Way of the Sub...no wonder that location has a rep for being the dirtiest!

[Marmalady]

Quoth patiokitty

for some reason I am picturing a series of adverts for the place that involves Shaolin monks

"When you can snatch the dill pickle from my hand...it will be time for you to leave."

[Scorpodael]

Ah, but the Way of the Sub is balance... Each sandwich must strike a balance between Yin- Meat and cheese- and Yang- Veggies and condiments. This is what you must strive to teach your customers in their path to Nirvana... Otherwise known as deliciousness.

[fireheart]

Quoth patiokitty

Considering that almost all the women wear black yoga pants for work it could definitely work! And for some reason I am picturing a series of adverts for the place that involves Shaolin monks

Learn the ways of the Sub, must you!

Quoth Scorpodael

Ah, but the Way of the Sub is balance... Each sandwich must strike a balance between Yin- Meat and cheese- and Yang- Veggies and condiments. This is what you must strive to teach your customers in their path to Nirvana... Otherwise known as deliciousness.

I love this line!

[XCashier]

Quoth patiokitty

We had a visiting manager come by to do our paperwork for the day and she even commented that it's rare to see that location so clean.

So why haven't they done anything about it before you came along? Do they not realize that one filthy store reflects badly on the whole chain?

[patiokitty]

Quoth TheTigress

Have they had you change the dates on expired product yet?

The current manager of the location I will be going to does this but I refuse to. I know that his biggest issue is that he will over-prep in the belief that somebody has to do it because his staff won't. Obviously that won't fly for me - he was in the store where I'm doing my management training (so that head office knows I won't be picking up his bad habits) today and mentioned to me about how hard it is to manage that store and all I told him was that it reflects the abilities of the person in charge of that location - if his staff won't do their jobs then it's time to replace them instead of hoping they'll get their shit together.

He also knows that I am being trained to manage that store but he figures he'll end up transferred to a 'better' store. Yes, the location I'll be working primarily in is known for being the most difficult of the chain but it's largely because nobody wants to step up and clear out the shitty staff. Until I came along. I've already outlined my plans to head office and they're all for it because they feel that I will be the one to finally get that store fully functional. So, it should be interesting...and if the current manager there thinks he's getting transferred to another store he's got a HUGE surprise coming - he's caused so many problems to get worse there that head office really doesn't want him ruining any other locations, especially the much more successful ones. They've just been waiting until somebody came along with the right attitude (basically, I take little or no shit from people, especially when I'm a manager and I treat my staff as they deserve to be treated) that is willing to step into a badly run location and turn it around.

As for why nothing has been done before I came along, from what I can gather is that with that location long being considered the hardest one to manage that head office pretty much gave up. It's also located right at one of the main intersections of the street of bars, pubs, and clubs that my city is known for - drunks will eat anything and not give a shit how dirty the place is. This means that the location will make money on Friday and Saturday nights regardless of how clean it is. Add to that the fact that these same people likely don't know if they're sick due to too much alcohol or food poisoning and it's easy to overlook some things, I suppose. Then again, many of the establishments that serve food in that area don't have the best health standards either - it's really sad that things are like that, but it seems that in favour of keeping that area any sort of draw to tourists and young partyers that certain things get swept under the rug.

I come from a completely different mind set and head office has discovered that. They seem to like my ideas as far as turning that store around in pretty much every way. I already know that my operating costs for the first month will be stupidly high as I pitch outdated foods in the trash and get my staff all on the same page as myself. And I will likely also be taking on some of the training duties because I will know exactly how things should be done, especially as the rest of the area franchises gets up to snuff - all but one are owned by the same owners and they want consistency across the board, which is fair enough as far as I'm concerned.

[tropicsgoddess]

I'm happy for you getting that promotion, Patio Kitty! I'm shocked that the store was still open despite it being so utterly disgusting and no complaints to the health department on it! Cleaning "house" is definitely in order for sure...and I bet that the manager there would be the first to go (by corporate that is).

[Victory Sabre]

I think I'm in love after reading what you did. Congrats for showing the sacks of shit what needs to be done. I hope that you're able to shine in your new position.

[Brojekk]

If the other employees are giving you funny looks because you're cleaning stuff, they should not be in the food industry.

[fireheart]

Good luck with your new job!

[patiokitty]

I was at my store last night working - the staff already knows that I'll be coming in to take over and they're incredibly pleased with the fact that I have no problem pitching in and actually working. Even last night we managed to get a lot done in terms of cleaning, proper prep, and keeping up with the customers. Key word there is 'we' because I worked right along side of the two staff members with me, something they had not expected because the current manager tends not to do that.

I think I may have pinpointed WHY the staff is 'lazy' - the staff tends to echo the manager in terms of work performance. I'm a very hands-on type of manager and will gladly pitch in to make things easier on everybody else, and I believe in sharing the work load. The current manager is of the idea that managers don't have to actually get their hands dirty and pitch in with the rest of the work - while this might work in a different sort of workplace it is definitely not the Way of the Sub.

I am not afraid to admit when I don't know something - heck, I haven't even been with the company for two weeks yet! And my willingness to ask questions of my staff (who've all been with the company longer than I have) has already made many of them totally impressed with me. I'm not walking in with the attitude of being better than they are as the only thing I have over them is that I'm crazy enough to take over the store and that I have previous management experience. And apparently I'm a natural leader.

I have the weekend off so that means I'll be going through more of the online training stuff and printing out useful training aids. I work in my store again on Monday and then I'm back over at the head office store to do more management training. I have a feeling that by the end of the month I'll be at my store full-time doing the management duties

I've also found out a few perks that the owner of this particular set of franchises offers, one of which is the use of the company car if necessary. Another is that they have a deal in place with one of the local cellphone companies to get a good rate on a plan that covers smartphones - I have a dumbphone at the moment but I will be upgrading soon enough under the work deal to an HTC or something similar. Then there is the fact that I can also get a Costco membership through the company too. Oh, and not to mention that as management I will also get a bit of a uniform allowance - if I buy pants for work I will get reimbursed at least part of what I paid, if not all. The shirts, aprons, hats, and hairnets are supplied and most staff gets two of each except for the hats and have to pay for extras if they want them - I don't. In fact all I have to do is run upstairs to the office at the head office location and tell them what I want and they'll hand it over - the manager always has to look presentable LOL

Honestly, I'm still in shock at how this is all going for me. I just completed my BA (and didn't get accepted into the Faculty of Education thanks to bs on the part of department admin - I will be trying again next year though or I will go for my masters in History) and I didn't really know what I was going to do. All I knew is that I needed a job...I had even applied for chicken catching! But this job is a good fit and it feels amazing to be appreciated for what I can actually do. Sure, slinging sandwiches is not a 'glorious' job but I was never after anything glorious or really high-paying - I just wanted to be productive I've done the high-paid job thing and it played holy havoc on my body and mental state due to stress...so much more stress involved than managing a sub shop, let me tell you!