I'm handing in my notice

[Behemoth]

Hello all,

You may remember quite a while ago that I posted about my work situation, I'll add a link to the thread if anyone wants to read the whole thing.

Well this week its all pretty much come to a head. I had a chat with my boss yesterday (well it was more like a debate but there you go) about how I've been doing (basically a monthly review like we always get)

Things hadn't improved and my figures were not much different to what they were the month before which at the time he said he would put me on a three month program of performance monitoring and if still no improvement in that time then I would be out the door.

Yesterday he read the riot act with me, I do agree that in some cases it's partly my fault but partly his aswell. I know I can be lazy and not do the things I should, but the times when I do and still fail to get the right result isn't taken note of, so even though I've done things the way the company wants it sadly it doesn't count. They aren't interested in the ones that got away, only the ones that did stump their money for all the addons that do make us money and go home with their shiny new product.

Other thing that really upset me was the fact that be made me feel about 2 inches tall on the shop floor when I was trying to explain to him about why I work in a certain way to which he totally dismissed out of hand and refused to listen to me any further.

He also had a go at me for not working on longer after my shift has finished because I had not made my sales target for a given week. When i challenged this I said hang on I'm paid from 10 - 5 on a given shift I hardly want to work on extra and not get paid for it. He argued that I was paid to make 100% of my sales target.

After he had told me how unacceptable this was I was given three options

1) I resign there and then
2) I resign and take 1 months notice to find something else
3) I go on a 6 week program of performance monitoring to try and improve and if I still haven't reached the desired result to company standard they then get rid of me

After much talking it through my parents and friends I have decided that I will take the second option. If I'm really honest and true to myself I've grown tired of the job, when I get there I can't wait to get home.

If I took the third option I still don't feel I'd be any better off and would prefer to hand in my notice, work there for 4 more weeks and get another months pay whilst looking for other work.

My friend who is a deputy manager of another store has kindly offered me a job there but feel that if I failed to deliver as expected I'd be letting him down as he'd be placing alot of faith in me and while I do agree with him possibly working for another manager may help me I'd prefer not to let him down and loose a very good friend in the process as he would be sticking his neck on the line in order to get me in his store. He also said no manager should expect any colleague to work on beyond their shift in order to catch up on sales targets whilst not being paid.

I've really had enough of retail, having my IT skills abused and not being given any extra reward for them doing so and getting nothing for my efforts.

I've written my letter, very short and to the point, I meet with him tomorrow to tell him what choice I've made. Part of me is looking forward to handing it over to him, the other part isn't. This hasn't been an easy choice to make.

I'm sorry to bother you with this (again) but just need to get it out of my system.

[dave87]

Chap - IANAL - but you may have a case for constructive dismissal if what you've posted here is true.

Not something I would advise doing lightly, but it may be worth popping and seeing a solicitor and see what they say. Not going to make you feel any better, but may blunt the pain of being out on your ear

[cptwhite_uk]

Nobody deserves to be made to feel 2" tall. There are a *lot* of ******s out their in the workplace, so just hand your notice in and get looking for other work. Try and get some self confidence in yourself and don't look back. You've clearly made the correct choice, even if you don't see it yourself right now - promise

[Behemoth]

My dad said the same thing. If the job was more than 25 hours a week I'd say that it would be worth contesting it and making a complaint, but it just isn't. I'd sooner leave than stay and be pused out.

[Rob_B]

Retail is awful, I'm so glad to be out of it & into an IT environment where I'm appreciated rather than treated like an idiot child.

Now you've got 'the fear' you'll find something worthy (although less of the slacking eh? )

[lazer]

Where do / did you work?

[dave87]

Constructive dismissal is if you feel forced out and as a result resign.

Unfair dismissal is where they give you the boot but don't follow the right procedure etc.

By the sound of it, you'd fit within the former, but as you've said, you need to take a view on it and move on - rather than dragging up old problems.

All the best to you chap, hope you find something you enjoy

[Behemoth]

Retail is awful, I'm so glad to be out of it & into an IT environment where I'm appreciated rather than treated like an idiot child.

Now you've got 'the fear' you'll find something worthy (although less of the slacking eh? )

Thats just it I've never gone in to be lazy, its just how things have evolved with customers. I find it very hard to engage with them to sell them the things I'm meant to extra cables, extra warranty, Norton etc.

There are people that can do it quite easily I just find it harder than others so I don't get the desired result.

[jim]

When I left my job in retail, the deputy manager told me that the Sunday manager (who I exclusively worked under) had made multiple official complaints about my work attitude and laziness.

I got really frigging irritating after a while, and yes I was much the same as you. She once told me to push sales of charity items for Red Nose Day, and I refused, because she was just employing guilt factor to do it and wanted me to join in. "Would you like to save a child in Africa sir?" Made my blood boil - she seriously delighted in making them squirm at the till. And I also refused to sell people things that they didn't need - if someone wanted something to do a job, I sold them what they needed. So I got marked down on upselling ability. Which made her angry because she wanted to record the best figures and get herself a bigger bonus. And then she told me during a review meeting that I clearly wasn't cut out for business, unlike her. As she didn't click, I'm not screwing people to put extra cash in the directors' pockets.

Thankfully the manager and deputy manager were on my side, or I'd have been in much the same position. People can be really unreasonable sometimes, and I know exactly how galling it is... I got so worked up and angry about it at times, knowing how often I'd gone home physically shattered because of the amount of work I'd done, and getting a 78p bonus for the month (that genuinely happened).

Good luck to you... you've done the right thing in my book. There's something to be said for putting up with bad situations, but being crapped on from a great height is something else altogether.

[Behemoth]

I've actually started to feel much better about it now I've decided what I want to do. If I stay I see it as an on going problem that just won't go away.

I've always had one manager or another having a dig about me over something, that included doing a good job on something, or on the rare occasion that I did meet the minimum standard and in some cases exceeded it they STILL found something to mentally berate me with and slap me upside over the head.

It just winds me up so much and boils my blood when I think about over the last 7 years what I've done for them when they are in a tight spot. Like going in on my day off to cover sickness with literally nothing more than half an hours notice. I've used my own car to rectify customer service issues like deliver AND install a new TV and DVD recorder for a customer as the colleague that promised to do the same forgot.

I've even gone in on my day off to help a colleague who was struggling with a tech service they sold to a customer and then didn't know how to do it !!

I'd sooner not reveal where I work in case someone identifies me from this that I work with, but I will say that I work for Curry's.

But sadly none of this matters to them, its all about profit, and I sort of agree I mean nobody runs a business to not make any money but to berate the people that work for them is just so not on.

[Jay]

I won't be buying from that bunch ever again....

[mcmiller]

Sorry to hear that you are having these sort of problems. I had pretty much a similar problem boss bullied me because I wasn't up to his perfect standard - he is pervert who continually gets reported to hr for sexual harassment but HR fail to do anything. Luckily for me they offered me redundancy.

I don't know anything about your situation but I agree with everyone else's comments you need to do them for constructive dismal, have you also spoken to HR about him?

[Lucio]

... As she didn't click, I'm not screwing people to put extra cash in the directors' pockets.
.....

Unfortunately that means you weren't doing your job, the whole point of retail jobs is to sell as much as possible and doing a good job means putting your personal ethics in a box whilst you're on the clock.

I also hate that part of my job, and also get into trouble on occasion for not selling the more expensive items, though not that often as my company's pretty good about those things being B2B instead of retail.

[Behemoth]

Sorry to hear that you are having these sort of problems. I had pretty much a similar problem boss bullied me because I wasn't up to his perfect standard - he is pervert who continually gets reported to hr for sexual harassment but HR fail to do anything. Luckily for me they offered me redundancy.

I don't know anything about your situation but I agree with everyone else's comments you need to do them for constructive dismal, have you also spoken to HR about him?

I'd go down the route of constructive dissmissal if the job was worth fighting for and I still enjoyed it. As I've said before it's only a 25 hour a week job, which to be honest earns a pittance in comparison to some jobs which have far less stress and respobsibility bolted onto them. Especially for some of the stuff we have to do.

[Barrichello]

I'm handing in my notice
.

Do it, and get out of retail while you are at it, quite possibly the most soul destroying area you can work in.

Had the misfortune when i left school working for Tiny computers, lol remember them? Such a hard sell on extended warranties and so much false pretence when dealing with the public, never hated a job so much, im sure curry's cant be much different.

[Behemoth]

I'm actually feeling quite relieved now that I've printed my letter of resignation and signed it. It's like one big weight has been removed from my shoulders.