Yesterday, I get an unexpected phone call from the market leader (district manager) asking if I could stay in my role of the store ASM until the middle of July. As I am starting a new position, I obviously could not, despite the fact that the store manager is out on medical leave until July 25 at the earliest and the store has no softlines lead--that leaves only the MPU lead for management. This all happened within a week of giving my notice a month ago, so it's not like I could have done anything. I was lucky enough to be granted a month after being hired into my new position as it is.
I feel bad for just taking off and leaving but I had a chance of getting on to greener pastures and I'd be stupid not to take it. I wasn't about to sacrifice my opportunity to fix a problem that should have been solved proactively long ago but I offered to compromise. Once I started my new position (July 1), I offered to come in on my days off. It's not the most optimal thing for myself or the store, but I offered to do it just for the sake of my store and it was the least I could do. 'No' was the answer and he hung up on me.
So, going forward, I open the store today and I soon find out that I had no access to anything--computers, systems and all. I couldn't log in to my computer. I thought it was a glitch, so I had my office associate log in under her credentials to see if I could get into SHC Connect or Outlook. Nope. It was no mistake. They terminated me.
I already knew I was done but I called the district manager just to hear the "reason" behind locking me out of the system and terminating me unexpectedly. He just said that I made a "selfish move" (me leaving to another job) and that "I have decided to let someone else take care of my responsibilities" and that "the market trainer will be assisting with store operations for the next three weeks".
I was blown away at his ridiculous and unfounded assumption that I didn't care and that I was shrugging off my responsibilities, but I moved past that. Just to ensure that the DM and I were on the same page in regards to me leaving, I verified with him that I had given over a month's notice. He admitted to it, but then was quick to say that "you should know better, it takes a while to find replacements". I explained to him that I did not give a two-weeks notice just for this reason, and instead gave a month's notice out of courtesy--after I had arranged it with my new employer, Target.
Then, the market trainer (HR) that was supposed to be the "stand-in" arrived shortly after opening to collect my keys. I expected her to be bent out of shape from the lies and misinformation that the DM had told, however, she was nice about the whole thing once I explained to her that I had made my plans known for over a month now. She will have to live out of a hotel room for a few weeks and I don't even know if she can run the store beyond opening, closing and swiping a manager card, but I am trying not to worry about it. I'm just glad that there's some coverage, even if it's shoehorned in at the last minute.
Being terminated three days before intended doesn't affect me personally and financially at all. I kind of expected to be terminated the day of announcing my resignation, but they knew and I knew that time was necessary to find my replacement. People aren't exactly lining up to establish a longer-term career at a company on death's doorstep. I could have left the day I landed my new position, but I wanted to do my store a favor as we have such a small crew. Inventory is coming up (which quite frankly won't go so well as it is with the huge theft problem at my store) but my goal was to prepare for it as best as possible. If it isn't completed correctly (everything stock located, on-hand counts are accurate, etc) it could really break a store financially.
In two hours I walked the market trainer around the store and showed her the different things she needed to know about to make her job easier, introduced her to the store staff as the "SGM/ASM pro tempoure" and I left for good.
So that's it for me and my saga at Sears. I will miss all the wonderful people I've worked with (especially at the store level), the customers, the experiences, and my personal and professional growth. I truly wish the best for everyone at Sears Holdings: my store associates and other associates and fellow managers across the company. Even the abrasive district management I had to deal with, and yes, even Eddie Lampert himself. I don't believe in holding grudges, instead, I believe in forgiveness and prayer.
Good luck to those that remain and may God bless you. Hang in there and if something is telling you to bail, do it and don't look back for your own sake. Do what you can do and don't feel bad about moving on. There is more to life than Sears, believe me. I have known quite a few people that live their life for Sears. It's really sad because Sears doesn't reciprocate the dedication for one, but most importantly, the company isn't long for this world.