i’ve just been – really busy. overwhelmed. saddened. it’s been a tragic couple of months. few months.
the newest news is that my employers has cut labor at the store level by 7% across the board. this means when you visit your local fortune 500 java shop with the green logo that the store is running with less people on the floor, and all the time they used to have to deep clean, do reviews, schedules, employee development, business planning, etc is now gone and expected to be done in that time on the floor where there is also less people on the floor.
all of my employees have had their hours cut in the weeks leading up to Christmas. i, on the other hand, being the exempt, salaried, and apparently “free labor” manager, have been putting in consistent 10-12 hour days, because that’s the only way to get it done. i’m sure somewhere along the line this is a violation of labor laws even for exempt managers but i don’t feel like pursuing it.
don’t get me wrong – i understand the utter crappiness of the current economy. i appreciate that rather than tell every store manager they must cut 3 baristas that instead we’re just cutting hours. if i’m looking for the silver lining, then i guess that’s it. but as with every organization, business, or government institution, there are ALWAYS areas that are money-wasters. i know they’re not as quick of a win as say just cutting labor on the front lines, but in the LONG term, which is what i would hope they’re looking to, there are better options than telling our partners and customers that they’re at the bottom of the priority list.
so while we’re asked to grow sales and accomplish an ever-increasing list of important yet not that important really tasks, we’re given less labor to do this with. save the world, be perfect, but i’m taking away your resources. keep your work-life balance, but understand if expectations aren’t met you’ll be performance-managed out.
needless to say it’s caused quite a bit of stress, frustration, anxiety, worry, and fear.
have any of you, regardless of what company you work for, dealt with this kind of a situation? due to layoffs or cuts in hours, your workload has nearly doubled but with no pay increase or hour increase? how do you handle it? i’m looking for any advice that may help me be and feel more successful, and so that i can pass that onto my team. if i was in a cubicle all day the increased workload would still suck, but at least i wouldn’t have a line of 20 people looking at me with sad, frustrated glances for 8 straight hours…
