Was I right to be annoyed about being understaffed or not?

[missingu]

I have been in charge for my boss while he has a break which I have no problem with. I got to work the other day and saw that the volume of work was larger than anticipated. Before Christmas my big boss told me to get everyone in to work so that no one would have to do overtime seeing as everyone did alot of overtime in the lead up to Christmas as it was busy and he didn't want them doing anymore after Christmas. Our other boss overrode him and made sure we had maximum staff for a volume a lot smaller but there ended up being a lot more work.

 

I told them that there wasn't enough staff all day. I could see it happening before my eyes. They refused to put on more staff. They didn't call anyone to come in or anything. Even when I told them the staff had told me they wouldn't work overtime a lot earlier in the day as they worked hard the last few weeks.

 

I had another manager with me, he decided to take it upon himself to come in early so he wouldn't have to stay back which pees me off. He is 2nd in charge and I am 3rd in charge. He has the worst work ethic for a so called team leader. They know it and the supervisor and I suffer for it.

 

I ended up working 10 till 11pm at night. With only 3 people stayed. I wasn't mad at the staff I was mad at my management and their lack of support. To top it off I had plans that night that I completely missed which annoyed me even more.

 

I'm new to this management thing but I still feel angry about it. Tomorrow is new years eve and I'm worried the same thing will happen. What's the point in having me manage if they don't listen to me. I dont want to work 12 hour days when it can be prevented by getting more staff in.

 

I don't mind when it's busy, I understand but when it's just understaffing how will I make it clear it's unacceptable?

[darkmoon]

wait! don't emote at the boss/es don't be unpleasant, for you are new

 

 

I would shut up in case they knew they would lumber you, a test...?

 

 

 

find a new job or let them know in a friendly way that you are tough and energetic, joke about it once, then sh

Edited December 30, 2018 by darkmoon

[missingu]

Sorry I'm.new to the role, not the company and I'm working with the same people from the last 14 years

[preraph]

First thing you'll learn in management is it's all about the money. Clearly, they can't afford to staff up and are trying to find some other way. This is pretty normal for companies, too. Most companies are running lean, not fat.

[Giraffe-A]

You’ve done your best. You have taken up the slack for the team and this is going to continue to be a position that will challenge you. Are you allowed to be mad? Ofcourse, but don’t vent your frustrations to the bosses or the people you manage. At this point, you received two set of instructions from two bosses- get more people....don’t get more people. This will need to be discussed by the managers to keep this from happening again.

[healing light]

What happens if you leave at the normal time like everyone else? What kind of job is it?

[Geraltt]

You have every right to be annoyed.

 

You also need to understand that this type of thing goes on all the time.

 

It sounds like a retail or sales environment (though I can't be sure: please correct me if I'm wrong on that).

 

It's common in such environments to bestow a "management" title on a person for reasons other than management. Why? Because, depending on jurisdiction, "managers" can't claim overtime pay or time-in-lieu. Any very minor bump in salary is easily offset by the hours and hours you'll be expected to work for free.

 

So, what to do next? Perform better than you've ever performed before. Work harder and smarter than you have ever done. Make it your goal, your mission, to be the very best you can possibly be. Someone, at some point, will notice that, and you're much more likely to eventually be the boss of all those people that are currently taking advantage of you.

 

It will take time. And there are no guarantees. But your best bet is, sincerely, to keep your head down. Keep your mouth shut. Out-work, out-sell and out-think everyone around you. Even if you don't attain this goal at your current workplace, it will put you in good stead for a new position at a better workplace.

 

Good luck!