I recently got promoted. And now I get to hear it ALL.

My husband's a more or less a supervisor at his factory, his job is to see to it that orders go out on time, material transfers between plants are on time, and that everyone under him works like a well oiled machine regardless of how they feel (among other responsibilities, that's not everything he does)

He's the type of "No bulls#" personality where he makes people sweat bullets when he says stuff like, "If you make my job harder, I see to it you don't have one tomorrow. Work today, or go home today & don't come back tomorrow. Your choice, I'm not here to make friends." He's accidentally butt-dialed me enough times now that I can see even I'd not bother risking trying to slack off, because he's like a parent on the clock -- eyes on the back of his head, and radar ears to boot. You won't get far trying to slack off under his watch.

People tend to do well with a boss that is both a balance of a good heart, but solidly logical and a ball-buster, too. "Gentle, but firm" seems to be a boss trait that is going extinct. My husband's got that balance nailed, he's got an open-door policy, he listens to his people even when someone's just bitching about their spouse/kids/family/finances/whatever, but he also has a knack for giving them a verbal splash of icy cold water when they're trying to milk something to their advantage at work.

a reply to: CthulhuMythos

I already have done this with several people.

Here's a short story.

One time I let an employee leave work, even though I could have.... NOTE COULD HAVE used him there. He was having girl trouble so bad.... But you know what I did?

I asked him what the # is happening with his girlfriend. She said "if you can't be here at so and so time tonight then I am leaving you...." She knew he had work. but she didn't care. The thing is I KNOW THIS GAME. So I said. 'What ever you find out when you go to your girlfriend just remember... drop her if you don't like what you see."

Two days later? He was angered by his girlfriend because he found out she's cheating on him. And she kept trying to get money from him. And saying XYZ to make things easier for her when she doesn't even have a job. She lied to him on the phone and he found out SHE QUIT HER JOB A MONTH AGO.

End of story. End of the relationship. Total stress added to me? 2 hours.

I already engage with my employees here and there because I want to help them see just how vile the world really is.

Here is another example. A few of the employees I have hired were trying to find an apartment. I know all about this. I asked them "Which apartments are you looking at?"

Well we were looking all around but we are trying to find the right apartment (Cheapest available.)

So with my infinite knowledge of spying on people I rephrased it and said: How much does that apartment cost then, I don't care where it is located. Just tell me the prive a month.

"It is 724 a month."

I said "724? Just 724 dollars a month?"

"Yeah.

Here is what the apartment complex wants you to make in order to get that apartment: 724 x 3 = $2,172 a month. And I will tell you why. The apartment complex wants you to make about 3 times as much as the posted monthly rent so that you can afford living there. What they mean by this is the following. Rent is 724. Do you watch TV? No? Play video games online? Yes. add 80 bux for your internet fees. How about air conditioning? You like to stay hot or cool during the winter and summer months right? Per month here is your Electric bill: 70 bux. Oh you have a gas heater and water heater? Gas bill: 46 bux. Oh you want to be abole to throw away trash? 24 bux a month. Oh wait you are almost forgetting FOOD. 300 bux a month. (And this is just a guess.) Have a car payment? lets just say you have a used car loan and its 150 a month. Insurance? 130 a month. How about your cell phone? Got a data plan? 75 bux a month. No data? 25 to 50 bux. How about GAS for your car? AH you have a sedan. 72 bux a month. And you do delivery driving... 128 bux a month. See why apartment complexes have this in their guidelines now? You may think that all you have to do is make the rent payment. but it is so much more complicated than that.

They even said WOW I didn't even think of that.

So I crushed their small time impulsive dream of "freedom."

a reply to: Nyiah

I try to do the exact same thing. but some people start yelling at me saying XYZ about this or that when they need to understand that it is about DOING YOUR JOB. then they say "Oh it isn't like that." even though it is total BS. But that all was before I became a General Manager.

Now that I have this position the only one, the same one with like 3 manager written reviews on this person's behavior, who for what ever reason is still there. He is the only one who questioned my methods. But he just becomes this gigantic drama queen when ever one little thing goes wrong. For example. If he forgot something, he makes it seem like it is the customers fault for ordering something that HE forgot to check was inside of the bag. When I delegated that very same responsibility to the drivers. It is their responsibility to make sure they have everything before they leave. and he never checks. So he messed up not just in one area. but he also screwed up in another area that he obviously forgot. And he almost screwed himself out of his own money in his own pocket because he forgot to see the split order that had half cash and half card. Honestly... I don't know how this kid is even still here and this happened while I was finally a GM. Not only did he forget to check his ticket. HE MADE IT SEEM LIKE IT WAS THE CUSTOMER TRYING TO SCREW HIM OVER. then got mad because he forgot to add in everything he said he would add in.

Honestly.... this kid even came back into my shop reeking of weed. Honestly my owner doesn't mind weed smokers... and I find that to be a huge problem. Which again is why I do not think I will ever get fired from my job.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

POST OF THE MONTH right here...

I dropped out of high school. and I have worked with several hundreds of different people. I would say around 30% went to college? Maybe more? Only reason why I know is because they told me they dropped out of college. However a small percentage of them who obtained an Associates, bachelors, masters, or even PHD's I have lived and or worked along side with and I just wonder myself.... how the heck did they end up working at a service job like me?

I dropped out of highschool for my own dumb reasons but now? I am climbing the corporate ladder. SLOWLY and SURELY climbing. Until one day I make it up to somewhere. I don't care where. just somewhere.

And I find it funny with how many kids are going to college and getting a degree and work at the same place as I. And I find it funny all of the time. Because to me... not only are they wasting their time? they are a triple threat in my eyes and I can see it too. 1. they are NO GOOD. Pretty much not brave enough to start even the smallest amount of controversy in anything they do. 2. They are a LOSER. They don't know how to learn from failure. So they never want to fail. They think they are winners but they keep losing and never learn from their mistakes. 3. They are quitters. Simply put they give up.

a reply to: Assassin82

You know what is funny? I am doing that.

I took the top employees and gave them more responsibilities. I gave them some easy goals to obtain with an enormous amount of time to complete them. I expect them to fall short but what I have come to understand is that IT TAKES TIME. It takes PRACTICE. and above all it takes just a little bit of direction and the right amount of suggestions to help them perform better. And at the same time I have learned from killing so many plants in my lifetime.... it takes PATIENCE. as in I killed so many plants because as they grew? I kept moving them... I kept looking at them with my fingers. I kept on adding in WAY TOO MUCH nitrate in some cases and in others I planted them in the wrong place. So the best way to grow a plant is to just plant the seed, water it, and then LEAVE IT ALONE and then let it flourish for a while before you want to make any changes to it. And that is what I am doing right now.

At the same time I have to be the role model but recently I have been in the back making sure we have enough product to sell. As in I am doing a lot of prep. But for some reason they think I am being lazy because I am not on the front lines on certain days. I tried to have them understand that I need to make sure we have enough product for you guys to sell otherwise it all stops. So that is why I come in so early so they can stop saying I suck because I am not helping them. All the while trying to get faster at everything I do so I can come in later instead of earlier. I have my routine almost refined all the way down where I can complete my tasks within 5 hours. but I need to do it in four. So my own goal is hitting that 4 hour mark so I have NOTHING to do except help customers. But when my other managers are falling short like this morning where I had to do their part of the prep because we were short on product in a certain area because someone was having more girl trouble.... I could not be up there. I asked two other managers who were working with me that day if I am doing anything wrong and they both said "No in this case you are doing just fine." So that is two other General Managers by the way who I was working side by side with today and they both agreed that everything I am doing is correct. They agreed with me. I have their endorsements. I have their blessing yet all of my people seem to be getting worse. Even after the scheduling I gave them.

But I think it is just the quality of the people who are coming in that is the problem. They are all glued to their phones. They have snappy attitudes.... And they all have some odd funk they emit... It is like.... since I went and became a GM everything is so different nopdewqjdmn'LOKAJWEURSHGF ;LPIU SEDRTBGF

HOLY #..... I figured it out.

The reason why everything is so different now is because of the shift in management....

I am no longer the closing manager and now I can only open... Everyone on the night shift is different...... EVERYONE IS NOW A BUNCH OF MIXED UP CHIPS....

Like think of everyone being either the positive or negative side of a magnet. I used to be a negative sided magnet so everyone around me was a positive side of a magnet. so I attracted them. and they stuck. But at the same time I could flip my magnet in the other direction and work well with negative sided magnets. But not everyone can flip their magnets around to be attracted to the others and instead are repelling away from other negative magnets...

I need to hire a new staff.

I need to email my owner.

a reply to: DBCowboy

I tell them I am a paid narc. They leave me alone for a while after that. As for the op make sure you don't become an enabler. People will take advantage of your good nature. Tell it like it is and make sure you have all the rules memorized. Remember we are all going to be replaced by robots soon so enjoy the ride.

a reply to: Tarzan the apeman.


Through all my bull# and bluster, my mantra has always been, "You don't have to be serious when you do serious work".


Might as well have fun if your getting paid for it!

a reply to: DBCowboy

You are correct but I have some in upper management that are really anal sometimes. I still try to have some fun with the peeps, because they are the ones doing the real heavy lifting.

originally posted by: Tarzan the apeman.
a reply to: DBCowboy

You are correct but I have some in upper management that are really anal sometimes. I still try to have some fun with the peeps, because they are the ones doing the real heavy lifting.

We in upper management can be royal assholes sometimes.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Well at my place of work I do a lot of work. It comes with respect. I do so much for them and they just pick up the pieces. But I also require them to keep up their end and I do remind them that there are things that need to be done. Most of which involve cleaning. When I started at the bottom that is exactly what I did. I cleaned everything. I sucked at working on "the line" so to make up for this I cleaned up the shop. I made sure the tables were cleared, I made sure the dishes were done. And I made sure to keep everything in stock. While they hammered away at making orders I was busy cleaning. Then when I became the night shift worker I had more cleaning to do. I never complained I just did it. I never let myself forget anything and I established a routine. I followed that routine and soon enough a management opportunity came around and I accepted it. I was put in a harsh environment to most but to me it was fun. It was hard. At times I got frustrated but I just kept on going. I never complained.

Now I have accepted a bigger responsibility and now I have a hang on things. I save everyone at the shop but I do let them know what has happened.

I tried to instill Resilience in my managers. To just keep pushing forward and find new ways of achieving the same goal so it would become more dynamic. But I fear that this does not exist in everyone. And soon enough I may fail however I have not given up.

Like I said before I used to kill plants because I wanted them to grow a certain way. But now my method is setting them up for at least two days where they have me along side them. And then I give them a challenge. And that challenge is to complete everything within a certain time. Now that I really should not be there to help them they need to learn how to focus on what is at hand and complete it on time. but how do I do that without killing the plant with my constant intervention. Right now I have to blindly trust my workers whilst I am not there and let them know what is happening.

It is this anxiety I have being a new GM that I have where I am constantly telling them they can ask for help. I do not mind it. I don't mind it at all. But I feel that there is this common belief that "If I call in my manager he may not like me doing this anymore."

So what I am trying this week is not contacting them and see if they grow. I have to do that as a manager to make them feel more responsible and above all allow them to grow without much intervention. And that is the hardest thing to accomplish. I come in early at my job because I care enough and understand that not everyone works at exactly the same pace. Some people it takes YEARS to master some of the most basic things that others perceive differently. And with some they are just a natural. But I have to keep that balance in check. it is hard to do so when I worry about the shop even when I am not there. But I have to remind myself of that blind trust. I don't want them thinking they can't do it. It takes time. A long time to work things over. I still engage with my employees and I try my best to heal wounds that happen when they butt heads.

But at the same time... I still hate them. It is this constant love hate up and down roller coaster that I am actually enjoying. I myself am happy that I have this position. I really don't mind it because I have nothing else better to do.

Like for example a local church that I have a charity set up for decided to be a bit rude last night. I forgot the name of the church but I do need to talk with this individual myself so I can clarify some things with her. But the way my workers described her; they are a little uncomfortable with the attitude expressed. So I need to fix that. (I was homeless when I started this job. As in I lived in a shelter. So I wanted to give at least some help where I can. But when they came in with a demand for a charitable contribution amount my workers felt a little bit scared. It is something that I have to work out. I do get at least somewhat involved with my community but some of their people are a little sketchy.)

congrats