Yeah, it's a work rant...
For a few years now the store has been running on a skeleton crew. The best we can figure is that they are trying to come in under hours so that they don't look half-assed at everything, to HO. Meanwhile we have rampant loss prevention issues. I have long thought that more people translates into less theft (if you're watching them, it makes it harder to steal, makes sense, yes?)
Every shift is a race to see how much work can be done before we go home and collapse onto our couches to watch Will and Grace and Overhaulin'. Rarely, if ever, do any of us get entire areas completed for returns, bay maintenance, ect. It's frustrating and when any of us try to relay our concerns, we're given middle-management rhetoric, like, "think of smarter ways to approach the work you do." Thanks, I'd like to think I'm not an idiot, please!
One of the managers is getting married and moving to New Jersey. I feel unkind for saying that she will not be missed, but she's screwed over so many people with her weird and inflexible ways over the years, I can't be bothered to feel more than pleased for her. And her position hasn't been filled, so that leaves the other assistant manager to take up the slack and work on the schedules. And he immediately cut hours. *points to skeleton crew remark in first paragraph*
WTF? She leaves and we lose hours? I threw a fit and got a half hour back, which still leaves me down an hour. So, I talk to the store manager and he gave me the time bck and told me I can work as much as I want and that he told the A.M. to spend as much of the man hours as we have. There's too much to do to not utilize them. And that I should tell the other employees that if they want hours, they can have them. Holy Christ. Talk about a massive reversal.
And there is a reason. Remember the loss prevention I mentioned? The rampant theft? Rumour has it that unless he (the S.M.) gets the theft numbers down in a month, he faces losing his job. So, lets see. I've been there for five and a half years and I've seen the place go from a pretty well-kept establishment to one that is starting to feel shabby around the edges (no budget for all the improvements it needs) and an art section that used to be so full of books, the shelves groaned. Huge amounts of theft have lightened those shelves and every so often someone will tell my full-timer to order up on the books (I guess so the shoplifters have more to steal.) And in one month he's supposed to change all that? And I've got a unicorn to sell on Ebay...
I'm frustrated with the fuckmindery there. With managers who take on their jobs all starry-eyed, thinking they will be the ones to make a difference. Only to eventually become so embittered that we remark that they've been assimilated and has become just like all the others. This is why I gave up on wanting to advance in that place. Maybe a different store would change my mind. But in the clique-ish world of this touristy-trendy place, I know I'd rather spork my eyes out than to take on a position of authority any higher than my current position of supervisor.
And with all this said, I do actually like my job. It's why I've been there for five years. I would have cut and run a hell of lot sooner if things were horrible for me, 'cause that's what I usually do. I just wish there was more reasonableness. That people would get the help they need to accomplish their jobs and that these blasted managers would think beyond the current month and their future bonuses. Is that so much to ask?
For a few years now the store has been running on a skeleton crew. The best we can figure is that they are trying to come in under hours so that they don't look half-assed at everything, to HO. Meanwhile we have rampant loss prevention issues. I have long thought that more people translates into less theft (if you're watching them, it makes it harder to steal, makes sense, yes?)
Every shift is a race to see how much work can be done before we go home and collapse onto our couches to watch Will and Grace and Overhaulin'. Rarely, if ever, do any of us get entire areas completed for returns, bay maintenance, ect. It's frustrating and when any of us try to relay our concerns, we're given middle-management rhetoric, like, "think of smarter ways to approach the work you do." Thanks, I'd like to think I'm not an idiot, please!
One of the managers is getting married and moving to New Jersey. I feel unkind for saying that she will not be missed, but she's screwed over so many people with her weird and inflexible ways over the years, I can't be bothered to feel more than pleased for her. And her position hasn't been filled, so that leaves the other assistant manager to take up the slack and work on the schedules. And he immediately cut hours. *points to skeleton crew remark in first paragraph*
WTF? She leaves and we lose hours? I threw a fit and got a half hour back, which still leaves me down an hour. So, I talk to the store manager and he gave me the time bck and told me I can work as much as I want and that he told the A.M. to spend as much of the man hours as we have. There's too much to do to not utilize them. And that I should tell the other employees that if they want hours, they can have them. Holy Christ. Talk about a massive reversal.
And there is a reason. Remember the loss prevention I mentioned? The rampant theft? Rumour has it that unless he (the S.M.) gets the theft numbers down in a month, he faces losing his job. So, lets see. I've been there for five and a half years and I've seen the place go from a pretty well-kept establishment to one that is starting to feel shabby around the edges (no budget for all the improvements it needs) and an art section that used to be so full of books, the shelves groaned. Huge amounts of theft have lightened those shelves and every so often someone will tell my full-timer to order up on the books (I guess so the shoplifters have more to steal.) And in one month he's supposed to change all that? And I've got a unicorn to sell on Ebay...
I'm frustrated with the fuckmindery there. With managers who take on their jobs all starry-eyed, thinking they will be the ones to make a difference. Only to eventually become so embittered that we remark that they've been assimilated and has become just like all the others. This is why I gave up on wanting to advance in that place. Maybe a different store would change my mind. But in the clique-ish world of this touristy-trendy place, I know I'd rather spork my eyes out than to take on a position of authority any higher than my current position of supervisor.
And with all this said, I do actually like my job. It's why I've been there for five years. I would have cut and run a hell of lot sooner if things were horrible for me, 'cause that's what I usually do. I just wish there was more reasonableness. That people would get the help they need to accomplish their jobs and that these blasted managers would think beyond the current month and their future bonuses. Is that so much to ask?