Retail work is a boon for people looking for full-time employment.
After submitting my thesis in November 1997, I found a retail job. The economy was booming. I would soon have a new degree, and, I hoped, a job in publishing. I was wrong. I remained for eight years. What I remember most is how co-workers were treated by management.
I’ll call the staff’s favorite “Maggie.” Then in her mid-50s, she wasn’t like most of the women I have known. Married at 17, she raised a family. Once her children were in school full-time, she ran a school cafeteria. The retail job was to provide her with a year-round income. Watching her deal with customers was a joy. She truly listened and worked to understand customers’ needs.
One day, she told us that her husband asked who she was: “I never see you. What happened to going to dinner or to a movie?” he asked. When she was hired, she gave her availability as Friday and Saturday nights. She did not expect to be assigned both nights, every week throughout the year. Management too often is unthinking. She withdrew her Friday availability.
Then there was the day she and the manager opened the store. When I came in, Maggie’s eyes and nose were red. “Are your allergies bothering you, Maggie?” “No, (the manager) took me into her office.”
I no longer remember what Maggie was accused of. All I remember is that it wasn’t true. As the rest of the staff filed in for their shifts, everyone became angry over manager “Diane’s” treatment of our role model.
One by one, Diane took people into her office to humiliate them. Her goal seemed to be to reduce people to tears.
The tables turned on Diane when a new assistant manager was hired. After 25 years as a legal secretary, “Marina” was burned out. Standing 6 feet tall, bursting with energy, intelligence and humor, she looked forward to a different path in life. She quickly earned the respect of the staff.
When she arrived one day near the end of the manager’s shift, the staff was at the checkout, learning a new procedure. When we saw her, we immediately called out, “Marina!” as if it were a cheer. Diane looked up and asked why she was never greeted in that way. We said nothing.
Marina left not long after. She hated the long, irregular hours, but, more than that, she could not accept the disrespect both the store and district managers showed her. She happily returned to her former work.
Then there was “Patti,” who appeared wearing the 1990s version of leggings and tunics, which were less revealing than today’s revival of the style. The tunic was long enough to be considered a dress and the leggings could have passed for tights. That manager, “Lena,” pulled her into the stock room and told her that her clothes were wrong.
When Patti said that bank tellers and office receptionists dressed as she did, she was told her clothes violated the dress code. All the dress code said was no to sneakers, tanks and other sleeveless tops, jeans and shorts. It suggested “business casual,” which was described as khaki pants or skirts with buttoned shirts.
Lena wrote in Patti’s employee evaluation that, “She sometimes comes to work dressed inappropriately.” Rather than the customary 25-cent raise, Lena allowed Patti a 23-cent raise. Patti quit on principle.
Finally, there was “Nancy,” who lived about 10 miles from the store. The office, where she worked full-time, was another four miles beyond the store, further from her apartment. Recently separated from her husband, she needed more money. She wished to work weeknights. The policy was all employees worked both weekdays and weekends. On her last shift, she explained that she was struggling to pay her rent and that she could not justify the 20-mile round trip on weekends for the $6 per hour that was then the starting wage.
What management failed to consider is that stay-at-home mothers who only wanted weekend work when their husbands were home to watch the kids were turned away for not being available during the week.
All of these women were over 30. Most had college degrees. Most were supplementing their incomes from full-time employment. Some, like Maggie, were managers at other jobs. There was no reason for the disrespect they were shown.
With the exception of Diane’s treatment of her staff, most of the situations could have been handled differently. Marina should have been recognized as the asset she was. Patti’s alleged violation of the dress code was a matter of interpretation. However, she could have been spoken to in the manager’s office, not in the stockroom as others rushed in and out. Above all else, she was made to sound irresponsible, even slatternly, in the evaluation. Finally, Nancy’s reasonable explanation should have given rise to an exception.
To keep employees from quitting their jobs, managers must treat them with more respect.
Susan Wozniak, of Easthampton, is a retired journalist and writing professor who writes a monthly column. She can be reached at opinion@gazettenet.com.