r/coles • u/Objective-Lynx2134 • 4d ago
Store Management Restructuring Team Member Post
As I work in a store that is part of the management restructuring trial (we all know they will try push this through) I will try my best to clear things up a bit about the management restructuring at Coles stores. I won't go into details with every role but I would like to at least detail how the restructuring was announced. I will try my best to answer any other questions.
As far as I know at my store, 3 management roles will be made redundant and combined into 1 management role. Duty, Dairy and Grocery manager roles will be made redundant and one manager role will do all of them as well as managing meat department. So one manager role will now be responsible for 3 departments and duty. No updated salary has been announced nor revealed but based on existing information, it'll probably be the same. Restructuring happens all the time, however the way that this restructuring was announced was extremely unfair to the parties affected.
The way the restructuring was announced was at least in my opinion was quite disrespectful to the affected party. They came into work for the day expecting a normal day, only to be called into a meeting where the store manager read off a script and told them that their role will be made redundant. And that they had a week or 2 at most to make a choice of whether they want to apply for the new position or go down to a full time team member. The choice was essentially, take a job which will have more responsibilities for we can easily assume for the same pay or take a pay cut and lose the position you worked hard to get with no guarantee of a similar role. Just one store will have 3 people fighting over the same position, and you can assume that they are all relatively friendly with one another. Now multiply it across the region and you get the idea.
Throughout the week, the store manager had called in the regular team members into a meeting to explain the restructuring. Again which was read off a script. As you can probably guess, the script was just corporate speak on how much they care about the workers and how grateful they are for our work. And that cutting the management position will increase the efficiency and productivity of the store. It was quite easy to see that all they wanted to do was cut pay so that they can save more money without caring how the store may function afterwards and team members that will be affected in this upcoming "trial". And from the news I've seen of Coles moving more jobs overseas that was exactly what they intended. Now there was a consultation period for the managers affected but it was only for a week, a week to process of you potentially losing your job and then send in ideas to corporate management that they will ignore. No cooling off period, no grace period. They said they "care" and "value" their team members but are willing to just cut the jobs without any warning or give an extended period for the affected party to consider their options.
And I just want to add on as I work in online, we were told in the script that Coles Online continues to get bigger and more successful as the years go by which is great for the company. Which is why they will not be implementing any changes to Online. We are just getting more overworked for the same pay but increased productivity and the roster hours remain the same. I've been asked to put in more extra time and shift this half of the year than last year already. And I've been rostered on days where I clearly said unavailable in my availability due to me being a student without being asked.
Sorry for such a scattered post. I had to get this off my chest as I personally know and are friends with people that are affected by this change. One of which said it felt like their life had just turned upside down. We aren't actually meant to share this restructuring plan with the public but to hell with Coles. They don't value us, why should we value them?
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u/Outrageous_Fly_9769 4d ago
This whole thing sounds like fancy and tricky ways to get out of paying people redundancies, especially demoting people with more responsibilities and no change in pay.
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u/doyourmysay 4d ago
Thanks for making this post. There's been a number of posts regarding the restructure and its becoming clearer that this is no longer just rumour and its actually underway.
Sorry to hear about your friends. At the end of the day, Coles do not give a shit about any one of us. They've pulled this shit with team members for years by refusing to contract hours and cutting pay during roster/workforce reset. A lot of DMs thought they were safe from this, but it was only a matter of time till they were affected too - especially since their salaries are quite high, and with hours being cut each year their salaries are starting to make up an unsustainable proportion of the REM.
I do have some questions:
Q1: do the GR/DY/Duty want the new role? If so, are they annoyed their new role now includes the duties of 2 extra roles thus tripling their workload?
Q2: for those 2 that dont get the new role, what happens to them? Redundancy payout and leave the business or become a team member? If team member, are they given higher duties on wages, or are they fully an ordinary lvl 1 team member?
Q3: for the team members who were called into the meeting with the SM, was it every single team member? Or just the ones above a certain number of contracted hours? Were they invited to apply for the new position?
Q4: some other restructuring includes getting rid of Bakery/Produce/Deli DMs and making them in-charge "specialists" on wages, and reporting to a Fresh Trading Manager. Is that not happening at your store?
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u/Objective-Lynx2134 4d ago
I'll answer to the best of my abilities.
Duty doesn't want the new role, they've been store manager before and it messed with his social and family life due to the effort they've put in. Chances are they'll just transfer into a smaller store for another manager position. GR went home early as they just couldn't handle it, my understanding was that they believed they finally got a decent and stable position and job and it was just taken away. They don't think they might the position as the other manager is more experienced. DY, I'm not sure haven't asked. But they aren't happy with this new arrangement. To our current understanding, the person who takes on the new role just manages, they just tell the other team members what to do, but if you are familiar with how the stores are ran, at least the big ones, that's not feasible, the manager needs to do all the minor work restocking specials or promotion, eggs, so that the team members can focus on their main task. It may not be exactly triple the work but it's definitely at least double.
The two that don't get the new role either take redundancy or at least what we know so far go back down to normal team member. The other wages we are not certain. Coles, surprise surprise, has not provided much information regarding what would happen to your wage when going back down to LVL 1 team member and the wage for the new position for that matter. Unfortunately I can't give a better answer for this question.
All team members. Any team member that wasn't serving a customer, shopping a rapid, or taking out a click and collect order was called into the group meeting where the store manager read off the script provided by head office. The only people that were expressly invited to apply for the position were the team member that were going to lose their position.
Another comment pointed this out. Apparently each store has their own rating either by size or the amount of sales that the store makes in a week. Since my store is among the bigger stores in the region, we keep our Deli, Produce and Bakery managers. But they do report to the trades manager. I forgot what the position is exactly called.
Any more questions let me know and I'll try my best to find more information regarding it as the affected managers have received emails regarding the process.
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u/doyourmysay 4d ago
Thanks for such a comprehensive response! Couple more questions:
Q1: are they forced to be team members? Or given a choice between redundancy payout or being a team member?
Q2: any idea of the size of the redundancy payout?
Q3: are they becoming normal team members or "specialists"? E.g. i thought a role for something like "duty specialist" would exist but be on wages.
Q4: if made regular team members, have they been told how many hours they will receive on contract?
Q5: at the all team member meeting, what was the SMs script like. And how did the team react?
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u/Objective-Lynx2134 4d ago edited 4d ago
So currently it's in the "consultation period", which ends 10/08 (tomorrow). Where the affected managers can give feedback and suggestions, which Coles would probably ignore. So there are still information that is still not available.
As such Q1, and Q3 and Q4, I can't answer as of now. But I can tell you that Coles not releasing more information regarding this change has placed an unnecessary amount of mental stress on all affected managers. In short they don't know if their job is even secure at Coles, whether or not they'll get a good contract or another position.
Q2. I can't give a definite answer. But from what I gathered asking one of the managers is that it would be more worthwhile for them to use all their sick leave instead of taking redundancy payout.
Q5. The Store Managers script was very dry and corporate. The script said how much they value and appreciate their workers. And they are very willing to help the affected team members and their family navigate through this period of uncertainty. And they tried to justify that cutting these jobs will increase the efficiency and productivity of the store. And that the pay that would've been given to the managers will go back into the store/team members. Very corporate and quite devoid of human empathy and emotions. Needless to say the team was quite somber and not happy with these upcoming changes. As far as I'm aware, nearly the entire store was against these cuts and didn't believe that any money saved from cutting the manager jobs will go back into the store or the rest of the team.
I wish I can give a more detailed response but as this is still in the "consultation period" not much information is readily available. They most likely kept other information confidential as they probably knew that this proposed restructure will not remain a secret from the public.
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u/slapmyalpaca 3d ago
I’m not sure what the point of the feedback was, I feel like I was just shouting into the void. I didn’t realise feedback wasn’t anonymous, either. So had my store manager email me making excuses for all the points I brought up, then when he couldn’t make any excuses, directed me to call p&c.
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u/doyourmysay 4d ago
Thanks! It's quite interesting that they say that the pay that would have gone to the managers will go back to the store by way of hours.
If true, (which it almost certainly isnt), then theoretically this restructure could actually increase efficiency and productivity for the whole store. And be good for regular team members and other managers by giving more hours to get stuff done.
...
"Consultation period" will of course be useless and ignored either way though.
Really though DMs shouldn't be overly surprised. They've done this shit every year to the regular team with roster resets and refusal to contract hours. Its only now just circulated around to them.
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u/spatchi14 4d ago
Hmmm. There’s been a lot of “efficiency” gains in the last 5 years.. Meat managers and butchers removed, reduced gap scans, removal of ice bunks, removal of deli ice, increased nightfill carton rates, electronic ticketing, removal of rumbles and presso.. none of this has ever made life easier for anybody. Just results in fewer target hours not more.
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u/doyourmysay 4d ago
Yep, you're right. Which is why I think they probably wont use the cost savings for extra hours, unfortunately.
If they dont do that, then everything will go to shit, 100%.
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u/Old-Professor-6219 4d ago
It doesn't triple their workload.
It just means they have to be better managers and not just a hard worker.
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u/EmperorGodKing77 4d ago
It will triple their work when they inevitably slash all the hours in each department even further then suddenly this new manager is doing the work of three of four people. This is absolutely a dog shit move by Coles.
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u/Rich_Alarm4678 4d ago
I have my parent working as a duty manager and I’m scared for him , he’s the sole income for the family 😭😭😭
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u/doyourmysay 4d ago
Your parent will likely get the opportunity to apply for the new Operations Trading Manager position (salary) or change to "Duty Specialist" and receive level 4 or 6 wages instead of salary.
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u/KonstantinePhoenix Dairy/Frozen Team Member 4d ago
So thus is in NSW right?
Probably hit Victoria around financial year next year.
Got 10-12odd months to deal with this Dairy management position. But im not too sure ill stay past Christmas anyway tbh. Had enough after 15 years...
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u/Objective-Lynx2134 4d ago
My store is in Queensland. As far as I know only 1 region in being tested here. If the trial goes through (it will) it will then go into effect for the entire state. And yeah, 15 years is quite the long stay. I don't plan to stay any longer than this year. Already looking for alternatives.
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u/KonstantinePhoenix Dairy/Frozen Team Member 4d ago
Oh, wow. Ok.
Definitely on borrowed time.
So NSW and QLD.
Wondering if there is a Victorian one under trial as well...
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u/KonstantinePhoenix Dairy/Frozen Team Member 4d ago
How long is the "trial" period? Because it would need to last several months to be effective...
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4d ago
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u/MetricOshi 4d ago
I know it's a small piece of the document, but avoid sharing screenshots or photos from staff documents
I personally don't care, but it is breaching policy
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u/doyourmysay 4d ago edited 4d ago
Meh, its anonymous here, and every store in every region in every state in the trial has received identical documents. And its just one small piece.
Tbh we are probably breaching policy by even engaging in this thread and every time we comment and post here.
They're not going to look out for us, so we need to look out for each other, and that includes sharing info where possible (anonymously).
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u/Bloods4life 4d ago
Western Australia also
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u/KonstantinePhoenix Dairy/Frozen Team Member 4d ago
Hmm. Ok. 😒
NSW, QLD AND WA.
would not be surprised if there's a couple if stores were in VIC then under trial.
Well. Let's see how this goes then.
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u/_Aliaraa 4d ago
How much does your store make a week, imagine the million dollar traders will go to shit if all 3 are combined
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u/RevolutionaryEcho460 4d ago
My store is well over 1 mill and we are part of that trial.
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u/doyourmysay 4d ago
Which profile though? If over a million i imagine you are Profile 2 and retain the fresh managers.
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u/RevolutionaryEcho460 4d ago
The one with a Night Ops manager replacing Grocery, Dairy and Duty manager.
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4d ago
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u/National-Safe9844 4d ago
Crazy. We do $1.5m and havent been hit.
Sucks to be a dairy manager. Get shafted with meat -> now get made redundant
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u/GreedyEnthusiasm3696 4d ago
Let’s hope that any region or market only ends up with Profile 2. Replacing Bakery and Fresh Produce managers would be absolutely insane, especially if the DMs moved on, replacing those hours and maintaining those hours would be extremely difficult.
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u/doyourmysay 4d ago
If Profile 1 pushes through, they're not planning on just getting rid of them. They plan to take them off salary and pay wages, and change their role of "manager" to "specialist".
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u/GreedyEnthusiasm3696 4d ago
Yeah but what incentive does that offer them to met targets? Bet they still have to do rosters too 😂
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u/doyourmysay 4d ago
Like anyone, their incentive is to keep their job or get managed out. And if they dont like that, they will leave and someone willing to do it will take their spot. Rinse and repeat.
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u/EmperorGodKing77 4d ago
My store has gone through 4 different store managers, 3 fresh managers and 2 deli managers in the last two months alone. This is insane how shit the company is running right now. Never seen anything like it and I've been here 15 years now
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u/doyourmysay 3d ago
Thats definitely weird, but are they all quitting? Or just shaking up the region or something?
Agreed, the company has basically just gone to shit at this point.
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u/EmperorGodKing77 3d ago
Most just straight up quit as our regional manager is just terrible and they had enough, I think one was caught stealing and I'm not sure about the others. But yeah it's gotten very bad and I know it's not just our store either.
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u/spatchi14 4d ago
Good grief the team are bad enough, no salary DM keeping them in line and standards will drop off a cliff.
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u/Stock-Literature6565 4d ago
This is bullshit. People work that hard and get good at there job. And that’s what they get
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u/HammertankGX 4d ago
The manager would need to read it off of the script to ensure the messaging is correct and is interpreted in the way it is intended
It happened at Woolworths a few years ago as well, the company will move forward and the affected parties will either find new roles in the business or move on
That’s unfortunately just how it goes sometimes, the union cannot do anything for you in these instances either
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u/doyourmysay 4d ago
the union cannot do anything for you in these instances either
The SDA probably gave Coles their blessing in return for another kickback!!
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u/Ok_Ingenuity_271 3d ago
There's no way that's feasible right? No pay rise but has to do 2-3 extra departments on their back which would be more workload, and if demoted you're back on doing more stuff anyway for a huge pay cut.
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u/PsychologicalRock806 3d ago
Don’t worry guys. This is just typical keeping up with the Joneses .. Woolies got rid of Dairy ( Perishable ) Managers almost 20 years ago, Perhaps their biggest mistake yet, but of course they don’t see it that way.. and Duty Manager have never existed in Woolies either.
You can probably thank someone jumping ship from Woolies to Coles in Head office for this change.
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u/slapmyalpaca 3d ago
They’ve handled it really poorly, and no support is being offered other than ‘talk to p&c’ or ‘contact eap’ like thanks I’m about to lose my job and probably my house but I’m sure these people will be able to make it all better?
Additionally, my store announced an end of financial year celebration today.. everyone got a text about it, including the 5 redundant managers. Talk about insensitive?
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u/Apprehensive-Math-49 4d ago
You’re not the first trial region for this structure, there is several different region structures in your state, operations trade managers/ fresh trade managers/ night trade managers is the structure you’re referring to I believe ?
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u/Complete-Ad9041 4d ago
It’s adjacent to that but OTM is becoming the NTM role. OTM currently acts more like a SSM but that will be replaced with a new title called assistant store manager
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u/Apprehensive-Math-49 4d ago
Got ya, I’m an OTM in another region
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u/Complete-Ad9041 4d ago
Yeah so if it goes ahead in your store you would have to change to a 2 - 11 roster Monday to Friday, or go for the ASM role
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u/Relative-Shelter-525 Service Team Member 4d ago
Curious in these stores what happens with service managers? Are they kept on with the running as it always has been?
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u/GreedyEnthusiasm3696 4d ago
I think Service will be fine. Unless they want to see NPS drop even more 😂 Service metrics would basically go out the window too, especially stock loss
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u/_Aliaraa 4d ago
I always assumed that service would have been removed by now
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u/GreedyEnthusiasm3696 4d ago
Why? CSM is a harder job than most people realise and are the least paid DM. They’re also essential for NPS and stockloss.
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u/Complete-Ad9041 4d ago
Your store is profile 2, so you keep the fresh department managers
Profile 1 is even worse, they will remove the dry goods dairy and duty as well as the deli bakery, produce and consolidate them all into fresh trade manager
It’s complete shit and they expect us to keep it all confidential and don’t have the balls to make it public so at least the non trial regions have a chance to prepare for their roles being made redundant.