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I need to make a decision, and I would appreciate being able to look at this situation from an unbiased perspective.
I have been at my job for a little over six months. It's a fairly simple job - provide daycare at a health club - and I work four days a week, three or four hour shifts. It's a low-paying job, but it's also low-pressure and I can bring my children with me if I want to or need to.
Most of the daycare employees have been aware recently that the daycare supervisor has not been entirely happy with her job. She and her husband also run their own business and her time is somewhat limited. I assumed that she would eventually leave when she found something that better suited her; I suppose others have assumed the same, but it isn't something we really talk about.
Because of the supervisor's limited time, one of my coworkers has had to do a lot of the scheduling (scheduling is the supervisor's job, but only a small portion of it). This coworker is a terrific worker, careful and responsible, quite pleasant to be around and work with, and she's been at the club for about a year and a half. I had always assume the torch would be passed to her if and when the supervisor's position came open.
It came open. The supervisor quit yesterday. She called me at home last night to give me the heads up that the general manager would be speaking to me today. Evidently, his first choice to fill the supervisor position is me.
He did come and talk to me today, he did say he wanted to give me first crack at the job, but that he had "one or two" other people he was considering if I didn't want the job.
The supervisor job comes with a pay increase of two dollars an hour. I could keep working all of my nursery shifts, some of them, or drop them entirely. I was also told that if I needed to hire another person to take over the shifts I'm currently working, that I would be free to do so. The general manager did say, however, that he thought it was a good idea for the supervisor to continue to work at least a shift a week to keep her finger on the pulse of the day-to-day running of the nursery and daycare. The primary responsibilities of the supervisor are to make sure all shifts are covered (and cover them herself if necessary), track cash coming into the daycare, prepare weekly reports on use of the daycare, prepare weekly budgets for staff and occasional budgets for items like snacks and craft supplies, create schedules, interview and hire when necessary, take comments/complaints/suggestions from members, and meet with the general manager once a week to over costs and budget and any issues that may have arisen.
If I were to take the job, I could set my own schedule. As long as all shifts are covered and the supervisory duties are performed, I would be free to work at my own convenience. This would be a BIG deal to me, because I was considering cutting back for the summer so that my children don't have to spend every day of their school break indoors at the gym. To be able to work fewer hours at more dollars per hour is quite appealing.
The job is not without headaches, of course - scheduling conflicts, several people wanting time off at the same time, member/customer complaints, and the normal stresses that come with overseeing a group of employees.
I'm not really struggling with whether the wage and freedom are worth the attendant headaches. I'm leaning toward yes. I'm flattered and pleased that management thinks highly enough of me to offer me the position first, and I'm gratified that the GM believes that I'm a good fit and that when the current supervisor resigned he thought of me "immediately."
The problem I'm having is the coworker I mentioned previously. I can't get over the feeling that I'd somehow be stabbing her in the back by taking a position that she probably had every reason to believe would be offered to her. Mr. LIW says I can't worry about things like that, but I'll still be working with her. I don't want bad feelings or ill will between us.
On the other hand, it's not my fault that I was offered the job. I need to think about what's best for me - right?
Does anyone have any thoughts for me?
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