Professionalism part deux

[twocoach]

ugh you guys.

I was gonna post some long guttery rant about work and how my manager is incompetent and we're experiencing a staffing crisis, but I'll try to keep it brief.

So we had a bunch of staff quit, and have only hired 2 new people, when we need 6+. (It's been overwhelmingly my responsibility to train the new staff, but that's sort of another rant). Snow is our economic driver, and it's been a big snow year that projects to be even busier than last, yet we have a third of the staff we did this time last year, now just 2 weeks before Texas Week I mean Christmas.

The GM walked in the shop the other day and there were no employees there. Like no staff, no manager, nothin. So the GM is all upset now, and the whole operation seems to be coming around to the fact my manager is arguably incompetent. (Doesn't staff, doesn't recruit, doesn't train, doesn't plan, doesn't communicate, doesn't organize, doesn't execute...doesn't manage. Makes 40+ hours a week of sitting in the office "checking emails," and acting too busy to do anything else)

I've been stressing, and am considering whether I should just quit, go wait tables or tend bar for the rest of the winter, and just be a guide on call in the summer. But I also recognize a certain game of professional chicken: If I DO stick around, and if/when my manager gets canned, then I'm pretty much next in line.

So how much shit is worth putting up with in anticipation of a potential big opportunity?

sorry, that still got kinda long and guttery.

Everyone's shit tolerance is different, especially depending on the potential reward for surviving it. Only you know whether sticking with it is worth it. And the duration matters to me when I had a similar judgement call to make. Are you talking a month of shit, 6 months of shit, a year of shit or no end in sight?

I have a wife and kids now so I will tolerate a lot more shit than when it was only me impacted. I liked moving and changing locations so it wasnt a big deal to flip the bird to jerks doling out shit.

If you think the reward is worth it, hang in there. See it as an opportunity to show some managerial skills so they know you can and are willing to. If there are any changes or improvements you can make or suggest, now may be a good time to show your knowledge and worth beyond your current role.

Either way, good luck to you.

[ousdahl]

aaaaand right on cue!


About an hour ago, my manager just walked out and went who knows where.

Then a few minutes later a guy walks in. “Hey I had a meeting with the manager...”

Meanwhile the manager is MIA while the appointment paces around the shop and I make excuses.

[jhawks99]

Dang.

[ousdahl]

so in the thick of ski season, on the front end of Texas Week, we still only have a few odds-and-ends sizes of last year’s skis and boots.

Guests have noticed, and as the retail inventory gets smaller and smaller, guests complain more and more.

Then we realized it: our ski shop manager forgot to order skis.

[NewtonHawk11]

Get up on out of there.

[jhawks99]

They having financial problems? Maybe he didn't forget.

[Shirley]

They having financial problems? Maybe he didn't forget.

^^^

[ousdahl]

as far as they'll let me know, no, no financial problems. Our department has done really well - 3 record years in a row! - and the ranch as a whole has at least eeked out a profit since I've been here.

Besides, not ordering skis means we don't have skis to either 1. make money by selling for retail, or 2. make even more money by renting all season then selling the rental fleet at the end of the winter.

So I dunno if not ordering skis was a decision made cuz of financial problems? or just cuz a scatterbrained manager forgot to, or forgot to in time for the season?

[Deleted User 62]

Most likely financial issues.
Try to eek out maximum profit at minimal investment.

You say that they are profitable. Are you in a position to actually see P&L and balance sheets?

[ousdahl]

I've been debating just how detailed to make this discussion, and have been fairly discrete thus far, but at this point I would frankly prefer to vent. (gusher please don't stalk me)

So! The ranch is owned and managed by this uber-rich dude. He made himself an obscene amount of money in telecom and decided, I want to move out west and start a guest resort as a pet project!

now, before we discuss any further, let's consider customer service in telecom. You ever been on hold with a cable company?

My take: telecom gets away with poor customer service, cuz telecom is often defined by few market choices for consumers, so consumers have to deal with the poor service, take-it-or-leave it policies, etc. right?

Fast forward to resort managment, and a "high-end" joint trying to compete in a market with plenty of consumer choices. The ranch positions itself as some top-dollar luxury resort, but at the end of the day it's still managed like a telecom company. Crunch numbers, cut costs, do the absolute bare minimum, and hope guests don't complain, even though they will, and they do. No vision or perception of the guest experience. It's like management expects guests to understand that "it just ain't in the budget."

The place has a reputation for badass facilities but poorly executed service as a whole (except for the fly fishing guides and ski instructors, o' course)

I'd mention how general nepotism and the rich guy surrounding himself with yes-men is a problem too, but I'm pretty sure that's most places. The last GM had a lot of experience in guest resorts, and started pushing this idea to start staffing based not on the budget, but on the forecast. Dude didn't last long. The GM before that was the guy's brother in law, who was apparently so incompetent as GM that they made him the CEO instead.

And whatever it is that the rich dude expects from his managers, it's not what most places would describe as, "managing." They disappear for most of the day to go to budget meetings, financial meetings, weekly meetings, executive meetings, meetings that should have just been an email meetings, and what have you. Meanwhile all the training, planning, organizing, and otherwise managing is up to us staffers to just kinda figure it out as we go.

I've met the owner several times, and he seems like a nice enough guy. Always shakes my hand. You can tell he's brilliant, but completely awkward on a social level. I just wish fishing and skiing were his actual hobbies, and he had the attitude that, hey now that I won the capitalist lottery I'm gonna just enjoy myself and create this awesome experience to fish and ski, just like I've wanted to do since childhood! But instead, his only real hobby is money. So as long as the numbers are crunched and we squeak out some profit, he considers it a success, despite poor guest reviews and a questionable reputation.

I dunno why somebody would ever get into a guest resort with little interest beyond just trying to make money off it, but that's not my prerogative. I imagine it must be some status symbol for him; some feather in his cap that he gets to brag about to all his other rich friends. "Y'know, I gots my own ranch out West, y'all should come check it out some time!" Try the overpriced cheeseburgers! (and please wait at least an hour before you complain about the service...we only budgeted for one waitress tonight, we'll have you understand.)

sorry, this got way too long and rant-y, so I'll try to bring it back to short anecdotal lulz.

[Deleted User 62]

I bought out a boat dealership in KC that was owned by the guys that invented PCS technology.

Same thing. They thought it would be cool to own a boat dealership.
We watched them flail and fail for several years.

They initially approached us with a selling price of 2m. We laughed them off.
After 1 more year, as they were circling the drain, they approached us again.

We ended up taking them over with a sunset deal. We basically took assumption of their short term debt (floor plan owed on their existing boat inventory) and not a penny more.
Took us about 3 months to sell through that inventory.

[ousdahl]

Nice.

Yeah, I kinda wonder if/when this guy just gets bored and looses interest and maybe sells it. Or at the least, concedes his executive role to someone who actually knows how to run a resort.

Oh! And here’s a thing I’m pretty sure of even though I don’t fully understand: pretty sure this whole place is just one big tax write-off?

Cuz though we’re marketed as a guest resort, we’re reported in the books as a cattle ranch?

[kubandalum]

ugh you guys.

I was gonna post some long guttery rant about work and how my manager is incompetent and we're experiencing a staffing crisis, but I'll try to keep it brief.

So we had a bunch of staff quit, and have only hired 2 new people, when we need 6+. (It's been overwhelmingly my responsibility to train the new staff, but that's sort of another rant). Snow is our economic driver, and it's been a big snow year that projects to be even busier than last, yet we have a third of the staff we did this time last year, now just 2 weeks before Texas Week I mean Christmas.

The GM walked in the shop the other day and there were no employees there. Like no staff, no manager, nothin. So the GM is all upset now, and the whole operation seems to be coming around to the fact my manager is arguably incompetent. (Doesn't staff, doesn't recruit, doesn't train, doesn't plan, doesn't communicate, doesn't organize, doesn't execute...doesn't manage. Makes 40+ hours a week of sitting in the office "checking emails," and acting too busy to do anything else)

I've been stressing, and am considering whether I should just quit, go wait tables or tend bar for the rest of the winter, and just be a guide on call in the summer. But I also recognize a certain game of professional chicken: If I DO stick around, and if/when my manager gets canned, then I'm pretty much next in line.

So how much shit is worth putting up with in anticipation of a potential big opportunity?

sorry, that still got kinda long and guttery.

I don’t know if this will help, but sometimes, not always but sometimes, just doing your best and having patience pays off. The old adage, “give a guy enough rope...” has a lot of truth to it. My first job where I work was traveling around the country with a crew in a company van, installing equipment in new locations. We stayed on the road months at a time going from one location to the next. My first supervisor was a 28-year-old hardcore alcoholic. He was fired about 3 months after I started.

Like many companies, our company expanded way too fast, and got deeply in debt. Instead of focusing on the basics of product and customer service, the CEO and founder of the company was enamored with gimmicks to attract customers. When I say “gimmicks”; how does changing the color of the light bulbs in the ceiling and decorating with helium balloons sound? (His wife was an interior decorator.) Around my fourth year with the company, the CEO finally got canned. The new CEO managed to get the debt restructured within days of having to file Chapter 11. Since then it’s been a great company to work for, for the most part. The main thing that determines that is whether or not the people at the top are people of good character. We’ve been fortunate that way.

[ousdahl]

Manager: ousdahl, why aren’t you wearing your hat?!

What hat?

Your ski instructor uniform hat! The GM called me out for you not wearing it and you’re making me look bad. You’re supposed to wear it for every lesson!

ummm you never issued me a uniform hat?

(What would happen if I just said, “sorry manager but the only person making you look bad is you”)

[ousdahl]

Also, what kind of managerial culture is it when the GM will walk past me without addressing a thing just to go tell a lower manager to tell me?

[jfish26]

I had a call scheduled for 9:30-11:00 this morning. At 12:45, it was decided we would take a break until 2:00.

I have 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 and 6:30 calls scheduled already. I was not ready for the 9:30 one to end up taking five hours.

[Deleted User 62]

Also, what kind of managerial culture is it when the GM will walk past me without addressing a thing just to go tell a lower manager to tell me?

He is either weak, or pissed that his under management staff isn't already addressing it.

[Shirley]

I had a call scheduled for 9:30-11:00 this morning. At 12:45, it was decided we would take a break until 2:00.

I have 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 and 6:30 calls scheduled already. I was not ready for the 9:30 one to end up taking five hours.

Don't they know who you are?

[ousdahl]

Employee survey time!

How do I throw management under the bus but in a professional way?

[ChalkRocker]

Grab a shoulder and the back of the belt.

Lower yourself. Propel.

Use your legs.