help GRM: Dealing with a E36 M3ty boss (rant inside)

[rant]

So the new boss is sneaky, selfish, and overall a prime example of a terrible boss. He adjusts the rules as he goes, and is constantly berating someone about something.

Today, I was scheduled in at 1, at he's usually scheduled from 7 to 6. He comes in at 6:30 usually, and leaves at around 5. When I clock in, he's nowhere to be found. Come to find out, he had a "doctor appointment" that he suddenly remembered, just conveniently in time for me, the other manager on the day, to come in. Turns out he's off for four whole days. Yeah, he wanted to kick-start his long weekend. It wasn't that big of a deal, we were well staffed, and it worked well without him. That's not the problem, it's him taking off on his own, no real excuse, and basically doing whatever the hell he wants. None of us could leave early for some imaginary doctor appointment.

General managers are paid salary, so if he clocks out for lunch or not, he gets paid the same. However, where he doesn't clock out for his lunch, on paper he's still there for 10 hours. Even though he's out sitting on his ass in his car for an hour.

Problem is, you can't confront him about anything. He has a "my way or the highway" attitude. Any concerns you may have directed towards him, he takes as a personal attack, not as constructive criticism. We have an open door policy, which basically says that if there's something we have an issue with, and aren't comfortable with talking to our GM about it, we can go to the district manager.

Let's face it, most people wouldn't walk straight up to their boss and say "you suck." However, he's ex military and believes strongly in micro managing and chain of command. So naturally, you go to his boss with complaints. One manager has quit, another one is on the search for a new job, and plenty more are growing weary, and with every day more drama and more regulations seem to roll out.

I'm not against a new job, but this one has a great money : work ratio. I'm lazy, I won't lie. For the amount of labor involved for the pay is pretty awesome.

As we've learned in the parts store thread, it isn't a great place to work for a long time. I enjoy(ed) my job before this joker showed up, and part of me wants to stick it out and see if he'll screw up and get canned before long, and maybe we'll have an awesome dude again.

What say yea, GRM? Lay low, tough it out or give him the finger and peel out of the parking lot?

[/rant]

Report it to HR anonymously. They'll want to know as much as anyone that an employee is stealing from them. There are whistleblower laws out there to protect you if you're worried about losing your job.

I say stealing because he is stealing money; he is getting paid for work that he should be doing but is not.

Yeah. Right. Good luck with all that, you are going to need it. He got where he is by being slippery and it's not going to stop now.

I have no idea how these people get to their positions in the first place, because I have dealt with a few of them. They do not lead by example, and in fact, are not leaders at all, they are just in charge. Which sucks. They also have a knack for protecting their turf and insulating themselves from complaints. If you do successfully lodge a complaint above their head, guess what? They will be sure to bitch you out about it and make your life miserable in return.

If the organization is allowing this tool to get away with it, then your best option is to find another job. You can't fight the entire system, why try, find somewhere to work that shares your work ethic.

If you think that the organization would be upset to learn of his behavior, then make sure they know without resorting to direct complaints. Send your boss an e-mail, copy the regional manager, and ask for a fast response at a time when you know your boss is out playing golf. Schedule deliveries that require his signature at 1:00 when you know he is taking a long lunch. Schedule conference calls at the minute he is supposed to be in the office if he is always late. Go to his boss with questions whenever he is out of the office. Anything you can do to let his boss know that he is not at his post will build a case against him. How many times do you think the District Manager wants to get calls from the store that should be handled by the store manager? The DM will start asking questions and tracking your boss more closely.

If you really are ready to move on, line up a job before you go to HR, because if things don't go well you're going to need it.

MTN and Curmudgeon are both right. If you report him for "xyz" then it better stick, and it better be enough to get him fired. Otherwise you're up a paddle without a creek.

I go by the "two bucket" theory. When the bull-E36 M3 bucket fills up faster than the $$$ bucket, then it's time to get gettin. Some fights just aren't worth the effort.

Edit: Another one that makes me giggle while I'm falling victim to their poor management practices:

People are only promoted high enough to fail. When you meet a dip-E36 M3 in a leadership position: that's as high as he got before he started berkeleying up. So in 20 years, you'll be at "xyz" job, and that dumb bastard will still be where he is.

I have met a few of those. People who work well enough not to fire, but are too messed up to keep around. Generally they get promoted up and out.. which eventually finds them in a managerial position where they make everyone's life miserable.

We are dealing with one of those now. He was one of us.. a hard working "casual" (on call) worker. Then he got offered a job in management.. and turned into the biggest micro-manager anybody ever saw. To the point that he would tell you how to do a job you have been doing for the past 20 years... Everyone but those above him, can;t stand his guts.

Here's why he's here: Our general manager drove about 50 miles in, from another city. A GM position in his hometown came open, so he jumped on it. Went from a 50 mile commute to a two mile commute, I don't blame him.

However, none of the managers in my store had taken the appropriate tests (more BS, IMO) and basically none of us had the credentials for the position, even though we all knew had experience enough to actually do the job, certifications be damned.

Our DM's hands were tied, and his window for finding someone was closing. This guy has some management experience, none of which was in retail I think. I've been with the company longer than him, there's still a few things he's learning. That alone I think helps fuel my frustration.

The problem with the two bucket theory, I'm not sure how much smaller my BS bucket is than the $$$ bucket.

Hungary Bill wrote: People are only promoted high enough to fail. When you meet a dip-E36 M3 in a leadership position: that's as high as he got before he started berkeleying up. So in 20 years, you'll be at "xyz" job, and that dumb bastard will still be where he is.

I believe that's called the Peter Principle, which states that in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.

Tread lightly. Here at my work the people that run off to HR have about a 75% chance of getting canned and the offender usually just gets a little disipline. If the money is that good and it doesnt effect your work out-put I would just deal. If you want his job, do things to learn it and then out-shine him. But then again, here I am posting at work and my guys are doing a lot of work...

Don't forget to CYA. Communicate by email. If you have conversations follow them up with emails restating what you've agreed on.

You may as well start looking at the job market and building what you need. Update your resume and online profiles now.

jimbob_racing wrote:

Hungary Bill wrote: People are only promoted high enough to fail. When you meet a dip-E36 M3 in a leadership position: that's as high as he got before he started berkeleying up. So in 20 years, you'll be at "xyz" job, and that dumb bastard will still be where he is.

I believe that's called the Peter Principle, which states that in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.

glad I read the rest of the posts .... I was going to say that

supposedly it came from a gardner ... named Peter ( imagine that ) that could grow anything .. the personification of the green thumb .... the estate where he worked decided to reward him by making him the manager of the grounds crew(s) .... a job at which he totally sucked ... he had risen to his level of incompetence ... thereafter called the Peter Principle

or so the story goes

pinchvalve wrote: ...If you think that the organization would be upset to learn of his behavior, then make sure they know without resorting to direct complaints. Send your boss an e-mail, copy the regional manager, and ask for a fast response at a time when you know your boss is out playing golf. Schedule deliveries that require his signature at 1:00 when you know he is taking a long lunch. Schedule conference calls at the minute he is supposed to be in the office if he is always late. Go to his boss with questions whenever he is out of the office. Anything you can do to let his boss know that he is not at his post will build a case against him. How many times do you think the District Manager wants to get calls from the store that should be handled by the store manager? The DM will start asking questions and tracking your boss more closely...

This.

HR is a valuble route in an organization without high turnover. It is essential in an organization that hires folks who know the rules and keep documentation. In a consumer enviroment, they tend to just get rid of problems.

They are valuble for the most egregious offences (sexual harrasment, etc) but I don't think they are the way to go.

What pinchvalve is suggesting sounds a bit Machiavellian, but you aren't manufactoring his incompentence, merely finding a perfectly reasonable method of exposing it.

This will work 2 ways. One, you will appear to be looking out for the best interest of the compnay. Never, never, mention anything he is doing wrong. Just answer questions when asked "Where is Manager X?" make it appear painful to divulge details. It wil underscore your loyalty.

Worst case, being ex-military, he will straighten up. The enviroment might not change, but his hours will.

Best case, he will get transferred.

Now, as mentioned ALL of this needs to be electronic, and thusly, self documenting. That is why your approch must always be complimentary. "Hi Dist Manager X, just wondering if it is OK that I am signing for these deliveries when Store Manager X is away?"

"Hey Dist Man X, this just came up and Store Manager X is not here, the compnay guidelines/regs/whatever documentation says this, so am I cleared to ..."

etc etc etc.

Every customer with a question or a concern gets "Well our manager isn't here, but call Dist Man X and let him know Manager X wasn't here and he will get your questioned answered."

This is a chess game, not checkers. You have to commit to this for the long haul and your agenda has to remain a secret. Tell no one, never drop any clever hints at the store manger, never be late, blantant or obvious. It will not happen overnight, but you can make it happen.

Also, you have to position yourself to take advatage of this. The qualification rules might be BS, but they are there and they are real. Get the qualifications you need to take his job and prevent his replacement from being even worse.

^^^ this is the best advice anybody can give

Dealt with this in the last retail job (big box sporting goods) I worked. New guy, 25 complaints to HR from various employees (all of which did nothing), 1/2 the store left/transferred out. He was worst cast scenario.

He kept piling new responsibilities on me and I was a part-timer. My solution won't help you, though.

I was a bike tech and I sunk my department when I left. My replacement lasted a month, his replacement lasted 2 weeks--all before Christmas. I screwed him over royally and that was all I cared about at that moment.

When HR doesn't give a crap, it sucks. Mental's point is right--this was at a high-turnover company, so they didn't care--which is funny, because I cost them a lot of money.

Sitting around and stewing about this today with some co workers, we came up to the solution that he's inexperienced enough to be freaking out and worried about getting fired over every little thing.

They require that we "shoot our outs" which is scanning empty slots, verifying on hand accuracy. They require that we do so many per week. Well he had a co worker scan a bunch, and then everyone left. Guess who had to count them all. Well I went through and counted em, and apparently the next night he didn't like my results. WTF? like I didn't count them right on purpose.

Well today, guess what, more E36 M3 to count. If there's a large variance of money or part number quantities, when you count them out, it asks you to verify them. I did, and found $1320!!!!! Certain slots are empty, the part, thanks to some lazy berkeleys, goes on the top shelf. Instead of putting it on the top shelf. Said starters were on the bottom shelf, where they belonged on the top. Said we had none, we had two, at $119.99 apiece.

My head. Is going to explode.

sorry for the rant, it's not really adding anything to the conversation.

ARGH!!!

Listen to pinchvalve and mental, they both stated it pretty elegantly. I was going to simply say that I have had managers like this, and other than getting a new job there is no real solution, so you might as well berkeley with the guy as much as possible. Just think of fun and creative ways that aren't an immediate threat to your position and try to do it without malice but in a fun/mean spirit dark humor kind of way... you'll feel better about going to work.

Remember when it was acceptable to just be able to take shiny happy people out back and beat them with a rubber hose?

There was a time when we took you out back to the woodshed and beat you with a rubber hose, now you got your Gdamn unions.

Capt, you know I'm not a pro union guy.

Brandon, tred lightly my friend. I know he is a lousy boss, but you can easily get yourself in hot water too. I was involved (indirectly) in 2 incidents where employee X didn't like employee Y and did things or called the hotline to try and get employee Y canned. Well, any time the hotline is called, the DM has to do an investigation. Once the investigation took place and it was discovered that employee X was trying to get employeeY canned and didn't have a strong case, employee X was canned for causing such a disturbance.

In other words, don't do anything without having a very strong case and/or other employees to back you up.

I really feel bad for you guys down there. You and the rest of the crew were absolutely great for the 2 years I was there. You all do deserve someone better than what you have now.

Mental wrote:

pinchvalve wrote: ...If you think that the organization would be upset to learn of his behavior, then make sure they know without resorting to direct complaints. Send your boss an e-mail, copy the regional manager, and ask for a fast response at a time when you know your boss is out playing golf. Schedule deliveries that require his signature at 1:00 when you know he is taking a long lunch. Schedule conference calls at the minute he is supposed to be in the office if he is always late. Go to his boss with questions whenever he is out of the office. Anything you can do to let his boss know that he is not at his post will build a case against him. How many times do you think the District Manager wants to get calls from the store that should be handled by the store manager? The DM will start asking questions and tracking your boss more closely...

This. HR is a valuble route in an organization without high turnover. It is essential in an organization that hires folks who know the rules and keep documentation. In a consumer enviroment, they tend to just get rid of problems. They are valuble for the most egregious offences (sexual harrasment, etc) but I don't think they are the way to go. What pinchvalve is suggesting sounds a bit Machiavellian, but you aren't manufactoring his incompentence, merely finding a perfectly reasonable method of exposing it. This will work 2 ways. One, you will appear to be looking out for the best interest of the compnay. Never, never, mention anything he is doing wrong. Just answer questions when asked "Where is Manager X?" make it appear painful to divulge details. It wil underscore your loyalty. Worst case, being ex-military, he will straighten up. The enviroment might not change, but his hours will. Best case, he will get transferred. Now, as mentioned ALL of this needs to be electronic, and thusly, self documenting. That is why your approch must always be complimentary. "Hi Dist Manager X, just wondering if it is OK that I am signing for these deliveries when Store Manager X is away?" "Hey Dist Man X, this just came up and Store Manager X is not here, the compnay guidelines/regs/whatever documentation says this, so am I cleared to ..." etc etc etc. Every customer with a question or a concern gets "Well our manager isn't here, but call Dist Man X and let him know Manager X wasn't here and he will get your questioned answered." This is a chess game, not checkers. You have to commit to this for the long haul and your agenda has to remain a secret. Tell no one, never drop any clever hints at the store manger, never be late, blantant or obvious. It will not happen overnight, but you can make it happen. Also, you have to position yourself to take advatage of this. The qualification rules might be BS, but they are there and they are real. Get the qualifications you need to take his job and prevent his replacement from being even worse.

This is great advice guys. I'm quoting this for later. Not sure I'll ever need it, but my dept is in transition so you never know!...

In reply to Spoolpigeon:

Believe me, I'm not gonna go whining and crying to the DM about it, I think I'm just gonna have to drop my shoulder and hit it full-on.

We've also recently learned that he's getting a divorce, so that would explain a lot of his sour-ass moods.

BoostedBrandon wrote: We've also recently learned that he's getting a divorce, so that would explain a lot of his sour-ass moods.

Ya never know man, he may clear up after the divorce and become a great guy to work with. It's always been said, don't judge someone immediately until you know what's all going on in their life.

Of course I'm always the nice guy. I'd rather be friends with someone than enemies. May be worth it to offer a hand to help or support the guy? Maybe try to train him to be the manager you want him to be? Just looking for other options. Seems like getting the guy fired while he's going through a divorce may just push him over the edge, I know it does for a lot of people. What do you think?