Store Employees are not doing jobs

[susanjdk]

Any thoughts on this?  Thanks

[snackrafice]

I know that you reprimand them or remind them of what they are supposed to be doing.

[MeestorMark]

A couple of thoughts...

Depends a lot on what they are not doing.

I have never had an employee finish the "ring customer up" interaction. Primarily because they get involved in another conversation while waiting for the right situation. They won't auto end a good chat to go do this assigned work apparently.

Sometimes they just won't do what you tell them to do, or stop doing it at the first chance. This is a game mechanic built in by EA I believe to make managing the store employees as part of the process. As Carl said in his retail guide, probably best to choose a high work ethic as the primary hiring trait.

If they "finish" a task they have been given, they will not auto start doing that same task the next time the situation arises. Their task assignment defaults back to no assignment. An example, I set my one worker to answer customer questions, but as soon as my two active sims move into those conversations to complete the sale, if there aren't any new customers that join in the conversation before the employee ends it, I need to assign him the task again of answering customer questions. Same thing with restocking. If they finish before something new is sold, they will need to be assigned it all over again.

[missheulwen]

I have this issue. I can't get them to do anything! All I want is for them to ring customers up because I loose so many cause my sim can't keep up on her own. I have highly skilled summed employed but I can't make any money because my sim is doing all the work!


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[dodi90]

@missheulwen did you still get this problem after installing the latest patch since this problem supposed to be fixed in the latest patch?

[missheulwen]

@missheulwen did you still get this problem after installing the latest patch since this problem supposed to be fixed in the latest patch?

I've had all updates and I'm playing the game right now with the same issue. I've read the latest patch updates and there was nothing on there about employees doing as they're told... My poor sim is paying employees but they only make things more difficult!


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[Carl]

The patch was supposed to make them less chatty, which was anticipated to make them do their jobs better... but maybe that wasn't the issue after all!

[ClayMask]

It wasn't the patch that came out May 14th that was supposed to fix them, but the one before that.  Some people say their employees are more productive now, but it sounds like there are mixed results.

[Carl]

Right yeah, I guess I made it sound that way calling it 'the patch'. Unfortunately I have had enough stuff to do that I haven't given that the big test I wanted, because the retail page probably needs edited at least to a small degree and in the employee department.

[dodi90]

I also never played in retail again. For the time if the ringing up to customer always fail for employees, just do it with your controlled sim. By the way at the time of writing I wasn't aware that there is a patch at 14 May, I refer it to the earlier May patch.

[missheulwen]

The only way I can make money in retail is by running a shop with more than one playable sim. It's a real shame cause I was really looking forward to that part of get to work!

I've since tried the doctor career and it seems your playable sim is expected to do everything in the hospital too....


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[dodi90]

Well the easiest retail to do currently is bakery since you can abuse retail freezer and make all your employees and sims only concentrate in selling the goods. Retail freezer allows customer to buy directly without any assistance. The downside of this is you don't get any points for restocking but also avoid paying ridiculous price since restocking use actual retail value in calculation rather than real cost to create items.

The easiest active career currently is scientist since it will focus on one place (no medical emergencies that happen out of hospital / detective that needs to switch between lots in order to do jobs). It also offers the best reward so far like ability to create potions at home and various inventions that you can create at workplace but could also brought home.

[Carl]

I popped into my retail save to double check baking and had a couple of employee sales. It is definitely improved, but the talking definitely wasn't the only problem. A few times, one of them was just standing there. No conversation, no work actions. Makes me think, since other things work on percent chances, that they still don't have a high enough work rate.


Or, this is my fault for not playing manager better. Have two maxed work ethic Sims, although one has always been a bit more outstanding at his job. The girl has always been more of a problem in terms of getting stuff done. Maybe her best is nowhere near his. Perhaps to get more production, I've no choice but to fire her. I'll check that theory out later tonight as I look to do an overdue edit on this guide section.

[purenergy]

Employees can be helpful but you have to manage them every day. Make sure to assign them a task every day, ask them how they are, praise them and give them raises. Also, letting them go early sometimes keeps them pretty happy. I have a few really great employees: both have the ambitious trait, one is also a perfectionist and a genius. She's really good, lol! Don't be afraid to fire a terrible employee. I have made over 10k in a day with my bakery. She is a Gourmet chef/baker and her husband also helps out at the store. Having another playable sim makes it soooooo much easier!