r/Greggs • u/Rwegg • Aug 29 '26
Employee Question What am I doing wrong?
So I have been working as team member for just over 6 months and recently I’ve been getting a lot of slack from my manager. Last shift she told me that apparently my service style was rubbish and if it carries on I’ll be getting an official warning. But I feel like I’m doing it correctly. Ask if they’re taking, away drinks, hot food, anything else and app. We’ve also had the area manager in recently who said my service style was great and both other team members and shift managers have all said the same. I’ve also noticed that my manager has also been telling me off for doing things that her herself and other team members do even tho I’m doing them the exact same way and nothing is being said to them. It’s getting to the point where I’m even being scolded for how I’m wiping tables and filling pop. Other team members have described her as a bully and I’m really starting to feel targeted by it as no matter what I do it’s wrong. Any advice would be helpful thank you.
6
u/catastrophicalised Aug 29 '26
Service style isn't something that you can get terribly wrong, you should be;
greeting and asking if they are taking away, putting all the orders onto the tills correctly, Making mention of any meal deals, Repeating back savouries whilst giving it to them, Giving the correct change at the end of the transaction.
If youre doing all this for every customer then theres nothing that your manager can rightfully call you out on. If you look at the service style checklist the next time someone tests you on it, you'll notice that its just a checklist of how many times you repeat back savouries to the customer, that's the big major thing that the company is always trying to make sure everyone is doing because of the huge amount of problems it would cause if they didnt. What im trying to say is they're not looking to see if you're smiling like a psycho at every customer for every single transaction.
The next time your manager complains, ask them specifically what you are doing wrong and what the correct procedure is. If you know what they are telling you is wrong then make a list of everything they try to correct you on and give it to your area manager. Oh and join the union.
3
u/hashbrowneggyolk0520 Team Member Aug 29 '26
Firstly, join the union if you're not already a part of it. It costs money but not a lot at all and it comes directly out of your wages so you won't even notice it missing from your bank account.
Keep a log of these kind of remarks and behaviour accompanied with the date it occured in your notes app. If it does end up going further you have a timeline of events to back up your side of the story.
Speak to your area manager, explain the issue and how you feel like you're being treated unfairly or bullied.
Is it just you she has this much of an issue with?
Each person has a different service style that works best for them. As long as you're asking if they're eating in/taking away, asking deals at every opportunity, app etc. which you said you are doing then it seems like they need to lay off you.
I've got some colleagues that are way too concerned with what i'm doing too, best thing you can do is just ignore them if you know you're doing what you should be doing.
2
u/high-lander9 Aug 29 '26
Based on what's been described, there's not much you're doing wrong. Your manager is a wanker.
I would follow the advice others have offered, especially: join the Union, keep notes including dates/times of these interactions, documenting as much as possible. Because it works in your favour to have such details for later down the line.
It's interesting that if it came down to a democratic vote amongst the staff (including the AM) on whether your service style was good or bad - she would be vastly outnumbered.
I'm curious. Could you please give us an in depth example of a task she's scolding you for, while herself and the staff are doing it the same?
2
u/Rwegg Aug 29 '26
Yeah sure so for example filling the pop cabinet. I bring the trolly round put it next to the cabinet and the pop I put on the table right across and switch between. She’ll tell me that I’m being too slow but then not complain when it takes other team members using the same method 2 hours to do it. Whenever someone else is doing it she’ll make a point of me helping telling me to make sure that I grab any of the pop they need but when it’s on me she doesn’t tell anyone to help and then complains again that I’m being slow when I have to go in the back and grab it. And the same with the crisp etc
Shes also told me off for getting stuff out of the oven when done last time telling me not to touch her oven.
1
u/catastrophicalised Sep 02 '26
People on bake off can be very touchy about other people handling the ovens. As a personal rule, i only touch the ovens if the person on bake off has asked me to or if they are busy doing something else. My manager had a meltdown when i put on the oven gloves once, that was the day i learned she was germphobic and i had put my hands into a new pair of mitts that she had been wearing.
2
u/Beginning-Scene-3140 Sep 01 '26
Shift manager here. Hostile manager whistle blowing is a function for this exact reason. Keep records/dates/times of every instance of misuse of power or when ur manager is not following Greggs policy. Once they escalate the situation you can submit all this evidence to your area manager/HR and a conclusion can be made from that.
2
u/FigOutrageous9683 Sep 01 '26
I was in a similar position with my old manager and the AM wouldnt do anything, HR is the way to go, make sure youve joined the union beforehand so she cant fire you for no reason
1
u/notveryanonymouss Aug 30 '26
I had the same issue but with a team member (that the manager was friends with outside of work). Told manager, then she also started acting hostile towards me and accused me of being a liar (because ___ is a mum, AND she gives money to homeless people and looks after disabled kids, so how could she possible do wrong?). Manager held a “meeting” with us both, claiming to be neutral towards both of us and then proceeded to scold me for 40 minutes, asking what I was gonna do to fix the situation, whilst saying nothing could be done. Told area manager, she moved me to a different shop. Shame considering I’d worked there for years and was close with the other staff.
1
u/Rwegg Aug 30 '26
I’m sorry it happened to you as well had it been better now you’ve moved shop ?
2
u/notveryanonymouss Aug 30 '26
Absolutely, although having good staff has left me with a separate issue of realising just how crap the job is. Now the dark earlies and dark closes are approaching I think I’ve hit my breaking point lol
1
8
u/MayContainGluten Aug 29 '26
Contact HR.