THERE IS A HELL! - - - IT IS CALLED RETAIL THERE IS A HELL AND IT IS CALLED RETAIL! | Page 28

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Inability to perform well
An embarrassing circumstance
Anything to do with sex, ethnicity, politics, or religion
Once again, saying "Just kidding!" does not make it all better

Using humour to establish dominance puts a manager on the same level as a dog trying to
climb to the top of a pack. Comments such as "So... ha, ha... I guess you don't want to work
here anymore because you're always late! Ha, ha!" are put-downs, demoralizing, and will
result in an immediate loss of credibility.
Sarcasm is awesome. It allows witty, intelligent people to express themselves at the expense
of the unimaginative and self-important. Managers should never be sarcastic towards their
employees. Sarcasm should be saved for the manager's boss, such as the district manager. I
can respect that. But never, ever, should manager use sarcasm on an associate under her
charge.
How does a manager know that he's gone too far with humour? That's easy: If you can tell
the "joke" to an eight-year-old without hurting his feelings, then it's probably okay.
How does a manager know he's using "humour" to establish dominance? That's easy, too. I
call it the "f*** off" test. If you make a joke and the employee tells you to f*** off, then
you've gone too far. Since most employees won't tell a boss to f*** off, here's some other
ways they say it:
 Silence
 Breaking eye contact
 Leaving
 Refusing to converse other than necessary communication
 Stapling a two-week's notice to your forehead
 Just kidding
Performance Punishing Behaviour
I saved the best for last. Almost all retail managers have done this. In another line of
profession, I have done this, knowingly. I now regret it.
Performance punishing behaviour is when you treat your best people like dirt. Managers put
their fastest, most reliable, most competent people on the worst jobs.
Reliable associates get the worst shifts. Competent associates get the worst tasks. Fast
employees get the most tedious jobs. After a while, these associates have to be rewarded
and recognized. Definitely promoted (if they want).
Most managers I've witnessed in performance punishing behaviour use the rest of this page's
headers as excuses to keep going: lies, bias, poor rewards.

dodie ste®eo p®odu©tion ™

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