Albert Heijn removes staff name badges: too unsafe
Dirk van den Broek recently introduced body cameras for staff in the store. This was due to threatening situations on the shop floor. Quite astonishing, isn’t it, that this is necessary? Dirk turns out not to be the only supermarket chain protecting its staff from unpleasant and sometimes outright aggressive customers. That is why the names of Albert Heijn employees are no longer displayed on their name badges, and the house rules have been tightened.
Personally, I find it hard to imagine: doing your grocery shopping and then insulting the staff in the process. Yet it happens very often. Every day, supermarket employees report incidents that are intimidating, violent or cross the line. This aggression manifests itself, for example, during self-checkout checks. The so-called ‘forced checks’ also caused quite a stir online.
‘We are Team Albert Heijn’
70 percent of Albert Heijn staff said in a survey that they did not like having their name displayed on their name badges. This makes them easy to find on social media if a customer wants to look them up. That is why Albert Heijn has changed the name badges. They now read ‘We are Team Albert Heijn’, whereas previously they displayed names such as ‘Tom’ or ‘Farida’.
Tightened house rules
In addition to changing the name badges, the house rules at the supermarket chain are also being tightened. “They currently include things like ‘no dogs inside’ or ‘no smoking’. We are adding ‘treat our colleagues with respect’ and ‘filming is not allowed here’,” Sonja Boelhouwer (Director of Stores & Logistics) tells het Parool.
It is actually absurd that such basic standards of behaviour have to be included in the house rules. Let’s hope this list does not need to be expanded any further.
Also read:
- This is why shopping at Dirk is genuinely so affordable
- 10x the best tips and tricks for saving money on food
- 7x the strangest products at Dirk
Source: het Parool, image: Albert Heijn
