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I have worked in retail most of my life and one thing that really gets me is I've worked at a number of stores where the manager may know business but has no idea about the products themselves.
For example for the past 7 months I have worked at this one store, and we got a new product in and we are told to get pre-orders for it, the thing is the product in question is not that good and when our manager yelled at me asking why we didn't have more pre-orders I just told her frankly this product isn't that great which is why the day she yelled at me I only got 1 and she said to meet a quota of at least 15. I tried to explain to her about why compared to our other products it isn't working well but it all went completely over her head, she didn't understand the product yet got on to me!
Few days later we still hadn't gotten anymore than 4 and she called me into her office telling me she was writing me up for "not meeting the quota". Seriously?? I don't normally get real angry or cuss and I didn't at her but in my mind I was thinking "What the bleep!!??". I understand being asked to promote a product, which I always did with customers but why should I be reprimanded for something I have NO control over?? All the while if you were to ask her any details about it she'd be clueless, hell one day a customer asked her about it and she went and got me to talk about it!
But like I said this isn't the first time I and other employees were expected to know/understanding everything while the boss themselves have no clue about what they're talking about.
It just really frustrates me, especially the getting written up part just because no one wants to buy much less pre-order a crappy product.
Last edited by yellowbelle; 04-30-2016 at 02:06 PM..
Reason: language
I cannot answer your question, but I know its not just your retail industry. I worked in product support, and had managers that had no idea about the product. I respected the few that worked from the bottom up, and not only knew the product we support (technical support), but also knew what it was like to "be in the trenches". It was so bad, that we had to get other agents to do "Supervisor calls" because the supervisors didn't know the product, thus couldn't speak to the customer.
A good manager is smart and engaged enough to fairly quickly pick up most of the knowledge their subordinates have. The weak ones go years and remain clueless. Nobody is born knowing everything and you can't expect a new-hire manager to be omniscient.
In many cases the managers have no control either. They're just given orders from HQ and have to pass them down to you. In may cases when you get a new manager, they'll do less to protect you than perhaps an older manager with more pull/knowledge was able to do. I worked in one place where we had really stupid quotas. This was a job where we had no control over what came in, so production quotas made no sense.
In my unit we weren't getting enough in to make the production quotas going out, so our manager protected us from any penalties for not meeting the quotas. When he left, the new guy (who actually worked the trenches with us) had to enforce them and it was really not his fault. He had just been hired with the understanding that he'd have to enforce them. It sounds like this manager of yours may also not be handling her own stress well because she's likely on the chopping block when your quotas are not met.
There is s disturbing trend that comes along Americas downward spiral into Calcutte'dom where as managers only need to know how to manage. So, a young kid with no work experience, but has a business degree and understands how to use excel, is dropped into any situation and knows what is best, because hey, they spent 4 years getting a degree! Obviously, this is a fail. In "the old days", a person got to management by knowing their job~ They knew more about your job than you did and could advise you on it. Its not like that anymore. Generic institutional certification means more than actual knowledge and hands-on experience.
There is s disturbing trend that comes along Americas downward spiral into Calcutte'dom where as managers only need to know how to manage. So, a young kid with no work experience, but has a business degree and understands how to use excel, is dropped into any situation and knows what is best, because hey, they spent 4 years getting a degree! Obviously, this is a fail. In "the old days", a person got to management by knowing their job~ They knew more about your job than you did and could advise you on it. Its not like that anymore. Generic institutional certification means more than actual knowledge and hands-on experience.
In my experience, it used to be that "they hired the resume", now it seems even worse when they "hire the haircut".
Hell companies are hiring CEO's now with absolute ZERO experience in the field or the product.
Most managers are completely clueless today in what goes on below them. All they do is just forward e-mails onto their team and relay messages. They are most USELESS positions in the company. You have all these levels of management and 80 percent aren't even needed today.
You don't need to pay someone good money to relay messages. For what??? I think positions are just created as "favor jobs" for their friends truthfully. Thats basically all these "management positions" are.
I have worked in retail most of my life and one thing that really gets me is I've worked at a number of stores where the manager may know business but has no idea about the products themselves.
For example for the past 7 months I have worked at this one store, and we got a new product in and we are told to get pre-orders for it, the thing is the product in question is not that good and when our manager yelled at me asking why we didn't have more pre-orders I just told her frankly this product isn't that great which is why the day she yelled at me I only got 1 and she said to meet a quota of at least 15. I tried to explain to her about why compared to our other products it isn't working well but it all went completely over her head, she didn't understand the product yet got on to me!
Few days later we still hadn't gotten anymore than 4 and she called me into her office telling me she was writing me up for "not meeting the quota". Seriously?? I don't normally get real angry or cuss and I didn't at her but in my mind I was thinking "What the bleep!!??". I understand being asked to promote a product, which I always did with customers but why should I be reprimanded for something I have NO control over?? All the while if you were to ask her any details about it she'd be clueless, hell one day a customer asked her about it and she went and got me to talk about it!
But like I said this isn't the first time I and other employees were expected to know/understanding everything while the boss themselves have no clue about what they're talking about.
It just really frustrates me, especially the getting written up part just because no one wants to buy much less pre-order a crappy product.
Rule Number 1: it's retail
Rule Number 2: No one EVER yells at me
Moderator cut: .
Last edited by yellowbelle; 05-01-2016 at 02:30 PM..
Reason: quoted post has been moderated, gender bashing
I have worked in retail most of my life and one thing that really gets me is I've worked at a number of stores where the manager may know business but has no idea about the products themselves.
For example for the past 7 months I have worked at this one store, and we got a new product in and we are told to get pre-orders for it, the thing is the product in question is not that good and when our manager yelled at me asking why we didn't have more pre-orders I just told her frankly this product isn't that great which is why the day she yelled at me I only got 1 and she said to meet a quota of at least 15. I tried to explain to her about why compared to our other products it isn't working well but it all went completely over her head, she didn't understand the product yet got on to me!
It doesn't MATTER what she thinks of it, it's her JOB to manage YOU and tell you to "Kick it up a notch" (Meaning sell it like it was the best thing ever)
Honestly, if you can't see this truth then why are you even there?
A lot of management is about managing people and not about managing the product. A good manager will mitigate the risks of the stuff rolling down hill on his subordinates.
I have 9 senior leaders under me, they sure know more about the specifics than I do. I do my best to mitigate the BS that comes from above me. I support them to ensure they can do their job with minimal difficulty from above or from the sides. I read their body language to see when certain guys need a break, I'm not talking about the 15 minute types, and need to shut it down for a couple of days.
If I take care of my guys and give them the support to do their job, we will succeed.
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Do they "look" the part ?
