stocking associate

seafood associate

produce associate

seafood manager

janitor

Dierbergs

A typical day typically involved management making unnecessary micromanaging choices that were especially grating to an already frustrating position as a cashier.  They made rounds patrolling up and down the cashier lanes constantly watching, waiting, and interjecting with the slightest detail that either was common sense or in several instances with me completely pulling you aside and handling the customer's order as though you were not there.

  As hyper-involved as they were, they did not handle scheduling in any sort of efficient manner.  Once a week ended, the new scheduled times one was required to work would be posted.  However, despite the numbers supposedly being concrete, it was an oddly frequent phenomenon for the managers to guilt-trip whomever they could find into longer work schedules than they were expected.  Also it was not uncommon for silent changes to be made to the posted schedule and not be made aware.  (Several personal instances occurred when i was called at 6 am by an irritated manager on days when I specifically either had off or was not scheduled the day before to work until later in the day.)
  
  Breaks were required to be given at specific intervals based on the length of one's shift, but it was rarely followed as stated.  It was far and away more likely that your break was given early or very late compared to when it should've been given.  I once had to wait an extra hour and a half more than I should have for my first of two breaks in an eight and a half hour workday (which involves a very long day of standing).   

  Bathrooming trips were an oddity as it was never clear what the official rules surrounding that were.  It was left entirely in the discretion of each front end manager of how to handle it.  It was especially frustrating since on a very slow Sunday morning, I was not feeling especially well and had diarrhea before arriving, asked to be allowed to use the bathroom.  Arbitrarily, I was told i had to wait an extra 30 minutes with no explanation.  I made it through 10 of the 30 minutes before being unable to hold it and defecated all down the inside of my pants.  I was forced to spend the rest of the 8.5 hour work day in said pants thanks to that manager.

  Raises were given periodically but never seemed to amount to much.  I was never given more than 25 cents higher than what i was being paid each time.  I was there for about a year and a half as a cashier and was paid 9.5 hourly at the time of being hired and left being paid 10 hourly.  It was also made worse by the fact that you are required to join their union.  Which means that their dues are taken out each paycheck, meaning that's money you won't ever see for reasons that they choose to make unclear.

  The benefits they also advertise are for employees who work there for a year or more.  They don't say this information up front.  The other benefits such as the 401k, pension, etc are never elaborated on either and they make finding out the details much more frustrating by calling between the store and corporate offices in phone tag since neither location has the full information.

  Also, being made full-time is a nigh on impossibility.  Unless you're a member of management (somehow), full-time is something that you have to be approached with and offered.   No one at the store i worked with had anyone working full time.  Not even any of my fellow cashiers (even the ones who'd been there for 10+ years).

  Do not expect the overhead music to change either.  They're content with sticking to the same 15-20 songs on a slightly varied loop of a playlist and they will not change it ever unless it's winter.  When it's winter they play all 300 renditions and covers of jingle bells, Mrs. Santa Claus, etc.

Unprofessional environment you have to go through many hoops and obstacles to address unacceptable associate behavior. The work place is very stressful with constant change to processes and procedures, not a lot of set processes, unorganized with how production is done and packaged. They rush the other departments to get things to the packaging departments, while the packaging departments are extremely unorganized and do things in no specific order. Associates are expected to stay until all work or their department is done with no consideration to home or family responsibilities. Managers get no praise and are expected to work beyond their required salary pay or scheduled time. Working here during the holidays is very depressing because you are expected to work 12-15 hours the entire week and a half before Thanksgiving and Christmas, leaving no time for holiday travel to see family or to spend time with family in general. Also required to work the day after each holiday. Associates are rude and disrespectful to management and leads they receive no support from senior management with disciplinary action to help with these associations. They expect certain departments to work over time to help another department so that specific department can finish on time. It’s a lot of unfairness to managers and associates. No benefits are given until after a year and a half. They make a lot of small orders that is a waste of time and labor while also producing food items in bulk. There is not enough space for equipment and a lot of the equipment is outdated and hard to use, causes strain on the body. In order to walk around or to just go gathering things or ingredients you may need, you always have to move something out of the way to get to what you need. The cleaning department only focuses on cleaning dishes and not the production floor and departments, they do not organize or clean throughout the whole day some departments get cluttered with dirty dishes and the cleaning department comes to collect nothing besides full trash cans and you have to call them to even do that and to also clean the floors. The expectations are not the same plant wide for all departments causing stress and unfairness. Some associates and managers work extremely hard to meet daily expectations while others fly under the radar and do little to nothing to help out those in need or short staffed to complete daily production needs.

The company is customer oriented. Go the extra step is their motto. While this is great in theory it is hard in practice. Part time associates are paid similar to other retail jobs only they get to pay union dues to a union that does nothing for them until they are their a minimum of 2 years. Even then the benefits have been significantly reduced for new hires to the point of being useless(think the biggest retail company bad.) The pay is bad but associates are generally treated with respect and given opportunities for advancement. If you are a go-getter you can make it up the ranks as long as you are willing to brown nose...and are 6ft tall, skinny, and between the ages of 26 and 35. The company has been transitioning away from the "old guard" the last few years and its not been smooth. Too many people promoted that don't have the knowledge to run a department let alone the store. Pay is good once you hit "core" management. The only problem is pay raises are once a year and tied to the Union contract (which honestly barely cover the cost of insurance increases each year). Overtime is available to managers but it is directly tied to the store directors whims and how they feel about their bonus. If they want to max their bonus out you will get the bare minimum amount of OT. If you get one of the better directors and you work hard the sky is the limit for OT. Scheduling is pretty typical of all retail. Nights, weekends, holidays, so on and so forth. Don't expect to be off before Christmas(they are closed Christmas day), Thanksgiving(again closed thanksgiving day). The company suffers what all small-mid size corporations suffer from...lack of communication. Sometimes you know what is going on at all times..and sometimes the part time cashier up front knows more than you. Overall Dierbergs is a decent enough place to work considering your options in retail in St. Louis Missouri.

I feel as though I was very misguided in my interview as well as orientation.  What I was told and what was available to me at my time of hire were completely different.  They interview was filled with how great Deirbergs is, how its a family run business, and all the great opportunities for advancement in which I soon found out real quick when starting from current long time employees this is not the case. I spoke with female employees who have been working for this company for 9 years and was in complete shock when I was told that her pay rate per hour was $10.25.  Within my first month 3 employees put in their 2 week notice to quit and took other jobs because they were told there was no place for advancement for them.  There was very little to NO training at all.  NO training manuals  to follow or to refer to between departments, kids training kids/adults, absolute no information given as far as pay raises, incentives, stock, shares, etc..  I found this to be completely absurd as the company they claim to be.  I saw more products/items just thrown away for multiple reasons but nothing accounted for.  Very very little interaction with any mangers. I dont recall one employee being proud to be an employee there or one that took the extra step to benefit the company.  All i can say is there is so much room for improvement within Dierbergs that they would need a whole team to come in an reevaluate.  I think the owners and managers would be completely surprised at the amount of waste and shrink that is going out the door not accounted for.  With this being said, if this did happen employees would start appreciating their job more and the managers would have more appreciation for the employees.

My time at Dierbergs was very fast-paced. The days flew by and were filled with lots of opportunities to "put out fires," troubleshoot issues, answer questions, and be in the action. I absolutely loved that aspect of my role. Unfortunately, the guidance, training, support, communication, encouragement, feedback, and general assistance from my manager, team, and senior leadership was nonexistent.

When I was interviewing for and offered this position, I was upfront about my professional background and experience: this was an IT role in the Retail field - two areas I had no prior experience with. Because of this, I was apprehensive about the training/on-boarding process and wanted to make sure I'd have ample support to succeed in the position.

For a variety of reasons, asking direct questions to the team and leadership was discouraged. This made navigating a new role in a new field and industry feel next to impossible.

Working in a role where internal support and feedback is so necessary for success, I had to lean on peers from other departments to gain the basic direction needed to execute in my role.

The lack of support I was given made me feel anxious, unimportant, devalued, and completely overwhelmed. I left Dierbergs after nearly 3 years of employment. 

Dierbergs does a great job at giving back to the community and caring for their customers. They are a quality retailer with excellent merchandise and a passion for innovation.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The management team is the best part of working for this company. They are very easy to approach and do not belittle you when you have a basic question. If you need time off for being sick or any personal reason they will not penalise you by giving you less hours when you return.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The customers are the most stressful part of this job. Whilst the vast majority of them are happy and easy going people, those that are not can make your day for the worse. When lines are filling up quick and someone has a specific bagging request or a negative attitude it can affect you more than you would like it to. (However this is true of any retail cashier job) 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work culture is easy going and relatively reserved. I have not been at the role long enough to be on the bad side of it if one exists. The social life between coworkers is pretty okay. The younger coworkers around my age are also easy to speak to and you get to know each other quickly. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
In a typical day as a Cashier you clock in, complete your training questions, grab your till, and start at the register. You have two fifteen minute breaks in an 8 hour shift and one optional 30 minute lunch break in which you can leave the building. In a 4 hour shift you have one 15 minute break.

Dierbergs knowingly overhires associates and essentially lays them off during non-holiday weeks. They hired me promising 25-30 hours, but throughout the last 2 years I've been there, it's been cut down to 4-8 hours MAXIMUM per week. They claim they "don't have enough hours". This makes my paychecks around $30 due to the excessive union dues. Payroll makes mistakes on paychecks, and does not communicate with management or the employee when they decide they have "overpaid" you hundreds of dollars weeks prior and take it all back at once. Management will take advantage of you for the 4 hours per week you DO get, having you do things outside of your pay grade and giving you zero recognition for it. You will be completely shoved to the side and given no hours or appreciation, then when they need help, everybody will be your best friend and you will get hours. With all of that being said, the employees are wonderful and I have formed some very meaningful relationships through Dierbergs. Everybody, including the management that screws you over, is very approachable and friendly. This is a fun job to do, however, I've been forced to find a new job to be able to financially support myself at all.

I worked at Dierbergs for about 9 years and for the most part, enjoyed most of my time there. If you like service work, that is waiting and helping customers, you will like Dierbergs. That is their priority and it usually shows-but this depends on the store you go to also and the department you are at. A typical day is a 4 to 5 hour shift- depending on the time of the year (Holidays will have longer shifts, weekends before ball games etc.) spent mostly bagging and helping customers. There are usually 2 shifts on carts- clearing the lot if you are on a morning shift-providing extra help if things get tough. This part of the job kills a lot of people. In a busy store, like mine, it is a tough demanding job.
Management is or can be difficult. The first 5 years I was there things were fine. With new management came new supervisors with different and negative approaches to getting things done, such as yelling at you. It was one of the reasons I finally left the company.
Co-workers, for the most part, were always helpful and I worked with a great bunch of folks. As with any place, I think success depends a great deal upon who your supervisors are, and how well-trained they are. The most important thing I learned is knowing what I was willing to put up with and what I was not.

A typical day at work would be bagging groceries, restocking items around the store, and maintaining the salad bar.
I learned almost all my customer service skills as a courtesy clerk/salad bar attendee. 
Each department had it's own few managers, as well as store supervisors and general managers. My department managers were the ones that would teach me how to interact with customers at the best level while the general managers were more for making sure the store never falls apart on a daily basis.
Co-workers were hardly reliable. Everyone acted like they worked for no man other than themselves. You had to be very independent every day in order to get recognized and praised by supervisors. Recognition equals raises and respect from supervisors.
The hardest part of the job was not being able to rely on other people for assistance. This unreliability made me more independent as an employee.
The best part of the job was getting able to see how a grocery store runs from behind the scenes, meeting tons of interesting people, and of course practicing my customer service skills.

Great place for someone in high school to learn work ethic..and experience. Learning  that upper managers are above all...in their own view,  there own mind , they are so above the staff that they literally could work with you for years and never say two words..! .there ability to allow there staff to be able to track late days and call ins in 2017 is totally inadequate,   most places have an  app. That will allow  employees to view  there accumulating personal days , late clock in...ect. in real time .I believe this is a intentional.( short fall)  allowing them to use company policy to be unattainable for there employees. Company policy....employee attendance...request off ...can all be available to your employees via internet....this is a great way for your employees to be assured that all records are accurate! But otherwise loved my Boss and loved working with all my co workers...learned alot.. .!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Stocking associate 9 salaries reported	$15.10 per hour
Seafood associate 3 salaries reported	$15.25 per hour
Produce associate 6 salaries reported	$15.10 per hour
Seafood manager 2 salaries reported	$19.71 per hour
Janitor 3 salaries reported	$15.33 per hour

Working at Dierbergs: Company Overview and Reviews

Dierbergs

Dierbergs Ratings

Popular jobs at Dierbergs

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected