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Gaf, my co-worker almost got me fired yesterday.

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Remember how I was telling you about the co-worker making rape jokes on the sales floor? Yeah, he's still here. All that happened was he got a write up. Well, on Thursday I gave him a list of things I wanted him to get done before he left.

1. Zone, and make it perfect.
2.Fill up the balls
3. Finish off the returns.

I gave him the handheld scanner, and told him that he had to get it done tonight because corporate was coming tomorrow. He tells me "Ok", and I leave expecting him to get it done. Next day i go in and the department is a fucking disaster, the ball rack isn't filled either. Corporate is coming in the next hour, and I have to finish off the bike rack pricing. Dear god, I'm so fucked.

I barely get a chance to work on the zone when the Store Manager and the Market manager come in. The Store Manager is furious, and the Market Manager isn't happy. During his tour all he can do is shake his head and write down a list of things he sees wrong.

After he leaves, I get called into her office and get a coaching. I explain how I gave X a list of things to do last night and he didn't do them. She says"Thats no excuse. You should have stayed and risked a coaching for overtime, because at least you would have gotten it done. It would have been worth it". Serious? I'm not getting fired for staying late. I tel her how it isn't right that I suffer because X failing to do his job, and that if X can't do his job he shouldn't be working here.

She agree and says "I dont have time to baby sit X, that's up to you and Y. But, if he can't do his job that reflects on you".

Whatever. If I had stayed late I would have gotten a coaching. I expected him to be able to do his job, so why can't he do it? Why should I get in trouble because of him? Thats why I have associates below me, so that I can do my job and they can do theirs. Theres no I in Team. I'm going to have a looooong talk with him, but, now I'm going to make sure I see to him getting fired.
 
sounds like a crap situation. looks like they're expecting you to pick up his slack.

what balls was he supposed to fill?
 
Holyshit! This sure sounds like some revenge shit he's pulling on you, hope you can get rid of him. He doesnt seem to be mature enought person to be in workforce yet.
 
are you higher in hierarchy? If so, you have the responsibility to foresee events such as a worker not doing his job, if it was so important.

Shitty situation though, but I need more details.

Just think of this. By doing this, this guy created a problem for you and the store manager which is of higher rank than yourself. You should be the firewall that prevents this from happening from what I understood.
 
The whole story gave me flashbacks but...Retail sucks. The end. It isn't fair or right. Start looking for something new rather than expecting respect where you'll never get any.
If I had stayed late I would have gotten a coaching.
damn. You might have been put on timeout or denied your cookie and milk at break!
 
So to recap:

You finished your shift.
There were things to do.
You gave a person who was still there a list.
He chose not to do the things on the list.
To stay would have been bad for you.
It's your fault because you didn't do the wrong thing and stay.

I would not be happy if someone tried to tell me that. I'd tell my boss and any higher up visitors the truth and I'd tell them straight*. You cannot be held responsible when you aren't there if the rules don't allow you to be there. I'd tell them to change the rules or stop blaming the wrong person. Done.

*Straight being that it wasn't done and you plan to find out why things weren't done and take appropriate action.
 
The whole story gave me flashbacks but...Retail sucks. The end. It isn't fair or right. Start looking for something new rather than expecting respect where you'll never get any. damn. You might have been put on timeout or denied your cookie and milk at break!

No, a coaching is a write up which is bad. You get 3 and you're automatically fired.

are you higher in hierarchy? If so, you have the responsibility to foresee events such as a worker not doing his job, if it was so important.

Shitty situation though, but I need more details.

Just think of this. By doing this, this guy created a problem for you and the store manager which is of higher rank than yourself. You should be the firewall that prevents this from happening from what I understood.

No, I'm barely above an associate. The Store Manager is far, far, far higher then me. She's my boss.
 
what's a coaching?
they pull you back into the Principal's office managers lair and scold you.
No, a coaching is a write up which is bad. You get 3 and you're automatically fired.
Do you work at Target? I know exactly what it is.

I was implying they treat their employees like children. Because they do. And if you want to not be treated like a child it would be best to begin searching for new employment

Edit: Walmart is even worse!
 
Sounds like you work atTarget. Anyway, you should've assumed nothing and followed up accordingly. If knew you had a visit, you should of either stayed yourself or ensured another manager was knew what was going on follow up on your team member.
 
it's usually awkward too. The first time I got a coaching was for skipping a lunch. They asked, "Why?", I tell them the customer comes first. They were not happy about that.

That's a huge liability for them when you don't take your breaks.
 
Sounds like you work atTarget. Anyway, you should've assumed nothing and followed up accordingly. If knew you had a visit, you should of either stayed yourself or ensured another manager was knew what was going on follow up on your team member.

Walmart. My manager wasn't around, and the only managers around were the ones overseeing grocery so they had no time/didn't care. It wasn't unreasonable to assume he could do his job. I could have done it, but, I have my own list of things to do that he can not do.
 
Sounds like Walmart. He would have been fired at my store for making rape jokes. Zero tolerance policy for crap like that.

If it was on a Friday, I understand not wanting to stay and risking overtime. But it would have been fine any other day of the week. Just cut it at lunch or leave early. Either way, sounds like you and your Z need to coach him.
 
If you can't fire him, him doing his job is not your responsibility. Whoever has the ability to fire him bears the responsibility. Whoever you spoke to is a piece of shit.

But it's retail. Sorry.
 
If you can't fire him, him doing his job is not your responsibility. Whoever has the ability to fire him bears the responsibility. Whoever you spoke to is a piece of shit.

But it's retail. Sorry.
Same thing I was thinking. If you're going to be held responsible for his actions, then you ought to be able to discipline him as a subordinate. But something tells me they don't actually blame you at all, but rather know they can wring more work out of you by painting this picture - because they know you're a responsible person and actually care.
 
If you're not a manager or the other employee's boss you have zero real expectation that the guy would get your work done.

Here's what it sounds like to me:

-You had a list of responsibilities assigned to you by management
-You didn't have time to accomplish these tasks
-You asked a coworker to take care of some of these tasks to help you
-Coworker is a shitty guy and didn't take care of them

The coworker isn't obligated to do anything for you if you're not his manager, you trusted him to do it as an act of good will, knowing he was a shitty guy to start with. The proper course of action would have been to talk to your supervisor and let them know you needed assistance to finish everything up. They would have then had the responsibility to delegate the tasks.

Do you follow what I'm saying? I think I'm coming across as harsh but from what I'm reading I think you really mishandled the situation and it's a teachable moment.
 
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If you're not a manager or the other employee's boss you have zero real expectation that the guy would get your work done.

Here's what it sounds like to me:

-You had a list of responsibilities assigned to you by management
-You didn't have time to accomplish these tasks
-You asked a coworker to take care of some of these tasks to help you
-Coworker is a shitty guy and didn't take care of them

The coworker isn't obligated to do anything for you if you're not his manager, you trusted him to do it as an act of good will, knowing he was a shitty guy to start with. The proper course of action would have been to talk to your supervisor and let them know you needed assistance to finish everything up. They would have then had the responsibility to delegate the tasks.

Do you follow what I'm saying? I think I'm coming across as harsh but from what I'm reading I think you really mishandled the situation and it's a teachable moment.

I am his Manager. The only thing I learned is never to rely on him again.

Why is overnight or anyone else not zoning after you leave, especially with a market manager coming in?

lol LOL asking the overnights to do anything? You're joking. I've sent a dozen emails to management about overnights leaving my zone a mess, or putting a shit ton of overstock in the wrong spot/items in the wrong spot. Nothing is/ever will be done.
 
lol LOL asking the overnights to do anything? You're joking. I've sent a dozen emails to management about overnights leaving my zone a mess, or putting a shit ton of overstock in the wrong spot/items in the wrong spot. Nothing is/ever will be done.

Overnights at Walmart must be horrible since the store never closes. It's bad enough unloading and stocking a ton of freight when payroll's tight, but then to have the late night crowd stumbling around while you do it? It just sounds awful.
 
Overnights at Walmart must be horrible since the store never closes. It's bad enough unloading and stocking a ton of freight when payroll's tight, but then to have the late night crowd stumbling around while you do it? It just sounds awful.

No, the overnight crew are usually the lowest of the low. Criminals and weird folk. All they do is stock shelves, that's it. They don't deal with customers, they don't get pulled, they even get to listen to music. They also get paid more then us.
 
I am his Manager. The only thing I learned is never to rely on him again.

Well I hope you also learned that the biggest part of your job is knowing who you can and can't trust on your staff and how to leverage their skills.

Ultimately the mistake is yours, you messed up and trusted the wrong person. No shame in it just learn from it and go on.
 
I don't understand why overnight doesn't zone, your management sounds like a mess. They just aren't about that Walmart life then.

Our store is pretty badly run. We just lost 5 department managers, 2 assistant and 2 ZMs. Not to mention we're so badly understaffed we're literally hiring anyone we see. They want a job, we'll hire them no questions asked so long as they pass the drug test.
 
No, the overnight crew are usually the lowest of the low. Criminals and weird folk. All they do is stock shelves, that's it. They don't deal with customers, they don't get pulled, they even get to listen to music. They also get paid more then us.

I'll say as someone with some overnight experience at Target though, that it wasn't criminals, just college kids and older people that probably should be retired but didn't plan well, or are helping children pay off debt. The bold were all nice perks, imo, and ironically everyone pretty much had the exact same opinion as you do towards the day people (they do nothing all day, etc.). There's probably a big difference between the companies though.
 
She's right. Your subordinate's responsibilities are your own. It's your job to make sure their jobs are done.

She's wrong and you're wrong.

If you want your subordinates to follow your directions, you have to give them clear non-contradictory directions.

If the rules you create contradict your expectations, then you've fucked up.

If you get rules that contradict themselves, then it's your job as a manager to moderate that.

If your general reaction is to not listen to the problems that arise and simply shit on people for the circumstances created, then you're a shit manager.

If *you* are a manager and *this* is how you behave, *you* are a shit manager.

I mean in this situation... you have 10 hours of work, and a policy that an employee can *only* do 8 hours of work. You're going to shit on the guy that does 8 hours of work, because he's technically higher up on the chain (although has no power to enforce that) than the guy that didn't do his work?
 
No, the overnight crew are usually the lowest of the low. Criminals and weird folk. All they do is stock shelves, that's it. They don't deal with customers, they don't get pulled, they even get to listen to music. They also get paid more then us.

But they are also timed in everything they do, and they will get in trouble for whatever the day shift leaves behind. They do deal with overnight customers (and really bad ones at that), they get pulled at least once a night to go outside around 2 or 3 AM to gather all the carts from the parking lot, and the people in the back can listen to music during daytime if their manager has no problem with it.
 
No, the overnight crew are usually the lowest of the low. Criminals and weird folk. All they do is stock shelves, that's it. They don't deal with customers, they don't get pulled, they even get to listen to music. They also get paid more then us.

Shift shaming. Wonderful.

In my store, 3rd shift was timed and hovered over for zoning and stocking. If they were to do what your employee did they would be fired on the spot especially into the holiday season.
 
I have empathy for your boss. She just wants something done, doesn't care about your drama. If I asked someone to do something, I don't want to hear excuses about how their delegation didn't work. If you arrived and it wasn't done, you've still got an hour, conscript help and hustle. You don't sound like you should be in any sort of management position yet.
 
Whatever. If I had stayed late I would have gotten a coaching. I expected him to be able to do his job, so why can't he do it? Why should I get in trouble because of him? Thats why I have associates below me, so that I can do my job and they can do theirs. Theres no I in Team. I'm going to have a looooong talk with him, but, now I'm going to make sure I see to him getting fired.

Don't push it. Most companies are REALLY sensitive about retaliation...
 
It's proven he can't do his job; after making inappropriate comments around where customers could hear. Easy enough case to get him fired as it sounds he doesn't care about his job.

It's kind of BS that you are blamed in any way for his failings. It's not your manager's job to babysit him, but it's not your job either. An employee should be old enough that they should need no one looking over their shoulder to get their tasks done. If he's not responsible enough to get things done, then he simply should not be working there.
 
She's wrong and you're wrong.

If you want your subordinates to follow your directions, you have to give them clear non-contradictory directions.

If the rules you create contradict your expectations, then you've fucked up.

If you get rules that contradict themselves, then it's your job as a manager to moderate that.

If your general reaction is to not listen to the problems that arise and simply shit on people for the circumstances created, then you're a shit manager.

If *you* are a manager and *this* is how you behave, *you* are a shit manager.

I mean in this situation... you have 10 hours of work, and a policy that an employee can *only* do 8 hours of work. You're going to shit on the guy that does 8 hours of work, because he's technically higher up on the chain (although has no power to enforce that) than the guy that didn't do his work?

simmer down dude. maybe she is wrong. But I'm still right.
Your subordinates responsibilities are your own, and if their jobs don't get done, it does reflect badly on you.
 
Remember how I was telling you about the co-worker making rape jokes on the sales floor? Yeah, he's still here. All that happened was he got a write up. Well, on Thursday I gave him a list of things I wanted him to get done before he left.

1. Zone, and make it perfect.
2.Fill up the balls
3. Finish off the returns.

I gave him the handheld scanner, and told him that he had to get it done tonight because corporate was coming tomorrow. He tells me "Ok", and I leave expecting him to get it done. Next day i go in and the department is a fucking disaster, the ball rack isn't filled either. Corporate is coming in the next hour, and I have to finish off the bike rack pricing. Dear god, I'm so fucked.

I barely get a chance to work on the zone when the Store Manager and the Market manager come in. The Store Manager is furious, and the Market Manager isn't happy. During his tour all he can do is shake his head and write down a list of things he sees wrong.

After he leaves, I get called into her office and get a coaching. I explain how I gave X a list of things to do last night and he didn't do them. She says "Thats no excuse. You should have stayed and risked a coaching for overtime, because at least you would have gotten it done. It would have been worth it". Serious? I'm not getting fired for staying late. I tel her how it isn't right that I suffer because X failing to do his job, and that if X can't do his job he shouldn't be working here.

She agree and says "I dont have time to baby sit X, that's up to you and Y. But, if he can't do his job that reflects on you".

Whatever. If I had stayed late I would have gotten a coaching. I expected him to be able to do his job, so why can't he do it? Why should I get in trouble because of him? Thats why I have associates below me, so that I can do my job and they can do theirs. Theres no I in Team. I'm going to have a looooong talk with him, but, now I'm going to make sure I see to him getting fired.

Your manager is right OP.

My boss stays with us pass the end time to finish up because she knows that the problems
we create are those she's responsible for. Especially when we are getting a visit from corporate.

If you would have stayed to pick up for his slack then not only would you have an employee who was written up for a rape remark,
you also have further negativity to bring up about his work performance which adds up over time.

He could have been in a more likely situation to get fired but instead now your manager has the impression that you can't get the job done when it counts.
 
So you don't deny the rest of that?

Why didn't you assign the tasks to someone who would have completed everything before the end of your shift?

How many grunts does he have under him?

I'm under the impression that he's simply a grunt himself that's one step removed from a bottom level grunt.

If he has a team to delegate the tasks to, it's apparent that he fucked up the delegation. If he only has a single guy to pass tasks onto... well... he only has one incompetent guy to pass tasks onto.
 
So you don't deny the rest of that?

Why didn't you assign the tasks to someone who would have completed everything before the end of your shift?

If it's his job to do what he says, he should do it. If I was op I would try to get him fired.
 
Your manager is right OP.

My boss stays with us pass the end time to finish up because she knows that the problems
we create are those she's responsible for. Especially when we are getting a visit from corporate.

If you would have stayed to pick up for his slack then not only would you have an employee who was written up for a rape remark,
you also have further negativity to bring up about his work performance which adds up over time.

He could have been in a more likely situation to get fired but instead now your manager has the impression that you can't get the job done when it counts.

I think you think your underlings are your servants, when in fact they are your helpers. If you worked together you would have had things done in half the time instead of nothing done at all.
 
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