Gross misconduct, no proof and being treated like crap!

[Betty Blue]

So heres the situation.

My brother is the general manager for a tile shop which is part of a small chain.
One or more of his staff are on the make with stock. A large amount of sales are with trade buyers, trade buyers recieve discounts for cash and the staff are cashing in on it not making full entries and keeping cash. There are cameras but you have to watch them live online. He has tried watching them but you have to watch them in real time and he is there in the front of shop 6 out of 7 days. Head office are not interested in helping and if the balance sheets don't add up the staff, himself included, do not recieve their bonuses.
He has tried talking to staff but with pretty bad results, most of the staff just don't give a shit because the pay is poor and the staff turn over is high.
Head office keep promising him a promotion as soon as their new flagship store opens, they have been saying this for a year and a half. The staff are now starting to talk behind his back and are taking the piss with lunch breaks, sick days etc. Although my brother is a tall and built man he has the agression of a soft toy, and getting tough is pretty pointless anyway because he has to go through procedures which will only cause more friction.
He is planning to leave as soon as he finds a new job.
He is so sick of the spitefullness of his staff he had to walk out one day last week because one member of staff told another he acused them of stealing behind their back. Of course this wasn't true and he got the two of them together to talk about it, the one who made the acusation then said he did say it and it was word against word. So he ended up just leaving because he was enraged by this mans audacity.
My brother is an ENFP and places great value on honesty and integrity. He has been in the job for over four years and though he has had difficulties in the past, he has always been able to resolve them fairly easily but this time it would seem that someone (or two) have it in for him and are playing the dirty game.

I really don't know what advice to give him, personally i would probably end up hitting someone and leaving for good, but thats why i don't work in a situation where this is possible. He has a child to support so can not just walk out.


BRAINSTORMING SESSION PLEASE!

 

[BlueScreen]

Firstly you can save most video streams from online, so if he wants to maybe figure out how.

Secondly, the them out to get him might be a bad mindset to approach the situation with. When he had the problem with the two workers, one was obviously annoyed that he thought he had been accused of something, and the other either believed what he said or had more malicious intent. For the first one he just needed to reassure him that he was in no trouble and under no suspicion. The second one he could've asked when he'd heard it and tried to figure out if he may have misheard or misunderstood a situation. If he then believed the employee was out to get him, maybe figure out why the employee was in that mindset.

Many unhappy workers normally has a reason. Is there a better way to run the place that is more fulfilling and maybe more effective? Go for creative solutions, cause if he is an ENFP he is wasting what he has by toeing the line. Get him to list and look at everything in front of him then figure out what he can do with what he has to work with. Look at the money systems, the process systems, the people systems, and find a solution that works for all. Ignore every other rule but the ones he knows are solid and important. This will help him recenter and find some stability also.

 

[Betty Blue]

Firstly you can save most video streams from online, so if he wants to maybe figure out how.

Yes he has tried this but by the time he gets home he has tops of two hours he can spend doing it and so far to no avail, plus of course this is not actually enough time. Theres 10 hours of open time to the shop and only two hours max per day he has to view. He does keep checking but it's a lot for him to do alone.

Secondly, the them out to get him might be a bad mindset to approach the situation with. When he had the problem with the two workers, one was obviously annoyed that he thought he had been accused of something, and the other either believed what he said or had more malicious intent. For the first one he just needed to reassure him that he was in no trouble and under no suspicion. The second one he could've asked when he'd heard it and tried to figure out if he may have misheard or misunderstood a situation. If he then believed the employee was out to get him, maybe figure out why the employee was in that mindset.

Yes he did try to do this but the problem was the person he had previously talked to refused to budge and said he was lying.
Basically like this.
He spoke to man A about staff in general, Man A then spoke to man B saying that my brother had accused him (man B) of stealing behind his (man B's) back. Then man B asked my brother why he was accusing him. My brother reassured man B that he was not accusing him stating that there must be a mix up of comminication going on. Then he asked man A to join them to clear the air. Man A came in and stated that my brother did accuse man B and was lying about it.
If you knew my brother and how highly he regards honesty you would understand why he became so upset. There were no witnesses to the conversation he had with man A so it was just word against word.
Gosh i hope that makes sense.

Many unhappy workers normally has a reason. Is there a better way to run the place that is more fulfilling and maybe more effective? Go for creative solutions, cause if he is an ENFP he is wasting what he has by toeing the line. Get him to list and look at everything in front of him then figure out what he can do with what he has to work with. Look at the money systems, the process systems, the people systems, and find a solution that works for all. Ignore every other rule but the ones he knows are solid and important. This will help him recenter and find some stability also.

It all seems to be about money for these men, he did have a very good team that worked hard together to maximise sales and recieve their bonuses, and they could get very big percentage bonuses. The problem now is that one or more worker has decided there is an easier way to make money by stealing and fucking up everyone elses bonuses. Because every one seems to be looking at each other there is a very uncomfortable atmosphere.
He has called a meeting to let everyone know he is not accusing anyone but a sense of dissafection has set in and the staff are wondering why they are working so hard to meet targets if someone else is going to steal and make all their efforts redundant, so now the situation is every one is suspicious and no-one wants to do anything plus you have someone stirring up trouble.
Until he has proof he can do little.
He is a very genuine guy and always does the very best for his staff, he has been arguing with head office for two months about thw bonuses because he feels it is so unfair that everyone else is getting punished. He even offered to sacrifice his own bonus if they would give the staff theirs.
It just riles me that he is being taken advantage of when he is such a gentle giant.


I think i'm going to offer to check some of the footage too, if i can squeeze it in.

 

[cafe]

Here if a manager knew you were stealing but couldn't prove it, they would find something else to fire you for -- like start paying extra close attention to your attendance and documenting when you were late coming back from break, etc. Either that or reduce your scheduled hours until you couldn't afford to work there anymore. Those are not tactics I particularly approve of, but sometimes you don't have much choice. He might also report them for tax evasion because they are probably not claiming the stolen money on their income taxes.

 

[Betty Blue]

Here if a manager knew you were stealing but couldn't prove it, they would find something else to fire you for -- like start paying extra close attention to your attendance and documenting when you were late coming back from break, etc. Either that or reduce your scheduled hours until you couldn't afford to work there anymore. Those are not tactics I particularly approve of, but sometimes you don't have much choice. He might also report them for tax evasion because they are probably not claiming the stolen money on their income taxes.

I get this, and despite the fact that i think it's wrong, i have even suggested it, because he's actually becomming quite depressed over it all-seriously.
But he's just too honest to do that. While i wish he would, i also appreciate it's a difficult situation for him and give him merit for being true to himself.
Tbh i just want to go and sort out this guy for him and protect him like i used to when we were at school. Silly i know as we are grown adults but i just hate people taking the piss out of someone so loyal and getting away with it because he's a really respectful and genuine person. :steam: