Today I logged on to find a suggestion from another noder who thinks I
should spice up my foot related writeups and turn them into a small booklet to help
people buy shoes. Initially my job at the shoe store was a part time
thing. At the time I worked about 30 hours a week at the smoothie shop. I
only had twelve hours during the month of July but my boss hired me
with a plan in mind so when her assistant manager left I was promoted to
that position. The company I work for sends us a report called the MBA
and it was a memorable moment when I looked at the 2009 numbers and
saw my name on the top of the list. Back in March I was transferred to
the mall I work at now. When the March numbers came out in April my name
was at the top.
For the past week my boss has been acting strangely. The other day my
former boss called to tell me that the woman whose job I had taken was
being promoted to store manager. She also told me that the company
planned to make me her assistant manager. I should probably back up and
say that the guy I worked for now asked if I wanted to work for him.
When my district manager told me I was going to move her sales pitch to
me was that the move would be an opportunity for growth because the
store I'm at now does more volume than the store I had been at. At the
time I wasn't given a choice in the matter. I was told to go but since
it was closer to home and I would potentially be making more money that
made sense to me so I went.
My current manager would like to return to the ministry. When I
started at his store he told me that he thought I was ready to take over
where he left off. After our district manager spoke with him she called
me out to tell me that my boss would be staying on a while longer. Deep
down I knew I wasn't ready to take over so I was okay with that but in
the back of my mind I was thinking that when he did leave I would be the
natural choice for store manager. When my boss was on vacation he
scheduled us so tightly that we almost went over on hours. We lost sales
because we were understaffed and it affected our store's performance so
I brought it up at the mandatory manager's meeting.
Today my district manager called while I was with a customer. As soon
as I was done my boss handed me the phone so I could talk off the sales
floor. I was a little suprised that my district manager asked if I
wanted to move to the store I had been at. I kept telling myself I
needed to stay cool but I'm sure my voice was shaky when I told her that
I would rather stay where I was at. When she asked why I told her it
would work better for me personally. Daycare is always an issue during
summer and I didn't think she needed a long drawn out converation about
the rising cost of childcare so I told her I'd rather not get into it
then. She told me that she felt I would get more training if I moved to a
new store with a new manager but I explained that I would rather stay
where I was.
During the call she told me that she was trying to help me and she
felt like I felt that I was being attacked. My reply was that I would
rather stay where I was because it was closer to home and now that I'm
at a store that produces more I make more money. The call ended when she
asked to speak with my boss. I went back on the sales floor only to get
pulled off by the woman who was being promoted. When she sat down with
me she told me that she had picked me to be her assistant at the store I
had worked at before. She also told me that our district manager was
mad that I was ruining her plans which wasn't really news to me.
The next words out of her mouth were news to me because she told me
that my district manager told my boss that I could move to my former
store or hand in my two weeks notice. As of right now I am two weeks
away from getting health insurance for my family. That is what I've been
working towards for the past year and for the ten seconds it took me to
process what people were saying I saw a lot of dreams crumble. Now I
know that I have been and will be manipulated by the company I work for.
Naturally they're going to be interested in themselves but why should I
go to a store that sells fewer shoes, make less money and drive further
to do that?
When I asked if I could think about it for a while my boss told me
that our district manager was waiting for his call. This was probably
not the way to handle things but I started walking as soon as I realized
that I was going to start crying. I've never been written up. I've
never called in sick. When my boss was off for three weeks during
holiday season to recover from a double mastectomy I worked whatever
hours the company needed me to. My sales numbers have always been way
above average and I guess I must be a lot more naive than I thought I
was but I never thought that I would go in to work and find my job was
in jeopardy merely because I didn't want to move to a store that
wouldn't benefit me personally.
Tonight I stayed late helping
some people I met the other night. I had a good time talking to them and
when I'm myself and I can hang out with people it doesn't seem so much
like work. By staying late I helped our store beat our sales goals. I
left a mess for my boss to clean up, I like coming in to a clean store
but I have to watch hours and I knew he wouldn't mind since I had helped
make our day. In a weird way today's events have made me realize that I
am a very valuable employee. I make others look good because I'm good
at what I do. For this I get very little recognition but I bring
customers in and I keep them coming back to see me and that makes me feel good about what I'm doing.
Right now I don't have a game
plan other than to start looking at some other options I might have
elsewhere. I can pretty much guarantee I won't get the raise I was
promised at my next review which should have been in May. My boss did go
to bat for me which I appreciate. My leaving his store would have hurt
him and on the phone my district manager said he had no say in the
decision to move me to another store. Hearing her say that made me feel
bad for him because I wouldn't want to be a veteran manager losing a
good assistant to the newest kid on the block.
Being chosen to move is a compliment, I should feel flattered but the
main reason I don't want to transfer to the new store is I don't like,
trust or respect the new manager. I had a chance to work with her, she
showed me her true colors and I'm glad I saw that when I did because I
probably would have chosen to work with her over who I do now. Life
seems like one big long series of adventures for me lately. Today on my
walk I asked God to help me make the right decision. I don't know if I
did or not but I do not want more work for less pay with further to
drive. I made my decision. I kept repeating that I would like to stay
where I was at and I know I burned some bridges but for now I feel good
about what I did. Let's hope it stays that way.