Uniform & plain clothes

[zm88]

Anyone else have both at your store? I've done both, but am currently back in a detective spot. Have you experienced tension between the two groups? Envy, or some type of jealousy? I'm experiencing something similar right now and it's pissing me off to no end.

Today's work force is much different then when I got first job over a decade ago (now I'm feeling old).

[Consolewatcher]

I've never seen it, though from my experience the plain clothes guys were in the 20 to 25 year old range working towards a career in laws enforcement, whereas the uniformed guards were people of all ages (though leaning toward the young end) who were doing it because it was a job and it paid money.

[capurato]

ZM,

I know what you are going through and I think it stems from #1, how the Detectives treat and speak to the guards, #2 the level of involvement the guards have in the daily operations and #3 are there different standards on different shifts (day/night) and then are all guards treated equally?

#1 I have had detectives yell at the guards over the radios talking down to them, speaking to them as if they should know all the detective rules and regulations OR if the guards do their job and walk past a potential case, burning it and the detectives would get mad. This builds tension. Do the detectives stop by and chat with the guards during slow time and include them in what is going on?

#2 Are the guards involved in auditing, merchandise protection standards and staff training and awareness? Or do they just stand at the door or in a department? Are they involved in clearing fitting rooms, assisting on apprehensions or assisting as needed? I have found that this helps retain the staff and keep them working towards the goal of becoming a detective eventually. The best way is to build a bench of guards that are detective trained and fully ready when a spot opens up. When I was managing a staff at a similar location as yours, I put the guards through the detective training. I had two assistants, five detectives and fifteen guards that were all detective trained and ready for when a spot opened up. Some guards never made it to detective, but they were trained and ready. Keep in mind, its easier to make a guard a detective than detective a guard.

#3 Are all guards treated the same? Are some allowed to not wear their uniform? Dress sloppy? hang out in camera room with no repercussion? Show up late? Are all guards included in staff activities?

[zm88]

Everything's on the up and up. Guards do assist in audits, trained in the MMPS and a few are signed off. There was only one guy who was talked down to due to his lack of work ethic and complaining about everything, and this was after numerous coaching/counseling sessions with him. I really don't get this as its childish and affected my case yesterday as the guard was in a mood and decided not to make an effort during the stop. Everyone wants to be upstairs, but have zero experience and less than 6 months with the company. I've told them that you need to be patient and make yourself a prime candidate but they just want the title. I already spoke with my boss about it as km not gonna allow my cases to fall apart because someone is unhappy with us.

[zm88]

Everyone's treated equal, it's just whining and complaining daily about how they want to be upstairs. I've had 2 instances where guards were either on break or just coming in, and walked on the floor near a subject while in their regular clothes burning the case. I have no problem utilizing people in fitting rooms and what not, but it's getting to a point that people need to be reminded of their job description and what exactly is expected of them.

[capurato]

Totally understand. Sometimes its better to hire a good group of guys who don't want to move up and then a few that do. How many guards are you allocated?

[zm88]

Right now 7 ft, 2 pt 1 supervisor. We have 5 ft spots and 4 pt spots open. We had around 25 during black Friday - new years and due to a little of this and that we're on a skeleton crew.

[capurato]

Wow, you have almost 300 hours of guards open weekly?

I would have been fired if I left those hours on the table.

[zm88]

Yeah, we're supposedly getting those filled by next week.

[Curtis Baillie]

Wow, you have almost 300 hours of guards open weekly?

I would have been fired if I left those hours on the table.

You wish you had 300 hours.

[capurato]

You wish you had 300 hours.

Hah you're right our weekly budget was not even 300 hours.

I wonder what kind Of liability that opens up? Having hours not filled and a serious incident happens

300 hours is more than most retailers allocate weekly for Lp.

[zm88]

Majority of us have been getting OT, and we have had contract security to supplement the open spots. My last job was worse. 4 of us for 24 hr coverage. That lasted a few months. Best OT I ever got, but I would dread to be put in that position again.

[bbylp]

Wow and I get yelled at for going over 37.5 hours a week... I even got yelled at for getting 37.6 hours...ridiculous!

[capurato]

We gave out OT like candy during holidays.

[zm88]

We have an open detective spot now but all of the uniform spots have been filled. Looking at the schedule it seems like things will be back to normal soon enough.