I placed an order through the Subway app, and the app notified me that my order was ready. When I arrived, however, my sandwich had not been made because the store had run out of the bread I selected. The app never indicated that the bread was unavailable, so that was frustrating.
That said, I want to make it very clear that Jasmine was not the problem. She was the only employee working and was trying to handle everything by herself. She was making sandwiches, helping customers, handling orders, and doing the work that should have been handled by more than one person. She did an excellent job under the circumstances and deserves recognition—and honestly, a raise.
The real problem here is management and staffing. By the time I left, there were five people waiting in line behind me and two cars in the drive-thru, and Jasmine was still the only person there trying to take care of everyone. No employee should be put in that position.
This was not a failure on Jasmine’s part. It was a failure to provide her with the staffing and support necessary to do her job safely and effectively. If a store does not have enough employees scheduled, or someone calls out, management should have a plan to provide coverage. That may mean calling someone in, rearranging the schedule, or management stepping in themselves. Leaving one employee alone to operate the entire store should not be the solution.
It is also a serious safety concern. If Jasmine had become ill, been injured, dealt with an aggressive customer, or had any other emergency, there was no coworker there to help her. That is unfair to the employee and puts unnecessary responsibility on one person.
Jasmine handled an extremely difficult situation professionally and deserves praise for how well she managed it. My disappointment is with the management decisions that allowed her to be left alone in that situation, along with the app showing my order as ready when it could not actually be prepared as ordered.
Jasmine did her job. Management needs to do theirs.