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Options / becoming a manager

Started by Siwel123, 06-12-19, 04:04PM

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BarryZola

About 15 years ago was the time to be on options at Tesco. Any old ratbag with the IQ of an ant could put themselves forward for it and actually manage to get a management job at the end of it if they persevered enough. That's why Tesco has such a large amount of 'quality' managers in place at the moment.

Not saying the odd person can't make from GA to manager through the options programme nowadays but it'll take a whole load more time and work and/or knowing the right people. If you manage to get to the end of the process you'll then maybe find that there aren't actually any managers jobs going anymore as, well, there aren't going to be that many available managers jobs anymore.

And then just when you think there's an available managers job coming.....they'll parachute in the kid from the graduate scheme who's never done a days work in retail in their lives.

Good luck with it all though :)

NightAndDay

#51
The convenience area manager of my old group has a new system in place, I'm unsure if the new process is company wide or just one she's made up, but after an incident where a highly paid SM put forward someone to be options express SM, and in the first month racked up 20 grievances after being put in a "training store" (I prefer the term special store) she not only stepped him back down to shift leader but also changed the process of internal promotions, past shift leader, a Store Manager can no longer put you forward for promotion, candidates must now seek out the roles and interview for them off their own back.

That is not to say that the AM in question won't have any influence over the decision making (in my view, she's turned down too many meritocratically suitable candidates for me to give any credence to Tescos selection process.)

With this being the case, it is common practice for options SMs to be placed on options for an excessively long period of time to save cost, there are no guarantees of promotion or development (proper development, not the mickey mouse development the current matey boy SMs give you.) All it is is a carrot on a stick to get more out of you for an extra grand a year if that, don't bother doing it.

Redshoes

Options is being pushed at the moment. Just be aware that depending on where you live there are very few jobs going but I suspect a shuffle could be on the way next year. Becoming a manager is not about doing your old job on extra money with just issuing a few tasks to others. It can be a good or bad experience depending on your store. It also has to be self driven and self motivated so to a large extent what you get out of it is up to you.

Rad

Quote from: NavyNinja on 23-09-20, 01:06PM
Two of my friends in my store were told yesterday that the SM wants to start them up on the Options journey. They have a meeting about it on Friday. This is something I think I'd be interested in in future. Any advice on what the whole process involves and what you get out of it along the way please?

This isnt the best forum to be asking that question in all honesty.  There are a lot of helpful posters who can share information not readily available or who can advise in circumstances involving misinformation from poorly trained managers or colleagues. There is a new options pack on colleague help that you can look at. 

Ordinarily you are nominated by your manager who puts you forward for sign on to the programme.  At a talent and resource meeting (managers and people partners from convenience and large stores in your local area meet every few months) your nomination is discussed and you are usually put onto the program.

Tesco will tell you that the program is self driven, this is true to an extent but you won't get to where you want to be on your own. 

You learn the technical knowledge for team manager through workshops and e learning.  Once you have completed the training the next stage is your placement.  This can be a 12-26 week placing of you in a team manager role.  You should have regular reviews throughout the placement until it ends and you are either signed off as a manager and await appointment into a role or the programme ends and you come off the programme.

I believe you now receive a percentage of the pay for that role during placement, eg the job pays 23k you get 20k pro rata for the time during your placement.  Get this confirmed though. 

My advice would be to apply for a shift leader/team support position and do the options programme from that position as the jump from customer assistant to team manager can be quite a leap.

The expansion plan for the next few years is very aggressive mainly in England so there may be opportunities for shift leader/team manager/express store manager. 

Good luck.
 

NightAndDay

I know an SM who has been on options for over a year, they move her store to store without increasing pay, a lot of the time, promises of sign off are dependent on the position being available which means waiting for a manager to quit, which could be a long time.

I would say if you really want to get promoted to Team Manager and beyond then the graduate scheme is the best way, £28k starting salary, advertised fast track to Express SM in 18 months and the process has more checks and balances in their governance system than the one of options scheme, the options scheme which offers a vastly lower salary, no promises of progression and being ruled by a psuedo-dictator.

As someone who was on the options scheme for 2 years running nights at a fuel site 1 on 1, got bullied and transferred only to be replaced by a full fledged shift leader and an additional ca, it's an extremely flawed process.

adamski26

#55
I got signed off in March this year, then we went into lock down.  When I returned at the beginning of August I was told that because of a ‘soft structure change’ I couldn’t be apportioned at the store - despite the fact that I had been managing the department since Nov. 19, before lock down.

I have also been told that there are no management jobs in my area.

I was asked to go on secondment for 6 months on nights at an Extra & only be paid an extra £209 per week / night premium of £2.95 on top of my contracted hours of 32 hours per week. The starting hourly rate for a newly appointed team manager is £12.95 per hour.

I’m only earning an extra £50 per week give or take.  With the added stress & extra Unpaid hours it isn’t really worth it.  I’m thinking of stepping down already. At least I’ll get paid for the extra hours that I do & I’ll get a break.  Tesco really has gone to the dogs & being a team manager is for mugs.

Cardinal

All I can say is don't bother!! Signed off on options last year only to be told afterwards that the vacancy I had be working towards, was no longer available due to sturture change. I returned to my original store and kept dangling for another 10 months.....yet again nothing.  Waste of time massively.

NightAndDay

Now because of the structure change in superstore, there's less manager positions going round making opportunity for progression harder to come by, though even with this being the case, I doubt it will stop the whole "good for your develooment" spiel, though there will no doubt be desperate and gullible people bending over backwards for a slither of hope of progression.

Redshoes

It depends on where you live. There are jobs regularly going online for some parts of the country. The word is that being willing to relocate may be key to being put on options now.

whatajoke2019

Just had a look and there are currently five vacancies within 50 miles of London.

Have been asked in the past if I'd be interested (way before the recent changes) but I'd heard too many stories of previous colleagues going down the Options route only to be constantly messed around to the point they threw in the towel and either remained in situ or left the company altogether.

The last person to go on placement in our store returned to their previous store and is now working at either Aldi or Lidl.

Personal opinion but I really do feel they need to stop peddling this 'opportunities to get on' rubbish.

NightAndDay

#60
Quote from: Redshoes on 06-05-21, 07:50AM
It depends on where you live. There are jobs regularly going online for some parts of the country. The word is that being willing to relocate may be key to being put on options now.

Yes, but that's always been the case, the strategy of becoming less top heavy by devolving responsibilities of management roles and having more feet on the floor occupied by the likes of shift leader positions means there's fewer management positions and more people competing for what little there will be.

Add to this, there's the psychological aspect, this strategy is being seen across competitors, more often than not, back in better times Retail managers jumped ship to competitors for a higher salary or a more senior position, but with the likes of Asda and Sainsburys cutting down the head count of their manager positions, it has led to somewhat of a bullish market, current Retail managers everywhere are holding on to their jobs in the face of decreased opportunities elsewhere, this means that not only are there less positions to go around, but staff turnover for these now valuable management positions have plummeted due to economic uncertainty.

Robert Onedin.

#61
On the occasions when fresh faced people come to the store on Options stuff.  It's interesting to see how long till their optimism about the position goes.  That look of 'I am here for a purpose' doesn't last long.

forrestgimp

Managers have a quota to recruit people to options thats why its pushed so hard they are measured on it.

Redshoes

Quote from: NightAndDay on 06-05-21, 08:43PM
Quote from: Redshoes on 06-05-21, 07:50AM
It depends on where you live. There are jobs regularly going online for some parts of the country. The word is that being willing to relocate may be key to being put on options now.

Yes, but that's always been the case, the strategy of becoming less top heavy by devolving responsibilities of management roles and having more feet on the floor occupied by the likes of shift leader positions means there's fewer management positions and more people competing for what little there will be.

Add to this, there's the psychological aspect, this strategy is being seen across competitors, more often than not, back in better times Retail managers jumped ship to competitors for a higher salary or a more senior position, but with the likes of Asda and Sainsburys cutting down the head count of their manager positions, it has led to somewhat of a bullish market, current Retail managers everywhere are holding on to their jobs in the face of decreased opportunities elsewhere, this means that not only are there less positions to go around, but staff turnover for these now valuable management positions have plummeted due to economic uncertainty.

There are still manager jobs being advertised in some areas.
The manager jobs should not be easy to come by. There was a time when people were just asked to become managers and stepped into jobs almost straight away. It is hard on those on options now or have completed options and awaiting appointment but for the stores who have vacancies they now can pick from the applicants that apply and not have to settle for the only one up for the role. There are a lot of comments on here about the quality of managers. The company is now in a position to pick the best candidate for the job. They are also in the position where they can manager a poor performer out of a job and then have the pick of candidates.
Retail is like everywhere else, there is no such thing as a job for life. Those who are honest and work hard will always be the ones the company will want to retain. Going forward they will probably need to show team player capabilities. Managers will definitely have to see the bigger picture and look at the whole store and not break things down into Depts.
I have got long service, I have been through restructure myself three times now. I know what it feels like to be under consultation but digging in your heals and refusing changes in tasks is a battle individuals can win but I don't think they will ever win the war. There will be opportunities, there will be jobs. Some areas may move slower than others but you need to help yourself and be aware of the way things are going.

Nomad

"Those who are honest and work hard will always be the ones the company will want to retain."
Opposite view in 10,9,8,7,6,....
Nomad ( Forum Admin )
It's better to be up in arms than down on your knees.

SAMCRO

We are at a point now where there are almost zero opportunities to get on. The company have dangled the carrot of progression and mugged GAs off for years but we are now at a stage where you really may as well forget about progression all together - unless you are willing to relocate anywhere in the county and are happy with Express being you're only realistic possibility.

I personally know of 4 GAs/Shift Leaders in my group that over the past 12 months moved to different stores and eventually we're signed off - only for them now to all be told to go back to their original stores.

The company is in a dark place. It no longer values experience and/or capability. The values no longer apply. It only wants part-time flexi workers with a skeletal management team. Cutbacks after cutbacks and a wealth of knowledge and experience left through redundancy thanks to  the elimination of a lot of night teams, team leaders and full-time staff. It's amazing that a lot of store management teams can't understand why GAs working 12hrs a week of a flexi contract neither have enough time to do their roles effectively and simply have no passion.

penguin

#66
Samcro sums the situation up perfectly, one of the reasons I left last year was lack of progression chances, when my line manager talked with me about why I was going he said himself he is looking for something else as he has been told off the record he is to old to move on now as the company want younger managers, he is 36 by the way. He also left after Christmas to train up as an SM for Sainsburys local and has recently moved into his own store. I hope he does well as to be fair he was one of the better managers I had at Tesco and to be honest deserved a chance to move upwards.
Do not let anyone tell you there is not a decent job and life beyond Tesco.

Scruff

There is still people being put on options in our store

To be strung along as GA's for 12 months

NightAndDay

Quote from: penguin on 09-05-21, 03:01PM
Samcro sums the situation up perfectly, one of the reasons I left last year was lack of progression chances, when my line manager talked with me about why I was going he said himself he is looking for something else as he has been told off the record he is to old to move on now as the company want younger managers, he is 36 by the way. He also left after Christmas to train up as an SM for Sainsburys local and has recently moved into his own store. I hope he does well as to be fair he was one of the better managers I had at Tesco and to be honest deserved a chance to move upwards.

I to was told I was too old to progress when I was 30, the SM at the time and I had our own issues between us, but to his credit he was being honest, he said he himself (38/39 years old at the time) was told he was too old to progress, that the SM job isn't all it's cracked up to be and he's staying put only because of the salary and job security.

The nature of the Retail industry despite the current economic climate of constant restructuring centered around cost cutting is that it's a young persons game, I was fortunate enough to be qualified, educated and intelligent enough to move out of Retail into an industry where my salary rapidly exceeded that of Team Manager then Express SM then Lead Manager then Area Manager, then Superstore SM and is now in the region of Store Director earnings. At the time I was told by my SM that I wasn't worth more than 24k a year.

There are better opportunities out there for those seeking it, but it's sad for those wanting a career in Retail to be in the industry right now, the tough times are likely to continue until either the economy recovers from Brexit and Covid or there's a USA style services industry revolt like what is currently happening.


chris9997

Over the years there have been good managers and bad, however recently we do seem to have recruited some  very lazy self centrered team  managers and when looking for new managers for options they should start looking at hard working staff not the ones that fall into a slot in order to Make them "modern".

Davethebave

Being a hard worker doesn't make you a good manager unfortunately. They do need to look at how people are brought through the business. It's far too easy for the wrong people to be put into management because of who they know etc

I wish someone told me I'm too old to progress, it would be a quick easy payday for me

penguin

Being a hard worker is all you needed to work your way up in express a few years back, if one could work a delivery quickly the chance to be a step up and then a team leader, and possibly more usually followed very quickly, no formal training needed just do you want the job mate kind of thing, and not many said no, eventually the company found being a hard worker does not always mean someone can run a shift well or lead people, many hard workers can but a good number cannot, things are different now as shift leaders in express replaced team leaders and to get that job you attend a formal interview and training programme.
Do not let anyone tell you there is not a decent job and life beyond Tesco.

whatajoke2019

When I first started a number of years ago we had one manager who was brilliant in terms of he wasn't brown nosing, he treated everyone equally and if he had to cover the backdoor in the morning, he would do.

Sadly, as time progressed, people got wind of the fact he worked hard and run rings around him and the lovely (I use the endearment sarcastically) Lead manager made his life a misery.

He couldn't do right for doing wrong and ended up just leaving one day.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with hard work but in my personal opinion there are times when it can be counter productive.

forrestgimp

Yep we have had a couple of those types over the years. They dont last long they tend to show up the other managers for the lazy waste of times they are.

whatajoke2019

Couldn't agree more Forrest.

Still, with the way this company is going, there'll be no one left at this rate to be lazy as they'll have no one to manage.

Not that I would miss any of them  :D.

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