One thing I've always prided myself on is treating my employees as well as I possibly could. I know what it's like to work for some absolute jerks of bosses, so I always promised myself that when I got to be a manager I would never be like them.
So, let me introduce you to "H", a young lady who actually got hired before I took over the store. H has demonstrated repeatedly an amazing commitment to her job. She is well-liked by the entire staff, she's always on time, always does a terrific job and was being considered very seriously for a promotion to a lead position. She is also a student, so her hours are somewhat limited but that's been fine.
Lately, however, H started becoming a bit withdrawn. She had submitted various time-off requests, and had always gotten them. I know she was trying hard to balance her life, especially school, but there had been no signs that she had any dissatisfaction with her job. She did break up with her boyfriend and moved in with her brother and father.
So imagine my surprise this past Wednesday when the district manager came into my back room on a surprise visit and told me he had just had a negative encounter with H, who up until then had been a prized employee. Apparently, when he arrived, she had been reading her textbook at the front counter. When he asked her if there weren't things in the store she could be doing, she answered "this is more important."
Fast-forward to Saturday, where H calls out sick a couple of hours before her shift, claiming that she was coming down with a migraine. She certainly didn't SOUND like she wasn't feeling well. I gave her phone numbers for four employees to call to cover her shift. She didn't call any of them and we went short.
The next day, she called two hours before her shift and informed me she was sorry, but she was quitting effective immediately...no notice, no final week to work....nothing. I told her that if she was truly sorry, she wouldn't have disrespected the district manager or myself, and that she had always been shown the utmost consideration and professionalism, and I was disappointed that she was unwilling in the end to do the same.
I really hate being lied to, and I really hate being treated rottenly by people whom I've treated well. I guess in the end if she was unhappy it's best that she move on, and it's not as if I don't have other employees who would be willing to pick up the hours. It's just that it bothers me that someone could be so callous to a group of people who had treated them really well.
Some days, retail REALLY sucks.
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