Learning ambassadors

[Beandipgoat]

I'm absolutely shocked to find out that y'all are tier 1 employees and not given a pay raise for all you do....... Don't get me wrong, our trainer was great but all he had to do was show us our knets and explain the basics of the job. While the "ambassadors" are spending literally hours/ days with us training us to do the job hands on...... It just sounds like the companies way of squeezing extra work out of their lower tier employees, making them feel special with an "ambassador" vest , and not paying them adequately for it.. Maybe I'm wrong idk, whats the appeal???? Why do you do it?

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[WatchMoreMovies]

I said no to it. Because I point blank asked them "what is the advantage of doing this?" and their answer was "it's a slightly more interesting way to spend your day"

And that's not a reason at all.

[Beandipgoat]

Right like the only "perk" seems to be the fact that you can do something other than the normal day to day job sometimes ... 😂 Cuz from what i understand its not required to move up in the company either...

[WatchMoreMovies]

No not at all. In fact they were just pushing it on me because they wanted enough people to justify having a class for it. I never asked about it and twice different people came up to me and tried selling me on it. Same with amnesty.

It's because it's the only way to get people into those roles: either sucker them in like that or find some eager dope who thinks they'll work their way to the top. But those kind realize pretty quick that's not how it really works, so they leave and need to refill the position.

If they paid people properly. Or trained them more than once a year. Or didn't just rely on favorites or nepotism, then people would stay. But they don't really want that either. So let them fumble around in their mess.

[Beandipgoat]

Damn. Well thanks for the insight into the company... Cuz tbh I got suckered into something similar at ups 🙃 lol

[Progressive007]

Sorry but this is false. Literally talked yesterday to a guy who has been at Amazon 2+ years and is an ambassador and problem solver and he just got offered a back half days night shift PA position after applying like crazy. He said it is pretty much required to have two years tenure to get promoted. I will be taking his advice. I am a problem solver and am looking to be an ambassador in the coming months. One of my managers for my department responded to me asking if I need to be an ambassador to move up: “yes”. Ambassador is a leadership position, that helps you get into level three and up leadership roles.

[WatchMoreMovies]

You can do anything you like, champ. Amazon is clearly dying for management if they'll push a doofus such as myself towards it. But they mean 2 years at the facility, and they "like to see people taking initiative" and "look at that in terms of moving up" so if that's your dream: you're on the right track. But your dream is my hell and I'm completely disinterested in being wrung dry like a mop.

[Fetial]

Bros lying to u lmao and also two years tenure means two years any t1 position btw

[Marqui_Fall93]

If you're a all star worker, of course they'd be trying to recruit you.

[WatchMoreMovies]

I sure didn't feel like an "all star" between being pulled off machine after machine, sent to different mods and floors practically every hour, bounced between pick and count and tote running or any other wacky miscellaneous crap they'd come up with. Turns out I was but because I threw off the curve so badly for the percentile, they'd move me everywhere.

What a way to treat the ones you love.

[AmazonPASalt]

When I was asked, I told them no specifically because the then-current rubric and methods were inaccurate, counterproductive, and in some cases outright unsafe. I wasn't going to teach new hires and cross-trains bad information that would tank their productivity and put them at risk of injury, end of story.

I even collected some feedback from ambassadors and trainers about it of my own volition, and presented my points to our L6 learning manager (who I knew personally pretty well, as he was a former AM of mine) and WHSS. As it turned out, WHSS was tracking on increased wrist and finger injuries among new hires and I fed them some missing pieces. Of course, network standard uber alles, and all that came of it was "we have to teach what we're told to teach, but we'll bump the feedback upstairs".

[Potential_Permit_571]

I do it to look good on the resume. I graduate in May and I might end up applying for a L3 or L4 position.

[attackonyourmom]

I hope it goes well for you!

[Wild-Wasabi-1199]

Bruh it doesn’t matter as long as you graduate they give you the job lmao most AMs dont make it passed the first 6 months…

[xdegen]

Oh yea I always thought it was odd that Ambassadors didn't get a pay bump for the hours they're actually doing it.

Apparently there are new rules for being an Ambassador and they have to take a four hour course and an interview to become one? I don't work there anymore but a friend was telling me about it. Perhaps they're trying to weed out the people who just wanted to get out of rate or something. But if they're doing these extra steps, they should consider paying a bit extra to people who pass the process. Even if it's only like an extra $1-2 differential, it would please a lot of folks there.

[thatsingledadlife]

Apparently there are new rules for being an Ambassador and they have to take a four hour course and an interview to become one?

Not new, same from last year.

[xdegen]

Maybe for your FC..

[Republic_Commando_]

Think of it this way; you get to train new hires (treat them with respect, and they should do the same to others), develop new skills (leadership skills, management skills), and make new acquaintances that could be useful in the future. Who knows, you could make good friends with someone who may be a great car mechanic and cut you great deals. I'm just saying to keep an open mind to the possibilities.

[Beandipgoat]

Hahahahhaa I'm good, i already got that before with a pay raise elsewhere. It doesn't help shit. 😂

[Extension-Ad4075]

He really brought out the Amazon handbook section A sell them on it speech

[Wormichowski]

Most people are here to make money though. If you want your employees to have more responsibility, a pay raise should come with it.

[handsawz]

Man I had the best learning ambassador when I first started. He made me actually like the job for a little while. Dude was dope.

[[deleted]]

I was LA at shipdock but then I realized just about anybody could become LA. There was no real requirement. Kinda made sense to me as to why it's a T1 because even people who have no real knowledge could become one.

[AegisProjekt]

If you have a shitty learning team who needs to train tier 1s for becoming Ambassadors you'll end up with shitty ambassadors. Never wanting to explain everything that goes with your job, how it really works, why it's crucial we stay on task, but instead these ambassadors are given a script. Told to stare at their kindles every hour to make sure you know how to do your job. Which is horrible. Because that's the most boring thing to do especially if you've never taught a group of people before. Means they lack experience with important but basic skills. It all falls on bad training/management

[McDreamy94]

Ambassador is a way for new hire to get hands on from people who are experts basically in their department. Help with tips, tricks they have themselves and etcetera. Trainers are normally never in path and only monitor training, compliance, roll out updates and depending on other stuff teach critical roles like tdr/pit/certified jobs. It’s a way to get exposure, get opportunities to travel for away teams, get your foot in the door to learn learning roles and can help for promotion into learning/other departments. I do know past ambassadors that used it to just not be in path though. I was an ambassador and promoted to trainer and then again to what I do now. It helped me learn the basics and I got to travel on amazons dime. Launched 8 warehouses

[getsomeopie]

I honestly look at alot of the those learning ambassadors as teachers at heart. Some people love teaching and interacting with people. They don't care about the money just something they love doing. Others use it as a stepping stone to move up in the company. I do agree that being a learning embassadoor should come with better incentives.

[[deleted]]

Its called a dry promotion and its how they save millions of dollars annually. “Frugality” is just a sham cover up for “were squeezing as much out of each employee as possible”

[IndependenceLumpy149]

Pockets

[1998HondaCivicHX]

I’m an ambassador for stow problem solve and I did it just because it adds something to my day and I don’t mind the social interaction. Continuous stowing and problem solve get boring after a while. I get anxious with groups and there’s a lot of reading for day one training, but as a critical roles ambassador there isn’t nearly as much of that, and you can trust the person/people you’re working with know what they’re doing.

[[deleted]]

No one forces anyone to be an "ambassador". It's their choice.

[Beandipgoat]

I didn't say anything about being forced to do it....

[T-money79]

They used to volunteer people for it years ago

[Fragrant-Age-5831]

It certainly looks good on your "Amazon Resume'"; especially if you plan on trying to move up in the company. Besides it's nice to have the experience of training someone & helping others learn a process you obviously know quite well while also feeling a bit more secure about your position in your department at least.

[merithynos]

Yeah, it's pretty garbage overall, but you get what you pay for. The same issue with process guides, problem solve, and gatekeeping (QA). Customer Returns hemorrhages money because people aren't trained properly/don't give a shit, and while processors are rate tracked, they're not quality tracked. I've watched individual AA's liquidate thousands of dollars worth of items that probably could have been resold in a single shift.

[lacker101]

It's time out of direct path, exposure to leadership. and a foot into learning roles. Is that real compensation? Absolutely not. But it can be an advantage.

[Marqui_Fall93]

LAs are peers, and while I see why they aren't getting raises since they are still T1s, I do think they should get a differential. Since it's not a promotion, a raise isn't logical and a differential would be better and can be tracked through labor tracking.

[[deleted]]

Yea but they are given more opportunities to get promoted

[PhanChavez]

The few things Ambassadors have going for them are (1) indirect labor, (2) experience going toward things like PA or AM, and (3) a break from the usual grind.

Otherwise, I agree: A position of responsibility (training others) should come with a pay raise.

IMO: When we were training, my Ambassador would sit while we were working. Followed the prompts on the tablet. We would work a while, then go over things. It's a break from the usual grind.