What's new

need some work advice please! (may be long) (1 Viewer)

Keith_R

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 16, 2001
Messages
1,184
Location
FL
Real Name
Kyle
Hey all, I need some advice concerning work that I thought maybe more experienced HTFer's could give me.

Here's the story, last Fall I got a second job to help me save money for a car and go to college with. The job was great, it was located right in my neighborhood, flexible scheduling, and more pay (initially) than at my other job at Regal Cinemas. The 2 people who run it are both very nice and pleasant therefore making it an even better experience. I have been very happy working there for the past couple months and referred a friend over there to where he was able to get a job.

However, things have suddenly changed for the worse. Within the past 2 weeks, one of my two bosses has turned into a pompous, bossy, person. Doing something as simple as asking a question (ie. "what are you looking for?") ellicits a sarcastic, completely uncalled for response that no managerial person should ever give their employee. I would pass this off as bad management but it seems to only be relegated to me and the friend whom I referred there that got a job. Dave, the manager, has now gone so far as to give my friend and I completely seperate tasks from the rest of the staff, we even have our own section of whiteboard dedicated specifically for this crap which is mainly grunt work. I'm even being asked to mow this guy's yard, a task which I feel is totally unrelated to the operation of the company of which they hired me to work for (I'm not a gardener and wasn't hired to do work of that kind for them)and is also unneeded in our winter weather especially when it is cold out like this.

I'm just at a loss for how it could have gone down hill there so suddenly, if anything I've improved greatly since I started there. The thing that concerns me is that it is only seeming to be directed towards me and my friend and no one else. My friend and I decided that tommorow we are going to be talking to Dave and try to find out what's going on. How should we approach this? what should we say? do my fellow HTFer's have any other advice or opinions as to what we should/could do about this? thanks.
 

MikeAlletto

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2000
Messages
2,369

The simplest solution is most of the times the best one. You already know what you need to say so why not just say it? How about simply asking the guy what the deal is? If he doesn't give a good response then quit. Those are your only 2 options.
 

Dave_Brown

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 6, 2001
Messages
666
What kind of company is this and how long has it been around? Your manager (the one causing the problems for you) is he young or an older man?
It almost sounds like perhaps they are trying to force you to quit for some reason. I would need to observe the behavior but if what you described is accurate, then it seems that for whatever reason he may not want you guys around yet is hesitant to just let you go and is hoping to make it bad enough you'll just quit.

I'd go the professional route, schedule a meeting with him and make your concerns crystal clear. Let him know you enjoy working there and feel you have contributed a great deal and learned a lot about yourself and the company in the same time but these things of late have you concerned about your future there.
 

Keith_R

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 16, 2001
Messages
1,184
Location
FL
Real Name
Kyle

I think we are going to try and talk to him today after work and see what is going on. Hopefully talking to him doesn't get us fired.:)
 

Malcolm R

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2002
Messages
25,139
Real Name
Malcolm

Perhaps he's jealous of his wife being nice to the young men on the staff? Rather than confront her, he's being pissy to the staff?
 

Citizen87645

Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 9, 2002
Messages
13,056
Real Name
Cameron Yee


Ditto on that. I think it's important to share how much you've appreciated the job.
 

Keith_R

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 16, 2001
Messages
1,184
Location
FL
Real Name
Kyle
Update: Dave actually asked to speak to us last night after work! what A coincidence, anyways here is how it boils down, apparently my friend and I are at the end of a probation period which we never really knew existed, alot of what has been going on was a test. The conversation he had with us was actually meant to be a firing notice because we can't seem to find a good niche within the company but after talking to us he's decided to give us another month in which to find our niche in his business and work on improving in that area. For example my friend will be in our laser department working on building and I will be in our inkjet department working on making new ink cartridges. Like I said, we are going to give it another 30 days in which hopefully we will improve in our own departments and be ready to work independently rather than rely on someone else to teach us. I don't necessarily agree with all he said because I think I've been a very productive worker since beginning there but I was glad that he spoke to us since we needed to address our concerns anyway. Overall it was a very good conversation.
 

Seth_L

Screenwriter
Joined
Apr 5, 2002
Messages
1,553
I hope you're using that month to polish the resume and get some interviews in.
 

DanFe

Second Unit
Joined
Sep 15, 2003
Messages
421
Being on probation is an acceptable practice but only if you were told at the beginning of your employment. He has no right to announce that you were on probation so long into employment. Agreed, this person sounds like a lunatic.
 

Bill Cowmeadow

Second Unit
Joined
May 5, 1999
Messages
404
The manager has no managerial skills.

Start looking and when you do get a another job, leave quietly, no good can come from burning bridges.

Good Luck
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Forum statistics

Threads
356,808
Messages
5,123,529
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top