"A coworker quit because of me. AITA?"
This happened months ago, but it's weighing on me, so I could use some reassurance. I'm a manager at a recently opened retail place. My boss (Kate) had me train the manager just under me (Dee) on our opening and closing processes. Dee got the hang of everything fairly quickly. We were all pretty confident when it came time for him to close alone.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. He messed up the drawer count so badly that Kate had to go back to the store to fix his mistakes. This happened at least twice. I'm not sure if he was trying to rush, or if he wasn't good at math, or what, but the money was getting miscounted every time, and he was feeling really bad about it.
(And yes, we are allowed to use a calculator to help us keep track, so we really weren't sure what was happening.) Kate decided she would have me close more often for now. Not every night, but most. It was the holiday season, and we couldn't afford to have so many discrepancies. She would let him try closing again after the holidays, when things slowed down a little, and there would be less cash.
Normally, I'm in charge of the candy section, (along with others, which I'll get to later.) Candy is our store's largest department, and highest demand. This means the majority of our weekly shipments are (surprise, surprise) candy.
Not only do we need to get all of the freight out as fast as possible, we also need to do it by a certain time so that the closing manager can focus on cleaning the store. Again, this was the holiday season, and our store is brand new, so we were swarmed on a daily basis. Cleaning up at night during this time was a NIGHTMARE.
If Dee was going to open for every shift, he would also have to take over the candy freight for me. I would still handle the ordering, resetting, pricing, etc. He only had to get the candy out to the floor. And yeah, it was indeed, A LOT of candy.
But he was up to the task, and was relieved to shed that pressure from his shoulders. I was too, because he's a nice guy. We would all chat and joke and got along great. Unfortunately, candy wasn't the only struggle. There were callouts, extra freight, and tons of put-backs. I wound up pulling doubles and even triples for most of my shifts.
There was even a night when Kate was supposed to stay behind to get more freight done after the closing team left. I came back that evening to help her, and she was so grateful for it that she even gave me a ride home at 1am, since there were no busses at that time.
Things are only getting worse as time goes on. Swarms of people flood the store, making a line that reaches across and even around the store. Karens are demanding all the trendy things for their precious babies, and teenagers happily trash the shelves as they pretend to shop.
Managers also need to log in for returns and exchanges, so naturally, there's a lot of running around for everyone. Dee starts worrying about how much candy there is, and how little he's able to put out during the day because of the crowds and demands at the register.
Kate is a very understanding boss. She's in the store with us, so she sees what the crowds are like, she hears the cashiers calling him when they need something, and she knows our candy freight is triple what it usually is because of the holiday season.
As far as I know, he was never in any kind of heat for not getting as much candy done as we all hoped. He even ranted about it to me a few times, and I told him not to stress it. Kate knows what we're dealing with. He seemed to appreciate the reassurance from not only me, but everyone around him.
We were all doing what we could, and Kate was defending us whenever corporate had any complaints or concerns. Before we know it, November is almost over, and the store is going to open in about an hour. All of the managers are there, reviewing the game plan for Black Friday, since the store will be closed for Thanksgiving.
Dee comes in a little after me, and since I already have my game plan for the morning, I go to the floor to get started. After a few minutes, Dee comes out telling me that he quit.
He told me that it wasn't anyone's fault, but the commute to work and the extended hours were too much for him. He hated to leave us right before such a busy time, but he couldn't handle it anymore. I told him I understood, and I wished him luck for the future as he left.
Still, I couldn't believe it. I went to the office, ready to rant with them about how he couldn't have held out just one more day to help with Black Friday, but that's not the conversation I got. As soon as she saw me, Kate said "So Dee quit because he was talking crap about you." My jaw hit the floor.
Turns out, Dee was feeling overwhelmed with all of the candy and accused me of not doing my job, and said he was tired of picking up my slack. Candy is my department, and I wasn't helping him with it. Kate assured him that I most definitely was NOT slacking off, and told him about all the extra hours I was putting in.
She also reminded him that this is the deal he agreed to. She would keep him on opening shifts for now, as long as he took care of the candy. She knows it's a lot, but as long as she can see that he's doing what he can, she'll work with him to get it figured out. Well, that wasn't good enough, so he left.
Looking back, I feel like maybe I could've helped him a little more, but I'm also in charge of makeup (which he wasn't asked to do), the sports section (which he wasn't asked to do), and taking regular pictures of the finished cleanup to send to corporate (which he wouldn't do anyway, because he wasn't closing).
And no, he wasn't taking on any of the other tasks for me. His only focus and obligation was candy. Which again, is definitely overwhelming, but bro, have you ever had to sort a package of eyeliner pencils??? Those things could fill up three shoeboxes on one delivery alone!
So yeah, I think I could've helped him out more. I definitely had a lot on my plate already, but as the manager above him, I feel like I should've found a way to make things easier, or at the very least, ease some of his anxiety. AITA?
NOTE:
1) Candy was not his only task. He was still expected to open the registers, balance the safe, receive inventory, and manage the team when no one else was there. Candy was just the main focus of his day.
2) I don't want to paint Dee as an awful person. I think he was just overwhelmed and full of anxiety, which is something we're all prone to during the rush of the holidays. Not just retail, but everywhere. Thank you all for your reassurance, and remember to be kind to everyone working during busy times.
Here's what people had to say to OP:
kat_drama said:
Girl! You can’t put nuts back into a candy bar! Good riddance to the nut!
Apart-Cream-4940 said:
Are you kidding me? You did everything to help him, including holding his hand to make him feel better. He just couldn't cut it. It's that simple. He only had the one job after he continually screwed up the first one (which by the way led to you graciously working how many closing shifts?) You had many responsibilities. He had One, and he expected help from You? Hell no. He would have been fired eventually anyway
Witty_Candle_3448 said:
He was overwhelmed by the work demands and it is always easier to blame someone else than admit shortcomings. Based on your description all of you were overworked.
Roids_001 said:
Don’t set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm. He didn’t do the job expected of him. End. Of. Not your fault. He had help and guidance. Sorry, he sucked. How much help does a person need before a decision is made?
Lollipopwalrus said:
Retail is not for the faint heart. You need to be able to multitask and haul butt while still being professionally friendly. Sounds like he was out of his depths and didn't know how to properly communicate what he needed help with.
SpaldingPenrodthe3rd said:
NTA. He quit because he couldn't do the job. You were going all out with everything you were doing. And you didn't need to hold that guy's hand so he would do his job.