It's a little more difficult than that. One works really hard, but can only be here for so many days a week because he's in college. My assistant may end up quitting soon because she won't have a ride, one cashier is lazy and I can't fire him until I find someone else, and the other is fine, she's just new.

What are you tasked with doing?

Sounds like you are doing wonderfully, Liz. You know their strengths and weaknesses, that is a big part of managing employees.

I just spilled honey on my keyboard. Urk.

Recovery(making the store look nice and putting everything in its proper place)
putting out merchandise
Ordering new merchandise
counting said merchandise to make sure it's right
Scheduling said people

Cleaning up the store, basically. The first manager I had was very strict and when you slacked off, she literally belittled you to tears. The store looked great, though.

The second one didn't care because he was stealing, so it started looking awful.

The last one got so overwhelmed with everything that he made himself sick(like I tend to do) and quit.

I'm trying to delegate the tasks to people I KNOW will do them, which leaves me relying heavily on two people, the good worker and my assistant.

Sigh. I'm trying to find a good spot between the iron-fisted first manager and the cares-about-his-employees well-being last manager. The middle one can go to hell.

Oh dear.....quick. Paper towel, dab, not wipe. Hurry before it seeps into the keys and dries!

I can't even think of a clever and witty pun for that. I'm so sad.

Oh crap, I already wiped! Urk.

Oh crap, it is everywhere.

They'll respect you more if you work right along-side them. And you need to get the other two to work. If they don't, then you can start speaking to them about reduction of hours and pay unless things should happen to change.

It's all about motivating them. If they don't want to work--then you can make their life--less happy. If their pay is threatened to be cut, that should motivate them.

mALX! Get a damp towel (VERY DAMP) and dab what you wiped. QUICK!

She can't threaten to cut their hours unless she has someone to fill those hours. She'd have to put the hours onto the reliable employees then, that still isn't fair to them, and they may not like it.

This post has been edited by mALX: May 1 2013, 03:48 AM

And that's the issue we've had for over a year. All of the sensible, reliable employees have left and gone on to different jobs. I have one person in mind for the job, but she's on maternity leave at another store. She was a fantastic cashier and is now a manager, I think. I'll talk to my DM and see if i can get her back over here.

This is why it is threatening. If it continues, then she needs to start looking for new people to fill their positions.

That's easier said than done. First, we have to have people apply.

Then they need to pass the assesment test. Most don't.

Then they need to actually show up for the interview. The current cashiers we have now were the only onces out of ten people, each time, to show up for their interviews.

Hmm, then use positive reinforcement. Speak to your supervisor about extra funding to support small bonuses for employees who show initiative and do excellent work. Nothing major--but perhaps fifty to one-hundred dollar bonuses would be incentive.

Making empty threats is never a good idea, ask any mother who has tried to use them. If you make a threat, you have to be prepared to carry it through. Motivating them is a great idea, but she needs to find out what motivates them and tap it, not threaten them into submission (imho). That is the kind of manager she doesn't want to be, from what she said. Liz is thinking this through very well from what I've seen, and I think she will make an AWESOME manager.




This post has been edited by mALX: May 1 2013, 03:58 AM

I did, it is working a little better now, but where I swiped all over those keys I may have done something to my PC. A bunch of weird windows opened up. And I think honey got under my space bar, it is sticking badly.

Oh mALX. You never wipe what you spill on an electronic. You dab. Is a your PC a laptop?

I REALLY don't want to be an a-hole manager. I actually like the people that I work with, and can pretty much gauge what will motivate them. Except the two cashiers, I don't know them well enough yet.

We're not allowed to give bonuses. sadly.

Hell, I didn't even receive my one-year "You made it this far!" certificate from the company owner, lol. The ones that are printed and have your names filled out via computer XD