Big Mama - she's the manager of the store. Smart, bright, and in many ways like a mom. (I suppose if you are having to manage a bunch of Millenials, you'd better have some ability to parent.) However, she will do what it takes to cover her butt if needed.
Wonder Woman - she's the assistant manger of the store. Incredibly unflappable, she's the epitome of coolness. She'd be the cool kid you would want to hang out with in High School, or a sister you'd like to have. she'll tell you how it is and what you've done wrong as well as what you've done right.
Groucho - He's one of the supervisors. A Millenial, he has yet to develop a set of people skills that will help him. Sometimes moody, but he is always doing the right thing when the rubber meets the road in tough situations. Overall, he's good to work with.
Yogi- A big bear of a guy, he's tough on the outside, but extraordinarily kind-hearted. He's another supervisor. If I was ever in a life-threatening situation, I would have no hesitation to call on him for help. He also always does the right thing and supports his co-workers.
Goucho - (Not to be confused with Groucho) is from Argentina. He is a new supervisor, and English is his second language. He does not like confrontations and is generally passive-aggressive in his approach to managing people. It's not uncommon to be called into Big Mama's office for a disciplinary write-up from something that happened on his shift he failed to address or failed to talk to the individual about as it happened.
ADD-Boy - He's a young kid. Very young. He suffers from ADD and as a result, he tries to do everything but can follow-through with nothing. He acts like Michael Jackson and spins around "whoo-hoo"-ing all the time. Multi-tasking is extraordinarily difficult for him and working with him is an absolute joy when we get busy. Honestly. (OK, that's a bit of sarcasm)
Anxiety-boy - He's also a very young kid who suffers from anxiety disorder. Always a good thing when the store gets slammed with the morning coffee rushes and lots of people are demanding attention at the same time. (I went into the store room one morning to get something and found him on the floor in a fetal position crying because it was "just too much".)
Dorothy Gale - She's a new member of the team and quite fun to work with. From the midwest, she brings a couple of things to the table immediately: 1) a fluency in English and 2) manners coupled with an excellent work ethic. Working with her is a genuine pleasure. She communicates effectively and gets the job done smoothly and efficiently for everyone.
Joe Solly - He's a new kid and again, English is his second language, too. He does not communicate well to his co-workers and when he does, it's always, "Sorry" when he's right behind you or trying to get past you. Either that or when you try to reconfirm an order, he barks, "Got it". He also has a hard time understanding customers who speak when it's loud or when it's fast. We've already lost one regular customer who had to explain his drink order to him three times.
Sarge - She's an ex-Marine and incredibly easy to work with. She knows there are rules and standards, and she follows them. She communicates well and although she jibes the co-workers a bit, underneath she is an incredible woman whom I respect a great deal.
There you have it. Those are the folks I work with - well, some of them, at least. Diversity personified. My company makes a big stand supporting diversity.
However, working with this disparate team made me wonder, "Do you have to sacrifice competency for the sake of diversity?"
No comments:
Post a Comment