You might not know this about me, but my first job was working in a grocery store. Winn-Dixie to be exact. I worked there for almost 6 years, starting at a menial cashier and then working as an assistant manager, mainly in the cash office. Talk about stress!
Anyway, I worked there and the store strived to give excellent customer service. It was company policy and my store manager took great pride in having high marks within the district. I remember them posting scanning speeds per minute every week, and it was like a contest to get about 20-30 items per minute. It was crazy looking back how silly I was…
At one point, Winn-Dixie tried to motivate us. You would get points for good scanning speed, high manager remarks and hours you worked. You could redeem them for things like gift cards and other random items. I remember redeeming my points for a car emergency kit (which resides in my trunk still) and a Tae Bo video set. Haha…Tae Bo was the shiz!
Getting to the point, we were rewarded for doing our jobs. It was motivating to make it a point to give the customer the best service available.
Now, enter Whole Foods.
See, Whole Foods…you think great company, organic, wonderful customer service. They aren’t rewarding for that, though. They are gonna increase your employee discount at Whole Foods depending solely on your health.
That’s right, your health. More notably, your BMI, which is the WORST indicator of health! All employees get a base discount of 20% off in the store. If your BMI is lower than 30, you can get up to 30% off instead! Oh boy…oh BROTHER!
I’m really mad about this. My BMI is 35ish and because of my weight, if I worked at Whole Foods, I would be considered an unhealthy employee and given less of a discount. I know I’m overweight, but this blog brings up a good point about BMI. Apparently, Johnny Depp’s BMI considers him overweight…sigh….he wouldn’t get his 30% off for sure then!
So, I hate to be extreme, but I’m pretty sure I’m not shopping at Whole Foods for a while. This policy just grates on my nerves and seems a little discriminatory, don’t you think? Thoughts?
My husband would be considered quite overweight according to his BMI but it’s only because of the sheer amount of muscle he has on in his body. He’s one of the fittest guys I know and doesn’t have a bit of fat anywhere! BMI is quite outdated and inaccurate, I agree, but what would you use instead? Other than a full-on appointment with a personal-trainer, I’m curious if there are any other measures out there? I think they should give a base percentage and then offer extra incentive to those who would do something like meet with a personal trainer…that way it’s at the employees discretion…
Honestly, the incentives should be given to employees who do their job well, in my opinion. Reward for customer service, because the last thing I want as a customer is for the skinny, rude lady to be held on a higher pedestal than the chunky, nice lady.
I was furious when I first read about this. I really don’t believe in BMI, because it doesn’t take into consideration important factors such as bone mass. or that muscle weighs more than fat. In addition, how about people who can’t lose weight for medical reasons? I really think it’s discriminatory and I completely agree with you that employees should be rewarded for good work, not for their weight.
That is ridiculous and angers me! I’d rather be given great customer service by a chubby person rather than deal with a skinny little b***ch!! What incentive does an employee have to treat their customers properly? Hmmm… disturbing.
I think it’s a little intrusive – benefits based on your personal stats. Seems strange to me.