posted
I’ve been working at Blockbuster about 6 weeks. I have a coworker who started at the same time as me, but works many more hours, so he’s spent much more time at work. He also watches movies constantly. Usually 2 or 3 a day, so he’s seen most of the movies we have.
I can’t get along with him. This is a twofold matter. He behaves completely inappropriately to me, which is bad. I cannot keep my temper when I’m around him, which is worse.
He constantly checks my work after I’ve done it and informs me I’ve done it wrong, even though I’m doing it the way I’ve been told to by the manager. He then proceeds to correct it for me by redoing it. He’ll also stand over my shoulder while I’m working and give me instructions on how to do work I’m trying to do. It got to the point last night where I just handed it to him and told him to do it because he was standing in such a way that made it physically impossible to do the work. The most frequent thing he does is answer questions a customer asked me, abandoning his own customer to do so. These aren’t hard questions, they’re questions I’m perfectly capable of answering myself, but just take me a few seconds longer to answer because I work fewer hours and don’t have the automatic responses he does.
This is all frustrating, but the most frustrating part is that I cannot keep my temper when he does it. I always end up either cutting off all responses to him or reacting very badly. I generally try to keep the bad responses to times when there is no one around but the two of us, but this is starting to severely affect our work whenever we work together. It’s really my fault. He’s the one doing the frustrating things, but I’m the one making it a problem. I’m pretty sure I’m going to lose my job over it. It makes all kinds of sense for my manager to get rid of me instead of him, I’m just a summer worker, he does know the movies better than I do, and he’s a much better salesman than I am. If I were her, I’d fire me.
However, being me, I’d really prefer not to be fired. Does anyone have any ideas of want I can do to keep my temper? Or suggestions of what could help. I’m really at my wits end; I’ve tried explaining to him what frustrates me, asking him to stop, none of it works. I don’t know what else to do.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
Have you tried "When you, I feel" statements? Get him alone sometime and talk to him. Try, "When you correct my work, which I am doing the way I was told, I feel frustrated, angry, and anxious. When you get in my way so I can't do my work, I feel even more frustrated and angry. When you try to help me in this way, I feel that you are putting me down, and I'd appreciate it if you gave me a little space so I can learn to do the job on my own."
If that doesn't work, bite your tongue, keep a record, and go to the manager.
posted
Yeah, talk to the manager. This is the other guy's problem, and more specifically its one that'd make him a bad manager in the future.
Tell Barb (or whichever manager) that you feel you're doing your job, and you're doing it pretty well, but this other guy keeps leaving his own work (emphasize that) to tell you how to do your work.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
You have to remain calm, otherwise your prediction could come true, and you will be fired.
Ask for a meeting with the store manager. Tell him or her what's been going on, and emphasize that your coworker is constantly trying to supervise you. That's not his job, and with you both being there 6 weeks, he doesn't even have any seniority over you.
Getting a short meeting will emphasize the importance of the issue, and will be better than just saying repeatedly "He did X again just now" during shifts. That could come across as whiny and annoying to management. A meeting will help you seem sincere and non-whiny.
Assuming the meeting goes well, and the co-worker is told not to do what he's doing, if he keeps doing it, he will be ignoring specific instructions from management, and you will be in a better position overall.
I was an assistant manager at Blockbuster years ago, I'll try and think of other stuff to do.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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I have a coworker like that too. Makes inappropriate sexual comments to me about strangers and customers, answers questions that have been directed towards me, etc.
See if there's a way that a manager can be around when you work shifts together. There's a good chance he'll slip up and make a mistake in front of a supervisor who can then take the appropriate action.
Inappropriate and immature behavior is unprofessional and reflects badly on the company. No matter how well he knows movies, he's not a good employee and you shouldn't have anything to worry about.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
All of the suggestions so far have been very good, and consist of several Right Things to Do. Since you mentioned this is just a summer job for you, I'm going to suggest something from a completely different perspective:
Slack off and let the know-it-all do all your work. Absolute worst-case scenario is you get fired. But even if you're goofing around for most of your shift you'll stay on a lot longer and have more "second" chances than if you lose your temper badly in front of customers. Odds are pretty good you'll keep the job all summer anyway, and you'll be a lot less stressed and enjoy your summer. Hardly any company actually calls your former employers for references, especially not for summer-only jobs, and many large companies only give out start date and end date if they do.
"Gee, I don't know how to restock these movies the right way. You want to take care of that for me while I sit here and just watch whatever we're playing on the TVs right now? Thanks."
posted
I work with a group of people, one of whom is trouble. Inappropriate, condescending, rude, incredible absenteeism, long lunches, all-around bad attitude. The boss knows about it, I'm sure. Trouble-Lady has been there much longer than I have, and if the boss doesn't want to fire her, that's the boss's business.
I don't go to my boss with complaints about my co-workers, unless there is a serious big deal. So far, in my years in the work force, I've never had a big deal so serious that I had to take it to the boss. Bosses don't like playing referee to kindergarten squabbles.
How do I cope with Trouble-Lady? Instead of saying how it just BURNS me up when she does whatever it is she is doing, I say it just CRACKS me up when she does whatever it is she is doing. I don't lose my temper, I laugh it off.
This is a penny-ante job you got. It is not going to be your lifelong career. Don't do anything to ruin the good reference you will need for your next job. Laugh off your co-worker's nonsense. For him, this is a big-deal, long-term job, and he takes it very seriously. That's a little sad. And a little funny.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
As a manager, I would want you to come to me with this problem. Why? Because by doing so you're giving me a chance to solve it and make both of you guys happy. If I never hear about it, I never have that chance. And I'm going to lose one if not both of you. If I didn't want you to succeed I wouldn't have given you the job. I *do* want you to succeed, and I *do* want you to enjoy your job. Additionally, I have the authority and the skillset to intervene. You have neither.
(But then again, I'm an exceptional manager. YOUR manager might be a putz. But seriously: if your complaint is legitimate [and it sounds as if it is] give your manager a chance to fix the problem. Hopefully the reason she's a manager at all is because she's good at this sort of thing.)
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
Both TL and Tante are right. A good manager should want to fix the problem before it gets worse and one or both employees quit or are fired.
On the other hand, "Bosses don't like playing referee to kindergarten squabbles" is definitely true. This is why I suggested a meeting rather than just complaining about incidents as they occur.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
I had a similar know it all coworker when I worked a summer job at a Mom and Pop grocery store. She would always tell me what to do even though I was a faster and better cashier. She would often tell my customers that I wasn't giving them enough discounts even though I was ringing things up at the correct price. She was even nosy about my personal life. One time my boyfriend was up for the weekend. When I came into work on Monday she asked if he visited to dump me. Seriously, who says this stuff. My boss was both the manager and the owner. He knew about all the issues with this coworker but would never fire her. Well, about a summer later I found out she had eventually been fired after being caught on camera stealing from people's purses in the break room and stealing cigarettes from the store. I was quite pleased that she war fired and that people got the money back. Last week, my mom said she was going to court to face criminal charges, I smiled again.
Posts: 416 | Registered: May 2005
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