High Standards
I haven't said much about my work here. And for good reason. If you have nothing nice to say, you shouldn't say it. But it is my last week of work, and I thought I'd publish some of my thoughts for posterity.
I work in a department store. The company motto: High Standards
When I first started working in this particular store, one of the requirements was that we would carry around a card listing the seven commandments that we had to follow. Failure to carry the card attracted a greater punishment than failing to comply with the rules. Which I found laughable.
Now the guy that owns the store, lets call him Big Ted, is a perfectionist. If a mistake is made, Big Ted will fire you. Excuses are not acceptable. Big Ted wants results. And he demands High Standards.
This is the reason that we have had at least 4 managers in the time that I have been working here. Any manager that suggests to Big Ted that they would like more staff, or better working conditions is promptly dismissed for failing to comply with the ethos of the company: High Standards.
So now, we have a great new manager. He is about 6 foot something, bespectacled. Devoid of any personality. Has no shopfloor experience, but, has completed a Business degree at TAFE. Aha! The perfect candidate. He is married with a couple of kids, a mortgage and is prepared to suck as much cock as possible to become the best damn manager this store has ever seen. Let's call him Clark Kent.
So what does Big Ted do? He cuts staffing even further, and expects his workers to cover the holes. Of course Clark Kent says nothing. Gotta keep those High Standards, people. And the sad thing is: the people do it. There are those people who enjoy working hard, but even they are stretched to breaking point. They recieve no thanks, just the joy of knowing that they are stuffing Big Ted's pockets with greenbacks. There are those who get more unhappy, and more afraid of losing their jobs.
And there's me..., it pains me to think that I have worked here for 21 months. A company held together with pain, fear, misery and negativity. But no more. I was just too lazy to look for another job. I was in a rut. But I'm not prepared to 'lift my standards' any more. I'm continually amazed at the depths to which this company will sink for the almighty dollar. I wrote my resignation note on Sunday, telling them that I would be holidaying in Sunny Acapulco. Yeah and I drew a picture to illustrate the point. Complete with oversized alcoholic fruit cup.
Clark feels threatened by me because he doesn't see me as a team player, or goal oriented. I have my own opinions, and have faith in my abilities. But I don't enjoy being played for a fool or being manipulated to work harder with the threat of having my hours cut. Being continually asked to give more in the face of cutbacks, and uphold my high standards when management is quite prepared to drop theirs.
Clark called me to his office.
"Can you please take these boxes out to the floor?"
So I loaded up my trolley, and was about to go back out to my area, when I heard Clark.
"Hang on, you're not going leaving these boxes here. Put them on top."
The trolley was already reasonably full, and I was going to come back to get the others. It would have taken two minutes. And had I spilled the other two boxes, it would have taken a lot longer than two minutes to clean them up. But all this was lost on Clark.
"That's called showing 'time initiative'!", he announced haughtily as he hefted the two remaining boxes on top.
Well thanks for the tip, dickhead. At least you know the scientific term for it.
The remark was closely followed by the titter of Logistics girl. Now Logistics girl used to work out on the shop floor, but was re-assigned to the receiving area after getting into too many arguments with customers. She was this close to losing her job. But she cried and wailed and pleaded for the manager to pardon her. As if losing her job would be the worst thing that could ever happen to her.
So goodbye Clark Kent and Logistics Girl,... I hope that you keep maintaining your High Standards TM for the benefit of mankind.
Big Ted will be proud.
I work in a department store. The company motto: High Standards
When I first started working in this particular store, one of the requirements was that we would carry around a card listing the seven commandments that we had to follow. Failure to carry the card attracted a greater punishment than failing to comply with the rules. Which I found laughable.
Now the guy that owns the store, lets call him Big Ted, is a perfectionist. If a mistake is made, Big Ted will fire you. Excuses are not acceptable. Big Ted wants results. And he demands High Standards.
This is the reason that we have had at least 4 managers in the time that I have been working here. Any manager that suggests to Big Ted that they would like more staff, or better working conditions is promptly dismissed for failing to comply with the ethos of the company: High Standards.
So now, we have a great new manager. He is about 6 foot something, bespectacled. Devoid of any personality. Has no shopfloor experience, but, has completed a Business degree at TAFE. Aha! The perfect candidate. He is married with a couple of kids, a mortgage and is prepared to suck as much cock as possible to become the best damn manager this store has ever seen. Let's call him Clark Kent.
So what does Big Ted do? He cuts staffing even further, and expects his workers to cover the holes. Of course Clark Kent says nothing. Gotta keep those High Standards, people. And the sad thing is: the people do it. There are those people who enjoy working hard, but even they are stretched to breaking point. They recieve no thanks, just the joy of knowing that they are stuffing Big Ted's pockets with greenbacks. There are those who get more unhappy, and more afraid of losing their jobs.
And there's me..., it pains me to think that I have worked here for 21 months. A company held together with pain, fear, misery and negativity. But no more. I was just too lazy to look for another job. I was in a rut. But I'm not prepared to 'lift my standards' any more. I'm continually amazed at the depths to which this company will sink for the almighty dollar. I wrote my resignation note on Sunday, telling them that I would be holidaying in Sunny Acapulco. Yeah and I drew a picture to illustrate the point. Complete with oversized alcoholic fruit cup.
Clark feels threatened by me because he doesn't see me as a team player, or goal oriented. I have my own opinions, and have faith in my abilities. But I don't enjoy being played for a fool or being manipulated to work harder with the threat of having my hours cut. Being continually asked to give more in the face of cutbacks, and uphold my high standards when management is quite prepared to drop theirs.
Clark called me to his office.
"Can you please take these boxes out to the floor?"
So I loaded up my trolley, and was about to go back out to my area, when I heard Clark.
"Hang on, you're not going leaving these boxes here. Put them on top."
The trolley was already reasonably full, and I was going to come back to get the others. It would have taken two minutes. And had I spilled the other two boxes, it would have taken a lot longer than two minutes to clean them up. But all this was lost on Clark.
"That's called showing 'time initiative'!", he announced haughtily as he hefted the two remaining boxes on top.
Well thanks for the tip, dickhead. At least you know the scientific term for it.
The remark was closely followed by the titter of Logistics girl. Now Logistics girl used to work out on the shop floor, but was re-assigned to the receiving area after getting into too many arguments with customers. She was this close to losing her job. But she cried and wailed and pleaded for the manager to pardon her. As if losing her job would be the worst thing that could ever happen to her.
So goodbye Clark Kent and Logistics Girl,... I hope that you keep maintaining your High Standards TM for the benefit of mankind.
Big Ted will be proud.
posted by Adrian at 6:36 pm
2 Comments:
well done...
i quit my job at a large hardware store after i got pregnant and used up all my maternity leave.
i actually just called and said i wasnt coming back, but in my b\dreams i did a huge song and dance number involving the people i liked who worked there and all my favourite customers. there was dancing on the counters and everything...aaah, if only life could be like a movie
you quit!
oh youre my hero!!
:)
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