This is a true story as told by a retail store employee:
"I used to work in a retail store as a warehouse manager. I wasn't a 'manager' per se, but I did manage the warehouse and developed inventory systems and everybody left me alone. There were a lot of talented people on staff who felt like they were too good to be working there, but they had to work somewhere in order to eat. The store manager and the owner didn't seem too concerned about anything except sales and their motto for staffing was, and I quote: 'Get cheap tires and rotate them frequently.' Needless to say, animosity was everywhere.
We used to be frequently visited by a fellow by the name of Ben. It was the popular opinion that Ben was not operating at full mental capacity, but we just let him walk around the store to look at all the cool equipment with his eyes lit up. The new staff members made fun of him and the old ones protected him. Ben was pretty harmless, but we did have to let him know that sometimes we got busy and had to do our jobs, so we had little time for chit-chat.
On one fine, sunny day, my supervisor and a lifer on the sales floor were sitting outside the front of the store talking and Ben came by to say hi. They were amused by Ben and my supervisor asked him: 'Ben, you're here so often , why don't you just get a job here?' Ben didn't hesitate for one second when he said: 'Naw, the money's no good, besides, I don't like to be taken advantage of.' The supervisor and the lifer stared at each other for a moment frozen in time."
Makes ya think, huh? Why were so many unhappy people sticking it out in a job they didn't like? I'm not saying every person there had to be unhappy, but from the description, there had to be an air of dissent permeating through the store and it seems to have been caused by poor leadership. In fact, this person had also stated that, during a Saturday morning staff meeting, the emphasis was put on 'shrinkage' caused by the employees. The store manager blatantly directed the blame toward the staff and made everybody feel uneasy because they were all treated like they were guilty even though there were only a handful of employees ripping things off.
The proper way to handle a situation like that would be to focus on the brightness of the future because, in the long run, staff who respect you are less likely to steal from you. The proper way to change the attitudes of the staff members would be to get them to understand more about the company, how the profits can benefit everybody and allow them to respect you. So, rather than running around putting out fires, why not focus on preventing fires? I dare to sound Machiavellian when I say that people judge leaders by the quality of people they have around them.
Have a great work week!
- Buck Moore
"I used to work in a retail store as a warehouse manager. I wasn't a 'manager' per se, but I did manage the warehouse and developed inventory systems and everybody left me alone. There were a lot of talented people on staff who felt like they were too good to be working there, but they had to work somewhere in order to eat. The store manager and the owner didn't seem too concerned about anything except sales and their motto for staffing was, and I quote: 'Get cheap tires and rotate them frequently.' Needless to say, animosity was everywhere.
We used to be frequently visited by a fellow by the name of Ben. It was the popular opinion that Ben was not operating at full mental capacity, but we just let him walk around the store to look at all the cool equipment with his eyes lit up. The new staff members made fun of him and the old ones protected him. Ben was pretty harmless, but we did have to let him know that sometimes we got busy and had to do our jobs, so we had little time for chit-chat.
On one fine, sunny day, my supervisor and a lifer on the sales floor were sitting outside the front of the store talking and Ben came by to say hi. They were amused by Ben and my supervisor asked him: 'Ben, you're here so often , why don't you just get a job here?' Ben didn't hesitate for one second when he said: 'Naw, the money's no good, besides, I don't like to be taken advantage of.' The supervisor and the lifer stared at each other for a moment frozen in time."
Makes ya think, huh? Why were so many unhappy people sticking it out in a job they didn't like? I'm not saying every person there had to be unhappy, but from the description, there had to be an air of dissent permeating through the store and it seems to have been caused by poor leadership. In fact, this person had also stated that, during a Saturday morning staff meeting, the emphasis was put on 'shrinkage' caused by the employees. The store manager blatantly directed the blame toward the staff and made everybody feel uneasy because they were all treated like they were guilty even though there were only a handful of employees ripping things off.
The proper way to handle a situation like that would be to focus on the brightness of the future because, in the long run, staff who respect you are less likely to steal from you. The proper way to change the attitudes of the staff members would be to get them to understand more about the company, how the profits can benefit everybody and allow them to respect you. So, rather than running around putting out fires, why not focus on preventing fires? I dare to sound Machiavellian when I say that people judge leaders by the quality of people they have around them.
Have a great work week!
- Buck Moore
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