For years the only stress I felt while working at Lowe's was caused by id--tic customers I couldn't tell off.
Now, with all the uncertainties, internal politics, mounting frustrations...I am dreading even going into work each day. I start stressing before I even reach my store!
I really wish we could go back to good old times...
its been a long steady decline and we have been beaten down. But these recent actions are the signs of a company that is being systematically thrashed into failure. This can only be done by incompetence or by design. Neither is acceptable but we have little say in the matter. I feel badly for anyone who would be trying to build a future here.
You cannot bring up any legitimate issues or your labeled a trouble maker...they only want mindless followers to follow Marvin and his buddies blindy along. Marvin has nothing original, neither do his ex HD buddies. I have never been so stressed. A Pse recently died of a heart attack...probaly all the stress unfortunately.
If you are a hard working employee. The kind of person that does the job of 2 or 3 employees you are a huge asset at most companies. At Lowe’s you will be pushed to work even harder, not given decent raises and in many cases held back from promotion because, the manager needs productive people in the position. Don’t stay married to a bad situation in a bad company. Move on, if all you do is throw freight, get into a union job with FED Ex or UPS. If you out perform people there you have room for promotion. Try places like Costco or hobby lobby, even Target is paying $15 an hour to start.
only problem with that mindset is that if your store does it as a whole, in this retail climate, your store will just get shut down. its a no win situation. employees work themselves to death and corporate will try to extract that much more but at least you, hopefully, still have a store to show up to work at. however if everyone admits the emperor has no clothes and does only what ONE person can do, then you're in danger of them calling your stuff under-performing and it gets closed down and they completely clean house.
in the store my spouse works at the SM all the way down gets screamed at by the district manager. right there on the sales floor. for awhile the management team tried to mirror the threatening behaviors but they got burned out doing it...it wasnt them and now they have an attitude of just do what you can. their store was far from broken before marvin came in and they know it!! they can see how broken it was becoming because of marvin.
theres now this stressful juggling act of trying to "beat the race horse" to keep running the race but realizing theyre on the cusp of k--ling the animal and they dont know what to do about it. management is scared to lose their own jobs if they dont become increasingly unethical and scared to lose their entire team if they do.
These corporate goons WANT you to start mirroring their behavior. it justifies their own! Don't BECOME the wolf, dont BE the sheep! Be a person of character. Have a moral compass. That is what they despise. Work hard, have the right attitude. But only DO WHAT YOU CAN DO! i have seen a lot of people decide they are going to wage war, push back, at their ASM or supervisor and, in this climate where everyone is scared, it the justifies getting rid of that individual. When you work hard, have the right attitude, it disarms those who really dont want to be engaging in threats and intimidations and then their attitude is forced to change.
We know corporate fears only one thing --- shareholders/their stock # --- you know what a walk out of every person in every store would do to their stock! with each passing day it would pretty much go down in multiples. i bet within a week itd be zero. remember, the board of directors and the executive teams are heavily paid in STOCKS! honestly it will be the only way retail workers will ever gain back power from publicly traded retail corporations. force a seat at the table. have a list of demands. its high time the stock market be abolished for the crony ponzi scheme that it is! but im no dreamer....we all know you cannot even get everyone in a single store on the same page let alone a mass chunk of the company. our inability to organize is corporate greatest asset! ironically they truly do fear this happening though...hence their move to limit how much stock the employees can buy.
anyone actually read their shareholder packets....if you dont go to the shareholder meeting or designate a proxy....corporate becomes your voice on all voting matters!! its a sick game. if the employees all designated the same proxy and sent them to the meeting...you actually could force your own person onto the board of directors...you could vote marvin off the board! you could force an agenda that supported the workers!
Sounds exactly like what my husband is going through. Fighting and working is A** off 6-7 every single day. When his boss comes in and rips him apart for things not getting done. The writing is on the wall and he will be fired soon. After 15 years at Lowe’s even the store managers are being treated like garbage. All the sweat and blood and tears we have put into this company. All the sacrifices of moving 4 times to help them and now he’s being treated like he’s the enemy. I’m sick with anger. Watching my husband hate where he works after 15 years of loving it and “bleeding blue”. He’s being torn down and the truth is coming out.
We all feel this. Even store managers, asms, all the way down. There is no captain, no one at the helm.
Marvin and all he's brought in are empty suits. They exist to collect a paycheck while posturing.
We have zero guidance, and simultaneously, corporate has handcuffed all management. They are unable to do anything. The district manager in region 30 / District 7 has caused the entire market to go to absolute ruin. With all stores in his market tanking, and only doing well due to the stores locations and populations, this man somehow still has a job and is revered when the tanking even started long before the butcher (Carvin Marvin) showed up.
Look, its cut throat now. Everyone is a mercenary. When its like this, DO NOT be a lamb. You need to turn the heat up as much as possible. Fight fire with fire. I would use EVERY resource (and I am) possible to you - ethicspoint.com, email your human resource, email every top brass with pictures, proof, and clear cut policy policy violations going on. Email them your concerns. CNBC would love to hear from you as would all newspapers.
NO ONE, including store management should have to deal with the unprofessional, unethical, and hostile work environment Lowe's has created. They have cut staff and hours, demanding we work unsafely as its the ONLY way to serve customers.
In my chit store (worst in market and everyone knows its broken for years) when things get so hairy due to no staff or help, employees simply say "Im sick and going home." Thats a very good strategy.
I remember as a young woman in the work force as a manager, I went to my superior with serious problems. He said and I quote, "let it all fail." I ridiculed him him at the time, not understanding. Now, years later, he was right. I get it. The more WE do as employees to make management look good, the more they will f**k us.
Let it all collapse. Then change must happen.
They want you helping customers? Then gran every old lady you can find, spend 2 hours with them each, and sell them a fender washer.
Someone wants to buy a 50k material list at your Pro desk and youre working in tool world due to lack of staff and paged to the desk? Sorry, its lunch time.
Why support a company and people who are not supporting you at all?
Why get stressed for so-called leaders, who are incompetent and do not respect you, and lie to you?
Whay care, whe they have given every indication they done care at all?
Please look up "sanction of the victim."
It will explain EXACTLY what is going on. They know you have great work ethic, but see it as a vice, not as a value. They know you will "do more", and count on it, making you yourself, the enabler through your work ethic, and values. Its a very sneaky ruse to get you stressed, but do not let them.
YOU are allowed them to use your values against yourself. So remember, your work ethic is ONLY for those who support you, and for those you respect. If you dread even going, that is all lost.
Do not k--l yourself to live. Not for a pack of immoral check collectors, hell bent on firing you at 1st chance.
Cheers.