well. 
    I believe there are 3 things that are equally difficult. 
1) Preparing a work schedule (about 10 hours a week done at home)
2) There is so much theft in the store so I am always on the lookout.
3) Trying to discipline my department by myself. Although the owners demand discipline, they will not intervene at the fear of losing potential Customers. My assistants seem to take the easy way out because disciplining young employees is very demanding and time consuming. (Cell phones, talking out of order. etc)
    What I enjoy most is feeling that I made a difference. Before I started working there I knew no one in that part of town. Now I believe I can run for Mayor there. There are some great people, Customers, that really make the day enjoyable. They respect us, talk to us, share their day and just joke with us. Great people.

Working at Marketplace IGA was overall a good experience for me that helped me gain great customer service skills. A typical day at IGA began at 7:00am proofing all our baked items such as bread,buns,croissants, cinnamon buns and other pastries. Typically in the mornings I would look after all the baking and my manager would take care of the deli. IGA in Lake Country is located just up the road from the George Elliot school so we often got very busy around lunch time and I would prep lunch for the students beforehand. Lunch prep included making wraps,sandwiches, salads and hot case items such as chicken strips, french fries, hotdogs and burgers. I was not only responsible for the preparation and production of what we made but also the presentation. Throughout the day responsibilities included slicing deli meats and cheese for customers, helping customers find store items, taking cake orders, and running them through the deli till. We had a few managers come and go so i was responsible for training them on how our scales work and where we keep our frozen products and our meats and cheeses. I trained many of our night shift staff & day time weekend staff on customer service, baking, deli prep, and presentation. the hardest part of the job for me was cleaning the bakery department freezers. We get a lot of product in and our freezers were not big enough so I was constantly struggling to keep them organized and sometimes it would take me up to an hour. The most enjoyable part of the job for me was baking and decorating cupcakes and cakes. I am an artistic person so when I get the chance to use my artistic skills in the workplace It is always very enjoyable for me.

It's a good job if you're a student looking for a first job and part time work.Although if you are looking to support yourself or get into this chain as a career, I wouldn't bother. 
They do not treat their staff very well and are very frugal with any expenses. The 'cashier sweater' is one example of this. This item is one sweater that the cashiers share if they get cold, the sleeves are held together by safety pins and are tattered beyond repair. This is only the beginning of this companies short comings to their staff treatment. The staff bathrooms are always nauseatingly unclean with clogged toilets, tampon garbage bins that go months upon months without cleaning (to the point where used tampons are falling out onto the ground), the microwave in the staff room is coated in food and missing the plate, and the entire back room looks like a good place to catch a disease. There is little to no appreciation shown to the bottom pay grade cashiers, and it feels like a job you will get trapped in with no room to advance. The turn-over rate is high, and sticking through will earn you no reward. Almost all of my co-workers want to get more hours but instead Marketplace IGA insists on hiring more part time staff. 

This is a little more of a stretch but still an observation worth noting:
I feel that this specific IGA is very gender separated. All of the produce employees are men, all of the floor employees are men, all of the cashiers are female, and all of the bakery employees are female. There is only one female manager and she has been a part of this IGA for many many years. All other/new managers are men.

The Independent Grocers is one of the largest warehouses that provide extensive service for its local customers and remote community customers in the Northern Territory Australia. There are 9000 variety of products are lined up to serve its customers. 
As a Dispatch Clerk, I got an opportunity to follow Certificate III in Warehouse Operations to help to carry out the job smoothly. I obtained a license to operate Forklift and had an opportunity to operate High Reach Electric Forklifts. I gained experience on daily administration work related to warehouse operations (packing, picking and dispatching products), and handling computer software related to warehouse operations.  
The Management of Independent grocers considers employee wellbeing. To ensure that it carries out on the job training and awareness programs. Annual welfare party and monthly BBQ that organized by the company enhances inter personal relationships. 

Most importantly it welcomes multicultural atmosphere.  The management is always happy to hear employees’ suggestions and complaints.  My co-workers from different work levels help each other to achieve the company targets.  
Sometimes the job is bit stressful due to absence of staff member or heavy demand of dispatch work especially during festival season like Christmas.  
At the dispatch desk all the customers have been ensured the excellent service such as courteous greeting and efficient service. It is an opportunity to exchange friendly chat with our consumers while processing their payment.

One of the owners once told one of the most/hardest workers from cash who also worked CS and earned minimum wage (while in high school) that she didn't deserve a raise because she was not valued as being called such low status in the corporation and just a kid. My job itself wasn't hard for me because my shifts in the deli consisted of cutting meats, organizing orders, keeping up with health and safety protocols, and exercising my customer service skills as a young teen. I definitely learned how to work with people who have different mindsets than me and who are much older and think they can't be wrong (probably cause I'm younger than them). The hardest part of the job was dealing with people who shouldn't have been hired/don't put effort into their jobs. The only reason I stayed so long was for the people I worked with. The constant understaffing situation is insane in that they'll not give anyone shifts and then complain about how nobody is working. Pretty sure they'll hire anyone with a pulse. 

A typical day at work consisted of serving customers at the cash, answering their questions and assisting them with any other needs in the grocery store. I learned a lot about team work, especially during the time the store was under renovation. We lost a lot of our clientele so when the renovations were complete, my team and I worked together to assure stellar service and brainstormed ways to entice people to shop at our store. The hardest part of the job was when there were few people in the store and my position as a cashier did not allow me to have anything else to do. The most enjoyable part was having given quality service to clients and having that acknowledged by my superiors and by the clients themselves. Management was great, not as available as I would have liked because they worked mostly during the week and I worked evenings and weekends a lot. My employers were very enthusiastic and positively contributed to the work environment. My co-workers were the reason I maintained this position for as long as I did because they were wonderful people to work with. My employers did a great job of hiring hard working people with friendly personalities that contributed to the work environment and also to the type of service we assured.

There's a bit of a power struggle that's exhibited here, working within the deli most the workers are indeed quite reliable and are pleasant enough to work with, most the time. There's a subtly negative atmosphere which feels really grimy after awhile and brings down the department morale. There's no HR department for this place, so if you have a complaint about say, the store owner, you have to deal directly with him and there's absolutely no measure for him to change if you say something. There's also no whistleblower policy they honor at this place and I specifically told them to not use my name and wanted to submit my claim anonymously. There should be that especially in a franchise store. Much of the equipment within the deli department is either poor or faulty, things take a long time to get repaired, their back storage is quite unorganized. I could keep listing examples but there's a start. Also think it's ridiculous that your breaks aren't optional, so if you'd like to skip breaks to go home slightly earlier they don't allow you to. There's typically enough overlap between shifts that this usually able to happen smoothly.

My job was very enjoyable. I spent the days baking, making/designing cakes. It was definitely my field. Cakes and other pastries were very much by the book, as all desserts must resemble one another from one IGA to the next, but I was also able to be creative and come up with different ideas. That was one of my responsibilities and assistant; to come up with ideas with what would sell well in our department. 
I also had to make orders, train new employees, make schedules, put in bills, sign for orders when they came in, put away orders, etc.
Management was very good, hours and days off were flexible.

The only thing I didn't enjoy was being in the freezer for long periods of time putting away the other, or doing other tasks. It's really really cold in there. But that was just a minor dislike.

I learned a lot about leadership, patience, dealing with unhappy customers, taking responsibility for my department when my manager wasn't there. It was a really good experience.
Also, the salary was not terrible, and we are unionized at IGA and if you're a full time employee, you have medical and dental benefits.

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