Sometimes it's good to know your stuff...

[Arc weld]

We had to go to an early meeting on Thursday to discuss issues brought up at a meeting on the previous Friday. The girl I work with asked if I'd have her back. The owner just wanted to hear the issues but the GM was very defensive. When he was asked what issues he see's, he said, "I'll start at the bottom level, shipping and receiving":shocked: I was right next to him and asked why he would categorize shipping as the bottom level? I said "the person sweeping the floor is just as important as the president of the company if it's supposed to be a team effort". Then he was really on the defensive and saying that's how he does things. I got up and said if you're just going to be on the defensive, there's no point in me being at this meeting. Then I said if you really want to know what's wrong, well everything! I said you hire a new guy to help with shipping and he's left to do it alone his second week on the job. It was pent up frustration and I wasn't the only one. I was just the one that got the attention for it. After the meeting, the owner told me things will get better and a couple of people thanked me.

Fast forward to the meeting on Thursday and all the managers were in serious apology mode! Then I was the last of 3 people to get a gift card to Tim Horton's for bringing up one of the 3 key points at the meeting; "There needs to be more respect and less passing the buck". The gift card was for $50!:shocked: I said later, when asked how much it was for, that I should flip out more often.:laughing: Hopefully things will get better soon. The owner must like me so that's a good thing.

 

[Reverser]

Maybe that $50 gift card was actually your severance pay. Just kidding. :laughing:

One thing's for sure. After you went over the GM's head about the raise and now embarrassed him in front of everyone, he will sure enough have his stinger out and will try his best to make you look bad to the owner.

 

[My Hoe]

Maybe that $50 gift card was actually your severance pay. Just kidding. :laughing:

One thing's for sure. After you went over the GM's head about the raise and now embarrassed him in front of everyone, he will sure enough have his stinger out and will try his best to make you look bad to the owner.

Exactly!

Arc weld,

I think it's time to consider if you can possibly do the GM's job AND your job, and if so, ask for half of the GM's pay, plus yours, or just the GM's pay (i.e., ask for whichever is higher). Ask this of the owner and, if true, point out that:

1. the GM is really merely a parasite (as much of "middle management" is, IMHO), and;

2. you and/or your crew contribute $100K in "walk-in sales" (IIRC) and

3. Given your good rapport with your co-workers, and the fact that (it sounds to me like) the GM is generally reviled, you should be able to do whatever it is he does, and still do (most of) your welding duties--because the "rank and file" would probably much prefer working for someone WITH SKILLS THEY CAN RESPECT, than for a PARASITE/GM. IOW, your co-workers would hopefully be more wiling to be "managed" by a colleague like you, and therefore require less "management" under you, than under the GM-****.

Pie in the sky? Maybe, but as Reverser (correctly, IMO) said, above--there is now a TARGET ON YOUR BACK, and your GM has already told his wife you're a "short timer" (and this has happened to me, though I didn't know it at the time) so it may very well come down to him or you, anyway, even IF you're willing to "live and let live" (as I foolishly was).

Unlike my situation, at the time, you may actually possess more power than you realize, given your technical skills. Anyone who is articulate (and you're proven you are, here, by your writing) can "flap jaw," like the GM. If, on the other hand, he's got Excel spreadsheet skills (which aren't that hard to learn), or other skillsets you don't have and can't acquire "on the fly," then you can disregard the above. But if he's just a ******* parasite, I would seriously consider trying to unseat him, and promote yourself, into his job.

Because he IS seriously considering how to unseat YOU, as Reverser said--he's just not trying to promote you.

Either way, you may very well be "unseated," so why not attempt to take his seat? (You were willing to look at other jobs, very recently, IIRC, anyway, right?)

You made a big splash, in the meeting, and it worked.

If you can line up an offer at another place, just in case, and you attempt to unseat him and lose, oh well--he's ALREADY trying to remove YOU, given the opportunity.

But if you can line up an offer at another place, just in case, and you attempt to unseat him and WIN, then you are THE MAN! :cool2: :laughing: :thumbsup:

Remember: you can weld, but I'm betting he's afraid to even try to turn your machines on, let alone pick up a "stinger."

Hah! I just got Reverser's "stinger" reference! Good one, Reverser!!! :laughing:

Best of luck, Arc weld.

P.S.: Oh! And if you DO win, it would be amusing if a piece of sharp scrap steel wound up under the GM's tire, on his last day, because, while he was waiting for AAA to come change it for him, the girl who asked you if you "had her back" could offer to change it for him!

Yeah--I'm a *****, when pushed--but I learned from being pushed, by far more hideous ****** than I could ever be, on my worst day. LOL

This GM sounds like pure slag--and we know what we do with slag, right?

 

[jaotguy]

from here , it looks like you're on the sh*t list .... the owner and GM are probably looking closely at their options ...

don't be fooled , the " gift" was just to placate you , the "sorry, and thanks for bringing it up" is just to smooth things over ....

the owner is well aware of what is going on in his company ( and what the GM is like ) and has been for years .... he listens to the GM and wants to hear that it is the workers fault ... time to knuckle down on them .... doubt me ? then ask the owner to "cut a cheque " to cover the missing pay UP to the 15th he promised.... if he does, he may be OK, .... but if he doesn't, then you know the 2 are in it together.....

the slimiest people I know could be the nicest and "innocent faced" when push came to shove .... but it is the bottom line they care about ... and consider workers as a dime a dozen .... no matter what their skills are ......

I'd start looking at other places ..... then after the new deal is signed and start date is finalized ......give the owner a polite letter of resignation and the sound reasons for it.... when they offer you more pay, say sorry but either the GM or you can stay , not both .... and I can bet dollars to donuts that he wishes you well ..... don't look back when it happens.

been there and have the T shirt ... spent too many years putting up with the b*ll sh*t and promises ...

remember the "golden rule" ... those that have the "gold" make the rules .... the GM has invested cash in the company ... part of his deal was to "run" or have a say in the company .... if he goes, so does his cash , the owner isn't going to risk that.......

 

[rsallen]

Reasonably thought out My Hoe,
May I offer another thought or two?

Does Arc even want a GM's job?
Shop steward's job is several degrees of interest away those of that a GM needs to be concerned about.
Don't forget the GM was hired by the owner to take care of his interest and his (the GM) pay may well be tied to how well the interests of the owner is seen to, ie. the bottom line.
That was a preface to say; there have times in my past that I realized after the fact that an owner and my immediate supervisor played both ends against the middle for the lowest common denominator (my pay) to keep me around for the longest time they could keep me. Good cop bad cop kind of thing. It was nothing but a collusion between the two of them for a squeezed dollar out of my sweat, interest in the company and talent.

Not saying that's what is happening to Arc now, but it's something to think about.

 

[Arc weld]

This is getting a little far fetched now. I didn't go over the GM's head, the GM's boss, did. My Hoe, you spent all that time typing, trying to decipher and put your own theories on what is happening at my work, yet didn't bother to check the spelling in your profile.:ashamed: I don't want the GM's job. I think the long term plan is for me to transition into outside sales. I think I'd like that. Right now all we want on the order desk is some help so we aren't pulling our hair out.ullinghair:

 

[rilesdav]

Just a word of caution, sometimes the squeaky wheel does not get the grease, it gets replaced. I wish you the beat of luck in your situation,
Dave

 

[Arc weld]

If I'm not wanted or valued, why would I want to stick around anyway? They're doing a big expansion and are scrambling to get more help on the desk.

 

[My Hoe]

This is getting a little far fetched now. I didn't go over the GM's head, the GM's boss, did. My Hoe, you spent all that time typing, trying to decipher and put your own theories on what is happening at my work, yet didn't bother to check the spelling in your profile.:ashamed: I don't want the GM's job. I think the long term plan is for me to transition into outside sales. I think I'd like that. Right now all we want on the order desk is some help so we aren't pulling our hair out.ullinghair:

Arc weld,

I'm sorry, for trying to help you.

The time I spent or, as you put it, I "...spent all that time typing...", was MY time, to spend, and I spent it, trying to help a fellow TBN'er, just as a few others here have been doing. (I actually wrote an even longer post, a day or two ago, and grossly cut it down, putting the reason as "too wordy"). I'm sure you're a better welder than me, but I can touch-type (with my eyes closed)--and fairly fast, for a non-professional. So thank you for your concern about "my time" but you needn't trouble yourself.

But please allow me to disabuse you of a misconception you are obviously laboring under, when you said I "...spent all that time typing, trying to decipher and put your own theories on what is happening at my work...." I wasn't trying to "decipher" my "own theories" because:

a) they're not "theories," they are my experiences, and, therefore, I don't have to...

b) ..."decipher" them--I already understand my own experiences, because I lived them.

Here, this may help--it's from Merriam-Webster:

decipher: to find the meaning of (something that is difficult to read or understand)

Source: Decipher - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Since I detest misspellings myself, again, I do thank you (I think I found the misspelling that so offended you--I discuss it below). However, I detest unclear and/or incorrect writing even more than poor (or lazy!) misspelling. After some scrutiny of your (inexplicably) hostile response to my attempt to help you, I believe I have successfully untangled what it was you were trying to say, i.e., that I was attempting to apply my own experiences (and theories) to your situation, when you said:

My Hoe, you spent all that time typing, trying to decipher and put your own theories on what is happening at my work, yet didn't bother to check the spelling in your profile.:ashamed:

Am I correct, Arc weld? Did you mean to say that I was attempting to apply my own experiences, and theories, to what is happening at your work?

Well, you are CORRECT! :cool2: Because I was. Because I was trying to help you. As was Reverser, jaotguy, rilesdave and others.
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I want just three things from you, at this point, Arc weld:

1. Please explain this:

... yet didn't bother to check the spelling in your profile.:ashamed:

I hardly ever even look at anyone's profile, and put very little time, energy or info into creating one here, but like you, I do not like misspellings. I did see that I misspelled "Ariens" as "Airens." Was that it? I think I do that, unconsciously, because the actual spelling reminds me of ******'s/Nazism's "Aryan Nation" because, were "Ariens" pronounced phonetically, it would sound the same as ******'s "Aryan Nation." Since I'm not a racist, and I do respect "Airens"--no wait, *cough* Arien's 1960's snow blowers (and some of their lawn equipment) I think, as I said, that it was an unconscious effort to disassociate the two. But I corrected it, as "right is right."

2. Please tell me the relevance between a misspelling on my part, and my efforts to allow you to benefit from my being screwed, unjustly, in the workplace (as others have also done)? Because jaotguy, Reverser and rilesdave, among others, are saying essentially the same thing as I was (in terms of the GM now targeting you--only one of them suggested you force the owner to choose between the GM and you, as I did). However, what they typed contains a misspelling or two. Yet you fail to chastise them for their spelling errors....

3. An acknowledgement that I never said you went over the GM's head. I never said this--that was Reverser's interpretation, when he was trying to help you, in his own way, as was I, in mine. But what you wrote is ambiguous--it's unclear whether you realize I did not say this. I simply suggested you MIGHT WANT to attempt to take the GM's job. But you don't want the GM's job--and that's fine. It was only a suggestion--I never assumed it was definitely your preference--I just thought it might be an option for you.

You do understand I was trying to help you, right? Because, I mean, I have no dawg in this hunt--it's your "9-to-5," not mine. I just don't like to see (presumably) good people getting screwed. I only ask because you seem, somehow, to have taken offense at what I wrote which, again, was done only to attempt to help you. In a response to a post that I, and others, interpreted as a request for help, evidenced by the fact that others beside myself freely offered their experience (and yes, their "theories") on what appears to be a "screw job," with you being the one getting screwed.

Between the post I cut down, and the one I left up, and this one, I probably spent two hours of my life (which was my choice), trying to help you--and as others have written similar advice--and yes--theories--to what I wrote, regarding the GM having it "in" for you. So I would have thought that you would agree that my advice was not out of line with others here--but I'm obviously wrong, as you've singled me out for a "scolding," about my spelling. (As if spelling has any true relevance to the value of any advice I tried to give ).

TBN, to me, is all about people trying to share their experiences--and theories--with others, for the benefit of all. As I was, and as was Reverser, jaotguy, rilesdave and others.

But don't worry--I won't make that "mistake," ever again, where you're concerned.

But please do me this last "solid," and tell me where or what I misspelled in my profile, in addition to "Ariens."

With all the respect that's due,

My Hoe

 

[Reverser]

After waiting forever I finally got my raise but I wasn't happy. I was insulted actually. They offered a token raise of less than $20/wk. The owner of the company happened to walk by me yesterday just after I started work. He asked how I was doing and I told him I was insulted by having to wait forever for a measly raise. He said he would schedule a meeting with the managers and myself to discuss it. The GM is a tool. He actually made a comment that I don't generate sales(the outside salesmen do). We sell over $100,000 a month to walk ins and process all the outside sales as well. Technically the GM and 75% of the people working there don't generate sales either. Anyway, the owner said maybe they need to re-evaluate my salary. Today I got an employment contract outlining my job duties and my raise was more than doubled :cool2: so I'm a happy camper. The owner and the sales manager both said I was great asset to the company. The sales manager did say I was very strong technically. Being appreciated makes you want to do a better job. Being overlooked doesn't give you much motivation.

I didn't go over the GM's head, the GM's boss, did.

Isn't the GM's boss, the owner himself?
If so, then you did go over the GM's head by complaining directly to the owner of the company. Or else I'm missing something.