Fucker's that work at Wendy's; A.K.A A tribute to the crew that work under me!

The BBQ Pit
21

You know what? Quit if it’s so bad.

If Amber is a hardass, more power to her. The problem is that she isn’t a hardass. She’s a weenie trying to be a hardass. That just breeds resentment. She needs to follow through on her threats - backing down to the cashier was the worst thing she could have done. Now she has a crew who thinks she’s a bitch AND doesn’t respect her. That’s a guarantee for a lazy, bitter crew.

I used to work in a theme park and I made the minimum back when it was $5.85 a few years ago. We had four types of supervisors and the one that got the most production out of us was the one that was the biggest hardass and would back it up. We didn’t like him, but we respected him. That’s not to say he was a jerk to us, because he wasn’t, but he set high (but perfectly realistic) standards and then made sure we lived up to them. We didn’t get anything extra for doing what he expected from us, but if we didn’t measure up we got a talking to and that was never fun. Sometimes we might get an extra break or something if we were extraordinarily productive, but that was rare.

The one that got the least production out of us was the one that tried to be a hardass and be our friend at the same time - which is what it sounds like Amber is doing. That supervisor would make threats and then never carried them out, which led to us just walking all over her since we knew she’d never consistently discipline us. We didn’t like her and we didn’t respect her and it just led to her getting stressed out every shift.

The others were generally somewhere in the middle. We liked them, we respected them but we never worked really hard for them even though they were the ones who let us get away with little liberties - the equivalent of free soda or whatever in the fast food industry.

If you want a hard workers you need to set standards and consequences, monitor them to make sure they live up to them, follow through on threats and reward hard work with a little perk, even if it breaks company policy.

22

Cheesesteak, do you have any managerial experience whatsoever? It really doesn’t sound like it. You sound more like the wage-worker who’s been kept down by ‘The Man’ at a foodservice job.

Having managed a group of people before I agree with Jetgirl. The manager is hired to manage, no cater to workers who don’t to their jobs, nor to be their friend. A bad worker is a bad worker, and I doubt that a biggie-sized drink while on the shift for free will solve the problem.

Next time, carry the punk out by his ear after making him punch out. Fuck that.

Sam

23

GaWd, I haven’t worked that sort of job in a long time, thankfully. If managing a group basically means saying “here’s the rule book, follow it or get fired” then no wonder service in this country sucks.

My first post basically said I thought she wasn’t picking her battles correctly. She’s being a hardass about drinks and badges, but people get away with loafing and insubordination.

A good manager does more than just enforce rules. The manager - employee relationship should not be an adversarial one, they should be part of the same team working together. Amber has an adversarial relationship with her staff, until she changes something, they will not willingly put out any effort into the job. You don’t have to be their bestest buddy, but you should all be on the same side, at least.

24

Right, and it’s the employees’ responsibility to make sure they’re on Amber’s side if they want to keep their jobs.

Grow up already.

25

Hello, Amber’s girlfriend checking in here.

A few details I would like to clarify (based on Cheesesteak’s misconceptions):

  1. Employees at Wendy’s are entitled to a 50% discount on food, which they are to eat during their break. Drinks consumed during breaks are free. Shift supervisors (called “managers” at Wendy’s) and the Manager (who is called the “general manager”) get food for free. All food is to be consumed during break times only. Anything you take outside of your break time is seen as “stealing”. There have been incidences of employees eating fries where customers can see them.

  2. The last metro (subway train) runs at 1:30 AM. After that, there are night buses that run all over the city, every half hour. therefore, employees are perfectly capable of getting home after the last metro has run. Since Amber does not have a car, she has to take a night bus home more often than not. Boo hoo hoo.

As for a discussion on “treating employees like machines”, I would refer you to this thread, where the consensus for the first two pages has been, “Yeah, they’re treated like chattel, but whatcha gonna do. Aren’t rude cashiers who hurt my widdle white-collar feelings NASTY?” Maybe you’d like to go in there and let them know how much you sympathize with service workers, you crusader you.

Amber’s post is just the tip of the iceberg. She inherited a very unruly crew. The previous GM (the bitchy coward from the OP) ruled in that very special way some people have, where they do mean things to their employees to make it LOOK like they have authority, when all they ACTUALLY have is resentment. The crew did not respect the former GM because she did not command their respect, she commanded their fear (a thin line, I know, but it’s there. Jetgirl knows what I’m talking about).
The ex-GM was sent to another store (kind of like how the Catholic Church shuffles pedophiles around), and they got a new GM who is nice, but took 2 weeks of vacation one week after coming to the store.
So he has left a vacuum, and expects his Shift Supers to fill it. He has asked them to start enforcing all of these policies that the previous GM did not, and he is expecting them to do it for these two weeks, without his help.

FTR, I agree with what you guys are saying about Amber being too soft. I have told her that they will NEVER respect her if she makes threats she doesn’t carry out. If she wasn’t actually going to make Mr. Cashier punch out, she shouldn’t have threatened to. If she wanted the consequence of his actions to be a lecture and his warning, then she should have just given him that in the first place, and not threatened to send him home.
This crew is lazy and disrespectful and they need to see some serious discipline and some consequences. (Looks like I’ll be the one disciplining our children.)

It’s true that working in a job like that is unskilled labour, and as such, the employees don’t take it seriously unless you keep them on a short leash. When I worked at Timmy’s, our manager was fair, firm and she had high standards (actually the “$1 if you lose your nametag, 25 cents if you forget” was her system, I suggested it to Amber). None of the people I worked with (or I) would have dreamed of acting like these Wendy’s yahoos, mostly because we knew there would be serious consequences if we did.

And about replacing employees: unfortunately, good help is hard to find, and they have a serious shortage of applicants. So, if you’re looking for a Mcjob and you live in Montreal, come to Wendy’s Peel! (yahoos need not apply)

26

Thanks, lola, for adding that clarification. Amber’s position on the whole soda thing makes a bunch more sense now. I’ve probably made a few too many assumptions about her situation, it does sound like she’s in a big mess not of her design.

Jetgirl, I still think the adversarial “my way or the highway” style isn’t the best way to get people to work hard for you. If you think back on the GOOD managers you’ve had in your life, is that really how they did it? Maybe I’ve just spent too much time in the corporate world with managers that actually respect me.

27

Hon, you seriously think these pond scum deserve her respect?!? They a) can’t follow simple directions b) endanger the lives of other workers and the welfare of the store and c) whine about having to actually do the job they’re paid for and you think she should respect them? Ohmygod, I think I’m going to be sick.

My way or the highway, yes. That doesn’t exclude respect though. Respect has to be earned. Do your job well, show some incentive, show me that you can play by the rules and take responsibility and I’ll respect you like you were my own kid. I might even let you start working a little more independently and give you more input about store operations. Impress me a great deal with your maturity and you’ll make management. But fuckwits who whine about having to fulfill the conditions of employment and then backtalk to the management not only show a lack of concern about their jobs and represent the store in a bad light, they also show that they’ve got no interest in success on any level. You want respect from me, boy? You’re going to have to work for it.

28

Holy shit, Cheesesteak, after that gracious concession, I feel bad about how snarky I was in my above post. Sorry.

As for managerial styles, the way it works in service industries is tricky. There has to be a certain amount of “my way or the highway”, or else employees will trample you. Mostly, managers try to lead by example, never show weakness, and enforce the rules consistently. I have worked for total psychos, very capable managers, and I was a manager in training once. I have come to the conclusion that the manager-employee relationship in service jobs is inevitably bizarre.

29

I note that right now (at least until I post this), the " Blow me, you souless excuse for a manager!" thread is immediately above this one.

No commentary on any of the foregoing is intended (indeed, the “manager” referenced is in a completely different line of work). I just thought the irony was amusing.

30

I’ve never worked in the foodservice industry, but had to manage low-level semi-white collar Customer Service Agents. All I can say about your rule book comment is “If it’s gonna get my ass fired if you don’t follow the rules, by God, you’ll follow them”.

I won’t knock you there.

I agree with you again, but it’s not Amber’s job to befriend them to make them behave properly. If they’re breaking the rules, being assholes, Etc, they need to be fired. Amber has to do her job, and in this case, her job is enforcing the rulebook.

Sam

31

I don’t have too much to add to what JETGIRL has already said.
I understood that Amber was saying that she was just following orders that were trickling down from the new GM and that she was to start making sure they were enforced.
I have worked in foor service (all levels) and would never have dreamed of behaving in this manner. My employees would never have treated me in this manner.
Name tags are important. As said part of the uniform. And if someone wants to comment or compliment they would have no idea who you are if you weren’t wearing one.
Also in the states we have “Secret Shoppers”. These people get paid by the company to come into the stores and check up on how they are taking care of the stores and the customers.
You are graded on cleanliness of the restrooms, lobby, employees, and back area if it can be seen.
They are not to let it be known that they are there to grade the store, but you can usually tell.
Even if Amber isn’t the strongest at enforcing the rules in the past they have to realise that she too has a manager above her and she has her own set of standards to follow.
Shit rolls down hill, and you always have disention in the ranks when you get someone new in.

Stick to your guns Amber.

32

I used to think like cheesesteak. I still want to. I still feel that a little bucking of corporate management may be in order and allow them free drinks. Local management should have SOME discretion on things, IMO.

People new to management can fall into two opposite camps.

A common one is to try to treat employees like you wish to be treated. You probably work well without direction and want to do a great job and please your bosses. The opposite one is to ‘crack the whip’ and set high standards and whallop anyone who challenges them.

It is better to start out tougher and ease up if you think you are being too hard. You can always ease up but it is very difficult to start as a marshmellow and then try to get tougher. That advice works for managers as well as teachers.

I started out as a marshmellow. It worked well because I was managing people like me. They didn’t want or need close supervision and tried to do a good job and get things done. They were also reasonably well paid and were on track in their careers.

I then inherited a different area. A non-techy area…

These people were just doing jobs like data entry and such. I tried to manage them the same.

DISASTER!

These people worked as little as they could, needed constant monitering and supervision and could only distinquish between ‘done’ and ‘not done’. To them ‘done crappily’ was considered ‘done’. I had to then get tougher but it was too late. I had to fire several of them to regain fear and something remotely like respect.

Another thing I found surprising – I always liked to show people new things. I like learning new things. When someone asks questions or wants to learn something new, I let them!

BIG MISTAKE. You see, some types of workers will only learn new things to make more money. I showed these people how to use MIcrosoft Excel (I know oooooooo Excel :wink: ) to do something. Because of this, I had a massive uprising of them demanding higher pay because they now knew how to use Excel. My God. This happened individually a couple more times in the next month.

I then had to do something that I always loathed in managers. I never allowed them to learn something new again unless it was absolutely critical. Sigh.

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t blame these people. They were not paid well. Probably haven’t their entire lives. Why should they break their back working for me?

My point is that managers sometimes have to act in a way that is contrary to what they would like to do. They have to.

As far as Amber is concerned, she needs to enforce her will. After she has them in line (or fires them) then she can decide she is too tough and lighten up.

However, I think she is too tough. Let them have soda. Don’t fret little things like nametags and don’t try to monetarily punish them. Be tough but not a hardass.

The best managers/leaders I have seen or worked for had one thing in common — people WANTED to please them and work for them. Find these people, watch and learn. IME, they have been…

  • humorous/optimistic/believe that people want to do good

  • tough but not too tough. Allowed some discretion in those that worked for them by listening to the reasons why they did something this way and then allow them to keep doing it or not and stating why not.

  • Disciplined and would fire bad workers/slackers efficiently though it didn’t happen often.

  • Never seemed to tell people what to do. More of a ‘this needs to be done’. This is hard to explain. One manager could come up to me and, in normal coversational tone, discuss the day. When he left you realized you were going to be real busy all day. Another manager could ask you to do a 5 min task and it made you bristle for some reason.

  • Walked a real good line between a person needing time for personal issues and people abusing it. Would go genuinely try to help and seemed to care about employees as a person. Many managers try to fake this and they almost always fail miserably.

  • Attained a ‘Esprit de Corp’ (spelling?) about their area. A ‘We are damn good’ spirit. Acheived a sense of identity around the area/people they manage.

  • Never seemed to really try. It always seemed natural to them. However, when questioned on this, they refuted this. They had to try.

Enough rambling. Hope this helps.

33

Oh, and probably most important…

They’re natural inclination is to defend an employee who is ‘under attack’ from someone else in the company. If the employee did wrong, they would then discipline the employee in private. They considered it a part of their job to insulate their workers from the capriciousness and chaos of upper management (or corporate HQ). They also considered it part of their job to vigorously fight for employee raises and benefits.

34

No sweat there, lola, I was pretty critical myself.

I think, jetgirl, that we’re probably closer on the issue than it seems. I’m just saying the whole relationship is a 2 way street, it shouldn’t just be employees deferring to the manager. Respect does have to be earned, but it also applies to management. I’ve had managers that didn’t deserve my respect, I did what I was told, but I’d never do for them what I’d do for the good managers.

35

Amber, I used to work at Wendy’s. I went from crew person in high school to managing my own store when I was 22. I went thru the asst. mgr, co-mgr, right up to store manger. I managed several stores actually (although not at the same time). I can offer some real advice as I have been there.

  1. Try to make work fun. For YOU TOO. No one wants a minimum wage job that sucks to be at.

  2. Be tough, fair, firm. Stick to your guns. But also understanding. It’s a fine line I tell ya, real fine line.

  3. Make sure you reward good behavior as consistently as you deal with bad.

  4. Lead by example. The only REAL way to manage a place. If you are a screwup your crew will be screwups too. This is EXTREMELY hard if you have inherited bad crew peeps. But you have to to it.

  5. Try not to get too stressed out. In five years this WON’T matter a bit.

This works if your boss also has the same mindset and backs you up. If not, it will be uphill all the way.

I have not worked for Wendy’s for about 15 years (OMG I’m old) but I am still friends with some of the people I worked with. It can be fun. Or a MAJOR pain in the ass. Of course I still have Wendy’s dreams where I run out of salads at a crucial moment and the customers are mad at me.

On preview I just read andymurph64’s response and he expresses it very well.

Like I said, don’t get too stressed out, in five years it won’t mean a thing.

Good Luck

The Surb

36

The Surb,

You nailed more:

Consistent behavior and praise. Again, praise must be genuine otherwise they will know.

Cool under fire. The good managers/leaders I know were always cool under stress.

37

Well what a surprise to see such a heated debate over the little fuck-heads of Wendy’s. I appreciate everyones support as well as all the constructive criticism for everyone.

XJETGIRLX: thank you for understanding where I am coming from. I appreciate your understanding of the situation. thank you.

Bryan Ekers: Honestly, if you are looking for a job just let me know. We are looking for people as we speak. My email is in my profile.

  Just to clarify the "missing the subway" deal, when a person is a "closer" they know that some nights will be later then others and they know that finishing at 2am is a possibility. They are scheduled to work until the close is finished and not until their last train passes.

Lola: thank you again for being my peacemaker. You always save my ass… love you

Amber

38

The young man I claim as son and his sister have both had several years of management experience in fast food; I helped train her (on the learn-the-manual side of things, not the hands-on).

The trick, and it’s not an easy one to get across, is to treat them like they are people who are being hired to do a specific job. That job includes following corporate rules.

Recognizing that they have feelings and lives off the job, and showing some caring about that, makes a big difference. Example: Miss Edith is about 60. Why she insists on working at a fast-food job is beyond anyone’s comprehension, but she’s been with the store forever. When Miss Edith’s daughter went in for brain surgery, Nickie gathered her staff from that shift, told them that she was giving Miss Edith three days off, with pay if she could arrange it, and challenged them to pick shifts to cover for her. Then she called her Regional Manager and got special OK to give time-off-with-pay. A week later, the favorite band of one of the night crew was playing at a local venue, one night only – and her night manager agreed to come in on what would have been a day off to cover for him, so he could have the night off to go to the concert.

She arranged for an “employee-of-the-month” bonus of something like $50 or $100, for customer service or extra effort above and beyond job requirements.

Nickie is a strict manager, and writes up for violating the rules, even fires when the situation calls for it. And her crew knows they follow the rules, or else. But they love her. Because she cares. And proves it by what she does.

About closing, Chris taught me his trick. Business runs down 60-90 minutes before closing – enough to keep the store open, but not particularly heavy. So he detaches one or two crew members to bgin closing procesdures that can be done before the doors are locked – mop the rest rooms, for example, or wipe down tables customers aren’t using. Kitchen things unlikely to be used in the last half hour of business get shut down. Meanwhile, he cashes up all but one counter register and the drive-thru register. He preps the deposit then, being prepared to add as needed. Come closing time, each crew member has a particular aspect of the store to close down/police, while he completes what’s left of closing paperwork. His crew is out of the store within 20 minutes of official closing – with a clean, prepped store left behind them.

Hope that’s some help, Amber. It sounds like you have your hands full motivation-wise. You may have to can a few bad apples and recruit new crew members. (And, BTW, IMHO your GM is guilty of execrable judgment in taking vacation one week after starting at a new store, regardless of whether he has it coming. Part of his job is to leave you a smooth-running operation when he does go on vacation.)

39

I am a union official and I deal with tight asses like you all the time. Yeah, go on break and spend your time watching the employees over video - I bet you make a great buddy to your workers - if it’s not to late, get some reality and humanity

and remember those corporate types sending donw the rules don’t have to get the work out of the employees.

40

Oh yeah - I agree with Cheesesteak