A hardworking woman turns into an aggressive and impatient boss after her most recent promotion at the store. She gets away with it until insulting and firing an old janitor.
It had only been a week since Nia’s big promotion, and she still couldn’t believe it. She was now the general manager of one of the biggest outlets of a fashion retail giant.
Years before she got the promotion, Nia had filled up a binder with ideas on how she would improve the store if she ever got the chance. That morning, the binder sat proudly on her desk as Nia addressed the staff shortly after the shutters went up…
“Alright, guys. Is everyone clear on the new protocols we’re going to follow?” she asked.
The staff replied in nods, kind smiles, and a few gentle yeses.
“I don’t want anybody to be lax or deviate from my new guidelines. To ensure that, here’s what we’re going to do.”
“Anybody who fails to follow the new rules — whether it is about uniform, customer greetings, display arrangements, punctuality — will lose their incentive for that month.”
Nia looked at the faces turn serious and grinned proudly at her own idea.
The staff, however, were utterly shaken by such a drastic decision. They were afraid that any small mistake, conscious or unaware, would cost them the money that paid most of their bills.
The men and women looked at each other in shock, wondering if they should try to reason with Nia.
Never judge a person you know nothing about.
Even though she had changed a lot in the past week, every employee in the store was happy for her. They all knew how hard Nia had worked for it for the last three years. They were all aware of how passionate she was about this industry. And they were happy that someone who started as an intern on the floor had risen to such heights.
However, Nia’s newfound power was doing more damage than good for the store and the people who worked there.
Since day one on the new post, she had been changing things, setting unrealistically high expectations from people she knew were hardworking, and reacting to the smallest mistakes with excessive anger and impatience.
“Can I have your attention, please?” Nia called out to everyone. “I just had an important meeting with the clients, and I have some good news — we are planning to increase our sales volume this quarter. So, here’s what we’re going to do… I’ll send a list of names by afternoon, and those mentioned will have to extend their shifts.”