Yes. Please work us to death

[navci]

Pissed off.

Okay. Retail Christmas.
Right now. We have:

Manager
Me
awesome PTer (who is only available on some Sundays)
new girl (that is just hired yesterday)

And we have an entire December to cover. Everyday 9.30-21.00. Do the math. It ain't happening.
So what is going to happen is, right now my schedule looks like I'll be working 50 hours plus weekly. Every single day.
Fine. I can deal with that if that is because we don't have any options.

Now. We have an old staff who is available Christmas eve and all the way in boxing week. It was good news for us. Cuz, even if we do hire more people, there is no way that they will be as good as Wes by the end of December. Wes can pretty much fill either of our shoe. So right after Christmas for that busy week, we can at least maybe get a day off in the week. Show doesn't stop after December, after the new year the store is still supposed to run. Sidewalk sale is supposed to happen in January. So really. No time for rest, any day off is a blessing.

Or so we thought.
Boss (regional manager) called and said she doesn't want Wes to work. Because if it is just a week, it is pointless.
Er. Which part of it is pointless?

1. Why are we so short staffed in Christmas? I asked that we should hire in late August. Nope, she said October is fine.
Well, it isn't!
2. Last year we had some staff from head office to help out with shifts. This year, she said no, there wouldn't be.
3. Now. We are short staffed, no one will give us a hand. We had a plan. What do you do? Nope, you can't go on that plan. That will make life TOO easy for you. I want you all to suffer, work yourself to death and beyond cuz I CAN!
4. PTer raised a good point. If the company doesn't want to pay overtime, how about hire more people? Yeah, if only the universe is as smart as you and have common sense. Unfortunately, she is stupid.

These are all my professional complain about her. I wouldn't even go into her as a person and how I have no respect for her.
Now my "respect" level is definitely in negative. She just wanna screw us up. Really. That is the only reason possible. If anything, the store or chain doesn't make budget, or do poorly. Really, there is nothing to blame but management. I like my company, I think they are cool. But they make some really poor choices when it comes to raising your staff's morale. I don't thin they understand that the little money you save here, is gonna cost you 10 times more elsewhere.

Bitch.

[BWS-1]

But the elsewhere will be in the FUTUR, and it's ok for them cause NOW is when they want money. They are like lil kids that want things when they want all the time, regardless of the consequences. Because you know, why would the consequences be negative for them if they have what they want when they want it! That's their positive consequences :P, and that's all they want to see, cause the rest of the universe doesn't matter to them.

I say hire people from Frenchcanadia. It's cheap-labor yeah but at least it's more effective and they're funnier then mexicans. (big note: I'm joking around here, mexicans are cool :P)



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: BWS-1 on 2005-11-09 23:00 ]</font>

[Maridia]

Bitch indeed, navi.

I'd try to give you some helpful advice, but against head office, your options are sorely limited. Is there anyone ELSE in head office you can talk to? Look into it. Talk to your manager about it and see if you can get someone else to assess your company's needs better. That's ridiculous, you could report them to SOMEONE for making you all work that much. There's got to be something. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif

[Blue-Hawk]

It's a little thing called 'Upper Management'. And, at least in my company, I am personally convinced that they have found a way to survuve with 1/2 a functioning brain cell BETWEEN them.

[space_butler]

its the same everywhere. the gnomes in head office have no idea whats going on in the shops. where I work we're down a third of our staff and are banned from hiring anyone. they normally claim its because less staff = more profits, but never think that less staff + stupid amount of customers = people not bothering to go in.

management = retards.

[Sagasu]

I will go and drive the 120 miles to vancouver, stab your manager, and then flee the country!

Or.. so much for wishfull thinking. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif

Good luck navi, theres not much one can do about management, so just try and take care of yourself.

[KodiaX987]

I don't understand why they wouldn't want to reward overtime (after all, the problem lies on their end...) But either way, since you need the cash, it's kind of good luck that you'll get to work. Even though it won't be the most exciting part of your life, you'll at least get a good paycheck out of it.

Imagine that. 31 days, doing 11 hours of work. That's 341 hours in a month. At minimum wage ($7.60) you already will get a month's paycheck of 2591.60 bucks. And I'm pretty sure that you're paid higher than minimum wage.

I won't say it's fun - it isn't. I did my summer job moving boxes and my feet hurt like hell for the whole season, 14 hours a day. I didn't like it all the time. Sometimes I wished it could just end. But in the end, you'll have done your work, you'll be glad you have done it, and you'll have the reward for it. Now is your time to go full steam ahead and show what you can do. If you can go through a whole month working 11 hours a day, then you're ready to tackle almost anything.

[navci]

On 2005-11-13 14:29, KodiaX987 wrote:
"A reply that was nice and without a single swear word"


XD I am impressed.

On a related note, this is a rant that is semi related, and yet, not.

In the chain there are A, and B stores. Obviously, A store makes more money than B store. We have always been an A store cuz we do make the monies most of the time. With poor management on all levels lately, we are now a B store. Now, what that mean is we are gonna get less staffed hours (like, as oppososed to having 2 people on we might only be allowed one), less good stock (high end high quality stuff) and more crap (lower end stuff). It pisses me off.

First of all.
We used to be in a much better more awesome location where traffic is lots. Now we are move to an end that people seldom drop by. Then, we are getting less good stock, and stock in general that we need to fight for. Then, there is scheduled hours. Less staffing.
That is enough to knock any A store to a B if you constantly don't have things in stock, or people'd have to wait forever to get help.

I did almost 2000 in sales today. If I had a second person on I am sure I can push it up to 3k. I was helping some customers who wanted to buy 2 sets of knives. They need and want my full attention. While a few other people are hanging around for me to help them buy a sword. And then I ended up maybe having 10 people waiting around for me to free up and help them so they can give me more money.

Now. What is the logic in that? Honestly? You can only sell stuff if you have them, have person to at least ring it up, and have traffic that expose people to them.

Ya. Piss me off. A lot.
And my voice is gone and my throat hurts. :<





<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: navinator on 2005-11-13 19:29 ]</font>

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

Holiday + retail = death.

Time per customer = an all time low.
# of customers = an all time high.

All while the fat cats sit back and twiddle their thumbs while the money rolls in and your grey hairs skyrocket.

Its not fair at all.

However do your best and understand that some things are impossible to accomplish alone or nearly alone.

Anything that goes wrong due to a lack of man power cannot be held against you, considering your management are asking for a miracle and offering bowls of gruel in return. Frustration is a given.

Anything that may go wrong druing this time is fire to fuel your stance on "I told you so boss," concerning "we need more workers or this will happen(as I said back in this month)."

Other good words of advice that may help, stay hydrated and full of carbs(including sugar). You'll need all the energy you can get B vitamins/caffeine be damned! And you'll want legs to stand up on during every 11 hour shift. Good shoes you'll be running around on your feet all day, get some cushioning.

Good luck and don't stab too many people!

[Maridia]

Bah, stab'em all, nabbers.

It's unfair, for sure. I'm on the opposite end of the chain, though. I don't have upper management. I work at a "small time" bakery. I don't even get paid for overtime. And when you're baking, you don't just drop what you're doing when your shift ends, you stay put til it's done. And it takes me an hour to get home on the bus. And I'm usually leaving work closer to 7pm or later, and having to go through downtown. Honestly, if I didn't somewhat enjoy the job, I don't know why it'd be worth it.

So it works both ways. You're damned if you do, damned if you don't. You just need to find the right place, and even then, sometimes things change a lot as you work there. Sometimes all you can do is buck up and try your best. Many people don't realise how unfair the working world can be. But.. eh.. I guess the bright side is money? Sometimes I wonder if it's all worth it in the end. <_<