tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3724081604445890368.post1577065441340175061..comments2022-10-25T05:00:22.855-04:00Comments on I WORK AT PENCILS: LISTENING TO WHAT ISN'T BEING SAIDUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3724081604445890368.post-87306298408205642012012-09-23T07:58:48.451-04:002012-09-23T07:58:48.451-04:00Having been with the company for over a decade, it...Having been with the company for over a decade, it never fails to amaze me when we have new store management, there is always that first store meeting when the new GM makes that plea to become part of the team by pulling the "No, really, I want to know what you truly think" trick out of the hat. Usually, this is met with silence for the first couple of times, until finally someone in the crowd has had enough of it and actually tells the GM what they think. Soon after, more join in and the so called meeting degenerates into a bitch fest about how horrible Pencils has become. Of course, despite the "give me your honest opinion" non-sense, such a meeting is always followed by said new GM deciding "so-in-so has to go!" mentality. Quickly, within weeks, the person who actually had the balls to say something finds themselves starting to lose hours, get crap shifts or worse, start down that short road of baseless write ups (insubordination being my personal favorite, as if we were a military organization) that usually ends with them quitting or fired. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3724081604445890368.post-58886383188771408312012-09-23T07:50:12.882-04:002012-09-23T07:50:12.882-04:00I couldn't agree more. Recently, our DM had ou...I couldn't agree more. Recently, our DM had our district do mandatory store meetings across the board, due to the impending Associate Satisfaction Survey about to pop up. This was basically his method to make sure that every GM was to carefully explain to every associate how important it was for associates to express their feelings for Pencils. However, between HR and the DM, we must have gotten 20 emails explaining how management should convince the associates that by scoring a "5" (highest score possible) meant all sorts of great things, but also that it didn't mean the company was "perfect". Basically, all it boiled down to was that the higher ups don't want to know the truth, they just want associates to score them all 5s so that they can go pat themselves on the back and feel good about themselves. Clearly, they do NOT want any honesty or there would not have been such a push for all the upfront information about what a "5" really means.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com