I did something very silly today (sorry its work related)

[rkingb]

I spent 20 years in sales - probably about half of that in sales management. Unfortunately you have a manager that doesn't understand that to motivate people you don't have to use a stick.

And with all my years I must admit I would have the same problem as you with overpriced "extras" and probably couldn't hack it in PCWorld, Currys etc.

I don't know where you go from here but I am sure with your honesty something will turn up.

[Lanky123]

I agree with 5cupa - if he really did want to get rid of you he'd have let you walk there and then. The threat of a disciplinary hearing could (partly) have just been an attempt to motivate you (although clearly he isn't very good at it); if his staff don't do well then he's in just as much crap as you.

Take the fact that he took the time to try and calm you down as an attempt to keep you there - you clearly aren't the worst there by a long way despite the lack of interest in selling things at 10x their value. I would have thought in these depressed times they'd have been all too happy to let someone leave, so you must still be of reasonable value to the company.

Do your job as well as you can for a month and see what happens. If you stay you're still in a job, if you have to go then you're out of a job you hate and you've got a months more cash than if your manager had let you walk out. Definitely use the time to look for more jobs - from the sounds of things if you find one you'd take it even if Curry's begged you to stay.

[TheAnimus]

The jobs market is somewhat limited in cornwall, it makes it a bit harder there!

At the end of the day if you've got a job you don't like, and your not good at its just not going to end well. Also your not that unlucky, been given a month to straiten up and fly right, a friend of mine got made redundant purely because the project she was working on wasn't in vogue. No warning, incredibly bad redundancy package.

[sammyc]

I would have thought in these depressed times they'd have been all too happy to let someone leave, so you must still be of reasonable value to the company.

.. Yeah, you did say when you were off on holiday they piled up tech stuff they needed you for, & landed it on you when you got back - so you're not that dispensable..
Tbh they should be capable of working out a way to play more to your skills in that line, cut you some slack on the pushy sales side & find a balance that suits everyone.

[Behemoth]

The trouble is, and its beeen made very clear that they don't want someone who is a good team player, very knowledgeable etc in the business, if your not making £60 an hour profit, there is no place for you in the store at all.

So me going in at short notice when they have needed me in because our staff levels are short handed have counted to nothing, same goes for my computimng knowledge, that counts for nothing either.

I have asked before on several occasions the best thing they can do is take me on as an instore tech, so that I get paid to deal with all the laptops, PC's, cameras and other small devices that people have trouble with, but I have always been met with replies like "There is no budget"

I can't really see what he's getting at there its not like I have to paid any differently, I can still be paid for the same amount of hours just doing a slightly different job. Ok I admit we do have engineers for that sort of stuff but there are times they are pretty flaming useless.

However I did apologise for my actions, although it did burn like hell when I did it, I'm going to sit it out for the month now, and see how I get on, if I am let go, well I've had another months pay out of it, my debts are kind of covered (well the car loan is, I got the payment protection option on it) its just really my credit card I've got to deal with after.

In the mean time I shall be looking online and applying for other work, whilst talking to a few people and seeing about what it takes to start a small business doing what I'm best at.

[TheAnimus]

how old are you anyway? When i was in Cornwall i used to drink quite heavily, mostly because my parents made it hard for me to get persistently stoned.

My point is happiness in working life is only one of the many reasons to consider moving elsewhere!

[Behemoth]

I'm 27.

[synaesthesia]

Throw together a decent CV and a good covering speculative application letter to every council and school in the immediate area offering your services in IT support - including primary schools. You'd probably be surprised just how many of these schools are after ICT assistants or managers, or even support staff and you may well enjoy it

[Rave]

I know I sometimes sound like a broken record, but there's always demand for bus drivers. Outside of London it doesn't pay so well but I daresay it's at least the equal of what you can earn in retail. Outside of London or Glasgow I daresay it's probably quite a nice job too.

[Behemoth]

I've written to.applied to many of the schools in the local area, and apart from one interview some time ago I've not had a bite since, although starting to think that a second go might not be a bad idea.

I looked into being a bus driver some years ago, but in all honesty with the fact that the roads are very narrow here, I wouldn't like being in charge of a vehicle that large and being responsible for people I'm transporting from one stop to the next.

[Stringent]

I couldn't work retail. I admire the honest guys that do, £70 for an HDMI cable is an absolute rip off. I could only sell someone something if it was cheaper. I end up giving people advice in PC World (on the odd occasion I go there to cheer myself up and laugh at some prices!) about where to go and steer clear of.

[mmh]

does he not realise, that its not just the store thats suffering with credit crunch?

people are far more reluctnt to spend money on extra **** when buying laptops and stuff with the credit crunch, especially when most people "know a guy" who will sort that stuff out for them, and ebay for leads and stuff....

you go to the store for the warranty on the actual laptop, and elsewhere for peripherals... :/

I woulda walked out, or altleast told him to consider your notice handed in if thats his attitude...

Only once has a boss told me that im not working hard enough and if it happens again im out...

she didnt get the satisfaction of firing me, I walked out at that point and left her in the ****... even though the owner of the place i worked for lived 2 doors down from me...

I am not going to be spoken down to by anyone, and if they dont like it, then theyre not worth working for.

[Lucio]

Ok, to play devil's advocate here, what you did wrong was get upset and angry, mostly likely reacting to the way your manager was talking to you in all honesty. It turned it from a "right, let's get this sorted" into an "Us vs Them" scenario.

Firstly, ask yourself this, is this job worth sorting out? If not, then stop reading here, pick up the jobs section and start applying to as many things as you can.

If yes, then you need to stop being upset by what has happened in the past and think carefully about what the manager was saying to you. There's goals you have to meet, and you aren't meeting them, but you don't feel you can meet them because they're asking the "impossible". Firstly put the ball back to your manager, ask him for help or advice on how you can turn the scenarios around, if you're actively asking for help it's a *lot* harder for them to justify sacking you to a tribunal.

Secondly, you have to realise that every company will ask you to do things that are "ripping off the customer", they're out to make as much money as possible and you're employeed to help achieve that goal. Now, that doesn't mean you have to do it the way they tell you, you could for example, try and sell a cheap extra with every order instead of relying on making the figures up with one big sale every few orders.

For example in my job I make sure I start with an expensive machine, and then offer the lower priced alternative when people go "oh that's a bit much", I then agree with them that yes, it is expensive, these are the features that make it like this but really you probably don't need them. If you appear to put yourself on their side, then they're more likely to agree to a smaller add on. Of course, you get a few customers who know precisely what they want and won't change their minds, the trick to spotting these early on (and saving some time) is to offer a lower price alternative and watch them refuse it.

[Vimeous]

I see you're in a difficult postion. Sales is always a nightmare.

Maybe an employment whizz can answer this next one.
If Behemoth sticks at it and despite his best intentions misses the businesses targets what recourse do they have?

On a legal footing is there anyway they can get rid of an employee who is performing to the best of his ability? Ok granted they can shout, point and moan and effectively encourage you to leave but can they actually fire you?
Frankly it sounds like a unfair dismissal case waiting to happen.

Out of interest does Currys and it's ilk write the targets they set into the employment contract? Is there a "you must meet our targets or we'll discipline you" clause?


Behemoth much as though I hate being treated like this: if you don't feel a customer is going to bite no matter how hard you push drop them and move on. I'm sure you do already but maybe it's time to be a little more ruthless.
Of course that will only work if they don't preach an every person in-store must buy policy!

Fingers crossed you get some gullible vict... customers soon

[dave87]

As much as I'd like to agree with you Behemoth, I'm finding it very difficult.


I'm not going to defend the management, they are perfectly capable of doing that themselves, but have a look at it from their perspective. They are being given targets to hit, and they need to have a 'team' around them to help deliver those targets, not someone that though perfectly competent, doesn't aid in that task in their current job role.

Now there is also a second strand to this, performance management. How do they differentiate between the lazy (all workplaces have people like this) and those that although trying, tend to get the customers that no one can persuade. In this regard, I don't think you are doing yourself any favours by approaching a sales job as one designed to rip people off. The act of a salesman, as I think I remember Zak mentioning was to provide the customer with a product or service whilst carrying out the aims of the business, ie targets.

In this regard you have to balance between what the company asks of you and what the customer does, but at the end of the day, it isn't the customer who signs your paycheques, and as such, you have to make sure that you balance the two as you should know how. This doesn't mean selling the top of the range item to every person that walks through the door, what it does mean is offering options, opportunities, possibilities, and those that want them can then make that choice. Selling is not about forcing the product upon someone, but aiding their choice. As I've been told, 'People buy from People', you are the human face of DSGi.

It is as Lucio says, however: If you want the job, make an effort. That is all the management probably want - it is easier to retain staff than to hire a new guy only to train him and end up with the same problem. If you don't want it, well in Sales, that shows. Time to move on with your dignity in tact and your head held high.


Sorry mate if the above is blunt, but that is how I see it.

[mmh]

As much as I'd like to agree with you Behemoth, I'm finding it very difficult.


I'm not going to defend the management, they are perfectly capable of doing that themselves, but have a look at it from their perspective. They are being given targets to hit, and they need to have a 'team' around them to help deliver those targets, not someone that though perfectly competent, doesn't aid in that task in their current job role.

Now there is also a second strand to this, performance management. How do they differentiate between the lazy (all workplaces have people like this) and those that although trying, tend to get the customers that no one can persuade. In this regard, I don't think you are doing yourself any favours by approaching a sales job as one designed to rip people off. The act of a salesman, as I think I remember Zak mentioning was to provide the customer with a product or service whilst carrying out the aims of the business, ie targets.

In this regard you have to balance between what the company asks of you and what the customer does, but at the end of the day, it isn't the customer who signs your paycheques, and as such, you have to make sure that you balance the two as you should know how. This doesn't mean selling the top of the range item to every person that walks through the door, what it does mean is offering options, opportunities, possibilities, and those that want them can then make that choice. Selling is not about forcing the product upon someone, but aiding their choice. As I've been told, 'People buy from People', you are the human face of DSGi.

It is as Lucio says, however: If you want the job, make an effort. That is all the management probably want - it is easier to retain staff than to hire a new guy only to train him and end up with the same problem. If you don't want it, well in Sales, that shows. Time to move on with your dignity in tact and your head held high.


Sorry mate if the above is blunt, but that is how I see it.

I could never work in sales...