I'm about ready to transfer stores.
Hours: I have over 60 hours a week available. He gives me 12 when I was averaging 16-18 before he came. He gives everybody that's not a shift supervisor 12--this week's average is less than that. He spends more time on the floor than any other manager I've had and complains about the lack of managerial time. If he were to give us a few of those hours, we'd all be back to normal. Several people have gotten second jobs because of how many hours he's cut--they didn't need them before! There's people that have been dropped from the company insurance who NEED it because of those cuts.
Scheduling: I ask not to close Sunday through Thursday because I have a 7:30am class. He knows this. He's had me close four times in the last two weeks on a school night, wanted me to close last night and has me closing tonight.
I've given him my schedule twice and asked him last night if he got my note informing him for the second time what it was.
"Yeah, I got it. It's only 'till eleven, though."
"I know that. I have school remember?"
"Yeah, I remember."
>:(
Awkward!: I have a thing about my personal space--if I'm not friends with someone, they're not welcome in it. This man doesn't HAVE personal space (I'm not sure he knows what it is).
Our work area is small--I'd say four feet wide by fifteen long--so some invasion is going to happen and that's fine. But he's decided that you must be elbow-distant away to pat someone on the shoulder. I do not like this.
He's also not supposed to talk to us about religion or politics, but he does anyway (we can talk about it amongst ourselves, but he's not supposed to) and he questioned me fairly extensively why I'm an atheist when I finally gave up and told him--it wasn't completely friendly questioning or I'd not really care.
He actually said to one of the girls when she was getting her training done for shift supervisor (when he handed her the book for it), "I believe the Bible tells us how to live and is the word of God--this book will be like that for you."
When my coworkers come by to visit when they're off, they call ahead not make sure he's not there. Yesterday, our guy who's off on medical leave came by to see us.
"D's not here, is he?"
"No."
"Good."
"He's in at six, though."
"Crap. We'll make this a quick visit, then."
Honestly, when your subordinates run from you, there's a problem.
There's not an easy way to tell him any of this, either. He's so passive and lets us do whatever we want, pretty much, that it's weird--I could take an hour-long lunch, and he probably wouldn't even write me up. Trying to tell him that, hey, I have this thing about you getting too close, is difficult. If he wasn't my boss, it'd be a simple, "Dude, back up."
If he were any other manager I've had, it would be, "Hey, can I have some more hours, maybe? This whole not-breaking-two-hundred-dollars thing is making my wallet unhappy."
I've been the one to pick up slack so much he assumes that I'll always do it. He's added hours to my schedule at inconvenient times without asking me or pushed me to take hours that I can't or won't and I'm about ready to leave him out to dry. >:(
This guy sounds a pain and also crosses personal boundaries all over the place.
Is he going to stay around? Is he likely to fall foul of his boss?
If not, and you like the store, suggest you hang on if you can as it seems everyone has a problem with him.
Is there anyone more senior you could talk to?
Why would he be doing all those hours on the floor as a manager resulting in them not being tasked to other staff? What's in it for him?
Quote from: Scriblerus the Philosophe on July 08, 2008, 12:31:56 AM
... If he wasn't my boss, it'd be a simple, "Dude, back up."
I hate to point out the obvious, but what does his being your boss have to do with invading your personal space?
That is borderline sexual abuse, even if he's completely innocent and/or platonic in his actions.
You could be a bit more diplomatic than, "hey, @sshole, you're in my personal space"... ;D ::)
Like, perhaps, "It makes me uncomfortable when you constantly stand so close. "
I'm quite certain Chatty could phrase this even better than I-- I've always been too blunt.
As Griffin counceled, patience will likely be rewarded in this case-- if he's ragging on everyone as much as it appears, AND if people are actively avoiding him-- it will sooner or later make it's way to upper management.
Whether they do anything or no, will likely depend on how much they are "in bed" with this incompetent.
As a last resort, you could complain sexual harassment-- it is NOT just about inappropriate touching. Inappropriate invasion of personal space is sexual harassment, too.
The fewer employee hours he gives, the better the store's bottom line, thus the more he "bonuses out" at the end of each month/quarter/however they do it...
That's the unfortunate 'way we do things' in this country in this economy. We'd rather give the 'boss' a bonus of MORE than what the employees would have earned, because for every employee hour, we have to do SS and taxes, and that's cash out of accounts every 3-5 days (depends on how they do payroll) instead of 'bonuses' which are handled differently.
So, this schmuck is deciding to take on more hours on the floor to 'save' the store's bottom line. He'll also eventually cause a loss of quality/service that will negatively affect that bottom line, but---hey, it wasn't one of the 600/700 stores closed!!
They'll tolerate him as long as the work gets done, and I'd bet he's doing management stuff on his own time to make payroll as low as possible.
Now, as to the personal space issue? Phrase it as "Are you aware that you tend to 'crowd' our personal space? The female employees especially notice it, and nobody wants to cause a fuss, but it's an issue that would be best settled without a bunch of problems." Offer to 'remind' him (signal of some sort) if you see it, or tell him discreetly if you experience it.
If he denies it, just say "OK, it's just that in some places, the personal space issue comes under harassment, and you're certainly not wanting THAT sort of problem on your employment record...especially since you've gone so far as to make a point of your faith."
Then, as a throw-away, mention that the politico-religious stuff's supposed to be off-topic as well, and it's probably better that he not exhibit BOTH issues (politi-relig and personal space) at the same time.
Do this AFTER your transfer is approved...and when he's gone, you can transfer back to the closer store.
If he loses enough employees (which he will, the issues will continue to irritate them) they'll fire him or more likely, promote him.
Maybe they will transfer him to one of the stores that is closing.
I agree-- he is in your personal space and I know that it is easier said than done but you have to get him out of it.
My favorite: slightly unfocus your eyes, looking just to the side of their heads, and say:
"Duuuude. You are violating my aura..."
This confuses the unhip enough that they back off, anyway.
:mrgreen:
Quote from: pieces o nine on July 08, 2008, 05:23:51 PM
My favorite: slightly unfocus your eyes, looking just to the side of their heads, and say:
"Duuuude. You are violating my aura..."
This confuses the unhip enough that they back off, anyway.
:ROFL:
This may be PERFECT in this situation.
Quote from: pieces o nine on July 08, 2008, 05:23:51 PM
My favorite: slightly unfocus your eyes, looking just to the side of their heads, and say:
"Duuuude. You are violating my aura..."
This confuses the unhip enough that they back off, anyway.
:mrgreen:
I'd get the 'wtf?' look so easily. That would be amusing. :D I must try it!
He's unlikely to move from where he is, unless he fails to make sales, which is what happened with my first manager. That's about all they notice, really. It's also very hard to get some one fired. The last time we had to go to corporate to get rid of an abusive shift lead that we had (it was trumped up accusations that finally did it--she was accused of being racist by a customer [when she wasn't being, apparently] and they got rid of her, never mind her power trips or extensive verbal abuse of new hires--which the manager was aware of and ignored).
If he's doing managerial crap on his own hours,
that could get him fired. They're very, very strict about "time worked is time paid."
Quote from: Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith on July 08, 2008, 03:37:43 AM
I hate to point out the obvious, but what does his being your boss have to do with invading your personal space?
Perhaps it's my inexperience, but telling the boss to back up is very, very awkward and I don't know him well enough to know if he'd cut my already shit hours even more (I have
eight hours next week--I'm livid).
Speaking of hours, I found out what the deal is--he's decided 'good hours' means hours off. He's hiring MORE people when we don't need any! (what I wouldn't do for a sixteen hour week...)
And I'm not the only one threatening to transfer--at least one of the shift leads has and I'm about to add my voice to hers. I've already left a note asking to talk to him about getting more hours soon. If he doesn't give me more, then there's a store right next to my house that'll need more people soon.
Get out. He's not taking your needs as an employee seriously. If he doesn't understand that eight hours CANNOT meet your financial obligations, he's too stupid to be allowed to breathe our air. Don't make me come make him quit wasting oxygen... (I'm just in that mood right now.)
Transfer. Gas isn't getting cheaper, and he's a moron in so many ways it can't be fixed efficiently.
I've already got my ear to the ground for openings. Started talking to people as of this afternoon.
Quote from: Scriblerus the Philosophe on July 08, 2008, 06:32:35 PM
Quote from: Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith on July 08, 2008, 03:37:43 AM
I hate to point out the obvious, but what does his being your boss have to do with invading your personal space?
Perhaps it's my inexperience, but telling the boss to back up is very, very awkward and I don't know him well enough to know if he'd cut my already shit hours even more (I have eight hours next week--I'm livid).
That
is the very definition of sexual harassment!
He invades your personal space.
You call him on it.
He retaliates by cutting your hours!
harassment-- the very epitome of "mild" harassment.
If you can afford another short week-- I strongly suggest you try it: tell him in a very UN-emotional way that he is invading your space, and that can be seen as harassment.
If he cuts your hours-- report him. You'd be doing your company a favor if they dumped his sorry ~ss in the street.
Quote from: Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith on July 09, 2008, 03:30:49 AM
Quote from: Scriblerus the Philosophe on July 08, 2008, 06:32:35 PM
Quote from: Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith on July 08, 2008, 03:37:43 AM
I hate to point out the obvious, but what does his being your boss have to do with invading your personal space?
Perhaps it's my inexperience, but telling the boss to back up is very, very awkward and I don't know him well enough to know if he'd cut my already shit hours even more (I have eight hours next week--I'm livid).
That is the very definition of sexual harassment!
He invades your personal space.
You call him on it.
He retaliates by cutting your hours!
harassment-- the very epitome of "mild" harassment.
If you can afford another short week-- I strongly suggest you try it: tell him in a very UN-emotional way that he is invading your space, and that can be seen as harassment.
If he cuts your hours-- report him. You'd be doing your company a favor if they dumped his sorry ~ss in the street.
I will.
Hopefully I'll be able to get out soon, too, since it's looking more and more possible that my store will be cut (they REFUSE to give out the list). I do not want to be one of the ones cut loose.
(Article here (http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/_/2008/07/seattle-times-b.html#comments) about the closings)
Good luck, Scriblerus!
The world has no shortage of thede jokers; practicing techniques on him will give you confidence and experience to better handle the next one you're dealt.
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