Atrocious human-resources
management, even regarding in-store employees of a sub-contractor, can easily
be understood to detract from repeat customers; a refusal to hold such employees
accountable can be a reflection of a sordid managerial attitude towards
customers, especially in relation to employees. In cases in which the refusal
is explicitly stated to an already-offended customer, the slogan, “adds insult
to injury” is applicable, with disastrous effects in terms of repeat business,
and thus revenue. That management is in some cases so bad reflects on the
primitive condition of the “science” of management in business schools. That a
case in point occurred in Yale’s (Barnes and Noble) bookstore, not far from
Yale’s School of Management, suggests the sheer distance between the “science”
and practice of management.
In early 2025, as I was making
my way to the main door of “Yale Bookstore,” which was a Barnes and Noble
store, a security guard at a distance from me spoke to me, giving me permission
to leave the store. I asked him if there was a security problem. He said no. So
I asked him why he had just accosted me. “I’m not used to security guards
making statements as I leave stores.” To my astonishment, he laughed at me when
I told him that I was going to report him to the store manager. He was even
staring at me as I waited for the manager far from the sub-contracted guard. In
the vernacular, the guy was a creeper and I felt uncomfortable.
he creepily stared at me at a distance (while possibly not watching customers leave the store--his job)
Nevertheless, even after
showing my photo of the guard staring at me, the shift-manager said to me that
he was not going to do anything about my complaint, as it “is just one
complaint.” The manager’s real message was clear: My complaint, and thus I,
didn’t matter. That two other employees, who had led me to the manager, said
that I had a point regarding the security guard having rudely accosted and then
laughed at me, and that the store management has considerable discretion in
swapping out security guards. So, I knew that the shift manager could use
discretion, and thus that he was refusing to do so.
I contend that the manager,
whether unconsciously or not, was communicating to me that as one customer, I
don’t matter. The common assumption by managers that a single complaint
against an employee doesn’t matter and thus should not be acted upon is
undercut by the fact that if an employee’s misbehavior is sufficiently egregious
enough, clearly even just one complaint should be acted upon. For
example, if a young woman complains about a male security guard having called
her a cunt and she has video and audio recorded as evidence, I contend that that
guard should be fired on the spot. Even were the guard to have laughed at her
in utter disrespect, one complaint should be sufficient for a manager to
act, even if just to note the incident in the employee’s (or subcontracted employee’s)
file for future reference. In this way, the complaint would be acted upon,
likely even in that employee eventually being fired (because bad behavior is
likely to be repeated, especially in an atmosphere in which accountability is
not valued by management).
That retail management in a
major company, such as Barnes and Noble, can in practice be so pathetically at
odds with the profit motive is an indictment on not only human resource departments
in how managers are hired, but also business schools wherein management is
researched and taught. To disprove the bookstore manager’s contention that one
complaint doesn’t matter, I went to social media in the hope that my single
complaint might indeed have significance not only in itself, but also on the
store’s future business. This I did in addition to “voting with my wallet” by
immediately returning the book I had just purchased for a refund. The advent of
social media, and the ability to put reviews of stores online, bodes well for consumers
and not so good for squalid store managements and rude employees whose presumed
personal entitlement is overdue to be deflated.
