Why does Autozone insist on hiring idiots and how do I kill them?

[ealabor]

That's not true. I actually preferred being on the floor than I do being stuck in a cubicle, but then I've always been somewhat more practical than theoretical

Nah. Ask yourself, and ask others if they would rather be at work, or at home persuing their own personal interests, hobbies, time with friends etc. and they are going to tell you they prefer the latter in almost all cases

It's going to be different if your workplace is in a field of your passion. There will be other factors that might make you more inclined to go to work. One being social aspects. Thats one of the perks of working in a high turnover big service sector. Alot of different people, and if your business is located near a uni, then you are opt to get alot of fresh young women shopping and working, which often can pretty much turn the place of employment into a dating service for some people. Can't exclude myself from that one 

Though thats not relative to the job, because you can always seek such incentives outside of work, be it at social outings clubs, games, bars, whatever.

If all you're going to do is expect your staff to turn up, do the job and go home then that's all they will do, and that definition does not include "impress customers" or doing a good job.

I'm not expecting my staff to just turn up, i'm expecting them to come to work not looking like a mess, properly dressed and motivated to give a decent acount of themselves. You should read the entire sentence first.

If you instill within the staff a pride in the company they represent then this will naturally come through when they're dealing with the public.

Yeah, thats pretty much common sense management. But the best way to do that is lead by example. Which goes back the point I was making about being your own boss and working for your own integrity, first before concerning yourself the opinions of your superiors.

When you are lead, it's about instilling a pride in yourself first and foremost. When those around see that you have integrity, and show loyalty and passion for your work, they will follow suit.

Your example is what will inspire others. There is no magic company juice to pour on workers. You can sing all the praises all day long about your job to your employees, but if you don't get out there with them and bust your ass, get a little dirty, and show that you are one of them... if you just sing praises about the company, then go hide in an office all day long, they won't respect you.


Take Buxton for example. He got burned at his work for lack of recognition, so he came at me guns blazing looking to vent on me, as that ******* manager guy that overlooked him. I could have blown him off an been an ******* about it, but I knew his angle and decided to set an example of integrity, and relate to him.

Now just like that he's all polished up, and will be more productive member of society, because he knows he will be setting an example for himself first, before others. Because someday he'll become CEO of the next boom company, and he will be able to use the example of setting a standard for himself, so that his business may be successful.

And look at how did that, and it's no charge to Taleworlds for that one Arch, this one's on me. Next time you'll have to attend my seminar. 

 

[Archonsod]

Nah. Ask yourself, and ask others if they would rather be at work, or at home persuing their own personal interests, hobbies, time with friends etc. and they are going to tell you they prefer the latter in almost all cases

Obviously, otherwise they wouldn't have to pay you to turn up You don't have to compete with their interests outside of work however, they don't have to love coming into work, but it doesn't mean they have to hate it either. You just need to understand what can be fulfilling about the job and how you can emphasise that to your employees. I no longer have the physical sense of satisfaction I used to on the floor from being able to see a system fully assembled and know I did that, however I can get a similar sense of achievement from knowing I was the one who managed to resolve a ticket here. Due to the way we work it's not usually possible for me to find out if I did, so management took the step of simply emailing through a report on a weekly basis listing all resolved tickets and the resolving engineer, alongside any positive feedback we've had back from a client. Takes about a minute out of their day to do and it increased the morale of the team significantly. I'd guess there'd be similar things in a customer service based role, even for a store clerk.

When you are lead, it's about instilling a pride in yourself first and foremost. When those around see that you have integrity, and show loyalty and passion for your work, they will follow suit.

Hah, possibly if you're talking to fellow managers. Personally I find my manager more inspiring when she's not around, but then I'm naturally inclined to believe anyone in a suit probably couldn't find their arse with a map at the best of times. I think you'd get a similar thing in any industry, the problem for a manager of leading by example is that you're not doing the same work the guys you're managing are, so they're as likely to build up a wall of "they don't understand what the job is about" as they are to follow a lead. Muck in and they'll ask why they need a manager in the first place.

 

[Zilberfrid]

I train and coach helpdesk staff, when people start in our company, I look for two things in particular: work ethic and analytical thought. Actual knowledge is a lot less important, that can be trained, as well as communication if the agent is willing to train that. People who do not have these qualities will not go past probation (people who are really bad with customers or really know nothing the same, but if you want to work and know how to figure things out you are well on your way).

Also, bosses matter, when things are busy, everyone, including the owner helps out, interesting to have the owner ask the second tier helpdesk tech advice...

 

[Archonsod]

My manager couldn't do my job. In fact, we constantly complain she still sends us word documents rather than open office, but then she plugs a laptop in at her desk because she can't figure out how Solaris works If anyone even hinted she was going to be let loose to actually talk to one of our clients I'd either piss myself laughing or have a heart attack.

Although come to think of it, there's a few arsey ones out there who might benefit from actually being passed to my manager when they demand to speak to her

 

[Angaku]

I'm gonna start two new threads here.

Why does Walmart insist on hiring idiots and how do I kill them?

Why does O'Rielly's insist on hiring idiots and how do I kill them?

 

[Dryvus]

As to killing them, I think that can be answered more easily. Idiots die the same as other men, once you cut their heads off.

 

[Night Ninja]

I wouldn't be so sure on that. They don't appear to be using them very much.

 

[Buxton]

Ask them to get a brake disk off the top shelf. One fell on me and broke my forearm.