Hello everyone,
I want to share an incident which happened this past weekend.
Context: I am a manager in a fast food type of restaurant in US. I work part time(3 days a week) and am still in school. My GM (General Manager) recently took over the restaurant and has been an absolute gem to work with. She is an example of a leader. Her boss is the AD (Area Director) , who manages around 30 restaurants.
Cue the story. My normal shifts are 1pm-12am, being the only manager from 5pm. I am completely fine with working shifts of these lengths btw. It is also important to note that from open to 5pm, 3 managers are usually working with the morning shift staff.
This past Friday, we had our busiest day of the year so far, having nonstop orders (literally) since the lunch rush. This involved everyone working nonstop with the exception of water and restroom breaks. By the time 10pm rolls around, the team is exhausted but everyone still has 2 hours to go. My feet were killing me, as though sharp needles were poking them and I decided I could finally sit and rest my feet a little before the next rush. I encouraged everyone to take a breather, take turns to go to the petrol station, next door(Their favourite for snacks and energy drinks) and overall just calm themselves.
I took a cardboard box, flattened it and placed it on a short rack to sit. Why? The DM does not have chairs in the back for any of the staff, nor is there a chair in the manager office! If we want to sit, we have to go out front (outside of the restaurant), with the customers and take a break. 2 of my co workers joined in. This bliss lasted all about 10 minutes before we got battered with orders until closing. It is important to note, although we were busy, I always bounced around to all stations to make sure we never ran out of things and were on top of things. Close came around and everyone did their nightly closing duties and were free to leave after that. I stuck around to 1am doing some paperwork (standing) and my closing duties.
The next day, I came in for my work and was greeted by my DM. Why u may ask? I was in trouble lol. He shouted at me saying that we were seen sitting down and going to the petrol station, not doing any work. How did he know? He proudly proclaimed, “ I watch the cameras when y’all are working.” I calmly replied that it was an extremely busy day and I had to make sure that everyone got a short break and also highlighted that it was barely a 5-10 minute break. I also mentioned my feet were hurting badly and being the only manager on shift I could not take a break as nobody else could cover my duties. He replied something along the lines of, I don’t want anyone sitting or resting on the clock and if u have downtime even a couple minutes, start wiping down the walls or the ceiling. Then, he proceeded to walk away and leave the restaurant, without letting me respond.
I am the store’s best manager right now by a mile, as my shifts usually exceed the KPIs, mainly due to the team with whom I work well with. As a result I am awarded a small monthly bonus($100) which, is only given to the best performing manager, ever since I started working here a few months a ago. But the moment I show compassion for my co-workers, I get yelled at?
Plus, how bored does he have to be, to be watching the restaurant’s cameras on a Friday night?