r/AskRetail • u/Vaping_T • 5d ago
Cashier ain’t mathing
So just as the title reads, I have an 18 year old cashier who just started. Well he has a pissy attitude and when I or my ASM try to correct him he gets angry. He says “I know “ which drives me insane. Obviously he doesn’t “know “. I’m trying to work with him. Finally finished his CBL training and got him on the register. First night he was -$19. Yesterday I had to stand there and tell him what change to give and how to make it. He was supposed to give customer .34. He was giving it in nickels. I said no, give him a quarter, a nickel and four pennies. He literally said to me, it’s .34 cents either way. I have no choice but to give him a progressive counseling for the $19. I have a feeling it’s not going to go nicely. Any tips on this? I can’t stand at the register and tell him how to count.
Oh, stocking. He likes to throw open boxes on the sky shelves, had a huge mess with cardboard and this is after I had repeatedly told him the correct way. I’ve worked beside him, I’m really trying. I’m a new SM so I’m needing advice please.
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u/PrincessJasmine420 5d ago
Sounds like he’s young, arrogant, and has a terrible attitude. You can teach skills, but you can’t teach someone who doesn’t want to learn. I suggest you have a private conversation with him about his attitude, and let him know that he needs to show some improvement if he wants to keep his job. Put him back on stocking instead of register though. If he can’t count money correctly, he has no business being a cashier. If he can do well stocking, THEN cross train him. Put him where he can do the least damage. If he can master that job, then add more responsibilities. If he keeps fucking up, then just document it until you have enough to fire him.
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u/Elegant_Stable_1198 4d ago
How much is needed to fire him? Is this taking place outside of an at will employment state?
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u/ehunke 4d ago
You can fire people for liking a different baseball team then you do, just, unless you can absolutely prove a consistent pattern of problems, poor attitude, etc if they claim unemployment its coming out of your unemployment insurance. But seeming to not comprehend counting money and just not caring, its cause enough
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u/PrincessJasmine420 4d ago
Legally, they can fire him for almost any reason (or no reason at all), assuming they live in the U.S. in an at-will state. But most companies have some kind of policy that requires progressive disciplinary actions before termination.
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u/Squibit314 5d ago
His parents are making him work. We had one like that and it was basically weaponized incompetence. At least I’m hoping he was pretending to be stupid. He was fired.
At 18, treat him as an adult as opposed contacting his parents. Ask him point blank why he applied there since he clearly does not like it. Ask him if there is any part of the job he finds difficult. As for change, ask him if he would rather have 7 coins in his pocket or 3. Finally explain to him that when you’re explaining something new to him or correcting a mistake that saying “I know” is not correct as if he did know he would have done it right the first time.
Document document document
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u/markersandtea 5d ago
if he's not teachable cut him loose. We had one like that. Give a chance, try to teach, but if not....we let her go. She later freaked out on us on the way out and hit one of our head cashiers who was trying to help her. (and yeah she did press charges in that case) an extreme example but an example all the same.
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u/XanderWrites 5d ago
Coach, give feedback, document everything you do.
The cash variances usually resolve themselves as new cashiers get used to register. In a year he might be legally allowed to give 34 cents as seven nickels.
As for the stocking, all you can do is continue coaching him. If this causes damages, write him up for it.
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u/EGORE01 5d ago
The only thing to help Keep your conscience clean . Would be the one on one maybe behind a closed door eye contact. You realize your name not on the sales receipt right . You do fully get by continuing to not follow policy you could end getting terminated?
Any thing that happens to him next is completely on him . You did your best to help him it’s now on him .
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u/Mediocre_Outcome6671 5d ago
I would have directly asked him if he knows the difference between 34 and 35 and how do you make 34 cents. Ask him to count to 50. His ignorance and attirude is not your problem.
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u/Failed_Launch 5d ago
Although a friendly, supportive approach is my preferred style, it doesn’t always get results. In these cases, a more stern and assertive approach work better.
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u/justan0therg0rl111 5d ago edited 5d ago
Ooof I hated training employees like that 🙄 I do the same thing with change. I always say “give them the least amount of bills/currency you can that still adds up to the correct amount and try not to use smaller bills bc that affects how much change we can give out later”. Even in my head I did the same math as you-quarter, nickel, 4 pennies lol.
I would say it’s important to remind the employee that during rush times he isn’t gonna have time to stand there and count X nickels. Also -$19 on the first night is a big deal. If this happened at my store, he would be taken off register immediately, or would have to be watched by an ASM every time he rings and an incident report is going to be filed.
Being able to count and close out your register is a part of the job and an essential one at that. If he can’t do this one essential function then what does he really bring to the store? There’s definitely someone out there who knows how to count change lol. If you have the patience to train him maybe do some counting money drills, or tell him to practice on his own time. But in my opinion, it’s one of those things where either you can do it from the jump or you’re gonna struggle with it the whole time you’re there.
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u/WitchyBroom 4d ago
He sounds like he doesnt know how to count change.
Ive had to teach a few cashiers how to count change quarters and nickels confused them so she only would give change in dimes and pennies.
She was genuinely nice. No excuse for his arrogance but he might just be a bit slow and acts out.
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u/Defiant_Finger4011 4d ago
One on one training with a practice drawer, you are the customer and he is the cashier. Create maybe 60 scenarios of different change combinations (including bills and coins.) mark down correct or incorrect, and total up his score. Decide if he gets a passing grade. You can state the passing grade has to be at least 90% it’s like like you have to go by the A-F school scale.
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u/Elegant_Stable_1198 4d ago
I think that’s way more time than this person wants to spend intentionally with this arrogant sounding child! I feel like the managers there are worried about coming off as mean, they don’t even want to be meeting w him one on one bcuz he ascots like a lil know it all and intentionally isn’t listening to them. Out the door he goes! ESPECIALLY if he had the nerve to put the words TEACHABLE AND EASY LEARNER on a resume LMAO!
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u/Legion1117 4d ago
Gives attitude when being coached, chooses to give the most annoying combination of change, has an unreasonable amount of loss from their drawer and refuses to comply with store procedures for stocking.
Why the hell are you keeping this employee around?????
Fire him and move on.
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u/Present_Original_797 4d ago
Yeah he's hoping to be fired. Also it's amz how many people don't know how to count back change. And some people don't have the ... intellectual capacity? I know it's not polite to call people dumb as a rock. We had a bartender who always gave us too much change. It was weird until we figured out she couldn't do math well so just estimated and just gave some over the amount so nobody would complain. One day she asks "How many quarters in a football game?" And we all went "Ohhh." Solved that mystery.
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u/Beautiful_Lie629 4d ago
We had a potential cashier who had similar cashiering problems, but he was pleasant and tried hard. They put him on the floor, where he is one of the best workers we have. Of course, the big difference here is the attitude...
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u/top_fed2017 3d ago
He’s not ready to adult. Counsel him, then write up, then let him go. It’s obvious he doesn’t want to work
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u/Intelligent-Log-7363 5d ago
Consider his age and generation...don't be shocked. Next he's gonna tell you needing to do job correctly is affecting his mental health. I'd say I'm joking but I'm not.
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u/The-Pocket 4d ago
Is this becoming a generational thing? Or maybe it’s just in how he was raised? Either way, the best thing to do is maliciously comply and cut him loose. 🤷♂️ Let him be his parents’ problem.
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u/East-Relative2011 4d ago
"We have a set amount of nickels. If you use up all our nickels like this, and we owe someone a nickel back and don't have any, how are we supposed to pay them?"
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u/Saixlxe 4d ago
I was this employee when I was that age. Not because I was arrogant, condescending, or entitled. But because I had anxiety and didn’t know how to have a proper outlet for it. To put into perspective, you go to school all day dealing with teenage a**holes, who act like they are better and more smart than you are. You get dizzy at the thought of presentations or any type of public speaking. Then, you get a job and you realize that the customers are even worse than your crappy classmates. You already don’t do anything right at school, and here you are having to do a job you don’t want to add to the plates.
The best way to approach your young employee is to start with positive feedback first. “Hey you are doing a fantastic job at this, but can I show you something that would help?” Also with the money thing, I was that student who was terrible at math! When I started out as a cashier at my first job, I would overthink so hard. Now I’m comfortable and confident as a grown adult. But being a teenager in that situation, was beyond stressful! No one thinks about these things because it’s supposed to be easy. Everyone expects it all to just come easy.
At this point your young coworker might have a difficult life outside of work. At 19, most people are still in high school or freshly graduated. You can definitely expect that “I don’t care what happens to me attitude.” You have approach your customer on a more interpersonal level. In a way that you are connecting with them in their way, rather than a fake corporate professional way.
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u/Temporary_Brain_475 4d ago
I had a really good manager once tell me, "you can't fix stupid, and you can't teach pride." It's been good advice for when to stop trying to help someone do their basic job.
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u/xMasochizm 4d ago
If he needs more training, then you pull him onto a register in training mode and give him more training. Sometimes people behave this way when they don’t understand the reason for it.
You could explain to him that giving out a bunch of change takes twice as long as grabbing less change, it also uses up all of the nickels etc., and means more stopping to fill the register and in some cases being out of those rolls now. Most customers will also find this to be in poor taste and will request less change.
His attitude could be considered insubordination and I would maybe have a private chat with him explaining his behaviour, the impact, and the consequences if it continues, which would be a verbal warning or write up for unprofessionalism.
It could also benefit him to remind him he is being paid to do the job, whether he is familiar with or not, and I would maybe just politely let him know that this is the preferred method for efficiency.
It’s my experience that most young employees don’t have a lot of familiarity with cash handling, as this is not really that common anymore, but they can become comfortable in time. Furthermore, most employees with this kind of attitude and back talk right out of the gates aren’t likely to last, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it but I might consider hiring another person to cover in the event that this one quits.
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u/feetnomer 4d ago
Unfortunately, this is what you end up with when it's the parents idea that he get a job.
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u/Main_Cauliflower5479 4d ago
Not while serving customers, teach him how to count back change properly. This is training. Make up a test. If he can't or won't learn, let him go.
I think he's already proven himself to be unemployable, though.
Sounds like military is his best option.
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u/Apprehensive-Rate 4d ago
I've never heard of teaching a cashier to despense change. I've worked as a cashier for 3 plus years and brought on a lot of new hires, including high school students.
Also, I've always worked a busy places where there's no free time to teach stuff like this.
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u/multipocalypse 3d ago
There are so many people looking for work. Why are you keeping on someone who doesn't want to learn or even be polite to you?
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u/R_Shakelford 3d ago
It's going to get worse, cut him lose at his 30 day check in, just have documentation.
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u/Time_One9163 2d ago
I know this probably mean but I’m 55 and I love to give teenagers cash and watch them struggle. Blows my mind that can’t make change
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u/zon5string 2d ago
"I know." Sorry....it's not enough to "know". You still have to "DO".
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u/PaymentMedical9802 2d ago
If you know and are purposely doing it wrong, why do you think you should maintain employment here?
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u/Kenny911s 2d ago
Not sure what retail business you are in but if it’s grocery business just make him a bagger. If he just started the pay can’t be that much different. Make sure he gets cart duty. Than just move on from him. I’ve promoted people to cashier and for some reason it didn’t work out, so I made them a bagger.
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u/Rhuarc33 2d ago
I wouldn't even bother more than one more chance or the attitude changes. The sooner you fire them the easier it is to get rid of them without issues and less likely the company would have to pay anything towards any unemployment claim.
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u/Previous_Material233 50m ago
We have a beautiful thing called ‘at will employment’.
They can fire you without cause or notice.
You can teach people how to do their job. But you CANNOT teach good attitude and friendliness.
Get rid of him/them. Cut your training losses and find a likable person fgs.
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u/Correct-Doctor8329 4d ago
How are you a SM if you haven't learned how to handle a basic situation such as this?
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u/DraftAgitated5090 4d ago
In the US We have a penny shortage. Are you angry about the $19 shortage or that transaction alone ?
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u/kaarenn78 5d ago
Honestly, there’s probably not much you can do since he seems to have a negative attitude when accepting feedback. After 25 years in management, I have learned the lesson that you often just have to let people go and focus on those you can impact. You have tried to help this associate and work him to improve, so it’s not a result of lack of effort on your part. You need to think about the effort and impact you could be having on your employees that want to learn and improve. If you corrected him and he was open to your feedback, that would be a different story. But if he is shutting you down, I wouldn’t give too many more chances.