Bosses

Notice that the title is plural. And that is because in retail you will have multiple bosses. It goes without saying that in just about every industry and company out there, there is a hierarchy in management/corporate. But in this post I will be focusing on the hierarchy within a single store.

When I started in retail this is what the hierarchy, the chain of command as I like to call it, looked like:

-Manager

-Assistant Manager

-Supervisor (Photo, Beauty, Shift)

-Head Cashier

-Beauty Associate

-Cashier

Here's what it looked when I left after 9 years:

-Manager

-Store Operations Manager (responsibilities of an Asset. Manager with a significant pay cut)

-Supervisor

-Cashier

What makes a good leader?

Let's start with what makes a bad one.

Managers

One example I could come up with is a manager I had around the time we were hit with a big blizzard. She told a co-worker that she was transferred to another location. But when my co-worker went to that other location, the Manager told her he didn't have her in the system. When she talked to her former Manager, she told the co-worker that it was no longer the Manager's problem and that she should deal with the other store. When asked about her remaining checks, the Manager told her former employee that that was also no longer her problem and that the former employee should deal with the other store. The former employee reached out to the district manager and the issue was investigated. It resulted in the manager being fired. I'm guessing that terminating an employee, telling them they've been transferred and then withholding their pay might be frowned upon.

Asst. Managers

There was a gentleman who moved here from another city. He seemed like a friendly guy, but ultimately he proved to be a jerk. One time, during a slow holiday, he asked if anyone wanted an ice cream bar. I said yes. When I proceeded to eat the ice cream bar, which was very much like a candy bar, the Asst. Manager called me out for eating in the Front Store rather than taking a 15 to eat it in the break room. We have had snacks and beverages at the front store before, so to eat an ice cream bar in the front store wouldn't have been unexpected.

Supervisors

One of the times I went to another store to collect more hours-- something my home store didn't have within my availability-- I met one of the supervisors who asked me, which store I was from. I told him. He implied he knew someone who worked there. I asked him who that was. His reply: none of your business.

These are just a few examples of what I personally would characterize as bad leadership qualities. I have never worked in a position of management, but I am pretty sure that one of these incidents should be a fireable offense while the other two, though not illegale, should be considered unacceptable practices.

Not only should a good boss not resort to underhanded tactics, a good boss should know how to talk to their fellow employees. Yes, they might be their subordinate, but they are not lab rats or their personal punching bags. They are human beings.

It should be noted that shit does in fact roll downhill. You shit on your subordinates, in turn they might shit on their fellow co-workers but they will certainly shit on the customers.

Outside Example

Outside retail, I worked in a supervisory capacity for a security company. The site was an apartment building. I have on occasion had to make tough decisions regarding my subordinates. There were occasions where I was comfortable with the decision to fire an officer, but there was one I truly felt bad for because her only flaw was that they had difficulty being punctual.

In that same job I also had an operations manager who lashed out on me for making a decision I thought I was allowed to make. They said they're going to reduce me pay, remove my Site Supervisor title and decided that going forward we were not going to communicate with each other but only through her. Neither my pay nor my title were affected, but the Ops Manager continued to diminish my involvement as Site Supervisor despite there being not changes in title/pay.

I understand being under pressure with the responsibilities of a supervisor. But never have I lashed out on my subordinates, or treated them with disrespect. Sure, maybe that's partly due to the fact that position at the site require one officer per shift, but we still communicated when we needed help.

It's not hard to not be an asshole your subordinates who also happen to be your co-workers.