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area. You can use employee lockers to eliminate
this problem.
Instruct your check-out employees that they
are prohibited from smoking or drinking while
they are performing check-out functions. Make
certain that check-out stands are washed daily.
If you display merchandise at check-out stands,
make certain that the merchandise does not
impede customer traffic.
Spacing requirements between check-out
counters are outlined in your NAVRESSO
instructions. If you think that you have a problem
with your front end spacing, check your
NAVRESSO instructions and take the necessary
steps. In stocking your counters, make certain that
you have enough bags available and that the bags
are the correct sizes and variety. Store all bulk
bags out of the patrons view. Use only bags for
packing groceries. You should not use boxes for
this purpose. You should try to comply with any
reasonable customer requests for double bags or
separate packing of perishables, frozen foods, ice
cream, and crushable merchandise.
The check-out register for the express lane
should always be the one nearest the entrance to
the store. By keeping the express lane near the
entrance, you can maintain an easy replenishment
of hand carryout baskets.
Scheduling of Checkout Personnel
A well-trained, well-supervised check-out
operation will not be successful unless labor
resources are scheduled according to workload
requirements. If the number of customers varies
from day to day and from hour to hour, as it
usually does in Navy commissaries, and you
schedule the same number of work hours from
day to day and from hour to hour, you are not
adequately preparing the check-out operation to
process patron purchases in a timely and efficient
manner. The goal for full-time and part-time mix
in the check-out function is to achieve employ-
ment of 25 percent of check-out personnel on a
full-time basis and 75 percent of check-out
personnel on a part-time basis. To balance
workload and labor resources, you must take the
following actions:
1. Chart sales and patron transactions pro-
cessed during each hour of each day, each day
within the week, and each week within the month
by means of Sales Event Record (SER) Forms
(CS 45) and the Checkout Operating Report
Summary.
2. After considering this historical informa-
tion and other relevant factors, such as paydays,
sales events, forecast sales, and patronage, assign
the work force on the basis of the anticipated
workload. The employment of part-time workers
can be used to assist in the correlation of the work
force to the peaks and valleys of patronage. The
total work force should be scheduled over a
14-day calendar period, based upon an employee
pay period.
Supervising Check-out Productivity
and Accuracy
Essential to your achievement of check-out
operation objectives is your effective, efficient
use of available labor resources. The degree to
which you can achieve these objectives depends
upon the adequacy of training, supervision, and
scheduling and the degree to which you devote
management attention to each of these elements.
Since check-out operations involve close
attention to detail, interfacing with patrons, and
the handling and safeguarding of funds, it is
essential that personnel be thoroughly trained at
initial hire. In addition, commissary personnel
may require continued training for the supervisor
to correct any bad habits that may develop.
Register operators must be impressed with the
importance of their function as it relates to the
financial integrity of each department and the
store as a whole, as well as to the development
of good customer relations.
Upon being hired, a register operator should
receive 8 hours of training and 1 hour of
indoctrination before being assigned to a cash
register. On a continuing basis, all register
operators must receive 16 hours of training
every 6 months. The training should be pro-
grammed as follows: 2 hours of-classroom instruc-
tion, 4 hours of produce recognition, and 10 hours
of register accuracy and speed. Classroom instruc-
tion should cover the policies and procedures
related to the handling of cash and other tender,
departmental recording, overrings, voids and
refund procedures, and the replacement of
throw receipt tapes. At commissaries equipped
with electronic registers, the terminals should
always be in the training mode during hands-on
instruction. A read report should be taken
before and after training on the registers. These
reports must be secured and verified during sales
audits. These results should be recorded on CS
1. Since preparation for possible power failures
or cash register malfunctions is essential, practice
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