RANT: All the Issues are My Fault and You Won't Answer My Questions
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@thecreativeone91 said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
It's the reason I'm good at my job and why people come back to see ME and ONLY me
So the store would close down if you left? Was it not open before you started?
The first rule of being indispensable is to come to the understanding that you are totally dispensable.
Given that Staples ran just fine without you for your time in Texas says to me that you are over-inflating your self-importance.
Now get back to work.
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@tonyshowoff said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
I complain about a lot of things, sure. However I also have made many comments about how much I enjoy working there, how much I care about my job, some of the great people I work with, and so on. I don't deal well with people who are lazy or apathetic at the store, because that job is very personal to me. It's the reason I'm good at my job and why people come back to see ME and ONLY me. So yes, I complain. But it's because I'm frustrated by things that I can't fix, and I'm the kind of person who likes to fix things.
Management, HR, etc never see the complements, 10,000 complements mean nothing compared to 1 complaint, and they can take any complaint and make it into a bigger deal than you think. You have to remember that other people cannot understand/read your own feelings about things. Also consider if someone important saw any one of your bad comments, none of your good ones, by the time you tried to explain it to the person firing you, it'll be too late.
Oh I know that. Thankfully I know none of those people will ever see this. Even if the word Staples is triggered in corporate's monitoring of the online usage of it, there are pretty much no links to their site from this site and no one at corporate cares about what I have to say. We have a hard enough time getting them to address REAL issues that are brought up by someone like the GM.
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@tonyshowoff said:
I don't mind my own employees bitching about things or customers, but never online, at all. In fact I'm sure there's probably a clause in your contract/work agreement/whatever where you aren't allowed to do anything which may embarrass the company. We have that. I've fired people for doing exactly what you've done here. The main thing is: you're a low level employees, the fact you have a manager in your store says you're in no real position of administrative authority, which means the store will go on without you. Nobody wants to promote someone who talks crap about the company or customers, but especially the company, and especially in public one the Internet by name.
Every company pretty much has this clause. Never seen one that didn't. Many hold you legally responsible for damage you may cause to the company with statements as well.
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@thanksajdotcom said:
There is a direct correlation between me working there and increased store sales. It wouldn't just pack up and shut down, but it would not do nearly as well as it could.
To be blunt.
If you were working for me...And you were delivering revenue, yet you were crap talking about my name and my brand online, You'd be fired, no one will tolerate that in any sector.
This is why everyone is getting at you, You cannot keep doing this.
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@thanksajdotcom said:
Oh I know that. Thankfully I know none of those people will ever see this. Even if the word Staples is triggered in corporate's monitoring of the online usage of it, there are pretty much no links to their site from this site and no one at corporate cares about what I have to say. We have a hard enough time getting them to address REAL issues that are brought up by someone like the GM.
You're using security through obscurity. I've been told twice before by my own employees that they didn't think anyone would see what they wrote either. People find things, usually by accident, and it gets reported, and you have your photograph with what I assume is probably your real initials, it wouldn't be hard for someone to figure this out.
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Also.
Think about future employment, everything you are saying here is cached and preserved by not just MangoLassi but google takes a cache as well.
What will a future employer think if they see you trash talking the current employer?
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As for how I would find out...
http://www.thanksaj.com/about-me/
That's practically a treasure trove for anyone to find you on.
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@PSX_Defector said:
@thecreativeone91 said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
It's the reason I'm good at my job and why people come back to see ME and ONLY me
So the store would close down if you left? Was it not open before you started?
The first rule of being indispensable is to come to the understanding that you are totally dispensable.
Given that Staples ran just fine without you for your time in Texas says to me that you are over-inflating your self-importance.
Now get back to work.
That's the thing though, they didn't. Sure, the store hasn't closed and life continued on for all its employees, but there is a difference between functioning and thriving. They can certainly function without me. They have the potential to thrive without me, but they need someone like me at the store in the tech department for that to happen, and since I left in 2013, they haven't had anyone like that. And yes, they could get someone who could meet the qualifications to do my job, but they cannot replace me at that store. The reputation I've earned in the community and with the customers is not something I gained overnight and something that no one can just walk in and have or obtain without a lot of time and commitment.
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@Breffni-Potter said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
There is a direct correlation between me working there and increased store sales. It wouldn't just pack up and shut down, but it would not do nearly as well as it could.
To be blunt.
If you were working for me...And you were delivering revenue, yet you were crap talking about my name and my brand online, You'd be fired, no one will tolerate that in any sector.
This is why everyone is getting at you, You cannot keep doing this.
Let's put it this way. I got laid off from the big red V and still refer to it in vague terms. My current employer has a large online presence in social media, so I will never mention them by name or even by fake vague name. And I use a pseudonym online rather than my real name.
It's not a good thing to mention your employer with your real name and include the word "sucks". Surprised it hasn't happened yet.
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@tonyshowoff said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
Oh I know that. Thankfully I know none of those people will ever see this. Even if the word Staples is triggered in corporate's monitoring of the online usage of it, there are pretty much no links to their site from this site and no one at corporate cares about what I have to say. We have a hard enough time getting them to address REAL issues that are brought up by someone like the GM.
You don't understand how good SEO is these days and how easy it is to find stuff. If i search for aj stringham staples or aj stringham rant It turns up quite a bit.
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@Breffni-Potter said:
Also.
Think about future employment, everything you are saying here is cached and preserved by not just MangoLassi but google takes a cache as well.
What will a future employer think if they see you trash talking the current employer?
I understand your point in this. I do. But if a company wants to take what I say totally at face value without any context, the job wouldn't work out anyways.
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Look @thanksajdotcom, here's some useful advice, since I know you're still pretty young:
Nobody gives a damn about intentions, especially managers and people in positions of authority. Whether or not you intend on someone not-reading this, whether or not you think your complements outweigh your complaints, it's all irrelevant, because almost everyone else in the post-industrial capitalist world sees a complaint, online from an employee as a "fire me" badge. Staples relies on you to make them money, they're leasing your labour, so if they think you're saying or doing anything to ever, possibly, even once make a customer not want to choose them over Office Max or something (and this is always), then you're done. You have to bend to the way the rest of the world thinks, even if you don't think that way. I don't think that I should have to wear pants in public, but I still do.
Anyway this is something you have to learn, if you want to be in a position to be able to talk crap, you gotta kiss a lot of butt first, and I've only ever seen you complain about your parent company, never say anything really good about it. Maybe I've read it, but I don't remember it, and that's important, because most people are like that. In the same way if you tell someone "you've got great hair, great dress sense, but you're fat as hell" they're not going to care about the fact you complemented them more. Companies work the same way.
Stop complaining about your company, and it's OK to complain about customers, but keep it vague, don't name names, locations, or anything people can infer things from.
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@PSX_Defector said:
@Breffni-Potter said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
There is a direct correlation between me working there and increased store sales. It wouldn't just pack up and shut down, but it would not do nearly as well as it could.
To be blunt.
If you were working for me...And you were delivering revenue, yet you were crap talking about my name and my brand online, You'd be fired, no one will tolerate that in any sector.
This is why everyone is getting at you, You cannot keep doing this.
Let's put it this way. I got laid off from the big red V and still refer to it in vague terms. My current employer has a large online presence in social media, so I will never mention them by name or even by fake vague name. And I use a pseudonym online rather than my real name.
It's not a good thing to mention your employer with your real name and include the word "sucks". Surprised it hasn't happened yet.
Yep. Very few people know my real name online. Nor where I work. Linked in doesn't even list my current info.
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@thanksajdotcom said:
I understand your point in this. I do. But if a company wants to take what I say totally at face value without any context, the job wouldn't work out anyways.
So like every employer that cares about PR. which is well most.
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@thanksajdotcom said:
And yes, they could get someone who could meet the qualifications to do my job, but they cannot replace me at that store.
Bad way to think right there.
What if I strolled in over there? Not only can I run technical circles around you, my customer service skills are second to none. My bosses give me all the calls to make to customers because of my ability to "make them run around in the parking lot naked if I said that it would fix their issue".
There is always someone better than you at anything you do. I'm good, but I have plenty to learn still.
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@thanksajdotcom said:
I understand your point in this. I do. But if a company wants to take what I say totally at face value without any context, the job wouldn't work out anyways.
Whether a statement is true or not, the damage is done to that brand and reputation.
So I don't care about why you posted rubbish about my brand, I only care about the fact that by giving you a job, by paying you a salary, I expect you to be loyal and not attack me publicly on the internet.
There is no such thing as "A good public complaint" about ones workplace.
Everyone who has done it, when the employer has found it, has been let go. In any industry.
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@thanksajdotcom said:
And yes, they could get someone who could meet the qualifications to do my job, but they cannot replace me at that store.
I've fired a few irreplaceable people, even I thought they would be hard to replace, but the world keeps turning even without you.
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@tonyshowoff said:
Staples relies on you to make them money, they're leasing your labour, so if they think you're saying or doing anything to ever...
Or what about trying to take there business: http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/346177-what-to-do
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@thecreativeone91 said:
@tonyshowoff said:
Staples relies on you to make them money, they're leasing your labour, so if they think you're saying or doing anything to ever...
Or what about trying to take there business: http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/346177-what-to-do
We have a non-compete clause and I'm betting Staples probably does too.
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@PSX_Defector said:
@thanksajdotcom said:
And yes, they could get someone who could meet the qualifications to do my job, but they cannot replace me at that store.
Bad way to think right there.
What if I strolled in over there? Not only can I run technical circles around you, my customer service skills are second to none. My bosses give me all the calls to make to customers because of my ability to "make them run around in the parking lot naked if I said that it would fix their issue".
There is always someone better than you at anything you do. I'm good, but I have plenty to learn still.
And I'm aware of that. But also consider the position. I know that technically you could run circles around me, and I haven't seen your CS skills, nor you mine, so we can't really comment on that. However, while I know there are plenty of people who could no doubt outperform me at that job, none of those people would work that job. Even if you were totally desperate for work, you could get something that pays WAY better than what I make, which means, effectively, you would never work there. It's the combination of my skill and the fact I'm willing to work there that makes me unique.
