Alright, so when the same stress keeps piling up over and over, I start hermitting, because frankly, I don't want to be that one gal who always has the same damn bitch-fest about the same damn thing every time you are near here.
Buuuuut, the stress level lately has reached epic proportions, so sit down only if you choose to read a collossal venting about the hell that is the company I work for. Although, hey, if you know other people who work for this same place, then chances are you've already seen similar blog blowups and heard tear-filled conversations of frenzied "OHMYGODINEEDANEWJOB
*gasp*
ICAN'TFUCKINGBELIEVEHOWBADIT'SGOTTEN"
yup. Bad enough to sway even your dear old mama, the ever twitchy, obscure knowledge lovin', happy to play with resistors, knows even the creepiest information about home networking and cell phones, better than a family doctor, incredibly proud to be a radioshack manager that I am.
It started towards the end of the year. Our profit "goals" (read quota because if you don't reach them you are in for hell") were astronomical. I didn't even realize I was working 70 plus hour workweeks until I'd look back at my timeclock report and go "HOLY FUCK!!!". Of course, the nifty little million dollar program we were forced to use our scheduling was cxonstantly jamming me into these odd shifts, but we couldn't say diddly about it because apparently since it cost so much it was our new god. How the hell can one expect a fucking computer program to schedule for the ever changing and incredibly nuanced environment of small box retail?! Oh, yeah it can't. But we're told to follow it like good little children.
So, end of the year comes, company declares a HUGE profit, and yippe for us! We get a new pay structure put into place. Salaries are slashed and mandatory scheduled hours are increased. Off season for a manager used to mean 45 hours, now we are working 51 hours MINIMUM per scheduled week, or it's our hides. Seriously, if you are scheduled less than that you get a nasty little call and bitching. Of course, most of us are working that anyways, because our profit quotas (now referred to as "plan") has been increased and micro-managed. 51 hours a week...on 10% less pay...oh, yeah, and the smaller stores get the added benefit of becoming reduced to hourly employees. When a few of us actually worked out what our hourly take was, we realized it amounted to about 8 an hour. Gee...thanks...good to know I am so well compensated for running your business.
Oh, but now we'll throw on a few bits of icing...those benefits? Like childcare discounts, tuition reimbursement? nah, we don't need those. Especially not us single mothers.
Oh, since we have to tighten the belt a little further, let's go ahead and limit that magical all knowoing scheduling program to a weekly budget of total manhours you can schedule within your store. To, well, an amount that leaves the manager alone in the store most of the time, and anyone who resembles a decent employee quitting because they can't live off of 15 hours a week. 1 store, twelve hours a day, 150 hours to schedule total, including my mandatory 51. So, 99 hours a week to distribute between 3 full time employees and 2 part timers. Yeah, a bunch of my staff wandered. So I get to work open to close by myself a couple days a week. Hire some part timers to fill the gap? Can't, because with 150 hours, I don't have room to have them sitting in the back training. If I lose anyone else, I'll be working more solo hours until I find a new person and eak out a training set up for them.
Oh, why don't I just say screw you and schedule the way my store needs to be staffed? Well, you see, that whole "rule by intimidation" thing apparently is the new thing. If you go over by 1 hour in your budget, you will get a call. If you don't correct this grievous error, your schedule will be wiped clean of employees and you, the manager, will work open to close for a solid week by yourself. The area vice president will personally make sure you serve your punishment. When you add in what goes into running your store, you are looking at a 90 hour week, no breaks, no lunch, no day off, no time with kids.
We get daily calls in regards to the credit card we are supposed to be pushing like meth onto our customers. Hmmm...and they wonder why people are heading to other stores? They train the piss out of our brains in LCD televisions...then they suddenly decide to remove our entire stock out of the stores and onto the website. The biggest profit builder (add in the accessories we know to provide and the service plans we know are a killer deal and make our associates money), and it's now taken away from the store fronts.
This company is going to start losing the reason customers come to our stores. Good managers. I've seen them leaving in droves. They are frantically replaced by inexperienced hotheads who have a fraction of the knowledge the vets did. And more customers leave.
I think I see more rats jumping...hey, are my feet wet?
Buuuuut, the stress level lately has reached epic proportions, so sit down only if you choose to read a collossal venting about the hell that is the company I work for. Although, hey, if you know other people who work for this same place, then chances are you've already seen similar blog blowups and heard tear-filled conversations of frenzied "OHMYGODINEEDANEWJOB
*gasp*
ICAN'TFUCKINGBELIEVEHOWBADIT'SGOTTEN"
yup. Bad enough to sway even your dear old mama, the ever twitchy, obscure knowledge lovin', happy to play with resistors, knows even the creepiest information about home networking and cell phones, better than a family doctor, incredibly proud to be a radioshack manager that I am.
It started towards the end of the year. Our profit "goals" (read quota because if you don't reach them you are in for hell") were astronomical. I didn't even realize I was working 70 plus hour workweeks until I'd look back at my timeclock report and go "HOLY FUCK!!!". Of course, the nifty little million dollar program we were forced to use our scheduling was cxonstantly jamming me into these odd shifts, but we couldn't say diddly about it because apparently since it cost so much it was our new god. How the hell can one expect a fucking computer program to schedule for the ever changing and incredibly nuanced environment of small box retail?! Oh, yeah it can't. But we're told to follow it like good little children.
So, end of the year comes, company declares a HUGE profit, and yippe for us! We get a new pay structure put into place. Salaries are slashed and mandatory scheduled hours are increased. Off season for a manager used to mean 45 hours, now we are working 51 hours MINIMUM per scheduled week, or it's our hides. Seriously, if you are scheduled less than that you get a nasty little call and bitching. Of course, most of us are working that anyways, because our profit quotas (now referred to as "plan") has been increased and micro-managed. 51 hours a week...on 10% less pay...oh, yeah, and the smaller stores get the added benefit of becoming reduced to hourly employees. When a few of us actually worked out what our hourly take was, we realized it amounted to about 8 an hour. Gee...thanks...good to know I am so well compensated for running your business.
Oh, but now we'll throw on a few bits of icing...those benefits? Like childcare discounts, tuition reimbursement? nah, we don't need those. Especially not us single mothers.
Oh, since we have to tighten the belt a little further, let's go ahead and limit that magical all knowoing scheduling program to a weekly budget of total manhours you can schedule within your store. To, well, an amount that leaves the manager alone in the store most of the time, and anyone who resembles a decent employee quitting because they can't live off of 15 hours a week. 1 store, twelve hours a day, 150 hours to schedule total, including my mandatory 51. So, 99 hours a week to distribute between 3 full time employees and 2 part timers. Yeah, a bunch of my staff wandered. So I get to work open to close by myself a couple days a week. Hire some part timers to fill the gap? Can't, because with 150 hours, I don't have room to have them sitting in the back training. If I lose anyone else, I'll be working more solo hours until I find a new person and eak out a training set up for them.
Oh, why don't I just say screw you and schedule the way my store needs to be staffed? Well, you see, that whole "rule by intimidation" thing apparently is the new thing. If you go over by 1 hour in your budget, you will get a call. If you don't correct this grievous error, your schedule will be wiped clean of employees and you, the manager, will work open to close for a solid week by yourself. The area vice president will personally make sure you serve your punishment. When you add in what goes into running your store, you are looking at a 90 hour week, no breaks, no lunch, no day off, no time with kids.
We get daily calls in regards to the credit card we are supposed to be pushing like meth onto our customers. Hmmm...and they wonder why people are heading to other stores? They train the piss out of our brains in LCD televisions...then they suddenly decide to remove our entire stock out of the stores and onto the website. The biggest profit builder (add in the accessories we know to provide and the service plans we know are a killer deal and make our associates money), and it's now taken away from the store fronts.
This company is going to start losing the reason customers come to our stores. Good managers. I've seen them leaving in droves. They are frantically replaced by inexperienced hotheads who have a fraction of the knowledge the vets did. And more customers leave.
I think I see more rats jumping...hey, are my feet wet?
