I like working at Publix, so I don't want this to sound like sour grapes, but there are some things that the company can do to improve:
-Do like QuikTrip and set up an extra relief system where employees can be on call to work at any store in their district and cover for other employees who call out and don't show up for work. The managers only schedule the amount of labor that they need and are sometimes understaffed as it is, so this will make it less of a nightmare when someone calls out.
-For a company that claims to care so much about its employees it can do better with its hiring practices. I moved around a lot during one of my stints with the company and had a very hard time getting a transfer to a new store. If you want to transfer you have to call the store manager and ask him or her if they will take you. If they turn you down then you have to call another store and repeat the process. I know that Publix has its "open door" policy, but come, anyone who has worked for the company knows that most of the store managers often don't work a full week (depending on the policies of the district manager for their district) and don't want to be bothered with someone calling them and begging them for work when they have other things that they would rather focus on. Why is it that a department manager or assistant store manager has the power to interview and hire a brand new employee who fills out an application without the store manager even having to meet them first (though the store manager still has to sign off on it), but only the store manager can hire a transfer who already has actual experience? Not only that, but if you don't get hired back with the company within a certain time after you quit (I think it's 3 months?) then you lose all the hours that you have attained towards stock and bonuses. This happened to me during the recession; I couldn't get a transfer, so I had to resign. The company needs to be better about letting employees at least keep their feet in the door, even if they can't get a lot of hours once they are at a new store.
-Make the application process online instead of having to go to a store and use their computer system. Half the time it's either down or there is someone else applying--when the application process takes 30-45 minutes and there is only one computer per store. I understand encouraging perspective employees to go to a store and talk to a manager in addition to filling out an application, but that responsibility needs to be left to the applicant.
-It can be very hard to get full time and thus earn the full benefits that the company has to offer, even when you're already working close to 40 hours every week as a part time employee, receiving good evaluations, and are willing to come in and work on your days off.
-Managers are transferred between stores pretty frequently, so it's pretty much luck of the draw in whether or not you get a manager who treats you with respect and is willing to work with you if you want to move up. Essentially, there are politics, like with any other job.
-Sometimes hours can be drastically cut, though I have mostly only seen this happen during the summer when customers tend to go on vacation.
-The pay could be better for non-managerial employees. It is hard to praise the regular raises when you have to start out at a lower rate and max out at a rate that still does not provide a living wage, and won't provide one until you have been with the company for a very long time and the bonuses can compensate for the low hourly rate.
-The hours are extremely demanding and can make the work life balance very hard. It would also be nice if you were able, in addition to specifying which days and hours you are available to work, to put additional stipulations in the system like "I want to work no more than three days a week, no more than one day during the weekends, no more than 2 days during the week," etc. If you have needs like this in your scheduling then you have to tell your manager verbally, and often times they either forget or get transferred to a new store, so you have to start the process over again with a new manager.
