This email was sent to upper management/ supervisor by me. It details every reason I never should have worked here and neither should you.
Hello, I’m going to start this email off by saying I’m highly disappointed in this experience with SAS. My recruiter and the orientation made this job seem sustainable, professional and committed to working together as a team to complete a common goal. Here are my personal experiences with that vision in mind.
1. Chasing down my 2nd week schedule. Also no confirmation of my schedule being completed after I was overlooked and forgotten on the schedule. (Not professional)
2. Team Lead No Shows. Not only is this unprofessional but also unsustainable. I waited 2 nights in a row for a Team Lead. The first night (Sunday) I waited, was completely the team leads fault because he texted me he next day and said “my bad I overslept”. That’s great. I didn’t. In fact I was sleep deprived that day because of worrying anxiously about my schedule. The second night, no person was at the register on or before or after 10pm. That team lead was the one I ran into issues with on Wednesday night. The second night (Monday) must have been just a misunderstanding or miscommunication, because when I asked my Team Lead where she was/ what aisle were we supposed to work on, she was confrontational and asked me repeatedly if her and I had a problem. I find this as a threat considering she asked me multiple times and was rude with her tone. How unprofessional to take the ‘role’ of a Lead and use it to intimidate associates. She also told me it was my fault because I didn’t reach out to her, but I know there was not a number to call her.
3. The lack of work being done by team leads. If I was a team lead, personally, I would feel awful for leaving the store and set to go in my truck and do God knows what. This is exactly what happened on Wednesday night after the supervisor left. The team lead, was no where to be found, she left me her phone number and said if you had any questions then to text her. She never came to check on us once. So without a Team Lead and 2 other new hires on the team, I was the one the others looked to for questions and guidance. This is where I’m starting to question this company’s commitment to working as a team.
After lunch we worked for another hour before she came back and told us chips couldn’t be on the floor. We had no space to put these chips and the set was almost complete (less than an hour left). Her solution was to stuff chips in milk crates. So I started to question her about where has she been and why hasn’t she touched a single bag of chips. She had no real answer to give, she said things like ‘paperwork’ and ‘I’m not allowed to touch the product’. If this company wants to pay someone to babysit the parking lot with the front title of a Lead (which is getting paid more than I) then sign me up. How difficult can a Merchandise Team Lead’s job be, if they don’t have to do any actual merchandising.
Things escalated quickly after that because I let my emotions and frustration get the better of me. Words were said on my end that shouldn’t have been. I want to apologize for stooping to that level. I was asked to leave the store and I did with no hesitation because I didn’t want a physical altercation to arise.
My problems with the Lead still stand
1. she was absent for 3 hours of work time.
2. She was not there until 1130pm.
3. She demanded us work when she arrived.
4. She never gave an introduction of herself. Or apologized for being late.
5. She was confrontational and indicated a threat to me.
6. She left the store to do ‘paperwork’
7. She created a hostile working environment.
All of these things happened before I let my frustrations get the better of me.
I sincerely hope it is clear to you as it is clear to me that this “team” system is severely flawed.
I am doing my best to cope with these instances because I feel I made the wrong choice to pursue this job. I’m now forced to resign because my mental health is at stake.
Reasons I need to cope:
1. After starting a new job typically do not get a paycheck for 2-3 weeks. I’m being asked to drive to different assignments where I’m not getting the hours needed to sustain a traveling job.
2. The Team Leads create a hostile work environment by showing lack of respect for the associates under them. I put Lead(s) because it is not just one.
3. The overall anxiety I got when my team leads didn’t show.
4. The shame I feel for leaving an OK job of 1 year to pursue this job, in hopes this job wouldn’t be stressful, it turned out to be more stressful than working 8hr graveyard shifts at a truck stop.
5. I know I cannot control the actions of others, only my own. I did every single thing I could on my part to be a role model employee. Including showing up and doing the work. Was it even worth doing that? Why did I put in that effort when a team lead won’t put in that effort.
6. It’s obvious no one is held to the same standard. As my first team lead, and my Trainer were phenomenal in making the first week as good as I could expect. The next 3 team leads this week were not anything like a Lead should be and caused me great emotional stress.
I chose this job because the work is not as stressful as other jobs can be. Please take my experiences relayed to you, and work towards providing new hires with better sustainability, professionalism, and committed team work as these qualities are important to people seeking a new job.
