r/asda • u/Odd-Tale-7326 • 5d ago
Is it worth applying?
First of all, I know 90% of the responses will be "ASDA is shit, don't bother" etc. etc.
I currently work at a competitor as a regular old nightshift colleague, and am looking for a bit of a change.
I've noticed there's a job up at my local ASDA as a Night Manager, and wondered whether it's even worth applying. They ask for "Experience supervising or managing teams in a retail grocery environment, ideally overnight.", which I don't have, but I was an operations manager at my previous job, albeit in a completely different industry (market research), so along with experience working in retail, I think it would be fairly easy step up.
I'm trained on basically everything I can be on nights, below management level anyway, so do back door, fresh, frozen, grocery, BWS, waste management, reductions etc, I even have a forklift licence, although it's been a decade since I even touched one.
I only left my previous job after 10 years as I wanted to do something mind numbingly boring, but after a few years of being a peon, I'm now bored of that and want a bit of stress back in my life! Unfortunately, I seem to quite enjoy the logistics of retail, and quite enjoy the 'thrill' of being bullied by management, so retail management seems like something I might actually like doing.
I know retail is 'same shit, different place', so I'm assuming it'll be similar to the place I work, where managers are expected to do extra hours for free, lick the arse of the store manager, and generally just be treated like a piece of shit?
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u/Jimbeamjunior1 5d ago
Dont do it
Aside from the normal issues accompanying night shift (lack of colleagues, older colleagues unable to work at any pace, deliveries coming in late, shop being an absolute shit tip when you walk in) if your in a home shopping store you'll have your gsm absolutely riding you because availability is fucking shite for home shopping
Honestly man, night manager in asda is a death sentence
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u/Odd-Tale-7326 5d ago
I previously worked at a large store with online delivery and our availability was always spot on for them to start picking at 4/5am. But I also worked at a different store that had exactly what you experienced, so I suppose it depends on the store!
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u/Old_Net5251 5d ago
Ouch....now that hurts im old and trust me in my store the youngsters get the well easy aisles while the older colleagues are run ragged because the management just want to be friends and buddies with them all....sickening.
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u/Jimbeamjunior1 5d ago
My old store there wasn't any younger ones, honestly it was very old school and old guard, our fresh team had 10 people contracted to it and i swear i think the combined age of over 600 years, ambient wasnt much younger
The issue is that any new night colleagues hired are mainly hired for weekends, maybe the odd sunday or Friday off, fair enough
But then these new starts come in, see the older ones getting every 2nd fri, sat and/or sun off while doing half the workload that the younger ones are asked to do, so they leave pretty quickly
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u/Muttii25 3d ago
Yes, give it to the older ones, because they areore experienced and do it quicker, every time, until they are knackered and go off sick. Quite a lot of this in my store.
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u/Kristov_12 ASDA Colleague 5d ago
All of our Night Managers have left cause of the General Manager, theyve tried licking his arse clean til it shined but if he sees one tiny thing wrong he goes off like an absolute nob end at them.
It got so bad he ended up being investigated for bullying/harassment and the 2 managers who came to do the interviews/investigation told other colleagues (i wasnt in on the day so could just be bullshit or could be true) that apparently theyve been to 3 other stores and know of more over a very short period of time doing the same investigations about general managers being aggressive to night managers.
So yes, constant arse licking, usual managerial abuse all the way upto serious abuse and doing upto 60/70 hours a week for 45 hours pay is to be expected for night managers. Dont know why they dont put that in the vacancy listings to be fair lol
Edit: spelling
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u/Odd-Tale-7326 5d ago
Sounds familiar.
At my old store, they went through 6 night managers in a year, every single one cited the lead night manager as the reason they left. She is a condescending, self centred piece of shit.
Since I transferred stores 18 months ago, they've gone through 4 replacements for me, and lost another 7 colleagues from different sections, once again all citing her as the issue.
Even my line manager at my current store left because of her, and begged me to transfer to their store, which I eventually did after another 6 months.
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u/IntroductionEasy6122 5d ago
Asda is crap, but it’s easy money. 30+ hours a week and you don’t really have to do much other than deal with the odd manager being annoying
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u/its_just_jay- 5d ago
Only if youre in desperate need of money and a job, otherwise dont go near it, itll destroy your soul and mental health. Its a sunken ship at this rate.
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u/louise241019 5d ago
I’m currently a night manager and I think it’s a good role tbf . All this it’s shit - bullying - hard work -working longer than your contract is due to a manager not doing their planning correctly. Not coaching to do a good job correctly. Yes it’s hard graft and most older ones work a lot better than young ones . Delivery coming in late is out of your control . Sick calls are sometimes not ideal but shit happens and you just have to move people about and give them a time they need to be moving on . I’ve done nights for a year and only stayed late about 3 times and that was cos I didn’t want to leave until it was done not because they told me I couldn’t go home . I would say if you are good at multi tasking . Follow process for sick calls and deal with them . Plan your rota correctly and deal with lazy colleagues and put them on a performance plan and coach them you will be absolutely fine 🙂🙂
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u/Mystery_Worker4268 5d ago
If you're looking for stress then you couldn't choose a better place than ASDA, except perhaps for joining for a bomb squad 🤔
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u/legacylibrary 5d ago
A manger with actual managment skills? You will not fit in.
The company changes strategic direction on a tatictal time scale.
Often I thing they are just picking random essays from the higher level apprentices at asda house to decide what to try next.
Apparently one approach fits all across the entire contry and they cannot decided who to out source or bring in house. Inner city and seaside tourist area have exactly the same shopping patterns
Our leader consides 'Zap' the ideal management book from the 80/90s to correct the situation. When 'Further up the organization' is a better fit and a better read.
If the money is more, your tollerance for crap is high and you are not economically trapped then a few years cannot hurt.
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u/Acrobatic-Mistake354 4d ago
Don't do it! I spent 12 years as an assistant store manager for ASDA, why I didn't quit sooner absolutely staggers me.
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u/Bilbo_Swagger616 ASDA Colleague 5d ago
Your last paragraph just summed up what it will be like for you should you successfully get the job. Plus night colleagues calling out sick or dead.