A surprising turn of events at the end of the day yesterday. We have one other full-time bench jeweler. She has a year of jewelry school at one of the best places for it in the U.S. and a little more than a year of real world experience. She really helped us out of a bind by taking a lot of the little stuff off my plate. But since January an obvious discontent was growing. She has issues with authority and acted as if she were my equal despite my near-decade of experience. There's also her age, 20, and a sense of entitlement that feeds an oversized ego. So it's no surprise there has been a lot of friction between us.
Now here's the surprise and where I shake my head in stunning disbelief: she put in her two weeks notice yesterday. She's a capable jeweler with a lot of potential. But that's the thing, she hasn't pushed herself to realize that potential. Now she's leaving a stable job with a reasonable salary for someone of her level of experience. I can tell you that she's going to have trouble commanding even her minimal salary anywhere else because of her age and lack of experience. More to the point, a lot of jewelers have had to cut back due to the state of the economy. So finding a new job isn't going to go well. Plus, I don't think she realizes that she's ineligible for unemployment pay since she has decided to quit.
When I found out my first reaction was raucous laughter. Really, it's a stupid move on her part even if she wasn't happy with her current job. Since the business is a small one we never had strict rules about time, production and covering mistakes. I doubt she'll find another jeweler willing to take on someone with her ego and temperament while holding the work ethic she does. Even if she does, she'll find herself making much less, working more and expected to adhere to company rules far more than she does now. No big name jeweler will hire her because they only want the best and large corporations like Zales run young jewelers ragged.
Not to say she's going to fail, but she obviously hasn't thought things through. There's no reason for us to try and retain her with her attitude. We also have someone waiting in the wings who has a lot more potential and seems capable of realizing that potential. So she doesn't get to come back when she finds herself three weeks unemployed and without any money. It's astonishingly foolish on her part. That's why I laugh, even if it does mean more work for me. I don't feel sorry for her. She's needed to grow up for a while. Hopefully this experience will do that, but I doubt it. Her habit of alienating people, being short with customers and constant negativity does not lead me to believe that she will change her ways, at least not in the next few months.
So ends an era at the store. We'll press on as we always have. There's nothing to keep us from doing so. In point of fact, with her departure I think we'll see an improvement. Certainly there are downsides, but none so severe as to force us to rethink keeping the store open. It's work, it's a job, and sometimes you have to tighten your belt and do what you have to. She hasn't learned that yet though.
Now here's the surprise and where I shake my head in stunning disbelief: she put in her two weeks notice yesterday. She's a capable jeweler with a lot of potential. But that's the thing, she hasn't pushed herself to realize that potential. Now she's leaving a stable job with a reasonable salary for someone of her level of experience. I can tell you that she's going to have trouble commanding even her minimal salary anywhere else because of her age and lack of experience. More to the point, a lot of jewelers have had to cut back due to the state of the economy. So finding a new job isn't going to go well. Plus, I don't think she realizes that she's ineligible for unemployment pay since she has decided to quit.
When I found out my first reaction was raucous laughter. Really, it's a stupid move on her part even if she wasn't happy with her current job. Since the business is a small one we never had strict rules about time, production and covering mistakes. I doubt she'll find another jeweler willing to take on someone with her ego and temperament while holding the work ethic she does. Even if she does, she'll find herself making much less, working more and expected to adhere to company rules far more than she does now. No big name jeweler will hire her because they only want the best and large corporations like Zales run young jewelers ragged.
Not to say she's going to fail, but she obviously hasn't thought things through. There's no reason for us to try and retain her with her attitude. We also have someone waiting in the wings who has a lot more potential and seems capable of realizing that potential. So she doesn't get to come back when she finds herself three weeks unemployed and without any money. It's astonishingly foolish on her part. That's why I laugh, even if it does mean more work for me. I don't feel sorry for her. She's needed to grow up for a while. Hopefully this experience will do that, but I doubt it. Her habit of alienating people, being short with customers and constant negativity does not lead me to believe that she will change her ways, at least not in the next few months.
So ends an era at the store. We'll press on as we always have. There's nothing to keep us from doing so. In point of fact, with her departure I think we'll see an improvement. Certainly there are downsides, but none so severe as to force us to rethink keeping the store open. It's work, it's a job, and sometimes you have to tighten your belt and do what you have to. She hasn't learned that yet though.