Good, Great, or Not At All?

You know things are getting bad when after working just one day in the week you're already looking forward to your next day off. I used to enjoy my job. I never really looked forward to it, but I understood that it was a necessary part of life and I actually got enjoyment from the accomplishment I achieved on the job.

Lately there hasn't been much enjoyment. Since the districts were realigned in February, placing my store under the responsibility of a different District Manager, I haven't found myself very motivated, haven't enjoyed my work, and haven't really cared much for what might happen. I think there's more to it, though, than just a realignment. There have been many changes implemented company-wide over the past six months or so that contribute to the way I've been feeling.

I guess the best way to describe it is this: I don't feel like I'm actually the one running the store anymore. I feel more like it's being run by proxy from above, like I'm just the head Sales Associate on site to keep things in order. This happened once before at a company I worked for. That company had actually been so successful that it was featured in the book "Good To Great" for the successful ways it ran the business. That was then. They've made several changes since then, and this year they've announced some store closings. If there was a sequel to that book called "Great To Lousy," that company would probably be featured again. My current company would probably headline book three in the series, "Lousy To Nonexistent."

Joe