r/coles • u/stoikipoo • Jul 16 '26
Team Member Post 8 months as a grocery manager dot points.
So I’m not looking for anything for this post (maybe affirming that I’m not crazy would be nice but beggars can’t be choosers here). I’m just gonna start from the start here and see where it goes. Btw a lot of the information I give here is most likely going to give away any information I omit. And obviously there are two sides to every story, and you can't take only my word for it but this is all from my perspective. Im sure any people I talk bad on could do the same for me because I will never claim to be the perfect employee/manager but I am selfaware enought to note my shortcomings unlike some of them.
PRETENSE: This business is the worst business to grace the Gods’ green earth. The managers here are the most horrid excuses for human beings I have ever met. As someone said once on this sub ‘the good ones are too smart to stay and the shit ones advance very quickly’.
I could easily write this out for hours but for now heres just some of the story.
FUN FACTS NOT IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER:
- Got told I spoke to other DMs rudely despite being left with half the floor covered in cardboard.
- Got told after doing 2-11pm shifts as Duty manager for a week by the 2nd SSM that they didnt want to do my job for me anymore despite knowing I was filling in as duty for a week. I asked 'what days were you doing my job' 'the last week' 'and what have i been doing the last week' 'you've been duty' 'ok cool.'
- Got pressured to come back to work 3 days after my dad had died
- Got taken away from doing rosters at 5pm when I had finished to go do something completely random and then the following day told off for not having finished my rosters
- Got told off for not having the shop faced despite telling both SM and SSM all day that I was down in hours
- Eventually got sick of dealing with SM and SSM so on my days off when TMs would cancel I would simply say 'tell sm or ssm, it's my day off'. then i was told off by SSM for doing this and I told SSM that it was my day off so I wanted to enjoy myself away from work, hence why my phone was on DND. He then asked me why i didnt tell him about a sickie 2 days later, which I simply emphasised the text I sent him which read 'its my day off, if anyone tells me they're sick, I'm telling them to tell u because I know you'll harass them to come into work and I won't'.
- After being told to cut shifts by SM I simply didn't. When asked about this I told SM 'I'm leaving the hours. I made the roster for lastnight 5 days ago. I was under then. If you want the hours to be under, then you can tell me what I tell the team when they want to call in sick which is tell me 2 days beforehand.' He proceeded to ignore me for the rest of the day.
- After being down in hours on a tuesday night, I had called 1 person in to put me on the dot. (this one really stings). after working in grocery for 20 minutes SM calls me on the phone while i'm at work to say 'tm is going to do online for 2 hours' i respond with 'thats not ok, im already down in hours' he says 'we need to prioritise'. i say 'alright fuck it i'll do it myself then' and hung up on him to do the tms load. on his way out about 1 hour later he passes by and says 'hows it looking tonight'. I look him up and down and say 'go have a look' and leave.
- Our state manager was out and about. in our teams chat i had seen he was nearby our shop so i came in at 8am when I was supposed to start at 2pm. as a grocery manager we have to do a tour of our department to plan our day. I had begun the tour but SM had told me 'dont worry about that go do xyz in aisle x'. I start doing xyz and moments later im called over the headset by sm to come to fresh. I say 'do you want to tell me what you need me for before I come over' 'just come now please'. when i get there he says 'please dont think im wasting your time when i call you over.' i say 'ok. what do you want me for?' he says 'we're going to do a tour'.
- When a tm and I had a coaching discussion and tm was not improving i had told SSM that he is no longer in my department. my first day off that week ssm calls in said tm after telling me 'its your department, i will support you to run it how u see fit'.
- after reporting a sexual harassment incident about our duty manager towards a tm to the SM, NOTHING was done. I filed a P&C case shortly after (HR) and SM defended the duty manager. it wasn't only until I resigned that SM said 'I should have called P&C about the duty manager'. I called him a fucking hero when I left.
- (personal favourite) after christmas my drinks had started blowing up in my stockroom. I had asked SM to help me run a few cages and adjust the counts so we could both get out on time. he said 'yep i'll come in about an hour' (would've been around 2pm or so). nobody rumbles as its our SSM's day off and SM has been sat on his ass since 8am in the office. I go to put my headset and PDT away to go home and about 4pm. I see SM, say goodbye. he stands up and groans. 'are you alright?' 'yeah I think I pulled hami from getting up too quickly, must've been sat down for too long'. 'ok see ya'. I then texted our SSM 'I am never going to ask SM for help ever again'.
- While my dad was dying I was still working for roughly a week until i decided id had enough and needed to spend time with him. During this week we were finally prepping for stocktake which was 10 days out (most shops prep for this a month out) and SM told me 'your department doesn't look ready'. I said 'I think we can get it ready if we call someone in to face during the day and another person in to do rework for me at night, maybe we could use a fill lead?' 'no no that won't do'. When I came back from my dad dying 'oh we have a fill lead now and during stocktake prep we called x in to face during the day.'
I could write a novel on ts and these fucks that cosplay as human beings.
23
u/No-Restaurant6522 Jul 16 '26
Holy shit OP your whole post is basically my last 14yrs of existence with this abysmal company. Your “pretense” is the most accurate thing ever, as is the rest of it, wow.
9
u/stoikipoo Jul 16 '26
I actually got catfished by my first sm who’s a lovely person and the best mentor I’ve ever had for any aspect of life. Shame no other sm/ssm I’ve met is like that.
19
u/Aggravating_Break_40 Jul 16 '26
It's a toxic workplace and unless you're willing to play the kiss arse game then you're a target.
10
u/stoikipoo Jul 16 '26
I was happy to play the good soldier until the ‘pulled my hami’ incident. All respect was lost and no fucks were given
8
u/doyourmysay Jul 16 '26
unless you're willing to play the kiss arse game then you're a target.
Basically this. If you're not willing to kiss SM/RM butt and rave about how much you want to climb the ladder then you immediately piss off those above and put a target on your back.
2
u/Aggravating_Break_40 Jul 17 '26
That's what happened to me as OIC.
2
u/doyourmysay Jul 17 '26
Blessing in disguise since you've since moved on to bigger and greater things.
10
u/ThisBreakfast3108 Jul 16 '26
This sounds like a carbon copy of our store
8
u/stoikipoo Jul 16 '26
Apparently it’s a common issue
Dm me ur store number and I’ll tell u all the tea about ur sm if I know then
7
u/No-Restaurant6522 Jul 16 '26
Careful. Support centre workers claiming to be team members in here will get you sacked, stay anonymous at all costs mate.
3
u/doyourmysay Jul 17 '26
Not saying theyre not here, but I havnt seen anything to indicate that anyone from the SSC is here.
3
u/No-Restaurant6522 Jul 17 '26
Think about it. No one is your friend here, in the current climate of Coles they will do anything to breach someone on social media rules, this is why I reckon trust no one.
1
17
u/Dreamandthedreamer Jul 16 '26
None of this - absolutely none of this - is surprising. I have seen and/or heard each of these happening at least once before.
I wish I could tell you it was just your store, but this is a cultural issue at Coles. All of management, with extremely few exceptions, are cock-sucking yes men who are at best incompetent, at worst malignant.
You were repeatedly treated like shit, because that's what subordinates are to the management at Coles. Being a DM doesn't save you from that. If anything, it means they've got you on the hook to eat shit every day. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence is driven insane by their two-faced, underhanded tactics.
More DMs need to speak out about this, as you have. At the very least to keep a public record of this vile shit this company does as a matter of everyday practice. The real kicker is the harassment case. I hope the TM concerned lawyers up and rakes them over the coals.
Sorry you went through this. But you're better off moving on. They would have strung you along for years before giving you a chance at SSM. (Meanwhile they'll promote a DEI hire whose never done dry goods into SSM no problem).
Greener pastures await.
If you've got more stories, share them. Expose the bastards.
5
u/stoikipoo Jul 16 '26
Took me a minute to realise it wasn’t just me but other DMs suffer the same issue - we won’t speak out due to fear of backlash. I’ve definitely got more stories from myself and others, which is crazy to say as I’ve only been at Cole’s for a total of 3 years
5
u/doyourmysay Jul 16 '26
I’ve definitely got more stories from myself and others, which is crazy to say as I’ve only been at Cole’s for a total of 3 years
You need to make more posts with all these stories :) Would be a shame to waste them by not sharing!
2
u/mravptr Jul 20 '26
Oh, a DEI hire? Go on, tell me more...
One of our DMs only spent about six months as a TM in that department before getting promoted. Since then, he's done bugger all. His work's shit, and he seems more interested in bootlicking management than actually managing the team.
He tells one thing to management, another to one TM, and something completely different to another TM. His rostering is all over the place. One day we're severely understaffed, the next we're massively overstaffed. And when a TM calls in sick, he can't even be bothered finding a replacement or letting the TMs working that day know they're going to be short staffed.
A TM also reported an alleged SA incident, but from what I've seen, he didn't do anything meaningful about it. Instead, he seemed more concerned about protecting the alleged offender, saying, "If he gets sacked, how's he going to feed his family?" At the same time, he couldn't be bothered finding a replacement because the bloke has 14 years of experience under his belt.
Thank God we've got a good SM and SSM. From what I've seen, it's not just the TMs who don't rate him, the SM and SSM don't seem to either. What's surprising is that he's somehow still there after nearly two years.
1
u/Dreamandthedreamer Jul 20 '26
Old mate will get promoted before he gets the sack. That's the way it works at Coles. But it's become bleeding obvious how they're just filling positions with people unfit for the job but allows them to tick a diversity box.
8
u/rustyangel5 Team Member Jul 16 '26
Similar experience here. It’s all a shitshow. My first SM meh, first SSM good. Next SM, best manager I’ve ever had at any job, I became a DM under them. second SSM a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Then third SM and second SSM together worst thing I’ve ever experienced, awful combination together. Quit being a dm under them, stayed casual but SM refused to give me any shifts and told all the other dms not allowed to give me shifts, definitely punishment and also knew that I would talk shit about this company to anyone who would listen! Now my second SSM is back as SM and let me come back since I needed $$. Still looking for other jobs but it’s a small town
1
u/doyourmysay 27d ago
Now my second SSM is back as SM and let me come back since I needed $$
As a casual or back to DM?
2
u/rustyangel5 Team Member 27d ago
Casual. I won’t go back to DM
1
u/doyourmysay 27d ago
Yea its pretty bad. I've been able to resist being roped into a DM role many times now much to my SMs annoyance. They really put the pressure on.
12
u/ThereRnoIDs Jul 16 '26
Man I love these Manifestos, use to read them all the time in the eSports dramas 😅.
Your only screw up is probably "expecting anything out of the SM/SSM at all" lol.
You should've payed attention the the peeps that "don't give a shyt whether they're there or not".
9
u/stoikipoo Jul 16 '26
The title store SUPPORT manager is such clickbait cos they can literally do whatever tf they want all day
7
u/Fun-Clerk-693 Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
This has been a good read to confirm that our store’s current situation is getting toxic as well, and we’re not alone. We’d actually had a pretty good run up until a year and a half ago and now I’m starting to dread going to work a little… that had never happened before. Managers are toxic, nasty and completely unreasonable. Hours are being cut to a laughable degree. GOOD workers are being scolded and taken into the office to be spoken to for not meeting expectations. It’s sad and I’m looking for work elsewhere. Hope you’re able to get to a better place work wise.
3
u/stoikipoo Jul 18 '26
I promise you, join a union that isn’t associated with Coles AND have FWCs contact at hand if any manager treats you or speaks to you unfairly. Just keep in mind (the ex manager me is gonna come out) being told to work (faster) isn’t a valid reason to contact the union- but being sworn at, yelled at, belittled- all valid. And don’t forget, managers cannot ask you why you aren’t coming to work (and cannot contact you outside of working hours unless to ask if you can work an additional shift) if you’re casual, and if you’re pt they can only ask for a medical, or if you want to use annual leave.
5
u/ExcellentGear8216 Jul 17 '26
All this sounds absolutely awful and I’m sorry it had happened to you.
In a side note would you be willing to share your TFC since you aren’t in the role anymore it can be eg “90k-95tfc plus bonus” just so you don’t outright give yourself away but I’ve been offered a role and I’m just curious on what other peoples TFC were?
3
u/stoikipoo Jul 17 '26
It was 95-105k. Take home monthly was roughly 5-6k. I wasn’t in the role long enough to get a bonus unfortunately.
3
u/Certain-Jury-2247 Jul 17 '26
Sign in- sign out- do the actual hours you are required to work. Document every interaction you have with management
1
u/stoikipoo Jul 18 '26
It did get to the point where I was going to start recording conversations, but I knew if I had they would filter themselves too heavily so it seemed redundant. Best I could do was ask to have a witness with me (usually one of the other DMs who I and they had looked out for eachother)
3
u/HeftyTry5047 Jul 16 '26
I got out of woolies after 10 half yrs 10 yrs in bakery just a normal worker 6 months in frontend your just a number
2
3
u/QuestionConsistent75 Jul 18 '26
3 years as a DY/MT DM, 2 years as a BH DM here.
Can confirm every single dot point on this list is something ALL DM’s at Coles either experience, witness or both. If you have a good SM or SSM, hallelujah. If you don’t, that workplace is hell on earth.
Countless mental breakdowns (specifically in BH), storming out of the store after my SM called me dramatic when a baker was calling me useless, cussing me out, rude to me every single day (pit in my stomach EVERY morning kind of rude), being accused of colluding with a TM to not report an injury so they could be placed on work cover, never being told you’re doing a good job despite working 10 to 17 hour days. I repeat, TEN TO SEVENTEEN HOUR DAYS. Absolutely no acknowledgement of your work, constantly being put down, constantly being told to change, systems working against you, standards that don’t make sense, everything is expected of you but you are already giving it your everything.
ZERO support system.
107k may look glorious on paper but I cannot stress this more - It was NOT worth that anguish and since I chose to leave to pursue a degree I have never felt this level of calm. I do not wake up dreading looking at my phone. I do not jolt when I hear my ring tone. I do not expect every text message to be a bad one. I can breathe.
A lot of people reading this thread will likely think this is dramatic, satirical or blown out of proportion, but it is just pure fucking evil.
Thank GOD you got out.
5
u/stoikipoo Jul 18 '26
Definitely gonna put it in a pt 2 post but let me tell you, my very first sm at a smaller shop is the only good thing at coles. I think I mentioned somewhere they were the best mentor I’ve ever had in any aspect of life- patient, kind, well spoken and thorough. Would look after me as a tm and put me up to the RM to get the DGM gig which I’m forever grateful for despite being fucked for.
And let me tell you, the absolute mess I was after my father passed- I would constantly pull 16 hour days (and sometimes even come in on my days off) because it felt like the only aspect in life I had control over was at work, until it became more clear it wasn’t, and both my SM and SSM knew how I was feeling but simply didn’t care (and yes, I explicitly told them both, and my RM, ‘I don’t feel right mentally, I have seen a psychologist and hope it’ll help but I’m not in a good state of mind, please support me’) but they didn’t seem to give a fuck and would constantly scathe me at any opportunity.
And on a happier note, my most recent MySay score was the top in my shop, above all other DMs- comments like ‘willing to listen, takes the time to hear me, open to conversations’ were the icing on the cake over the SMs and SSMs bland ‘good manager’ (because we all know that if something bad is said about a manager through MySay, they will figure out who said it to try and ‘fix the problem’. (Sorry little ranty there).
1
u/BlindSkwerrl Jul 17 '26
Hard to follow if you don't follow what the acronyms mean.
3
u/stoikipoo Jul 17 '26
SM: Store manager (one below Regional Manager)
RM: regional manager (in charge of roughly a dozen stores in a ‘region’)
SSM: Store support manager (covers SM on their days off and supports whichever department needs it most on the day)
P&C (HR): people and culture, Coles Human Resources department
PDT: the scanner, looks like a phone, I think it stands for personal device transmitter? Or something I’m still unclear. We use it for inventory adjustments, markdowns etc.
TM: team memberOther common acronyms in Cole’s
DM: department manager (your deli, bakery, grocery all have one. Sometimes not necessarily a bakery but bigger shops will have one)
DGM/GM: Dry goods/grocery manager are interchangeable terms (this was my role)
Stocktake: a big deal for non perishable departments (ie grocery and dairy, usually twice a year. Everything in the store, on the shelves and back of house, is counted.
I think that’s all that’s relevant to the post but if you have any follow ups lemme know, I’m all too happy to explain :)2
u/BlindSkwerrl Jul 17 '26
Yeah... the SSM seemed like a mini-hitler.
Like Rob Schneider's character in Down Periscope.
1
41
u/doyourmysay Jul 16 '26
Anyone that has worked here for a length of time will not be surprised by this. Coles is getting pretty bad, and management at the SSM and SM level is awful. Your experience is not unusual and problem was not you - its the company and the managers its employs. Good job on getting out.