The company bullies can only win if we succumb to their threats and take our anger and frustration out on others. Seemingly; anytime we have a visit, the management teams respond with a pile of coachings and “tough conversations.” Success is not celebrated anymore; the negative is the only thing that is seen or noted. We’ve gotten so far off track in team development that’s its not surprising the results are what they are. I’m not a person who thrives on compliments or needs positive reassurance for everything; however, I believe in equitable feedback. When something is good, it should be noticed and when something is bad, the same. We have this culture of negativity today because at some point, our upper leadership decided to emphasize the negative and minimize the positive or explain it away as “that’s doing your job.” If you find yourself in the coming days, weeks or months faced with an uncomfortable “tough conversation” take it in stride and don’t internalize it. If you find yourself discouraged, the best antidote is to encourage others. When you begin threatening and intimidating others, that’s when they win and when that happens, we all lose.
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Union might finally be needed as well as making Arkansas a closed shop state.
It’s dysfunctional!
Great post, thank you. I'm the guy who got re fit with a size 12 anus from this company a couple years back, and everything you described is exactly how I remember the culture of my store being.
You're 100% right: The whole direction now is based on fear, intimidation and degradation. Literally nothing is ever good enough, everything is a demand, expectations are completely unreasonable, and where there once was a guaranteed open door policy you could depend on for help, that is now a series of doors slammed in your face. There is absolutely no one to mediate a management conflict with now----unless you're an ethnic or gender-based minority and/or an alternate s-xual orientation.
It is.... intensely pleasurable watching these very managers, now, scrambling like frightened bugs, knowing their 'careers' and lives are being drastically altered. Forever. :)
What does this have to do with lay offs 🤦🏻♀️