JEN'S OUT

I think I'm becoming a little too familiar with the process of firing employees. I let Jen go today. I did it over the phone and told her that contractual issues, overstaffing, etc., was the main reason, but that's actually not true.

What is true is that she didn't really care about her job or doing it well. She has misbalanced the till twice - since the meeting where I asked her specifically if she knew how to do it correctly - and she deliberately began closing procedures 45 minutes early last night. Forty-five minutes! All employees were told rather bluntly not to even begin balancing the till until the store closed, and not a minute sooner. Yet Jen decided to do things her own way and bail out early.

Gary came in last night and caught her, which is why she got snippy with him.

He and I debated for hours today over whether we should write her up or let her go. In the end, we decided it was best to cut her loose, as she obviously does not care what management thinks, nor does she want to do her job well. Jen is still under her initial 30-day contract, which she signed, and which states that we can terminate her within that time frame with no prior warning nor reason. She gave us lots of "reason," but I left it at "contractual issues" when I spoke with her.

Okay, so now we're down to six employees:

Gary, who is never, ever there anymore
Me, who is always, always there
Pho, the assistant manager, who I think will step it up a bit now that her friend Jen was let go
Watson, who works so hard it's a shame we can't pay him more
Zac, who is okay, although I had to tell him today to stay off the Internet when the store is busy
Will, the newbie, who is getting rave reviews from everyone he works with

I think we're good, but I may start interviewing again soon. I hate that almost as much as I hate firing people. Sigh.

FINALLY, AN ACCOMPLISHMENT

I'm not used to actually accomplishing goals that I set for myself, but this is one I'm proud of. No, I didn't balance that national budget, establish world peace, or write the Great American Novel. But I did set a small goal for myself, and dang it, I reached it.

I've also dropped 12 pounds this year - and kept it off. That's a biggie for me. Two and a half more pounds and I won't weigh enough to donate blood, lol.

This weekend's goal is setting up the Christmas decorations. Before we can do that, however, the living room has to be dusted and vacuumed, and lots of furniture has to be rearranged. It's hard to find the motivation to do all that.

On the up side, hubby bought the new Josh Groban Christmas CD for me while he was in California last week. I did a little happy dance when I saw that. Maybe if I put it on and turn the speakers up really loud, I'll find that Christmas motivation.

And then I'll be proud of yet another accomplishment. Go me!