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 Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:45 pm
So apparently me getting my transfer means leaving my baristas in a world of pain, which honestly makes me feel bad even though they keep telling me not to.
The transfer is to a brand new store opening up, and I've been going after it aggressively since August (the store opens March 22nd) because I've had alot of issues with the store I'm currently at and I've heard phenomenal things about the partner being promoted to manage it.
So shortly before Christmas we got a new shift supervisor coming onto the team who had been off for maternity leave (prior to that her home store was a different location in our district). I found out later that part of the deal that convinced her to join our team (bearing in mind that my store has been through alot of... adversity and that we don't have the most stellar reputation in the city) was that she would be here until that new store opened up (I never got official confirmation of that so I don't know how entirely true that might be). I figured that meant I had no hope in hell of getting the transfer because while every store in the district was supposed to be sending two shift supervisors and two baristas to the new store, sending two shifts from our store would mean 2/3 of our current shift team with a brand new outside hire making up the other third.
Last Friday, the district manager and my store manager asked me if I was still interested in going to the new store. I responded that I was. They informed me that I was going. As embarassing as it sounds I needed to take a minute for myself so that I didn't tear up. I put alot into my career at Starbucks, so to get this opportunity is huge, it feels like a vindication, like I'm finally getting the recognition I deserve for dealing with everything that I've been through.
When I told the other shift that I thought was going, she asked me what that meant for her. I responded honestly and said I didn't know. I don't want my advancement coming at the expense of someone else's, but I also don't want to lose what I fought for. So now I'm hearing (again, rumor) that she's not going to the new store. I haven't seen her since I heard that, and I have no idea how to handle it when I do.
So onto why I really feel bad. Dealing with the upper management team of my store is like pulling teeth. There are major failures in communication every day. There are massive, massive problems with training and partner development. But the biggest issue to me is thus; the philosophy behind how our store is being run by essentially the whole management team other than myself and the brand new shift, is critically flawed. At every interval in my training as a shift supervisor and learning coach I have been taught what my priorities are:
Partners
Customers
Business
That means that I'm responsible to my baristas first (their first responsibility is the customer), the customers second, and the business side of things last. I always try to put my baristas first. Get them on their breaks on time, supplement their training as necessary, handle abusive customers, and generally try to look out for their best interests. The rest of the management team (again minus the brand new one) have those priorities entirely inverted.
I had to fight and literally threaten to either demote myself or quit in order to get my training as a shift supervisor finished because I was thrown into my position with less than half my training completed and expected to just do it.
Not to be arrogant, but I'm honestly popular with the baristas because to them I'm the only one that really gives a s**t about them and go out of my way to help them rather than thrust ridiculous expectations on them without backing it up with the proper support. I want to be part of a management team, not a Marxian class struggle. I know what I've been trained to do and how other stores in the city operate, and this just isn't right.
I'm appreciative of how supportive they're being of my transfer, but I fear for the store once I'm gone. I can honestly say that it's very possible that there will be a massive exodus shortly after I leave and I won't feel smug or vindicated by it. I'll feel like s**t.
On the other hand, my going away party will be a bunch of us going out to see 300 and it's no coincidence. It's not just that I feel like kicking someone down a well and yelling "THIS IS SPARTAAAAA STAAAAAAAARBUCKS!" most days, but that it feels like we're those 300 spartans alot of the time. Set up to fail utterly, but claw and scratch our way to whatever victory we can manage.
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:05 pm
eek
*Crosses Starbucks and UPS off list for other job oppurtunities.*
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:13 pm
I don't think I've properly framed that, Inque. I love my job, most of the baristas I work with are great, and we have alot of great and friendly customers. I just needed to find a (management) team that could match my convictions and dedication to certain ideals. What's happening at my store is not what is supposed to be happening at Starbucks, and it's not something that happens at alot of them. It's what's happening at mine. Even after I have a shitty day, I remember that I'm goddamn good at what I do and alot of people appreciate it.
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 1:42 am
Inque Clay eek *Crosses Starbucks and UPS off list for other job oppurtunities.*
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 7:41 pm
Inque Clay eek *Crosses Starbucks and UPS off list for other job oppurtunities.* Woah, woah, woah. UPS is actually a great company to work for. As long as you don't suck, there's nowhere but up. Of course, I don't want to go up in the company. Not because it's bad, but because that's not what I want to do with my life. In other news, my sister may be having her baby tonight. Actually, most likely. My mom is going to take her to the hospital in a bit to try and induce labor. Which is great, because that gets me out of work blaugh
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 7:53 pm
Good Luck!
I hope she there aren't any complications.
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:16 pm
How many people out there would be willing to assist with some subversive marketing? It wouldn't involve much more than leaving postcards in comic/anime shops and conventions.
Anyone going to a super spiffy con between now and September?
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:22 pm
I'm going to a super spiffy con between now and September!
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:26 pm
I should be hitting SDCC and I know of three comic shops of varying quality in my local vicinity...
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:54 pm
Excellent my minions! Any other takers?
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:56 pm
I'm still hoping to make chicago, but now that I have my spiffy new job, not sure if i can or not.
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:00 pm
I'm already for sure coming to Chicago. Got any local comic shops or similar you could put a poster up in?
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:11 pm
I'll glady put anything up.
Hell, i'll make my kids put it up for me!
twisted
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 4:45 pm
I can definately put some up for ya.
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 7:28 pm
Quote: DALTON, Ga. - A Georgia truck driver stepped forward Wednesday to claim half of a $390 million jackpot, the richest lottery prize in U.S. history. "I'm going to do a lot of fishing," Ed Nabors, 52, of Rocky Face, Ga., about 90 miles north of Atlanta, said in a deep Southern drawl. The other winning ticket in Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing was sold at a liquor store in New Jersey, and the holder did not immediately come forward. Nabors bought his ticket at a convenience store in Dalton — the self-proclaimed "Carpet Capital of the World" — near a carpet mill run by his employer, Mohawk Industries. Asking if he will keep working, he said: "Well, at least for a couple more days." He elected to take his winnings in a lump sum instead of annual installments, and will get $116.5 million before taxes, or more than $80 million after. "We just can't believe it. He was shaking so hard they sent him home from work," she said from the door of the rural home she shares with her son. An American flag waved over a patch of daffodils, and a small camper and fishing boat were parked outside. The winning numbers were announced in New York's Times Square, where the 12 participating Mega Millions states agreed to move the drawing from Atlanta after the jackpot hit $355 million. Even though the temperature was just 16 degrees, a few hopefuls showed up to watch the drawing. The winning numbers were 16-22-29-39-42, with the Mega Ball 20. The odds of hitting the winning combination: 1 in 176 million. The previous largest lottery jackpot in the U.S. was $365 million in 2006, when eight workers at a Nebraska meatpacking plant won the Powerball drawing. The Big Game, the forerunner of Mega Millions, paid out a $363 million jackpot in 2000. Mega Millions tickets are sold in California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington state. I hate truckers now...
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