Who is the d!ick?

lkionm

Right, long story.

Manager 1 got moved got moved to another store at Christmas and they replaced him with manager 2. After Christmas the sales per week started dropping and I had to work 1 day a week due to college commitments. I asked manager 2 for more hours as when manager 1 was working we had more staff working so this shouldnt be an issue for the area manger who gets sent the roster and approves it and cuts a few hours off.Not to mention for x amount of hourly sales we did y amount of staff for that hour so we losing sales as we were understaffed. I never got the hours.

A few weeks later I wrote a note along with the hourly sales and last years roster showing we had more staff last year so if he asked for more staff it wont be an issue(along with trying to increase sales targets), asking for more staff again as I would rarely see him as I would do sat/sun (the 2 busy days) and he had been off those days for about 6 weeks in a row.

On saturday I was on my break and I was bored as I had no papers to read so I was creeping on the roster to see who I was working with on bank holiday monday. I noticed there was only 5 of us to cover 4 hours of break so effectively only 4 of us to do a very busy day. I rang and asked for 4 hours as the sales were high last year. He said yeah, email area manager. I cc'd manager 2 as well when I was sending the email saying bla bla more staff, sales, targets. Manager 2 wrote back saying my assistant managers should be on the floor supporting staff rather than on the pc in capitals and said there was 4 people working last week and they were fine (less than half the hourly sales I was expecting). The area manager said grand but try save hours during the week.
So basically manager 2 called me lazy and I should work faster rather than get staff to increase sales.
On saturday Ill tell him if he speaks to me like that again ill call the HR manager.
So who is the d!ick? or the lazy one?

Peanut2011

Ok OP, not sure where you got that he called you lazy but from what I see is that you are overstepping your line. You asked for more hours, they don't give it to you and you go over his head asking for more hours and trying to argue the point more staff more sales....

To me you are overstepping your line.

lkionm

He said I should spend more time on the floor rather than the pc and in the most recent appraisal he told me I spend too much time in the back, even though since christmas he has worked with me 2/3 times in 4 months so he is just listening to rumours.

Regarding the more staff per hour due to high sales, we have a breakdown of hourly sales available to us from last week and last year so it is easy to predict when a coffee shop will be busy with this information so basically about 55/60 euro net sales equates to 1 staff per hour so at the busiest doing 500/550/600 that works out to 6/7 staff as you would need 4 behind the counter and 2 on tables. I have worked there for 4 years and am assistant manager so it's fair to say I have a good understanding of it all but he wont listen.
last year we had on average 1 more person than this year and the target is always increased year on year so we should have the same level staff as last year at the minimum?

lkionm

Oh and its not they wont give it to me as if you give head office the figures per hour they have no problem giving you a few more staff hours to help you increase sales.My new manager just wont ask even if I give him the numbers and ask within reason.

Last year the %of staff wages to sales was around 27% and now it is 22%

Peanut2011

OP, I'd imagine the business is under pressure and if the sales are falling maybe they just don't have the money required to employ more people.

Secondly, regarding your time on the PC, well maybe that is something you don't see yourself and maybe it's simply a perception people have. Does not mean it is true but if it appears that way to them than it is true for them.

Maybe you need to try do with what you have and show the results. And if they are happy with the results achieved with people week before with 4 staff you are fighting a loosing battle. Maybe you need to ask yourself why that crew did not complain about staff shortage.

lkionm

Peanut2011 wrote: »

OP, I'd imagine the business is under pressure and if the sales are falling maybe they just don't have the money required to employ more people.

Secondly, regarding your time on the PC, well maybe that is something you don't see yourself and maybe it's simply a perception people have. Does not mean it is true but if it appears that way to them than it is true for them.

Maybe you need to try do with what you have and show the results. And if they are happy with the results achieved with people week before with 4 staff you are fighting a loosing battle. Maybe you need to ask yourself why that crew did not complain about staff shortage.

I would be very rare to see a store lose sales as often as us and we have data of all the other 40 stores in Ireland and their performance. The owner bought a Ferrari last year so the company isnt losing money and keeps breaking its targets. There is money to spend on the roster if the sales are there which is my point. The sales are there. A few of the staff are now asking me why are we getting so few hours, we seem understaffed.

Your point about the pc is spot on, the people I work with do not see/understand the pc work I do. Doing payrolls, orders, putting deliveries into the system, all that stuff. I understand someone can get frustrated at me if I am sitting at a computer and I am telling them to clean a toilet. A small reason why manager 1 is not at the store and as I was friendly with him there is animosity towards me from the staff that didnt get on with him so they will tell the new manager I was sitting down doing nothing, I stopped caring about those rumours as they arent true. I told him that and he should understand rather than assuming I am in the back playing football manager while there is a queue to the door. I have been there long enough to not care about that.

My point is rather the email he sent to me and the area manager shouting at me saying I should be on the floor and he dosent see the need for more hours on the roster unless the area manager says so. A few minutes before I asked the area manager for a few hours on the BH, I rang manager 2 asking for 4 hours and he said yeah no bother and then wrote an email shouting at me for having the cheek. As I said, the email I wrote on my break. Thats the d!ck part.

tatli_lokma

You're an assistant manager and work 1 day a week?? how does that work??

lkionm

Little Ted wrote: »

You're an assistant manager and work 1 day a week?? how does that work??

College. I do 3 at the moment. I had my FYP after christmas til the end of feb.
1 other full time ass manager who is new and dosent understand but agrees we need more staff but dosent have the confidence to say it as she dosent understand how stuff fully works and just lets me do it so she is pretty much someone to cash up when Im not there.
She works queit days and the weekends are usually twice as busy as monday to thursday.

Maybe I am crossing the line and not making any friends by standing on peoples toes but I am right and I feel am being mistreated and not being listened to.

Basically should I just say this the next time I meet him?

It's higher up's call. Drive it up the chain until the person higher than both of you tells the other to change their behaviour.

As for OP crossing the line, 2nd poster can go get fully bucked. That's a higher management call. Management want to see sales. If the OP can argue sales goes up with extra staff, then management will put on extra staff, and be mindful of the employee who's not just punching his card but actually caring to look at what works & what doesn't. If management tell OP to sit down, shut up & do what Manager 2 says, then OP has to sit down, shut up, do what Manager 2 says & should prepare his CV to finds a place that'll appreciate his talents.

tatli_lokma

Agree with above - it's not your call OP.

CYA - cover your ass - which you have done by providing information as to why you feel more staff are merited. But pushing it further is going to do you no good.

to be honest, I think you may have handled this wrong and put a nose out of joint. Especially when someone is new to the management role the last thing they want is to feel like some upstart thinks they know better than them (even if you do). The key is to make your idea attractive to them - this isn't done by forcing figures in their faces. And in fairness, you are there 1 day a week and are telling him how to staff his branch - cheeky!

If I were you OP I would let this one drop. You have it on record that you voiced your objections. Leave it at that.

lkionm

Deleted User wrote: »

It's higher up's call. Drive it up the chain until the person higher than both of you tells the other to change their behaviour.

As for OP crossing the line, 2nd poster can go get fully bucked. That's a higher management call. Management want to see sales. If the OP can argue sales goes up with extra staff, then management will put on extra staff, and be mindful of the employee who's not just punching his card but actually caring to look at what works & what doesn't. If management tell OP to sit down, shut up & do what Manager 2 says, then OP has to sit down, shut up, do what Manager 2 says & should prepare his CV to finds a place that'll appreciate his talents.

Thats all head office are interested in, low staff cost and high levels of sales, not really caring how wrecked staff are. Its a company that buys a biscuit fot 7c and sells it for 2.50.
It could just be that my manager is afraid to step on their toes when they tell him to save a few hours as he does not have the experience of being able to tell them to shove it as he might accept their answer when all he has to do is just say 'well last year they had 6 staff from 3-6 and they did 500 euro each hour, so I need the same level or a 7th to do 600''

The higher ups can be intimidating in fairness to any new staff working but are easily swayed with numbers as I have showed him.

So he just wont listen to me and I have to suffer and be wrecked after work with less sales than last year, which makes me look like I cant run the place on my own.

Last week he gave out about my closing because I left my apron and a few spray bottles on the counter even though I was 20 minutes late out and the mornings are dead for an hour.

he is just being a gowl to me because I broke his balls abouts sales and its very hard to prove as he can easily deny it.

tatli_lokma

Perhaps he is not "intimidated" but instead is playing the game. To succeed in many areas of business - particularly sales driven areas - you need to be very careful about being seen to be hardlined with your margins. all sales roles are like this, and after a good few years in sales admin I can tell you it all comes down to margins - staff morale, good practice - forget it. How much did you spend to generate x amount of revenue. The successful ones play that game hard and fast and move on quickly and leave the exhausted and weary workforce for someone else to worry about.

As for buying biscuits for 7c and selling them for €2.50 - well I am sure there is a large profit margin, but you seem to know enough about business to know that by the time you factor in standard operating costs the profit is significantly less than €2.43!

lkionm

Little Ted wrote: »

Agree with above - it's not your call OP.

CYA - cover your ass - which you have done by providing information as to why you feel more staff are merited. But pushing it further is going to do you no good.

to be honest, I think you may have handled this wrong and put a nose out of joint. Especially when someone is new to the management role the last thing they want is to feel like some upstart thinks they know better than them (even if you do). The key is to make your idea attractive to them - this isn't done by forcing figures in their faces. And in fairness, you are there 1 day a week and are telling him how to staff his branch - cheeky!

If I were you OP I would let this one drop. You have it on record that you voiced your objections. Leave it at that.

Im working with him saturday and he will want to have words. He is 10 years older than me so he has been around the block so has more experience with dealing with little upstarts than I do with awful managers, and he can play the manager card.

I do 3 days, friday nights, sat/sun, he has weekends off and works til 5 on friday. I got college during the week. Last year of doing economics which is even more frustrating as I have a better understanding of the numbers.

Its more a case of him not respecting me and what I do around the place. I'll tell him that and leave it at that as it will be queitening down around summer so there wont be that many crazy days where there is a queue to the door for 5 hours straight and hopefully when I graduate ill have better prospects.

Depending what he says on saturday/coming weeks about me I can take him for bullying as there was a case of bullying recently for a lot less so its a case of covering my ass and not make any mistakes and record everything.

lkionm

Little Ted wrote: »

Perhaps he is not "intimidated" but instead is playing the game. To succeed in many areas of business - particularly sales driven areas - you need to be very careful about being seen to be hardlined with your margins. all sales roles are like this, and after a good few years in sales admin I can tell you it all comes down to margins - staff morale, good practice - forget it. How much did you spend to generate x amount of revenue. The successful ones play that game hard and fast and move on quickly and leave the exhausted and weary workforce for someone else to worry about.

As for buying biscuits for 7c and selling them for €2.50 - well I am sure there is a large profit margin, but you seem to know enough about business to know that by the time you factor in standard operating costs the profit is significantly less than €2.43!

The only way to win in this place and not die of exhaustion is to pressure head office for more hours, which manager 1 did.

Dont forget rent and wages and lighting. Its a stingy company who pay their new staff 8.65 and charge the most of all the coffee shops and 6 euro for a measly ham/cheese panini with one slice of each. I dont think I am allowed name the company but thats enough information to work it out.

Unfortunately I would quit if I could but hopefully after graduation there will be a job for a BA but unlikely. Its an awful situation knowing if I quit there is no jobs for me at the moment and I wont be able to pay for a post grad or masters course.

A bunch of cowboys, Ted

stateofflux

Make sure you have a backup plan of another job before 'not letting it drop' . Higher Management will more often than not, side with the higher ranking manager, no matter how bad they are.

Peanut2011

Would you not be better off making a proposal to have one less person on the not busy days and have one more person on the busy days. Even ask for 2 week trial or something like that.

The way you are coming across here is very forceful to get what you want and if that is the way you speak to them you will never get anything, even if you are correct.

It is also possible that you are there too long and you are easily getting frustrated.. Another thing quite possibly could be the fact you only work part time there and you don't know all the details fully as to why they don't want extra staff.

Either way if you want to stay working there I would suggest you drop it and do your best. You have covered your behind in terms of staff numbers so all you can do now is work with what you have. No point squeezing lemons hoping for orange juice!