'A manager can not compete with his employees for work': Manager expected to compete with staff for commission to earn a living wage

Leading from the front is important for any leader—you need to walk the walk that you talk… but when it comes to sales and commission, you don't want to be competing with your own team to make the wage that you should be earning anyways for managing the business. Anyone who has ever worked in a retail environment that heavily prioritizes sales probably has encountered the subject matter of this post.

For those who have never worked on a sales floor for commission, if the environment isn't managed correctly, the team dynamic can go toxic quite quickly. Basically, because everyone is so focused on earning as much commission as possible, any duties that don't involve being poised to strike on the sales floor will be ignored; no matter what measures are put in place to prevent this, there will always be certain personalities who push and unfair amount of admin and housekeeping onto their coworkers since those tasks aren't earning them extra.

When the manager is required to "lead in sales," unscrupulous managers who are desperate to make a name for themselves will regularly yoink the highest earning sales and customers from their staff, constantly waiting like a stalking butler for sure-bets to walk through the door while other business priorities fall to the wayside.

These things take from the team members, foster bad behavior and create bad feelings within the team. For this reason, this manager's post makes perfect sense. In a post they shared on Reddit's r/antiwork subreddit, they shared screenshots of a text message that they sent to their employer along with a lengthy explanation about the situation at hand.

While some of us might not have approached the situation in the way this manager chose to, they can probably relate to the message. Read on for their thread and a selection of the responses it generated. After, check out this retail worker who faced off against a waffle-wielding Karen.

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Posted by Brad Dickson