(Being vague just in case)
For context: I work as a manager for a retail company that is growing beyond it's means. I've been here for two years and what i've witnessed is absolutely shocking.
They're in double digits in the number of locations, after opening only 7 years ago. Yet, the roof leaks, the floor is peeling, the air conditioner and heating don't work, the doors aren't watertight, they're using the free version of vital services (e.g. scheduler, time cards, etc.), they struggle to fill the shelves with product because they're relying on ground-level employees to report when we run out of stuff (instead of just running a report in our inventory software once a week?), the number of mid-level employees is so scant they can't get anything done, there's no communication, and they DRASTICALLY underpay employees (starting wages in the industry overall average out to about $17-19/hr + tips, they start at $13/hr + tips. For reference, the tips here are comparable to tips elsewhere). However, they still find a way to use nepotism for friends of upper management, including starting someone with NO experience at $15/hr compared to someone who had 8 years of experience and was a shift lead at $13.50/hr. We're also chronically short staffed to the point that we (all the retail managers) are picking up shifts for each other just to protect our employees, which often requires up to 10-12 hrs of work per day, as well as travel upwards of 2 hours between locations, because there is literally an unspoken agreement between us that nobody should have to open or close the store alone; it's way too much for one person. We're also taking the initiative to adjust our inventory and deliver products to each other.
Half of the salaried employees live in government assisted housing (nothing wrong with living in GAH, but I think someone in a management position who, by necessity, works over 60hrs/week and has to travel should be able to afford rent in the same state as their job.)
They're also extremely write-up happy. They wanted me to write someone up for being late after their house got broken into the night prior. For reference, he told us when it happened so we were expecting he would be late to his shift. I refused, because it was completely ridiculous and the employee in question is friggin' awesome and deserve a raise for not calling out when it would have been entirely reasonable. I explained this to my boss, who said “It would have been one thing if he was late because he didn't know he was working, but he knew ahead of time that he was going to have an issue”. I still refused, and ended up taking the write up myself.
It's an absolute shit-show. But here's the cherry on top and the impetus of this post:
Their marketing department is also a complete joke. One strategy they're using is to attend local events to do, what they call, “guerilla marketing”. The idea is as many people as possible to show up wearing clothes that have the company's name on it and hand out fliers to bring people to the business. When asked about who– not if, but who I would be sending over to the events out of my already skeletal staff. I said, “Well I know a few people who might be interested in over-time, but I'm not sure they'll be willing to work their whole week and then show up to work an all day event that far away. At least not without having their mileage covered.”
The response? “We weren't planning on these events counting toward hours worked. People should want to go and support the team. We might offer store credit if it's really difficult to get people to attend”.
THEY LITERALLY WANT TO PAY PEOPLE IN COMPANY SCRIT FOR MANDATORY ATTENDANCE TO WORK FOR THEM. Store credit isn't gonna pay anybody's fucking rent. I'm SO pissed off. Support the team? How about the fucking 40 hours a week of support every single one of them gives you?
I called a meeting with the crew and said, “Here is a list of company events. You will not be paid for working at these events.”
They really thought I was joking, in fact they thought it was like an office party or something. I said, “No, these are working events. You would be expected to spend the whole day, outside of your regular working hours, walking around in a crowd, handing out fliers.”
“For…store credit?” One of my shift leads laughed and said, “They really expect us to go?”
“Yes. Never stop looking for a better job.” Advice I should probably take myself.