26.07.13 | Lisa Campbell - The Bookseller However managing director James Daunt has defended the development, which saw all 487 branch and assistant manager positions earmarked for redundancy at the end of May as the restructure and consultation process began. Staff were invited to apply for the new position of Bookshop Manager, which Waterstones m.d. James Daunt said was designed to put more emphasis on “traditional shopfloor bookselling”.
The Bookseller has been told that “the majority” of people passed the assessment, and have been given new Bookshop Manager roles. Several people who failed to pass, or gained “borderline passes”, are in ongoing consultations with their regional managers to see if they can still negotiate positions or be redeployed. Sixty-six individuals who chose not to take part in the assessment process left last week.
One manager, who did not want to be named, commented: “We feel all those with loyal service have been singled out and morale is at rock bottom. Many of those managers who have just left were not even thanked for their efforts by their regional manager . . . I would like to emphasise that I’ve always seen myself as a lifer—but not any more.”
Another bookseller told The Bookseller that she quit her job this week in disgust at the consultation process. She said: “Yesterday I gave my notice because it seems to me unfair that so many department managers are losing their jobs. They have been offered redundancy or redeployment on inferior terms. The last straw came for me when my line manager was offered the choice between redundancy or accepting a lower position, which would be a demotion for him both financially and in status.“
She added: “All the managers have been dedicated and creative people with valuable expertise and years of experience. I think the redundancy process has been extremely unpleasant and unfair for everyone and, although, as a bookseller, my own position is not at the moment at risk, I no longer want to continue in this job.”
Daunt told The Bookseller: “It goes without saying no one has enjoyed this process, including us, and there are some people who feel it should not have happened. I firmly believe we have run our process [in a manner] as fair and transparent as possible.
"Right from the outset I have said—pretty unpalatably for some—that some of our managers are not fit for the job and that is of course not very nice to hear. I have said quite a few times that I do not think that our bookshops are, or have been, good enough. Although I think that is improving a lot. Some of it was down to what we were doing centrally and some of it was what we were doing locally and some was down to a lack of investment in shops and we need to improve it all. We need to improve the retailing. I think what we are doing now is recognising that.”
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