Stardust Memories...

Every year at my job we get to evaluate our management team and provide feedback। These surveys are completely anonymous (or so we’re told). Usually it’s fairly constructive but often it’s like a game of, "What will they really fix?" Even so, most people are able to get some issues off of their chests and usually they bring up valid points. This last year we got a new Manager and our fairly new Department Head seemed to act like a third world dictator. These are my comments and Karl Bakla suggested I turn them into a blog. Since I’ve been ridiculously busy lately and I wanted to get a new blog up, I took his advice. Well, here it is...


Teamwork is the only thing that is working well in this department despite Senior Management's misguided attempts to the contrary (and due to the fact that we have a very good team that was in place before they arrived)। Although Senior Management believes they are doing what's best, they are not। Micro-management from my Manager breeds resentment in the Assistant Managers and employees, it is obvious in the way they act because he is not allowing them to even do the job they are getting paid for let alone progress and learn new skills. My Manager doesn't seem to understand that the floor has a rhythm of it's own and most people are pretty competent at their jobs and don't need to be told every little detail of how to accomplish a task. My Manager also overreacts when things do not seem to go smoothly creating additional chaos by sometimes making a situation worse. My Manager seems to hold grudges and singles people out. If two different employees bring up the exact same issue, one is treated with respect and the other is treated as a whiner and the issue is turned around to make the non-liked individual seem as if they are at fault, I have seen this happen during many meetings. Although Denny was fired because he screwed up, he was very much singled out and openly talked negatively about because he was on Family Medical Leave Act and used it often to call in sick or go home early. I feel this caused Denny to be written up for every little thing even if he should have been a little tighter on his work habits. I can't and don't want to imagine what having a sick family member is like but I would have thought our management would have been more empathetic. My Manager cannot seem to remember things very well and would benefit from the use of a daily planner, than when an issue comes up that he supposedly knew about, he would remember it and not overreact. My Manager also says things and makes promises almost daily with very little or no intent to follow through and seems to make those comments to pacify or placate the subject. My Manager and some (not all) Assistant Managers have openly objectified women, made fun of overweight people and others that are different yet can not seem to see that so many of the employees have individual strengths This is a terrible way to "set an example" is not positive at all and may explain some of the attitudes around here. My Manager also is a "stick in the mud" when it comes to meetings and award celebrations. He slows the meetings down and somehow sucks the fun out. He also really shows very little "spirit" by never participating in the award celebrations yet tries to force others to have fun and participate. Yeah, as if trying to force employees to have fun will help. I also don't understand how insisting that so many employees attend the award celebrations to celebrate guest service is a good thing since guest service very literally suffers while we are attending. It's insanity and shows that appearances are more important to my Manager than actual guest service. My Department Head and Manager have meetings to address issues but always seem to fall back into small things that they have improved around the workplace without ever really addressing some of the larger and more important issues to employees (like competitive hourly pay). My Department Head says that hourly pay is a Corporate issue and he can do nothing about this. I believe this is complete bullshit as he successfully reduced starting pay for new hires. Also my department is the largest income generator for our business yet every time we need something the answers always revolve around "Our budget doesn't allow for that". Again more bullshit as his bonus is tied to our budget and the answer from him should be "My bonus doesn't allow for that". I believe my Department Head has no credibility, integrity or ethics as he created a position that did not exist and hired a fellow co-worker from his previous business, then (to add insult to the already inflamed injury) hired that co-worker's husband as another manager. I thought pre-selection was illegal? I remember how the whole dynamic shifted among the Assistant Managers when all of this happened. They all respect the position, they do not respect the person that the Department Head is. Speaking of this new manager; doesn't he have to adhere to a dress code like the other managers? He always dresses borderline business casual yet never in compliance with the dress code that the other managers have told me they have to wear. Does he have special privileges because of his special position among the hierarchy? Last year after the survey my Department Head stated that he can tell whom wrote what comment on the anonymous feedback survey by the style it was written (why did he say this, it is not his place even if it's true) then I was indirectly accused of writing something about someone. Even if it were true this seems very unethical and makes me question my Department Head’s already shaky ethics and also my team leaders ethics. Several employees recently were put on Corrective Plans based off of a make-shift survey given to Assistant Managers rating all Employees on their individual strengths and weaknesses. The intent (as it was explained to me after the fact) was not to punish or get rid of anyone, but to improve their work habits. All of these employees were made to sign this Corrective Plan which states that the employee in question will be terminated from employment if they do not improve. This Corrective plan completely circumvented the normal disciplinary progression that leads to one losing their job. So let me understand this; Management puts several Employees on this Corrective Plan not because they have been written up or warned for any shortcomings but because Supervisors simply "felt" that these employees needed to improve। These employees are then told they will be terminated if they do not show improvement in these areas, even though that employee was never written up or warned on any of their failings. Bravo! What a morale booster! Regardless of the intent, the damage had been done. Holding an employee’s job over their head because their team leader did not effectively train nor maintain the employee’s skills and their Assistant Manager did not adequately check to ensure the employees skills were in place or being practiced correctly is simply bad leadership and bad business. My Department Head and Manager have ruined my morale and loyalty to this company as an employee. These issues are why I am actively searching for employment elsewhere.


I felt it may have seemed as if I was grinding an axe but others said it brought up some really good issues and hit many points dead on. Let me know what you think...