Chain Reactions

                                                                                                                     Febraury 8th 2012

Over the past few weeks there have been some major changes in my work place. I work retail at a mall, where the company owns a chain of other stores as well throughout Nova Scotia and Canada. Last week our Head Office decided to combine our departments however with this change left room for only one district manager so my company’s district manger was let go in an unprofessional manner. The head offices started making some nasty changes and with this bus strike the schedule they were making was not easy for most to adapt too. Instead of building a bigger and stronger team, they broke up smaller ones and destroyed them.

           

This took place on a Thursday, Friday afternoon we were all notified about the changes that were made and intended to be implemented. It was chaos because they cut hours and some employees were not getting enough hours and able to make their regular weeks pay. In protest since it seems to be contagious in Halifax right now, the entire staff at one of our MicMac Mall locations all quit on Saturday. The manager was on good terms with our District manager and when she heard what happened and what they were planning on doing she quit and convinced her staff to quit as well.

           

However this chain reaction did not stop there, on Monday my manager at my store location quit because she was friends with the DM even outside the work place and with the strict changes was unable to provide what they needed so returned her keys and has left us to deal with the rest of the week on our own. So our assistant manager was left with the responsibilities of our manager. She felt out of control and too much stress so she put her 2 weeks in on Tuesday. This chain reaction is damaging to a company’s reputation. I have been employed there for over almost 3 years and never seen it get to this point.

           

It really demonstrates that team work and motivation are key to being successful as well as being respectful and cooperating with your employees. Sometimes changes are necessary in order to get further in business but the only way you can get farther is if your team is all on board. Everyone has to be on the same page and have the same goals for them to be achieved.

           

So a word of concern, please talk with your employees or team before making any major decisions. You never know, your one decision may cause an unwanted and damaging chain reaction that could put you in a tricky situation.