Tweet
No, I'm not getting fired, let go or quitting! But this semester has been a hellacious roller coaster, and I need to just lay it all out before I go even crazier than I am now. This is going to be in multiple parts, it's VERY lengthy. This all happened within the last month, but it's a lot. Part 1 is some background and our dealings with AARP Workers.
Mk, so, to start with, for those unaware, I'm an accounting specialist/all around awesome can do any task employee for a small private university bookstore. My store is actually part of a large corporate chain, on a yearly contract with the university, so the goal is to keep the university people happy, so they'll keep us on.
Part of this is the accounting. Financial Aid is a big thing on campus, and students are able to use it in the bookstore. It's a really big deal, and it's been screwed up before. So making sure it runs smoothly is no easy task.
I actually implemented several new procedures to test them out this semester, and it ran beautifully. And it would've run so much smoother, except there was SUCH a cluster of problems that popped up, I don't even know where to begin, and this has led to my 3rd straight week of open to close shifts, 6 days in a row.
See, I'm not supposed to be running registers at ALL during the first few weeks of classes, what we refer to as our Rush season. Financial Aid, VA accounts, Department Charges, etc, etc, those are a full time job in and of themselves, keeping them running smoothly. To help enforce this, we hire temporary employees to man the front lines, and for the second semester in a row, we partnered with AARP for a work experience program, where they would send us people we didn't have to have on our payroll, but that we could train. Their people would get some skills like computer work, filing, guest service, stocking, etc, and we'd get free help. (AARP paid their wages).
We were all set to run the semester. I came back from my vacation for the holidays around 11pm on January 1st, and went right into work on January 2nd, thinking we're just going to finalize prep for the upcoming semester.
Oh lord. Was I WRONG.
Semester starts on the 5th, when weekend classes launch. And it just...exploded from there. The AARP people were supposed to send us 4 helpers, we got 2. Those 2 were some of the laziest, rudest, most off-putting people I've been forced to work with. And if you've read some of my stories, I've worked with some doozies before. For starters, they REFUSED to actually help customers or answer phones. I actually watched one of them walk into an aisle in the store, see five people milling around looking for books, and she turned around and walked away. Several times, I watched this happen, in the span of a half hour.
Then there were the lunches. We cater food in that first week, a treat for the employees. BOTH of these ladies would, at noon precisely, go eat lunch without telling anyone they were leaving the floor, regardless of how busy we were. They usually arrived between 9-10 am. My boss, my CW and me? We were there starting at 7:30-7:45, and the rule is, first in gets first lunch. They ignored it every time. We also took half hour breaks, but they would sit for an hour, leisurely eating, talking, and just relaxing. Must be nice.
One day, after the food had been delivered, it was noon. I was talking to my boss in his office, which happened to be next to where the food table was, and one of them walked over and grabbed a plate. I snapped. I told her "No, CW and I go FIRST, we've been here longer, so I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait until we've had our breaks."
AW (AARP Worker) "oh, but it's noon"
Me: "I know it's noon. But you've been here for 3 hours, we've been here for almost 5, we're required to take our breaks first."
AW: "But it's noon, and it's my lunch time."
Me: "I'm sorry, but we have to stagger the lunch schedules, to make sure everyone gets a fair break and a chance to eat. That means going in order of who arrived first. You can take your lunch around 1, I think, which will be within the 4 hour mark AARP requested we give you your breaks in. You work 4 hours, you get a lunch."
She huffed off, and I honestly didn't see her again until 1, when she shuffled over, grabbed a plate, and disappeared for an hour. But the kicker was one day, it was noon. We had easily 60-70 people in our store and it's NOT a big store. BOTH of the AWs put their coats on, and started walking outside, to go sit at the picnic tables. Bossman had to stop them and ask them where they were going. Now, he'd talked to them before about checking in with him before taking a break, because he needs to know what's going on. The answer?
"It's noon. We're going to lunch"
...
He tells them no, they can't both go at the same time. If they MUST, decide between themselves who goes now, and who goes in an hour, stagger it out. But they can't both be gone, we need the help in the store. So grumblegrumblebitchbitch, but they do so.
Now, lunches aside, these workers were USELESS. They refused to take notes on anything we taught them, and then ended up screwing up to insane degrees. We asked one to pack and ship mail orders and web orders that we had processed. Very simple. You type in the name and address on the postage printer. The top of the order sheet will say "Standard" or "Expedited" Standard is media mail, Expedited is priority. Priority goes in the special white envelopes, standard goes in green bubble mailers.
The first day we asked an AW to do it, everything went in white priority envelopes. We corrected, asked for notes to be taken, and were assured "no no, I get it now". And then everything went in green bubble mailers
Ok, nevermind, go out on the floor and help people find their books. It's easy, everything is in alphabetical order!! Find the class tag and the book is right on top of the tag! Instead, they would lead students to the tag...and look at the shelf below it. Students walked out with the wrong titles OR, the shelf would be empty for overstock below and they'd be told the book was sold out.
Oi. Just oi. Well, the final straw came when I couldn't get a bathroom break.
No, I'm serious. I was in the bathroom, taking a coveted two minutes to myself and to tend to things. I'm not even in there 30 seconds, when there's a light tap and the door is pushed open. I call out from the stall that I'm in there. and the AW replies:
AW: Oh. I need the bathroom.
Me: And I'm IN the bathroom. I'll be out shortly.
AW: ...how long will it take you?
Me: ......until I'm DONE.
Thankfully I was left alone after that. For a grand total of another 30 seconds. This time it's a poundpoundpound on the door. Again I'm calling out from the stall
Me: Someone's in here!
AW2: Oh, someone's here?
Me: YES!
AW2: Oh...when can I use it?
Me: (trying not to bang my head on the stall walls and weep)
I went straight to Bossman after that. See, the bathroom stall is in one of our back stock areas, that has a door. When we close the door, that means someone is using the bathroom. This was explained to the AWs. MULTIPLE times. I at that point told Bossman I was going for a walk, and not to call me for 5 minutes, I was so irritated I couldn't even pee in peace.
he talks to the AWs, and of course they're all defensive, that they weren't told, they didn't mean any harm, and they knocked first!
So, he also talked to them about guest service, how it's key and priority. We've won awards for best Guest Service in the region, #1 ranking and all that, and it's IMPERATIVE we always be asking people if they've been helped. The AW who I saw ignoring people and leaving aisles SWORE they do that, all the time! And this AW personally swore to the fact that students were asked MULTIPLE times, too!
The next day after this, we're still in the first week of Rush, and there's more BS going on that's causing stress, and it gets to be 10-11 am and we're finally noticing the AWs haven't shown up (shows how much of an impact and a help they were, right?) We're wondering where they are, and just shrugging, since they seem intent on making their own damn schedules, when we get a phone call.
It's the AARP rep asking for Bossman.
Apparently the AWs quit, AND they filed a complaint against us. We don't know what was in it, we're still waiting, but I CAN say that Bossman went on the defensive like nothing else, and I overheard his side of the conversation:
"Yes, well, I don't know why they would be complaining. They entered the program with the understanding they'd actually be WORKING, right?"
"No, I DON'T think I asked them to do anything strenuous. The didn't lift any boxes, they didn't lift anything more than 5 lbs, if at all. They sat and filed, they sat and processed orders, I asked them to help guests in the store, I asked them to straighten the clothing, how is any of that strenuous?"
"Well, I'm sorry, I don't know what their background is, that says 'hey, I did a halfassed job, that's good enough, at least it got done'. That doesn't work here, and quite frankly, that's not real job experience"
"Oh, you HAVEN'T read the actual document they submitted? Great. Read it, and can you send me a copy? I have a right to know what they're submitting against me and to respond. Thanks"
And thus ended the AARP program in our store, and we're down 2 people, even though they didn't do much to begin with. Greeeeaaat.
And that's just part 1. Stay tuned for part 2, for those who are interested.
Mk, so, to start with, for those unaware, I'm an accounting specialist/all around awesome can do any task employee for a small private university bookstore. My store is actually part of a large corporate chain, on a yearly contract with the university, so the goal is to keep the university people happy, so they'll keep us on.
Part of this is the accounting. Financial Aid is a big thing on campus, and students are able to use it in the bookstore. It's a really big deal, and it's been screwed up before. So making sure it runs smoothly is no easy task.
I actually implemented several new procedures to test them out this semester, and it ran beautifully. And it would've run so much smoother, except there was SUCH a cluster of problems that popped up, I don't even know where to begin, and this has led to my 3rd straight week of open to close shifts, 6 days in a row.
See, I'm not supposed to be running registers at ALL during the first few weeks of classes, what we refer to as our Rush season. Financial Aid, VA accounts, Department Charges, etc, etc, those are a full time job in and of themselves, keeping them running smoothly. To help enforce this, we hire temporary employees to man the front lines, and for the second semester in a row, we partnered with AARP for a work experience program, where they would send us people we didn't have to have on our payroll, but that we could train. Their people would get some skills like computer work, filing, guest service, stocking, etc, and we'd get free help. (AARP paid their wages).
We were all set to run the semester. I came back from my vacation for the holidays around 11pm on January 1st, and went right into work on January 2nd, thinking we're just going to finalize prep for the upcoming semester.
Oh lord. Was I WRONG.
Semester starts on the 5th, when weekend classes launch. And it just...exploded from there. The AARP people were supposed to send us 4 helpers, we got 2. Those 2 were some of the laziest, rudest, most off-putting people I've been forced to work with. And if you've read some of my stories, I've worked with some doozies before. For starters, they REFUSED to actually help customers or answer phones. I actually watched one of them walk into an aisle in the store, see five people milling around looking for books, and she turned around and walked away. Several times, I watched this happen, in the span of a half hour.
Then there were the lunches. We cater food in that first week, a treat for the employees. BOTH of these ladies would, at noon precisely, go eat lunch without telling anyone they were leaving the floor, regardless of how busy we were. They usually arrived between 9-10 am. My boss, my CW and me? We were there starting at 7:30-7:45, and the rule is, first in gets first lunch. They ignored it every time. We also took half hour breaks, but they would sit for an hour, leisurely eating, talking, and just relaxing. Must be nice.
One day, after the food had been delivered, it was noon. I was talking to my boss in his office, which happened to be next to where the food table was, and one of them walked over and grabbed a plate. I snapped. I told her "No, CW and I go FIRST, we've been here longer, so I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait until we've had our breaks."
AW (AARP Worker) "oh, but it's noon"
Me: "I know it's noon. But you've been here for 3 hours, we've been here for almost 5, we're required to take our breaks first."
AW: "But it's noon, and it's my lunch time."
Me: "I'm sorry, but we have to stagger the lunch schedules, to make sure everyone gets a fair break and a chance to eat. That means going in order of who arrived first. You can take your lunch around 1, I think, which will be within the 4 hour mark AARP requested we give you your breaks in. You work 4 hours, you get a lunch."
She huffed off, and I honestly didn't see her again until 1, when she shuffled over, grabbed a plate, and disappeared for an hour. But the kicker was one day, it was noon. We had easily 60-70 people in our store and it's NOT a big store. BOTH of the AWs put their coats on, and started walking outside, to go sit at the picnic tables. Bossman had to stop them and ask them where they were going. Now, he'd talked to them before about checking in with him before taking a break, because he needs to know what's going on. The answer?
"It's noon. We're going to lunch"
...
He tells them no, they can't both go at the same time. If they MUST, decide between themselves who goes now, and who goes in an hour, stagger it out. But they can't both be gone, we need the help in the store. So grumblegrumblebitchbitch, but they do so.
Now, lunches aside, these workers were USELESS. They refused to take notes on anything we taught them, and then ended up screwing up to insane degrees. We asked one to pack and ship mail orders and web orders that we had processed. Very simple. You type in the name and address on the postage printer. The top of the order sheet will say "Standard" or "Expedited" Standard is media mail, Expedited is priority. Priority goes in the special white envelopes, standard goes in green bubble mailers.
The first day we asked an AW to do it, everything went in white priority envelopes. We corrected, asked for notes to be taken, and were assured "no no, I get it now". And then everything went in green bubble mailers
Ok, nevermind, go out on the floor and help people find their books. It's easy, everything is in alphabetical order!! Find the class tag and the book is right on top of the tag! Instead, they would lead students to the tag...and look at the shelf below it. Students walked out with the wrong titles OR, the shelf would be empty for overstock below and they'd be told the book was sold out.
Oi. Just oi. Well, the final straw came when I couldn't get a bathroom break.
No, I'm serious. I was in the bathroom, taking a coveted two minutes to myself and to tend to things. I'm not even in there 30 seconds, when there's a light tap and the door is pushed open. I call out from the stall that I'm in there. and the AW replies:
AW: Oh. I need the bathroom.
Me: And I'm IN the bathroom. I'll be out shortly.
AW: ...how long will it take you?
Me: ......until I'm DONE.
Thankfully I was left alone after that. For a grand total of another 30 seconds. This time it's a poundpoundpound on the door. Again I'm calling out from the stall
Me: Someone's in here!
AW2: Oh, someone's here?
Me: YES!
AW2: Oh...when can I use it?
Me: (trying not to bang my head on the stall walls and weep)
I went straight to Bossman after that. See, the bathroom stall is in one of our back stock areas, that has a door. When we close the door, that means someone is using the bathroom. This was explained to the AWs. MULTIPLE times. I at that point told Bossman I was going for a walk, and not to call me for 5 minutes, I was so irritated I couldn't even pee in peace.
he talks to the AWs, and of course they're all defensive, that they weren't told, they didn't mean any harm, and they knocked first!
So, he also talked to them about guest service, how it's key and priority. We've won awards for best Guest Service in the region, #1 ranking and all that, and it's IMPERATIVE we always be asking people if they've been helped. The AW who I saw ignoring people and leaving aisles SWORE they do that, all the time! And this AW personally swore to the fact that students were asked MULTIPLE times, too!
The next day after this, we're still in the first week of Rush, and there's more BS going on that's causing stress, and it gets to be 10-11 am and we're finally noticing the AWs haven't shown up (shows how much of an impact and a help they were, right?) We're wondering where they are, and just shrugging, since they seem intent on making their own damn schedules, when we get a phone call.
It's the AARP rep asking for Bossman.
Apparently the AWs quit, AND they filed a complaint against us. We don't know what was in it, we're still waiting, but I CAN say that Bossman went on the defensive like nothing else, and I overheard his side of the conversation:
"Yes, well, I don't know why they would be complaining. They entered the program with the understanding they'd actually be WORKING, right?"
"No, I DON'T think I asked them to do anything strenuous. The didn't lift any boxes, they didn't lift anything more than 5 lbs, if at all. They sat and filed, they sat and processed orders, I asked them to help guests in the store, I asked them to straighten the clothing, how is any of that strenuous?"
"Well, I'm sorry, I don't know what their background is, that says 'hey, I did a halfassed job, that's good enough, at least it got done'. That doesn't work here, and quite frankly, that's not real job experience"
"Oh, you HAVEN'T read the actual document they submitted? Great. Read it, and can you send me a copy? I have a right to know what they're submitting against me and to respond. Thanks"
And thus ended the AARP program in our store, and we're down 2 people, even though they didn't do much to begin with. Greeeeaaat.
And that's just part 1. Stay tuned for part 2, for those who are interested.
Comment